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

pondered. He began to remove his focus from his thoughts and back onto his work. He researched Dissociative Identity Disorder and the main causes of it. The more he researched, the more he felt they were headed in the right direction about Jack.

Barnes opened his office door and stood glancing around. He then moved over to the briefing room and peeped inside to see Ally writing down notes on a notepad. When he opened the door, Jacob got off his seat and marched over to see what they were discussing.

'Are you ready?' Barnes asked her.

'Almost.'

Jacob entered the room. 'What's going on? Are you about to interview him?'

'You need to get yourself ready, Jacob. We will be soon,' Barnes informed him.

'I've been researching D.I.D, and I believe his trauma may have brought this on,' Jacob explained his thoughts.

'Good. I'm glad we're all on the same page about this. Now let's go and ask Jack or whatever personality he is today, where this unknown victim is,' Barnes demanded, trying not to raise his voice.

Jacob entered a room with a video surveillance screen set up, while Ally and Barnes entered the interview room, to see Jack Roberts alone without Simon Ballard present.

'Mr Roberts, do you not want your solicitor here?' Barnes asked.

'No, thank you,' he replied calmly with a smile.

'Okay then,' Barnes said as he sat down, while Ally placed the tape in the recorder.

Barnes did the usual speech into the tape recorder before they started the interview again.

'Mr Roberts...'

'Call me Jack,' he interrupted.

'Earlier we spoke to you about the bloodstained clothes we found at the Premier Inn you were staying at, and who the victim is? Are you going to tell us now?' Barnes continued.

'Maybe,' Jack replied, still smiling at them.

'Look, Jack,' Ally interrupted, 'Just tell us who and where this person is!' she raised her voice and lifted herself from her seat.

'Detective Inspector Miller, please don't interrupt your senior officer,' he spoke with a calm and well-spoken tone.

'Are you even Jack Roberts?' she asked while placing her bum back on her seat.

'Why do you ask?'

Barnes butted in. 'We think Jack suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, triggered by witnessing his mother and father’s murders. What we want to understand is why it's taken so long for you to make an appearance?'

'I'd like to say I've always been there, hiding within the shadows, but I'd be lying,' he confessed.

'So how long have you been in Jack's head?' Barnes continued with his line of questions.

'Since December,' he said sharply, remaining in the well-spoken tone.

'What triggered him for you to come out?' Ally desperately wanted to know.

'Do you really think I'm a personality?'

'Because we have two other people who we think have the same disorder, in our custody,' Barnes informed him.

'So you've found my brother and sisters?'

'What do you mean by brother and sisters? What are you?' Ally continued.

'DCI Barnes, I think you must already know. One of them must have told you when you were in their captivity,' he smiled leaning his elbows on the table between them.

Barnes thought about what he said and remembered what Cain had told him in the warehouse about his siblings.

'You know Nathan Lawrence?' Barnes asked him.

'You mean Cain? I don't know Nathan Lawrence,' he answered.

'Is Cain one of your siblings?'

'One of three.'

'Who are you?' Ally asked.

'My name is Damien. You might know me by another name.'

Barnes began to lose patience. 'Oh yeah, and what might that be?'

'Death,' he replied, his smile growing wider.

Nothing but silence filled the room. Barnes and Ally weren't sure how to react to what he'd just said. Barnes was getting frustrated by people claiming to be demons of some kind.

'Are you telling us that you are Death? One of the four horsemen?' Barnes humoured him.

'Yes, DCI Barnes, that is what I'm telling you,' he replied.

'I didn't realise death was a murderer,' Ally began to smirk, knowing her comment would annoy him.

'Are you going to tell us where your last victim is, or are we just wasting our time?' Barnes asked.

Jack just laughed at Barnes, knowing they needed to know where his final victim was. 'If you want to know, I can show you where they are,' he answered.

'Enough of your games. You know that's not going to happen,' Barnes shouted at him.

'Then you'll never know who or where they are,' he leant back in his chair, still keeping the psychotic smile on his face.

Barnes stood up and left the room, while Ally announced what was happening for the tape.

'DCI Barnes has exited the room. Interview terminated at 15.07.' She stopped the tape. 'Mr Roberts, someone will be along shortly to collect you.'

'I'm guessing he's not taking me up on my offer.'

'I guess not,' she smirked at him, before exiting the room.

Barnes was standing outside of the interview room waiting for Ally, his arms were folded and one arm reached to the bottom of his chin, with his index finger rubbing it.

'Please tell me you're not considering taking him up on his offer?' she asked him.

'Hopefully, we don't have to. I'm hoping he realises that he either tells us or doesn't, and thinks we're not giving in,' he explained his plan.

'Let’s hope it goes to plan then.'

Jacob came marching down the hallway towards them, his face red with anger.

'You're not going to give him what he wants, are you?' Jacob questioned him.

'What do you think?' Barnes answered with a rhetorical question.

'Good. We don't need another guy like that out on the street.'

The three of them walked back to the CID, contemplating what their next move would be, trying not to get to the conclusion of letting him out for a day trip to find the