Within the Shadows by J.D MCG (book recommendations .TXT) 📗

'We all do,' he answered while pointing back to their neighbour’s homes.

'Well, do they all know what you and my wife got up to while I went out running?'

There was a slight pause. Avi had no idea Jack knew about his little fling with Charlotte. Jack had a slight smile in the corner of his mouth, and Avi noticed which made him very afraid of Jack.

'And I'm guessing by your silence, you didn't know I knew about it?' he continued, laughing in Avi's face.

'So is that why you killed her?'

'What makes you believe I killed her?'

'Because she was having an affair with me.'

'Don't think so highly of yourself,' Jack continued to laugh. 'I couldn't care less if she was having an affair. The fact that you think you were special to her is hilarious. Charlotte was constantly sleeping around, she was a whore, but you didn't know that, did you?'

Avi felt humiliated. This wasn't how he expected the conversation to go. Jack laughed before slamming the door in Avi's face and continued making his sandwich. He noticed the garden light was on as he glanced through the window. He felt a presence watching him, but there was nobody in his eyesight.

Jack leaned in closer to the window to get a better vantage point of his garden. It's probably just a cat, he thought. But then something caught his eye. The mystery man was back, hiding almost out of sight, down the bottom of the garden.

Jack took a step back out of shock, as the man laughed deeply. The light in the garden turned off sharply, leaving Jack with nothing but the thought of the man continuing to stare at him. He quickly darted for the back door and made sure it was locked, before rolling down the kitchen blind.

Jack fell to the kitchen floor, terrified and panicking. Who is this guy? And what does he want?

Jacob and Belle arrived home with their arms full of Chinese food. Kate rushed over to help lighten the load and carried it through to the kitchen. All three of their stomachs growled as the smell from the food became unbearable.

'Let’s hurry up and eat this grub,' Jacob announced.

As the three of them tucked into their dinner, Jacob's phone began to ring and he began to sigh while placing his head in his hands. He picked his phone up off the kitchen counter and headed for his bedroom before answering.

'DS Wright,' he announced.

'Jacob, we've got another body,' Ally informed him.

'Where?'

'The same place our last vic was found,' she enlightened him.

'Okay, I'll be there within the hour.'

Jacob hung up, headed to the kitchen and scoffed some more of his food, before picking his coat up.

'Where you going?' Belle asked.

'Got another crime scene.'

'But you've only just got home,' Kate sighed.

'I know. I'm really sorry,' Jacob apologised before jogging for the door. 'I'll see you both later.'

Jacob shut the door behind him and ran towards the elevator. Once he reached the ground floor, he sprinted to his car and raced towards the crime scene, with his police lights flashing brightly throughout the Birmingham streets.

Barnes awoke again, with a pounding headache, laying on a cold, damp floor. Confused and dazed about his surroundings, he realised he'd been moved. But when? he thought. I don't remember being anywhere other than the warehouse. He suddenly noticed a slight pain in the crease of his arm, like he'd been injected with a needle.

As he rubbed where the pain resided, his eyes locked on to a little red spot. So they did inject me with something. He noticed his wrists weren’t tied together and as he moved his body to pull himself off the floor, his legs jangled with the sound of a metal chain. The chain, attached to ankle bracelets, connected to the wall beside him.

'Where the hell am I?' he asked himself out loud.

Barnes tried to shuffle to get a better look at his surroundings. He felt like the floor was tilting from side to side. That's some crazy stuff they gave me. His vision was blurry and his head was still pounding.

The room was extremely dark, and the tiny square windows were blacked out. A noise made itself known to Barnes' ears. The sound of people laughing in the distance, chuckling away, enjoying themselves. I must be near to a road, he thought.

Barnes roared out loud at the top of his lungs, 'Help!'

He could still hear laughing as it gained closer, but Barnes' voice was too raspy from the injection he'd received.

He tried again, opening his airwaves, 'Help! I'm in here!'

Then he heard nothing but silence. Maybe they've heard me, he rejoiced. But then he heard footsteps, not coming from the other side of the wall, but coming towards the room, behind the door. Shit, he panicked. They've heard me.

The door opened, blinding Barnes with a bright light, shining from behind the silhouette in front.

'So, you're awake,' the voice said.

Barnes knew exactly who it was. His captor was still nearby and had been the entire time. She must have heard his cries for help and come to silence him. They both heard the sound of people outside talking and laughing again, as Lily placed a finger over her lips, telling him to be quiet.

Barnes had no idea whether to listen to her or risk it, to try and save himself. He took the option that would be less painful and hopefully keep him alive slightly longer.

'Good boy,' she mocked him. 'You know what's best for you.'

'Where are we?' he asked, unsure of their location.

'Like I'm going to tell you that. If I hear any more from you, I'll have no choice but to gag you. Do you understand?'

Barnes said nothing, just nodded,