Secrets in the Shadows: A Detective's Heartbeat

Secrets in the Shadows: A Detective's Heartbeat

Casey Brew · Ongoing · 257.7k Words

866
Hot
867
Views
260
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

In the dead of night, a brutal murder shatters the peace of a quiet neighborhood. A sharp-witted female detective and a seasoned male homicide detective are thrust together to solve the case. As they dive into a series of chilling mysteries, each more twisted than the last, their professional partnership evolves.

Through late-night stakeouts and heart-pounding chases, their bond deepens, and mutual respect turns into a burgeoning romance. But with a cunning killer always one step ahead, they must stay focused to survive. In a world where shadows conceal the darkest truths, can they trust each other enough to bring justice?

Chapter 1

In the dead of night, an unexpected visitor slipped into a house.

The man of the house was lounging on the couch, eyeing the guest across from him. "You really came over at this hour for that?"

The guest's voice was raspy. "Can't we just talk?"

The man shook his head. "Nope."

The guest frowned. "I haven't even said what it's about."

The man replied, "I already know."

The guest sighed, "What a shame. I thought we could be friends."

Suddenly, the room plunged into darkness.

The guest, wielding a long knife, slashed the man's neck, blood spraying everywhere like some twisted piece of art.

The man's eyes widened in shock as he clutched his neck, staring at the guest in disbelief before collapsing to the floor, twitching. He tried to crawl towards the bedroom, but after a few steps, he stopped moving, his hands falling away from his neck, blood pooling around him.

The guest, still holding the knife, moved swiftly. The blade flashed in the darkness as he entered the bedroom, his large hand gripping the knife, stabbing the woman of the house repeatedly.

The woman didn't even have time to scream before she fell silent from the stabbing.

But the guest didn't stop. The knife went in and out, as if he was venting his anger.

Blood quickly stained the floor, resembling blossoming, radiant petals.

Meanwhile, fireworks were going off outside the window, lighting up the night sky with bursts of color. No one would have guessed a brutal murder was happening in that room.

In the bedroom closet, a little boy covered his mouth, watching the horror unfold through a crack, his eyes wide with fear.

Next door lived a woman named Amelia Martinez. She was alone after her divorce and worked as a cashier, getting home around ten every night.

Tonight, like clockwork, she cycled back home at ten-thirty.

The night was beautiful, fireworks lighting up the sky. As she went upstairs, she hummed a little tune.

When Amelia got to her door, she noticed the door opposite was open, and it was dark inside. A strong, metallic smell hit her, making her want to vomit.

She was very familiar with the neighbors opposite. The man of the house was Joseph Smith, a detective, and the woman was Isabella Taylor, a news anchor at the city TV station, with their child named David Smith.

Amelia had a good relationship with her neighbors, always exchanging greetings daily.

But their door was never left open.

Feeling uneasy, Amelia called out, "Anyone home?"

The room was very quiet, with no response.

Confused and curious, Amelia thought about closing the door but decided to peek inside instead.

Everyone was a bit nosy, and Amelia was no different. She even felt a weird thrill.

It was too dark to see, so she turned on her flashlight.

The beam lit up a cabinet full of toys, then the dining table with dirty dishes, and finally the living room cluttered with stuff.

When the light hit the couch, a pair of bloodshot eyes stared back at her.

The sight of the pale, lifeless face made her freeze. Her legs gave out, and she fell backward, screaming, "Oh my God!"

A few minutes later, sirens shattered the quiet night.

When the lights came on, the dead body on the living room floor was clear as day, his eyes wide open.

When the police arrived, they quickly cordoned off the area. Soon, the forensic team, trace evidence technicians, and investigators were all over the place.

According to the forensic expert, the man had died from excessive blood loss due to a severed carotid artery, which led to death within three minutes. Since livor mortis hadn't set in yet and considering the rectal temperature, it was estimated he had died about two hours prior. More specific details would need an autopsy.

But the most gruesome scene was in the bedroom.

A rookie cop ran in and immediately rushed out, vomiting over the stair railing.

Even the seasoned detectives couldn't help but shudder at the sight inside the bedroom where the killer had dismembered the woman and arranged her body parts to form a human shape.

"Who could be so ruthless?" The officer in charge of the crime scene investigation clenched his fists, veins bulging on his forehead, and punched the wall, his hand bleeding.

"Don't mess up the crime scene; it'll make our job harder," the trace evidence technician reminded the officer, using a precision measuring instrument to scan the blood spatter on the wall.

