Within the Shadows

by J. D MCG

  'Just being you,' he smiled.

  The pair of them heard Kate and Belle's bedroom door open and they freaked out slightly, knowing the girls probably knew Ally had stayed the night.

  'Oh my God. They're going to know,' she panicked.

  'It's okay. I'll try and get them out before we have to leave.'

  Jacob left the bedroom, closing the door behind him, to see Belle and Kate standing in front of him. He jumped slightly from fright, not realising how close they were.

  'Why's it smell like bacon out here?' Belle enquired.

  'I made myself breakfast,' he lied.

  'Jacob, in the whole time I've lived here, you've never once made breakfast,' she laughed.

  'She's got a point,' Kate butted in.

  'Well aren't you two the little detectives this morning?' he laughed nervously before strutting into the kitchen.

  They both followed him, giving each other a strange glare like something was wrong.

  'What's going on, Jacob?' Kate asked.

  'What do you mean? There's nothing going on,' he continued to lie.

  'She's here, isn't she?' Belle raised an eyebrow and smiled cheekily.

  'Who do you mean?' he avoided eye contact.

  'Ally? She stayed the night, didn't she? You dirty dog,' Belle continued to joke, making both her and Kate giggle.

  'Maybe,' he admitted.

  'It's fine by us. We quite like her,' Kate said with confidence.

  Jacob smiled before ushering them off. 'Don't you two have to get ready for work?'

  The pair huffed at him, knowing he wanted them gone so she could sneak out. Jacob walked back into the bedroom to see Ally buttoning up her blouse. She'd picked at the breakfast, but her nerves stopped her from eating.

  'I'm going to be doing the walk of shame if I turn up at the station like this,' she said.

  'I had a really good time last night,' Jacob announced.

  'Well of course you did,' she joked and winked at him. 'Jokes aside, I did too.' She kissed him on the lips.

  'Shall we drop by yours first, so you can change?' Jacob asked.

  'If you don't mind? I don't really want people to gossip.'

  They both sneaked out of the apartment and raced to Ally's place, before their eventful day at work.

  'Have you thought any more about that job yet?' he asked nervously.

  'I don't think I'm gonna take it. I've got everything I need right here,' she grinned.

  * * *

  Brian was first in the dark, unlit office. He flicked through some of the paperwork on his desk while he waited for the others to arrive. Next in was DCI Barnes, who had a slight skip in his step, smiling profusely.

  'Morning, sir,' Brian greeted him.

  'Good morning, Brian,' Barnes replied before whistling into his office.

  What's going on with him? he wondered. Barnes is acting unusually peculiar this morning. Sarah arrived next in the same sort of manner and plonked herself at her desk, not realising she was being watched.

  'You're rather chirpy this morning,' Brian said, glaring at her with a confused appearance.

  'Am I not allowed to be happy?' she frowned, making Brian slump back into his work.

  Another half an hour passed before Jacob and Ally entered, giggling like school children. Brian's thoughts wandered from his work as did Sarah's. Everyone noticed the strange behaviour from DI Miller and DS Wright. Brian finally clicked about why everyone was so happy.

  'I know what's going on?' he shouted. 'Barnes whistling, Sarah smiling and you two giggling. You all got some last night,' he roared with laughter.

  Ally and Jacob stopped giggling, worried they'd been found out.

  'Sit down, you moron,' Sarah shouted, knowing he was probably right.

  Barnes was leaning on the door frame of his office, watching everyone. 'If that's the only case you've solved in the last six months, DC Edwards, then God help us all,' he joked, making everyone in the office roar with laughter.

  Brian sat down with embarrassment, lowering his head back into his work.

  'Has anyone seen Ethan this morning?' Jacob asked, noticing he wasn't perched at his desk like usual.

  'No. Usually, he's the first one here,' Sarah answered.

  Seconds later, Ethan strolled in, not noticing people were staring at him. He removed his arms from his coat, placed it over the back of his chair and sat down.

  'DC Robinson, is everything alright?' Barnes asked him.

  Ethan glanced up. 'Yeah, why? What's wrong?'

  'Well, usually you're the first one here,' Jacob answered.

  'Sorry to be off schedule,' he laughed slightly. 'Got stuff going on.'

  'If there's anything we can help with, let us know. We're all family here,' said Barnes.

  'Thank you, sir,' he replied before returning to his screen.

  'DS Wright, DI Miller, can I see you in my office?' Barnes asked politely. They both wandered inside and Barnes shut the door behind them. 'Are you both heading to Harrington Labs this morning?'

  'Yes, sir,' they answered at the same time.

  'I want to know what you find right away. Hemmings is busting my balls on what new information we're withholding. Call me the minute you find anything.'

  They nodded as they left his office and walked back to their desks. Minutes later, Sarah approached Ally clutching some files from Natalie Dixon's home computer.

  'I think you should take a look at these.'

  'What are they?' Ally enquired.

  'These are the files found on Natalie Dixon's home computer. They are the patient files on who she gave this experimental drug to,' Sarah explained. 'Names, addresses, the lot.'

  'Thank you, Sarah.'

  Ally flicked through each case file, coming across names of people they already had in custody, but also others who'd had the drug.

  'Jacob, come and have a look at this,' she said. Jacob approached and leant over her shoulder to take a look at the file in her hand. 'Recognise this lady?' she asked.

  'Is that Charlotte Roberts?'

  'Yes. These are the people Natalie signed up for trials of the drug.'

