
Hiding in Plain Sight
starswrites001 · Ongoing · 47.4k Words
Introduction
Given one week to prove her "delusions" or face psychiatric evaluation, Lauren turns to the only person who believes her; her partner, Detective Alex Henderson, whose unwavering support feels like a lifeline in her darkest hour.
But as they chase evidence that always slips away at the last moment, Lauren doesn't realize that Alex is who she is investigating, and Alex's ancient bloodline requires a human sacrifice under the full moon to renew his fading powers.
And she's already been chosen.
Chapter 1
The fluorescent lights in my office hummed their familiar tune as I spread Marcus Valdez's case file across my desk for what had to be the hundredth time. Eleven PM on a Tuesday, and I was still here, still chasing the ghost that had haunted me for five years.
"Finally got you, you bastard," I whispered to the surveillance photo clipped to the inside cover. Marcus Valdez stared back at me with those cold, dead eyes that had watched three people die.
My phone chimed. A text from my neighbor: Your lights are still on. Go home, workaholic.
I ignored it and flipped to the evidence inventory. Everything was there, locked away in Evidence Room C: the murder weapon with Valdez's prints, the blood-spattered jacket found in his apartment, the witness statements that painted a clear picture of premeditated murder. Tomorrow morning, I'd walk into that courtroom and watch them put him away for life.
Five years. Five years of following dead-end leads, of watching him slip through legal loopholes, of nights like this when I couldn't sleep knowing he was still walking free. But not anymore.
Most detectives would have gone home hours ago, content to let tomorrow take care of itself. But I'd learned the hard way that cases could fall apart overnight if you weren't careful.
"Henderson, Morrison, Blackwood," I muttered, tracing connections with my finger. "What's the pattern?"
All three cases involved high-profile defendants with expensive lawyers. All three collapsed due to evidence tampering or witness intimidation. All three suspects walked free to commit more crimes.
But Valdez was different. His case was airtight. I'd triple-checked every piece of evidence, interviewed every witness multiple times, documented everything with obsessive precision. Nothing could go wrong this time.
My coffee had gone cold hours ago, but I drained the cup anyway. The bitter taste matched my mood perfectly.
A sound from the evidence room corridor made me look up. Footsteps? But the night security guard had already done his rounds an hour ago.
I checked my watch: 11:23 PM. The evidence rooms were supposed to be locked down for the night, accessible only with special authorization that had to be logged with security.
Another sound; definitely footsteps, soft and deliberate.
My hand moved instinctively to my service weapon as I stood and walked to my office door.
"Hello?" I called softly.
Silence.
I stepped into the hallway, every instinct screaming that something was wrong. The evidence room corridor branched off to my left, and as I approached the corner, I could see light spilling from underneath the door to Evidence Room C.
That was impossible. The rooms were supposed to be dark unless someone was inside, and the access logs would show any entry.
I pressed my back against the wall and peered around the corner. Through the reinforced glass window of Evidence Room C, I could see movement—a dark shape shifting between the evidence shelves.
I drew my weapon and moved closer to the door. The electronic lock showed a red light, sealed and secure. But inside, the shadow continued its impossible dance through my carefully organized evidence.
"This is Detective James," I called through the door, my voice steady despite the adrenaline flooding my system. "You're in a restricted area. Come out with your hands visible."
The movement stopped.
For a heartbeat, everything was perfectly still. Then the lights in Evidence Room C went out.
"Shit." I fumbled for my flashlight with one hand while keeping my weapon trained on the door with the other. The beam cut through the darkness inside, revealing empty aisles between evidence shelves.
Empty.
But that was impossible. I'd been watching the only exit.
I swiped my access card and heard the lock disengage with a soft click. The door opened smoothly, and I stepped inside, flashlight sweeping the room in careful arcs.
"Chicago PD! Show yourself!"
The lights slammed back on, flooding the room with harsh fluorescence. I spun around, weapon raised, and found myself face-to-face with someone I recognized.
"Lauren? What the hell are you doing in here?"
Detective Alex Henderson stood in the doorway, his hand still on the light switch. His dark hair was slightly messed, like he'd been running his fingers through it, and his usually pristine shirt was wrinkled. Even disheveled, he managed to look like he'd stepped off a recruitment poster.
"Alex?" I lowered my weapon slightly but didn't holster it. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." He stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "It's almost midnight. Shouldn't you be home getting beauty sleep before your big day tomorrow?"
"I saw someone in here. Movement through the window. How did you get in?"
He held up his access card. "Same as you, I assume. I was working late on the Richardson case when I heard voices from this direction. Thought I'd check it out."
I studied his face, looking for any sign of deception. Alex had been my partner for six months, assigned after my previous partner retired. He was competent, reliable, and had a way of staying calm under pressure that I envied. But right now, something felt off.
"You didn't see anyone else? A dark figure moving between the shelves?"
Alex looked around the evidence room, his expression carefully neutral. "Just you, Lauren. Are you feeling okay? You've been putting in a lot of hours on the Valdez case."