These blood spatter patterns could help determine the direction of the attack. In solving a case, every detail mattered.

The officer asked sadly, "Found anything?"

The trace evidence technician said, "Not yet, the killer seems very professional, handling the crime scene very well."

The officer looked at the gruesome scene in the room, painfully grabbing his hair. "If only I had come earlier. He told me to hurry, but I got delayed. Maybe this wouldn't have happened if I had come sooner."

The trace evidence technician asked, "Do you know the victim?"

The officer said solemnly, "He was the head of the criminal investigation team, and my best friend."

In his grief, the officer suddenly slapped his forehead. "Wait. Someone's missing."

The trace evidence technician gasped, "What?"

The officer said solemnly, "There should be a kid, just six years old."

'Since we got here, we've searched the whole place but haven't seen the kid. If he's not here, maybe he's still alive. Could he be the only witness?' With this thought, the officer clenched his hands, praying, "David, please be safe."

"There's something unusual in the bedroom closet," someone suddenly said.

The officer immediately turned around, focusing all attention on the closet, with another officer next to him having already drawn his gun.

Under everyone's surprised gaze, a small hand reached out, slowly pushing open the closet door, revealing a child; it was David.

Seeing a familiar face, David cried out, "Mr. Johnson."

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

The Alpha's Stripper Mate

The Alpha's Stripper Mate

53.6k Views · Completed · Havilworth
"Come here."
"What?" It was out of my mouth before I could stop it. I did not wait for him to answer me, I walked toward him.
"Dance on my lap."
My head screamed at me to turn around and run. But my whole body responded to his command.
"Yes, Alpha," I pulled my dress over my body, it dropped over my head and fell to the ground behind me. I was left in nothing but my matching bra and thong. My hands covered my chest on reflex.
"Let me see."
My hands dropped to my sides.
I lowered myself into his lap, facing him. His eyes peered into mine, and I could feel his hot breath fan my face. His dick responded to all my moves, hardening against my now-moist vagina. I swallowed hard, allowing my lips to part in a ragged breath. His hands trailed up to my waist.
"No touching."


At the tender age of eleven, JoJo Wyatt was forced to grow up far sooner than she should have. Born to a cruel father and a weak mother, she quickly realized she had to become the breadwinner for herself and her sister. Nothing else mattered to her, not even the hottest men. In fact, she despised them. After one horrific night, she swore never to have any contact with the male species again. That was, until she started working for him as his stripper.
Meanwhile, Alpha Lake Rush, thirty, was the most feared Alpha in the country. Burdened by his own share of life's struggles, he had learned only to be cruel and reckless, rejecting not one but two mates. But what happens when he discovers yet another mate, and she turns out to be his stripper?
The Contract Wife: Marriage Of Malice

The Contract Wife: Marriage Of Malice

78.2k Views · Completed · Cherie Frost
"Tell me to stop, and I will," he murmured against my ear. "But if you don't..."
He didn't finish. He didn't need to.
I didn't tell him to stop.
Instead, my fingers curled into his shirt, clutching the fabric as though it was my only anchor. Something in him snapped—something he had been holding back for too long. His mouth found mine in a kiss that wasn't tender, but hungry, desperate.
I gasped into him, his hand sliding up to cup my jaw, holding me as if afraid I might vanish.
"You drive me insane," he breathed against my mouth, his lips trailing to my throat. "I can't lose you, Ella. Not you."
My head fell back, a soft sound escaping me as his fingers memorized my waist. My anger melted beneath his desperation.
"James..." I whispered, more plea than protest.
His hand caught mine, fingers threading together tightly. "I'll bring him back. I swear it. Just... don't turn away from me. Please."
The word please—low, ragged, almost broken—undid me more than anything else could have.


