Within the Shadows by J.D MCG (knowledgeable books to read .txt) 📕

a tapping of footsteps outside. He crawled closer to the blacked-out window. Is there someone out there? he thought.

He heard a couple of footsteps above him. He had no idea where he was being held, but he had hopes that the movement above, was a rescue team coming to free him.

Watching the shadows beneath the door, he waited to observe what was about to happen. Lily and Cain stayed still and had been the entire time until he noticed Cain's shadow move slightly. Barnes waited.

A creaky door echoed. Lily and Cain still in their positions, unmoved. It was still quiet and unnerving. Barnes' heart began to race and beat faster and faster with every silent second. Then he heard something.

'Police,' a familiar voice appeared throughout the boat. 'Is anybody down here?'

Barnes hesitated. He knew Lily would harm his family if he spoke and on the other hand, Ally could die if he didn't. He didn't have long to decide what to do, and with every moment he wasted, Ally was a little closer to danger. The shadows of Lily and Cain disappeared into the dark as the light vanished.

Ally was in. Nobody answered her call, making her uneasy and anxious. She took another step down the stairs and into the pit of the boat. Her gun aimed in front of her, pointing the barrel where she faced.

She was scared but she didn't want to show it. If Barnes wasn't here, she didn't know if they'd ever find him. She glanced around the room, not being able to see much other than where she was walking. The canal boat was run down, dusty and needed a lick of paint. A good place to stash someone, she thought.

Her heart began to race, her mind wandering all over the place, thinking about who was lurking in the dark. Ally moved slowly through the darkness, taking one step at a time, her gun still protecting her.

She heard a creak from a floorboard. Someone was approaching her.

'Hello,' she called out. 'This is the police. Come out with your hands above your head.'

Still, nothing but silence. Sarah crept down the stairs behind her, making Ally jump with fright, removing her eyes from the darkness which lay in front of her.

'Jesus, Sarah,' she whispered.

'Sorry,' Sarah apologised, before she noticed a six-foot man, charging towards Ally. 'Ally, look out!' she cried.

Ally turned around to see Cain running at her from within the shadows. She dodged his fist, which flew at her with haste. She fell backwards onto the floor below Sarah's feet. Sarah aimed her gun at him.

'Don't move another fuckin' muscle!' Sarah yelled at him.

But that didn't stop Cain. He knew Sarah was just as frightened, as he quickly approached her, knocking her gun out of her hands and dropping it to the floor. Sarah took a step backwards, terrified and worried about what was about to happen to her and Ally. Cain laughed with a deep, frightening roar.

'Armed police! Don't move!' their backup shouted throughout the boat.

The game was over for Cain. He'd been caught.

'Who's laughing now?' Sarah said smugly.

The officers moved into the boat, cuffed Cain and dragged him outside, while Ally, Sarah and the other AFOs searched the rest of the boat. There was no sign of anyone else lurking in the dark, just a locked door at the far end.

'Is anyone else in here?' Ally shouted.

'Ally,' a man's voice shouted from the other side of the locked door.

'Barnes, is that you?' she shouted back, relieved that they'd actually found him alive.

'Yes.' He cried, knowing it was all over.

Ally started to kick the door down but realised it was no good. Sarah called for an officer to come forward. The pair of them moved out of the way as the officer used the end of his weapon to smash the lock on the door.

Ally and Sarah burst through the door to see Barnes on his knees, covered in blood, with an ankle bracelet around his leg which was chained to the wall. His face was unrecognisable it had been beaten so much. Barnes was crying tears of joy. The pain and suffering was over.

'I'm so glad to see you both,' he rejoiced.

Ally helped him to his feet, while Sarah sought after the keys to his ankle bracelet.

'You're okay now,' Ally told him.

Barnes cried as he hobbled out of the canal boat. Paramedics rushed over to assist Ally with helping Barnes to walk. He perched on a side platform while the paramedics checked him over.

'I'm so glad you've got them. I hope they spend eternity behind...'

Ally cut him off. Something bothered her about what he'd just said.

'They?' she asked.

'Lily and Cain,' Barnes answered.

'We only caught the one guy. There was no sign of Lily. Are you sure she was in there?'

'I'm positive,' he continued, starting to cry again.

He panicked, knowing how dangerous she was and she was back on the loose. The danger was real, and it terrified him. Then he thought of the threat she made towards his family.

'Are you sure she's not in there?' he asked again, confirming the reality of the situation.

'Yes, Barnes. I'm positive,' Ally repeated for the second time.

'Then we need a patrol car outside my ex-wife's house,' he yelled.

Ally was shocked. What has she done to him to terrify him this much?

'Okay.' She called Sarah over and asked her to send officers over to Vanessa Barnes' home. 'I need you to explain to me what happened, boss,' she demanded, placing both her hands on his shoulders.

'She wanted information from me. I don't know what she was asking me about,' he lied, 'but she threatened my family if I didn't tell her what she wanted to know.'

'It's okay. Your family will be alright,' she