"I know what I saw."
"I'm not saying you didn't see something. Maybe it was shadows from the security patrol outside, or..."
"It was inside the room, Alex. Moving between the evidence shelves like..." I trailed off, realizing how insane I was about to sound.
"Like what?"
I holstered my weapon and turned back to the Valdez evidence box. My hands shook slightly as I opened it, praying that everything would be exactly where I'd left it.
The box was empty.
"No." The word came out as barely a whisper. "No, no, no, this can't be happening."
I frantically searched through the box, as if the murder weapon and blood-stained jacket might somehow be hiding in the corners. But there was nothing, just empty space where my case should have been.
"Lauren?" Alex moved closer, his voice gentle with concern. "What's wrong?"
I stared at him, at his worried expression and his rumpled clothes, and for the first time in six months of partnership, I wondered who Alex Henderson really was.
Last Chapters
#30 Chapter 30: The House of Eyes (Sophie POV)
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#29 Chapter 29: Cracks in the Glass (Lauren POV)
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#28 Chapter 28: Uninvited Contact (Alex POV)
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#27 Chapter 27: The Silent Watcher (Viktor POV)
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#26 Chapter 26: Inside the Envelope (Lauren POV)
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#25 Chapter 25: The Valdez Connection (Lauren POV)
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#24 Chapter 24: The Man in the Mirror (Lauren POV)
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#23 Chapter 23: The Calm Before (Lauren POV)
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#22 Chapter 22: The Breaking Point (Lauren POV)
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#21 Chapter 21: Valdez Released (Lauren POV)
Last Updated: 1/27/2026
You Might Like 😍
After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms
On my birthday, he took her on vacation. On our anniversary, he brought her to our home and made love to her in our bed...
Heartbroken, I tricked him into signing divorce papers.
George remained unconcerned, convinced I would never leave him.
His deceptions continued until the day the divorce was finalized. I threw the papers in his face: "George Capulet, from this moment on, get out of my life!"
Only then did panic flood his eyes as he begged me to stay.
When his calls bombarded my phone later that night, it wasn't me who answered, but my new boyfriend Julian.
"Don't you know," Julian chuckled into the receiver, "that a proper ex-boyfriend should be as quiet as the dead?"
George seethed through gritted teeth: "Put her on the phone!"
"I'm afraid that's impossible."
Julian dropped a gentle kiss on my sleeping form nestled against him. "She's exhausted. She just fell asleep."
Omega Bound
Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life.
Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
The Prison Project
Can love tame the untouchable? Or will it only fuel the fire and cause chaos amongst the inmates?
Fresh out of high school and suffocating in her dead-end hometown, Margot longs for her escape. Her reckless best friend, Cara, thinks she's found the perfect way out for them both - The Prisoner Project - a controversial program offering a life-changing sum of money in exchange for time spent with maximum-security inmates.
Without hesitation, Cara rushes to sign them up.
Their reward? A one-way ticket into the depths of a prison ruled by gang leaders, mob bosses, and men the guards wouldn't even dare to cross...
At the centre of it all, meets Coban Santorelli - a man colder than ice, darker than midnight, and as deadly as the fire that fuels his inner rage. He knows that the project may very well be his only ticket to freedom - his only ticket to revenge on the one who managed to lock him up and so he must prove that he can learn to love…
Will Margot be the lucky one chosen to help reform him?
Will Coban be capable of bringing something to the table other than just sex?
What starts off as denial may very well grow in to obsession which could then fester in to becoming true love…
A temperamental romance novel.
The mafia princess return
The Biker's Fate
I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Dani," he pressed. "Do you get me?"
"No, Austin, I don't," I admitted as I pulled my robe closed again and sat up. "You confuse me."
He dragged his hands down his face. "Tell me what's on your mind."
I sighed. "You're everything my parents warned me against. You're secretive, but you're also honest. I feel wholly protected by you, but then you scare me more than anyone I've ever known. You're a bad boy, but when I dated a so-called good one, he turned out to be the devil, so, yeah, I don't get you because you're not what I expected. You drive me crazier than anyone I've ever met, but then you make me feel complete. I'm feeling things I don't quite know how to process and that makes me want to run. I don't want to give up something that might be really, really good, but I also don't want to be stupid and fall for a boy just because he's super pretty and makes me come."
Danielle Harris is the daughter of an overprotective police chief and has led a sheltered life. As a kindergarten teacher, she's as far removed from the world of Harleys and bikers as you could get, but when she's rescued by the sexy and dangerous Austin Carver, her life is changed forever.
Although Austin 'Booker' Carver is enamored by the innocent Dani, he tries to keep the police chief's daughter at arm's length. But when a threat is made from an unexpected source, he finds himself falling hard and fast for the only woman who can tame his wild heart.
Will Booker be able to find the source of the threat before it's too late?
Will Dani finally give her heart to a man who's everything she's been warned about?
Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate
What? No—wait… oh Moon Goddess, no.
Please tell me you're joking, Lex.