Ella never imagined she would marry the man she had secretly loved for years in such a way.
When her brother Theo faced twenty-five years in prison for massive embezzlement, the ruthless business tycoon James Lancaster offered her a deal: marry him in exchange for her brother's freedom.
This wasn't a fairy tale proposal, but a carefully orchestrated revenge. Because in James's heart, Ella was the culprit who had killed his sister Cecilia. He wanted her to pay the price—to atone with a lifetime of suffering.
To protect what’s mine

To protect what’s mine

528.7k Views · Completed · Winter Rowe
Amalie is more special than she ever thought possible. Why would the twenty-two-year-old think any different after she has been told she’s nothing for her whole life by her family? Adoptive mother of a three-year-old, Ama has been locked up by her family for the past seven years. But everything changes when her old friends, the Alpha twins, Markus and Calyx, take over the Moonstone pack. Finding out that the twins are her mates, she is a white wolf, and has a connection to the Moon Goddess, is just icing on the cake of her life is a huge mess. Ama just wants a normal life with her mates and protecting her pup, but life rarely gives us what we want. She is thrust into world that she no longer remembers and has forgotten her. Amalie is charged with protecting those closest to her. But she has her own past to overcome as she heals and attempts to move forward. Will she come out alive or lose herself along the way? After all, someone has to be pulling the strings, why not pull her along for the ride?
A Queen Among Tides (Book 5 in the Gods' Saga)

A Queen Among Tides (Book 5 in the Gods' Saga)

4.3k Views · Ongoing · ADB_Stories
One mistake centuries ago left Lemuel cursed by the Goddess Merlos and forced to wander the earth granting the wishes of those who touch him. Lemuel was looking at an eternity of loneliness until his unexpected soulmate plucked him right out of the sea.

Shocked to find he's been bound in more ways than one to Sebastian, the future King to the Kingdom of Atlesper, Lemuel resists Sebastian's advances at every turn, believing this may be one pairing Goddess Zarseti got wrong.

Lemuel will have to face his past in hopes of starting a new future, but an overly flirtatious King is the least of his worries when he learns Sebastian's parents are convinced that a conniving usurper disguised as a curvy blonde, is the future king's true soulmate.

A Queen Among Tides is the 5th book in the Queen Among Series/The Gods' Saga. This is an interconnected series. To see how it ends, I recommend reading the full series.

Books in the series order:
A Queen Among Alphas - Book 1
Bite-Size Luna - A Queen Among Alphas Prequel (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Snakes - Book 2
A Queen Among Blood - Book 3
A Queen Among Darkness - Book 4
Whole Again - A Queen Among Alpha's spin-off (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Tides - Book 5
Valor, Virtue, and Verve - Tides Prequel Spin-off (will be available under book 5)
A Queen Among Gods - Book 6
Runaway Empress - A Queen Among Snakes Prequel (will be available under book 2)
A Queen Among Tempests - Book 7
Dark Vocation - Darkness spin-off (will be available under book 4)
A Court of Arcane Souls Anthology (side character short stories exclusive to Ream)
Royal Shadow Series (Next Gen Coming Soon)
The Vampire Prince's Hybrid Bride

The Vampire Prince's Hybrid Bride

50.7k Views · Ongoing · Riley Above Story
As a wolfless orphan, Joanne had been abused by Alpha Anthony ever since she was a child. She devoted her entire life to surviving in his pack—until one day, she returned home to find an injured vampire lying in her house, his whole existence luring her in. Taking the risk of bringing him in, Joanne never expected Alpha Anthony to discover it the very next day and finally seize the chance to kill her. Just as Joanne was about to be executed, the vampire she had saved arrived, with his army. And Joanne realized that he was the Prince Alexander, heir to the vampire throne…..
The Family Books 1-3 (A Mafia romance)

The Family Books 1-3 (A Mafia romance)

2.1k Views · Ongoing · Emma Mountford
Saints and Sinners- She was the light to my dark.
The saint to my sinner. with her innocent eyes and devilish curves.
A Madonna that was meant to be admired but never touched.
Until someone took that innocence from her.
She left.
The darkness in my heart was finally complete.
I avenged her, I killed for her, but she never came back.
Until I saw her again. An angel dancing around a pole for money.
She didn’t know I owned that club. She didn’t know I was watching.
This time I won’t let her escape.
I will make her back into the girl I knew.
Whether she likes it or not.
2/ Judge and Jury- I can’t stop watching her.

I’m not even sure I want to.

Taylor Lawson, blonde, beautiful, and totally oblivious to how much dangers she’s in.

She’s also the one juror in my upcoming murder trial that hasn’t been bought.

The one who can put me behind bars for a very long time.

I know I should execute her.
After all that’s what I do.

I am the Judge.
I eliminate threats to The Family.
And Taylor is a threat.
But I don’t want to kill her.
Possessing her, making her love me seems like a much better plan for this particular Juror.

