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

'But do you think the supernatural exists? Do you not think something might be controlling them? After all, look what happened a couple of months ago,' Jacob said, hoping Barnes would tell the truth.

'To be honest, I don't know,' he answered honestly. Jacob got up off his seat and went to exit the office. 'Jacob, this conversation was just between us, wasn't it?' Barnes asked, hoping Jacob would stay quiet about the missing evidence.

'Yes, sir. Our little secret,' he smiled before leaving Barnes' office.

Jacob returned to his desk where he was greeted by another envelope that sat firmly upon his desk. His hands began to shake nervously and he frantically glanced around to see where it had come from. More photos, he thought. He placed his hand on the envelope, worried and scared to find out what was inside. He ripped the seal open and slid out the piece of paper from inside.

"I'll be seeing you soon, DS Wright."

The note was like the ransom style note they'd found at the crime scenes of their last case. Who is this person? he asked himself. Ally caught sight of Jacob's terrified face and wandered over to him with worry that he was keeping something secret from her.

'Is everything okay?'

Jacob stayed silent, shaking vigorously from fear and panic. He had no idea who this person was or what they wanted from him. He knew it wasn't Lily as she was locked away in a prison cell, which made him freak out even more. He was afraid of the unknown. The unknown of who they were.

'I've had another package,' he told Ally, handing her the envelope. 'We were only in Barnes' office for a couple of minutes and somebody has managed to dump this on my desk, undetected.'

She scanned the note with her eyes. 'This looks the same as the ones we found at the crime scenes last year.'

Jacob nodded. 'Is this ever going to end?' He plonked himself down in his chair and placed his head in his hands, leaning his elbows on his desk.

Ally placed her hand on his back. 'We'll find out who's sending these to you,' she comforted him.

An hour had passed since Jacob opened the envelope. Everyone's eyes glued to their computers while Ally returned to Jacob's desk. She towered over him.

'I think I've worked it out,' she said. 'Harrington Labs just sent us a list of their employees and one name stuck out. Scarlett Jones.'

'Isn't that one of the women you saved from Felicity James' farm house?' he asked.

'Yes. Let's start at the beginning. We have four suspects. Nathan Lawrence, Jack Roberts, Felicity James and Jenny Reynolds. Each of these is known to have had the experimental drug in their system at some point because of the trial conducted by Doctor Natalie Dixon. We started with Jack Roberts, who killed his wife in which we believed was because she was having an affair, but if you remember he confronted Mr Hussain and told him he already knew. So, why kill her now?' Jacob shrugged. 'We know Charlotte Roberts was on Natalie's list of patients but Jack had the drug in his system.'

'Maybe he found out Charlotte was trying to poison him?' Jacob said.

'Yes and that's why he killed her. Not because of the affair, but because she was trying to kill him. Then we move on to Felicity James, who captured women and starved them to death, one being Scarlett Thatcher before she escaped because of us.'

'Someone else related to the drug.'

'Then we've got Natalie Dixon murdered, along with her parents, who were given a dose of a mutated version of the drug. It all relates to this company and their production of the drug,' she finished explaining her theory.

'Do you think the Lab is a target?' Jacob asked.

'It may be a possible threat,' Ally agreed.

'We better inform DCI Barnes,' Jacob replied, rushing to his office, bursting through the door. 'Boss, we think Harrington Labs is going to be targeted.'

'Are you sure?' Barnes asked worriedly.

'This whole case might be about getting revenge on the people behind this drug,' Ally informed him.

'Why would they want to take such drastic action?'

'I've been looking into the D.I.D condition and if the other personalities feel the main host is threatened, they could take action. There's been a few reported cases of it happening. Not to mention that certain aspects of this drug can cause death over time, which Harrington Labs have ignored and why there was so much secrecy around it,' Ally continued explaining.

'I think you two need to head over there and ask a few more questions before we take any action,' Barnes said before returning to his paperwork.

'But, sir...' Ally tried to

'DI Miller, I can't phone Hemmings on a hunch. I need something more concrete,' Barnes interrupted. 'Now I suggest you two go and find out the reason why Jenny Reynolds is a threat to the company more than just because she popped a few pills,' Barnes finished rudely.

Ally stormed out, slamming the door wide open and marched angrily to her desk, grabbing her coat and exiting the CID. Jacob remained shocked inside Barnes' office.

'DS Wright, don't tell me you need to be told twice?' Barnes raised an eyebrow.

'No, sir,' he answered, leaving and closing the door gently behind him.

Jacob followed Ally out of the station and got inside her car, where he witnessed her red, vexed face.

'Arghh,' she yelled, releasing her anger from within. 'Why's he ignoring us?'

'He's right. We don't have any evidence about why she wants to attack Harrington Labs. Let's just get there and ask Mr Harrington if he knows Jenny and any reason why she'd want to hurt them,' Jacob calmly replied to her.

Ally calmed down. 'You're right. But my gut is