But she's not. I can feel her excitement bubbling under my skin, while all I feel is dread.
We turn the corner, and the scent hits me like a punch to the chest—cinnamon and something impossibly warm. My eyes scan the room until they land on him. Tall. Commanding. Beautiful.
And then, just as quickly… he sees me.
His expression twists.
"Fuck no."
He turns—and runs.
My mate sees me and runs.
Bonnie has spent her entire life being broken down and abused by the people closest to her including her very own twin sister. Alongside her best friend Lilly who also lives a life of hell, they plan to run away while attending the biggest ball of the year while it's being hosted by another pack, only things don't quite go to plan leaving both girls feeling lost and unsure about their futures.
Alpha Nicholas is 28, mateless, and has no plans to change that. It's his turn to host the annual Blue Moon Ball this year and the last thing he expects is to find his mate. What he expects even less is for his mate to be 10 years younger than him and how his body reacts to her. While he tries to refuse to acknowledge that he has met his mate his world is turned upside down after guards catch two she-wolves running through his lands.
Once they are brought to him he finds himself once again facing his mate and discovers that she's hiding secrets that will make him want to kill more than one person.
Can he overcome his feelings towards having a mate and one that is so much younger than him? Will his mate want him after already feeling the sting of his unofficial rejection? Can they both work on letting go of the past and moving forward together or will fate have different plans and keep them apart?
I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis
Technically, Rhys Granger was my fiancé now—billionaire, devastatingly hot, and a walking Wall Street wet dream. My parents shoved me into the engagement after Catherine disappeared, and honestly? I didn’t mind. I’d crushed on Rhys for years. This was my chance, right? My turn to be the chosen one?
Wrong.
One night, he slapped me. Over a mug. A stupid, chipped, ugly mug my sister gave him years ago. That’s when it hit me—he didn’t love me. He didn’t even see me. I was just a warm-bodied placeholder for the woman he actually wanted. And apparently, I wasn’t even worth as much as a glorified coffee cup.
So I slapped him right back, dumped his ass, and prepared for disaster—my parents losing their minds, Rhys throwing a billionaire tantrum, his terrifying family plotting my untimely demise.
Obviously, I needed alcohol. A lot of alcohol.
Enter him.
Tall, dangerous, unfairly hot. The kind of man who makes you want to sin just by existing. I’d met him only once before, and that night, he just happened to be at the same bar as my drunk, self-pitying self. So I did the only logical thing: I dragged him into a hotel room and ripped off his clothes.
It was reckless. It was stupid. It was completely ill-advised.
But it was also: Best. Sex. Of. My. Life.
And, as it turned out, the best decision I’d ever made.
Because my one-night stand isn’t just some random guy. He’s richer than Rhys, more powerful than my entire family, and definitely more dangerous than I should be playing with.
And now, he’s not letting me go.
The War God Alpha's Arranged Bride
Yet Alexander made his decision clear to the world: “Evelyn is the only woman I will ever marry.”
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother
"What is wrong with me?
Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?
It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.
He’s my boyfirend’s brother.
This is Tyler’s family.
I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.
**
As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.
Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.
When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.
I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.
**
I hate girls like her.
Entitled.
Delicate.
And still—
Still.
The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.
Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.
I shouldn’t care.
I don’t care.
It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.
It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.
I’m not here to rescue anyone.
Especially not her.
Especially not someone like her.
She’s not my problem.
And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.
But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
Invisible To Her Bully
My Possessive Alpha Twins For Mate
My drunk stepfather remained indifferent, his weight suffocating, making it hard to breathe as my heart raced.
Suddenly, the door slammed open, and two figures burst in.
"Get off her!" a deafening roar echoed.
I didn't expect the twin brothers who'd bullied me at school to come charging in like gods to save me.
After my grandmother passed, I had to move in with my mom and stepdad, who treated me like a servant. I prayed every day for my 18th birthday to come, so l could leave and escape this broken home.
However, on my first day at my new school, l encountered the legendary twins everyone feared.
To make matters worse, the Moon Goddess revealed they were both my mates!
After helping me out with my stepdad, my twin mate cornered me, played with my hair, and whispered possessively, "You belong to us, our little mate..."
Thornhill Academy
A demon king who would burn realms to keep her safe.
A dragon-shifter whose fire bows to her skin.
A hellhound bound to her soul.
A professor who was never supposed to want her.
And the man who broke for her long before he ever touched her.
Five men. Five obsessions. Five hearts tethered to hers by magic older than the Wall itself.
Hunted, haunted, and newly awakened, Allison is dragged into a rebellion built on blood and belief, the same fight her parents died trying to protect. As enemies close in and desire sharpens into something dangerous, she must decide what kind of power she will become. The weapon the Council always wanted. Or the storm that tears their world apart. Because when Allison rises, kingdoms kneel and when she loves, she loves like war.
Dark Academia | Reverse Harem | Dark Romance | Dark Humour | Action-Packed | Steamy | Unputdownable