3/ Rags and Ritches-
HER ALPHA, HER SAVIOUR

HER ALPHA, HER SAVIOUR

2.1k Views · Ongoing · Iris
I sold myself to a monster to save my mom—and walked into a cage.

Kane Hellboud, charm and wealth personified, wanted only me in exchange for her treatment. No cameras, isolation, or noose-like rules were part of the deal. Behind his smile? Cold, violent possessiveness that destroyed our fake marriage.

Most of all, I didn’t know the supernatural walked among us, hiding in the cracks of ordinary life. Not until Abel Stone stepped into mine—dark-eyed, sharp-tongued, and oozing dangerous promises. He’s my new boss. He shouldn’t make my skin tingle or my pulse race. I shouldn’t feel this primal pull, this illogical recognition that tugs at something deep in my bones.

Around him, lights burst, electronics fry, and something ancient in me awakens.

Kane feels it. His grip tightens, punishments turn brutal, and he hides the truth of what I am.

Trapped between two powerful men, I’m no prey, no pawn—no helpless victim.

Prisons burn. Monsters bleed. As for me? I'm the storm in skin—deadly beyond suspicion.
A pack of their own

A pack of their own

2m Views · Completed · dragonsbain22
Being the middle Child ignored and neglected, rejected by family and injured, She receives her wolf early and realizes she is a new type of hybrid but doesn't know how to control her power, she leaves her pack with her best friend and grandmother to go to her grandfather's clan to learn what she is and how to handle her power and then with her fated mate, her best friend and her fated mate little brother and grandmother start their own pack.
Vengeance of the Forsaken Luna

Vengeance of the Forsaken Luna

16.8k Views · Completed · Sherry
"How thoughtful."
"Bella." Ethan's tone shifted, taking on that warning edge I knew too well. "Faye is vulnerable right now. She's terrified you'll resent her, that this will divide the pack. The last thing she wants is for this baby to come between us."
"Then you shouldn't have done it." I met his eyes squarely, letting him see the ice in mine. "Go back to your son."
"For fuck's sake." He dragged a hand through his hair. "How many times—it was artificial insemination. They used my sperm, yes, but Faye and I never—"
Bella let out a cold snort. Such brazen lies. Her mate had an affair with his brother's partner, and his entire family helped force her out with nothing, all to make way for the mistress to take her rightful position. Poor fool—he thought she was just an unwanted adopted daughter, easy to dismiss and control. He never knew the computer genius he'd been searching for was his own Luna.
Since he'd tainted himself, Bella was done. She rejected him and reclaimed what was hers, rising to the top with help from Victor, who'd been secretly in love with her for years.
When Ethan tried winning her back: "You don't want our child growing up fatherless."
Bella smiled mockingly. "The child's father isn't you."
Rise of the Banished She-Wolf

Rise of the Banished She-Wolf

398.1k Views · Completed · Lily
"White wolf! Kill that monster!"
That roar stole my eighteenth birthday and shattered my world. My first shift should have been glory—blood turned blessing into shame. By dawn they'd branded me "cursed": cast out by my pack, abandoned by family, stripped of my nature. My father didn't defend me—he sent me to a forsaken island where wolfless outcasts were forged into weapons, forced to kill each other until only one could leave.
On that island I learned the darkest edges of humanity and how to bury terror in bone. Countless times I wanted to surrender—dive into the waves and never surface—but the accusing faces that haunted my dreams pushed me back toward something colder than survival: revenge. I escaped, and for three years I hid among humans, collecting secrets, learning to move like a shadow, sharpening patience into precision—becoming a blade.
Then, under a full moon, I touched a bleeding stranger—and my wolf returned with a violence that made me whole. Who was he? Why could he wake what I'd thought dead?
One thing I know: now is the time.
I have waited three years for this. I will make everyone who destroyed me pay—and take back everything that was stolen from me.
The Deadly Mafia Princess

The Deadly Mafia Princess

7.1k Views · Ongoing · Tonje Unosen
Ro was taken from her real family when she was 1 year old. Those she believed is her parents have been abusive towards her do years. Despite she being a very feared gang leader of a well known gang, she can’t find it in her to stand up against what she think is her parents. The little girl in her wants their love which she never will get.
Her gang take the matter in their own hands, to try to save their leader from the horror of her home. What none of them know, they wasn’t her real parents, and now Ro will be sent away to live with her real family. That makes her closest members in her gang pack up and move as well. They don’t want to be far away from their leader.
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

2.8m Views · Ongoing · Harper Rivers
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.