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

he locked onto a blue transit van, entering the warehouse premises.

'Hey, guys,' he shouted.

Sarah and Brian rushed over to Ethan's desk, to see what he'd found.

'This van entered the premises a few hours before we arrived. They left not long after arriving and I'm going to track it with the other surveillance cameras to see where it ended up. I'm also running the plates. Hopefully, we'll have a match soon.'

'Good work, Ethan,' Sarah congratulated him on a job well done.

Ethan's computer pinged back information on the owner of the van.

'I've got a name and an address for the owner of the van. Mr Douglas Chambers. It's also been reported as stolen,' Ethan continued to inform them.

'Right, Ethan, I need you to carry on going through the CCTV. Me and Brian are going to pay Mr Chambers a visit and see if he has any information on our van thief,' she barked her orders, as the highest commanding officer in the office, before her and Brian left the CID.

Jacob stirred from his sleep, not knowing how he'd got home. The light outside started to fade. He had no idea what time it was, as he stumbled out of his bed and over to his en-suite. His head was thumping, his vision was blurry, and the feeling of wanting to throw up came with no warning as he leant over the toilet.

He knew he'd hit rock bottom. Once he'd stopped being sick, Jacob carried himself over to his kitchen and poured himself a glass of water, gulping it down as fast as he could.

Belle and Kate were sitting eating snacks but paused when Jacob made his entrance, keeping their eyes fixated on him.

'Rough day?' Belle asked, keeping her eyes locked on him while cramming her mouth full of food.

He just kept his head down, facing the sink. The thought of them eating made me want to puke. He checked the time.

'Damn. It's quarter past five,' he yelled in a panic.

'Chill. Ally dropped you off and told you to rest,' Kate informed him.

'I can't remember anything.' He rubbed his head.

'She told us to keep an eye on you. She said you'd been drinking?' Belle spoke up.

Jacob turned around to face them. 'Look, it's been a rough couple of weeks and I'm just having a rough time.'

'We're here for you if you need us,' Belle consoled him.

'Thank you both. I love you guys.'

They both smiled as Jacob wandered off back to his bed, and the pair of them continued their conversation.

'I'll ask my boss if they've got anything for you at weekends,' said Belle.

'Would you?' Kate replied ecstatically. 'I'd appreciate it.'

'No problem, we could do with the help.'

'Anyway, have you heard any more from Ben?' Kate inquired, wanting to hear some girly gossip.

'He phoned me earlier. We've got a date next week,' she replied with a smile.

Belle's life had turned around since she'd ran away from her parents, not that they noticed she was gone. They were probably too out of their faces to care. They weren't the best parents and as Belle started to get older, they became abusive. So Belle decided to run away.

She lived on the streets until she found an empty apartment that was unlocked from a police raid. She'd been staying there a while before she met Alex Baker, the owner of the apartment. He showed her kindness she hadn't experienced for a very long time.

But once again, destruction followed, when Alex was brutally murdered in the room next door to her. That's when Jacob came into her life. He'd become a big brother to her and her life was gradually getting better.

Memories of her life flooded her mind for a while, but instead of dwelling on the bad, she looked to the recent happiness she'd felt. For once in her horrible life, she was happy.

Sarah and Brian arrived at Douglas Chambers’ house. It was a pretty average house for the Birmingham area, in a busy little street. Young children riding bikes in the road, while others were on the field nearby playing football.

As they approached the house, Sarah noticed the door was slightly ajar. She pushed it open a bit wider, trying to get a look further inside.

'Hello,' she shouted. 'Mr Chambers, it's the police. Is it alright for us to come in?'

But there was no reply, making Sarah feel uneasy. She turned to Brian worried, as they were unarmed, and somebody could be waiting to attack them inside.

'What do you think?' She asked Brian for advice.

'I'll take the back, you go in through the front,' he gave his option.

'Coward,' she muttered, as Brian took off around the house.

She entered, slowly and steadily, making sure not to make a sound. As Sarah came to the doorway into the living room, she placed her back against the wall and took a quick peep inside the room. She couldn't see anybody, so carried on straight ahead, towards the kitchen.

That's when she found him, Mr Chambers, dead on the kitchen floor, surrounded by a pool of blood. His throat had been slashed like he'd been taken by surprise from behind. He was a middle-aged man, with longish grey hair and a slight goatee. He was quite muscular and if he hadn't been taken by surprise, he might have stood a chance against the killer.

Brian popped his head up by the kitchen window and saw Sarah stood over Douglas Chambers’ body. She called it in. Knowing she was contaminating the crime scene, she decided to leave the house. Her stomach churned and she threw up in the street, for all the children to see.

Brian came running around the corner, panting for breath. 'What happened in there?'

Sarah wiped the sick from her mouth before answering, 'He's been murdered,