  'But why is Charlotte on that list? And why is Jack Roberts showing sign of taking the drug if it was his wife taking them?' Jacob started raising questions.

  'Maybe she wasn't taking them. Maybe she was dosing Jack with them for some reason.'

  'Did she sign up for the experimental drug, not for her but her husband?'

  'She was having an affair, maybe she wanted to poison him?'

  'I'm looking at the missing people reports of Harrington Labs employees. They date back longer than we initially thought,' he informed her.

  'How long?'

  'So far, about forty years.'

  'Shit,' she replied shocked.

  Jacob returned to his desk. Scrolling through the missing people reports on the computer, he came across a familiar surname. Blackwood. Lily was right. Her mum did work for Harrington Labs and she is missing. Cassandra Blackwood had been missing since the year 2000. The last place she'd been seen was at work. There was a photo on the case file, showing Jacob her mother's appearance. She looks just like her mother, he thought. Jacob stood up, walked over to Ally and informed her of his findings.

  'Lily was right,' he said.

  'What?' she replied, confused about what he was saying.

  'Her mother’s disappearance. She was right. Cassandra Blackwood's been missing since the early 2000's and the last place she was seen was Harrington Labs,' he shared his information.

  'Christ!' she yelled slightly.

  The pair of them waltzed into Barnes' office, catching him off guard and making him jump with fright.

  'What do you two want?'

  'You said to come to you if we had any new information,' Jacob said.

  'What have you found?' he enquired.


  'Sarah gave me some files they'd found on Natalie Dixon's computer, regarding her patients who she trialled the experimental drug on. One of these patients was Charlotte Roberts,' Ally informed him.

  'Jack Roberts’ wife?'

  'Yes.'

  'But his test came back positive for the drug, didn't it?'

  'Yes, sir,' she answered again. 'Our initial thought is, she was drugging her husband.'

  'But why?'

  'We don't know yet, sir.'

  'I found something too,' Jacob piped up. 'Searching through the missing people cases in relation to Harrington Labs employees, I discovered Lily was telling the truth about her mother.'

  'Explain?' Barnes asked.

  'She worked there and it was the last place she was seen back in February 2000,' Jacob explained to Barnes.

  'Okay, so you think your crazy, manipulative, psycho ex-fiancee was telling the truth?' he sarcastically replied. 'Did you somehow forget what that woman did to me, DS Wright?'

  Barnes was raging with anger and Jacob knew this, not just by his remark, but because he called him by his police title. Ally bowed her head in silence, not wanting to say a word.

  'No, sir, I haven't,' Jacob answered calmly. He turned his head to Ally and whispered, 'Can you give us a minute?' Ally left the two of them in the office alone. 'I think you seem to be forgetting something as well, sir.'

  Barnes' face was red with fury. 'What do you think I'm forgetting?'

  'I know everything. About S.T.O.R.M, the diamonds, the lot,' he announced.

  'DS Wright, whatever your uncle has told you...'

  Jacob interrupted, 'He hasn't told me anything, Sir. Don't forget, we're all detectives. The pieces have started to fit into the puzzle. I know you gave Dan the diamonds that night.'

  'Accusations like that would have Anti-corruption on my arse and I could be dismissed as well as prosecuted,' Barnes started to worry.

  'Which is why I haven't said anything. I know they are in a safe place and not in evidence.' Barnes started to relax, but still tense. 'I’m going to ask you again. How long have you been working for S.T.O.R.M?'

  'I'm not. When we started to believe Elizabeth Blackwood was committing ritual killings, me and your father contacted Dan and told him everything we knew. The night of the raid, when we caught Ava, I saw the diamonds on the floor. I couldn't take the risk of anyone else picking them up, so I took them and gave them to Dan to keep them locked away,' Barnes confessed. 'If anyone finds out, I'll be sacked. No one will believe the real story.'

  'But won't they need it for the investigation?'

  'There are only two people that know about the diamonds and they’re the two people in this room.'

  'They called out to me, you know.' Jacob said, making Barnes stare at him confused. 'The diamonds. I heard whispers coming from them.'

  'What did they say?'

  'I couldn't hear them. Do you think our four suspects are telling the truth about their alter-egos?'

  'I think they're crackpots who want a lighter sentence by pleading insanity. There's too much evidence to prove their condition was brought on by the drug they were trialling.'

  '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 mo
re 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 telling me something is going to happen there.'

  * * *

  Barnes remained seated, hidden away in his office, filling out the remaining paperwork which had sat on his desk for weeks. His head pounded as the craving returned. His eyes removed off the paperwork momentarily and focused on the desk drawer below. No, Joe, he talked himself out of it. His sight returned to the files. This was always the boring part of his job and he always hated it. The phone on his desk rang out, giving him the distraction he needed.

  'DCI Barnes,' he answered.

  PC Bell from the station’s reception was on the other end. 'Sir, we've got a situation down here. You've been requested.'

  'I'm on my way,' he replied, placing the phone down and marching his way down to reception.

  He rushed out of the office and locked eyes with Sarah. He snapped his fingers at her, Brian and Ethan, instructing them to follow him as he burst through the doors out of the CID. Walking through the corridor, they heard a commotion. What's going on? Barnes wondered. They were greeted by dozens of police officers, surrounding Scarlett Thatcher, who had marks and rashes across her skin. Her face was unrecognisable because of the number of cysts and rashes that covered her.

  'Scarlett? What's going on?'