Within the Shadows, J.D MCG [best ereader for comics .TXT] 📗

and slower until she fell into a deep sleep. It wasn't long before she was awake again. Her dreams quickly turned to nightmares as all that was on her mind was her kidnapping and being held prisoner. Her strong will and bravery suddenly turned to mush thinking about the past few days and what she'd been through. Tears started to flood down from her eyes, her thoughts remained on her trauma and the other victims inside that room.

A noise startled Scarlett, making her jump out of fright. Her heart beat fast as she slowly removed herself from the sofa, one foot at a time. She crept towards the window to see a cat balancing itself on her garden furniture. Scarlett sighed with relief, knowing there was nobody outside waiting to pounce on her again.

Deciding she needed a drink, she headed towards the kitchen and opened the cupboard, removing half a bottle of vodka and pouring herself a glass. After a sip, she started to relax slightly. That's better, she thought, lifting the glass back to her lips and emptying it down her throat. Images of her kidnapping came flooding back, the moment she was taken and hurled into the back of a van. The colour of the van and the face of her kidnapper was still blurry.

Pouring herself another glass of vodka, she made her way back to her sofa, hoping it would send her straight off to sleep. She perched on the edge, knocked back the drink and spread herself along the sofa, laying flat, trying to close her eyes. She hoped for a fantastic night's sleep, but she knew that wouldn't happen.

As Scarlett lay awake, she listened to the sound of silence. Nothing but stillness filled the air. It was awfully quiet, not even the sound of traffic was hitting her ears. Her eyes just stared above at the ceiling. She needed to sleep but didn't want to, as the thought crossed her mind that somebody may be spying and waiting for her to drift off. Her tired eyes blinked slower and slower until she fell asleep. Nothing could wake her, not even the sound of someone breaking in.

Barnes drove his Jag up to the police cordon outside of the car park on Birmingham High Street. As they exited the car, they showed the uniformed officer their police badges before entering the crime scene where they were met by Sarah and Brian.

'What have we got?' Barnes inquired.

'A couple arrived back at their car when they noticed a pool of dried blood outside the back doors of the van,' Sarah informed them as they approached the van on the second floor.

The group arrived at the van which was surrounded by forensics. Chloe Fisher circled the van taking photos of all the evidence laying nearby. The back doors of the van were wide open and all the peering eyes could see the battered body of a woman lying in her own blood.

'Are there any cameras around here?' Barnes asked.

'Just your usual security style ones,' Sarah replied. 'Ethan's already checking them out.'

Barnes peeked in, getting a good look at the body, and noticed Julia Higgins in a white forensic suit, checking over the body, which was surrounded by tools and workman's equipment.

'Evening,' he greeted.

'Joe,' she announced his presence.

'Have you got an idea of how she died?'

'I can't give you a definite answer, but by the ligature marks on her neck

I think she was strangled, but I don't think it killed her. Her head seems to have been hit by a heavy object on more than one occasion. My initial guess is the assailant strangled her, thought they'd killed her, but when she woke, they got scared and grabbed the closest object and hit her repeatedly with force, bludgeoning her to death. Found her driving license inside her bag. Her name's Natalie Dixon.'

'Have you got an estimated time of death?'

'From the dried blood to the decomposition of the body, I'd say the time of death would roughly be around two days.'

'Thank you, Julia. Can you get back to me when you've got confirmation?'

'Of course, Joe. Don't I always?' she smiled.

Barnes just smiled and nodded before he strolled back to his team to give them an update.

'Julia has just confirmed our victim's name is Natalie Dixon. She died of blunt force trauma to her head after attempted strangulation. Julia has a rough time of death of the 23rd which matches our time frame with Jack Roberts' blood-stained clothes and the night we arrested him,' he explained. 'Julia has also theorised what might have happened.'

'Let's hear it then, boss,' Ally spoke up.

'She seems to think our assailant tried to strangle Natalie, thought they succeeded until she woke up. Then they hit her hard in the head with an object to finish her off,' he informed them.

'Problem is, there's no murder weapon,' Sarah told him.

'Well done, Sarah,' he laughed. 'Guess whose just nominated themselves for a murder weapon search?'

Everyone laughed, except for Sarah, who gave Barnes a sarcastic smile as she placed on latex gloves and began to lead the search of the car park. Barnes strolled over towards the security office with Jacob and Ally, to see what Ethan had found.

'Have you got anything?' Barnes asked.

Ethan glanced up from the monitor to see Barnes, then returned his eyes to the screen.

'Yes, boss. Come have a look at this.'

The three of them crowded around Ethan and the footage. Once he pressed play, Ethan saw his boss smile with glee.

'We've got him!' he cheered as his eyes fixated on Jack Roberts, exiting the transit van. 'Ethan, burn me a copy please.'

Ethan said nothing, just nodded, and Barnes skipped happily back to the scene. Ally and Jacob followed close behind again.

'I just can't believe that is the same guy we met, crying