In the Shadows

By Trenia D. Coleman

There was something strange going on in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Two girls had already gone missing around Northport High School and the police had no solid leads. Natalie and Janelle were best friends and seniors at the local high school. They stuck together like two peas in a pod and gladly welcomed Danielle into their circle of friendship when she moved into the neighborhood. The girls initially dismissed the new neighbor as harmless until strange things started to happen in their community. In a town where everyone knew everyone, becoming the latest suspect was inevitable especially if you were an outsider.

Natalie's cousin, Tonya, had recently taken a basketball scholarship at the university and moved from Fairburn, Georgia to Tuscaloosa. Living near her family in Tuscaloosa made being away from home a lot easier. Tonya was always so focused on whatever task she had before her and was not easily distracted...until she met Brandon Masterson, a Good Samaritan who came to her rescue when she needed it most.

As the town feared for their safety with a killer on the loose, together the local authorities, with help from Tonya and Brandon, raced against time to put an end to the fear that was spreading through the small town of Tuscaloosa.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 10, 2010
• ISBN: 9781462804986

Trenia D. Coleman

Trenia Hill Coleman is an author from Northern Virginia. “In The Shadows” is Trenia’s fourth novel. Trenia lived in Dubberly, Louisiana and attended Ringgold High School in Ringgold, Louisiana before joining the military. Trenia attended Grambling State University, and is a graduate of Central Texas College in Killeen, Texas, and Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama. She is currently serving in the United States Army and lives with her husband and children.

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Copyright © 2010 by Trenia D. Coleman.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty-One

Chapter Fifty-Two

Chapter Fifty-Three

Chapter Fifty-Four

Chapter Fifty-Five

Chapter Fifty-Six

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Epilogue

DEDICATION

This book is the first that I’ve dedicated to my beautiful children, Gabriel and Brianna. I am proud to say that I’ve written a book you both can read and enjoy without reservation. I must also take this time to let you know that I love you immensely and am very proud of your accomplishments. Remember to always put God first in everything you do, never limit yourself, always keep your options open, and let God direct your path.

I’ll love you forever,

Mom

* * *

I would also like to take this time to bring awareness to the seriousness of breast cancer and the importance of monthly breast self-exams. Early detection can save lives.

To Miranda Sumblin of Temple Hills, Maryland, a very dear friend and coworker, who passed away in September 2009. Just last year, you were helping me with the writing of Second Chance; and this year, I no longer have you here with me. It has been said that with time, the pain subsides, but I, along with so many others here at NGB, find it difficult to fill the void your departure has left in our lives.

I’m sure you’re doing a great job keeping the laughter going in heaven, just as you did here on earth. May God continue to bless your beautiful family.

Until we meet again.

Acknowledgments

Without God, I am nothing.

I am blessed beyond words with the ability to create new stories, work on new projects, work full-time serving my country, be a full-time wife and mother of two very active children, and still keep my sanity. None of this would be possible without the grace of God.

I would like to give all the praise, honor, and glory to my heavenly Father for directing my path down this incredible literary journey.

Secondly, I would like to thank my husband and children for supporting me and allowing me the time to write. I would also like to thank my family and friends for their love, support, and encouragement.

Finally, I would like to thank my friends who have always been there to act as my toughest critics yet my and strongest supporters. Thank you for your love, honesty, and never-ending support—Safiyah, Denise, Cynethia, Talisia, and Shirlene. I love you all!

Prologue

It was Andrea’s last weekend in Tuscaloosa, and she was going to make the best of it. Her two-week summer vacation had been fun filled and exciting. The sixteen-year-old liked the South so much that she was considering leaving Ohio and moving to Alabama.

Andrea examined her denim jeans and jacket in the mirror as she put the finishing touches on her makeup. Andrea had made a few friends in the Northport area since her arrival. She was looking forward to meeting up with Carlos after the show. Andrea had met Carlos shortly after arriving in Alabama, and they instantly became friends. That night, after the movie was over, Andrea was going to wait at the theater as instructed for Carlos to pick her up.

Andrea had to be home by 1:00 a.m., and Carlos had always been responsible and made sure she got home on time. Andrea remembered the conversation she’d had with her cousin, Japera, back in December. Andrea had been visiting for the Christmas break and seemed taken in by the smooth talker she’d met at the mall. Carlos was very handsome and well-groomed, and although he was smooth with his conversation, he never said anything out of the way. Andrea liked that about Carlos. She felt he truly enjoyed spending time with her and respected her as well.

Carlos was older than Andrea by seven years. Andrea had dated older men before who truly looked their age. Although Carlos was twenty-three, he could have easily passed for nineteen. Andrea was terribly disappointed when her cousin told her that Carlos was married to his high school sweetheart and had a baby. Andrea was heartbroken and immediately stopped communicating with Carlos and soon found other things to keep her busy during her stay in Alabama. Andrea had asked him not to call her anymore, but once she returned home, Carlos started calling her again, telling her how much he missed talking to her and laughing with her on the phone. Andrea had to admit she missed him too.

Andrea was a pretty girl and had a cute slender build. She wasn’t quite honor roll material, but she maintained a C average. She’d been having a difficult time at home since her mom remarried and would spend time away from home every chance she got. The authorities had been called a couple of times when Andrea disappeared, but she would always turn up not far from home. Andrea often wondered how her behavior would affect her baby sister, who seemed to be quite taken in by her new stepfather.

Friday night, they went to Carlos’s friend’s apartment in Tuscaloosa. Carlos was asked to keep an eye on the place for the weekend, and he was happy to take Andrea along. It was almost midnight when they decided to leave. After Carlos dropped off Andrea down the street from her cousin’s house, she made it inside right at curfew. Japera had no idea she was still seeing Carlos, and Andrea wanted to keep it that way.

Saturday night would be her last opportunity to see Carlos before she left town. This would be her chance to say good-bye to the man she’d fallen head over heels in love with. As Andrea waited outside the theater, she grew more and more anxious to see Carlos. They had been meeting at all hours of the night, when she could manage, and at some of the oddest places. Their main hangout was this vacant lot near the cemetery, which was where they agreed to meet that night.

Not long before she was to meet Carlos, he asked her to meet him in a different location. It was farther away from their usual meeting place but closer to the lot. Since Andrea couldn’t risk revealing his identity to Japera, she couldn’t very well ask her for a ride. Andrea hailed a cab and had been waiting for fifteen minutes when she received a text message from Carlos saying he’d be a few minutes late picking her up. Disappointed but desperate to see him, Andrea started walking to the lot in hopes of meeting him there. She couldn’t see herself sitting still another minute. It was already dark, and the roadway wasn’t very well lit, which was one of the reasons they preferred this area.

As she passed the cemetery on her left, she was spooked when she heard a gate clanging in the distance. Andrea nearly stopped in her tracks but knew the lot was still a few minutes up the road, and she knew she would feel safe there. Andrea walked more quietly now; she took a glance in the direction of the cemetery and saw a light shining in the distance. No sooner than she focused in on the light, the light disappeared. Hmm, that’s strange. Who could possibly be working at the cemetery at this hour?

she thought.

Andrea kept walking faster and soon arrived at her destination. After waiting almost thirty minutes in the dark alone, Carlos sent another text message saying he couldn’t make it. Andrea began to cry and sent him a text message begging him to come to say good-bye. Not only did she want him to come so she could spend time with him, she was now stuck in the middle of nowhere with no way home.

The last text she received said he would try to make it. Andrea decided she’d wait a little while longer before she gave up. She found a nice rock to sit on, and as she got comfortable, she began to dream about Carlos and making plans to return to Alabama.

Suddenly, she heard something in the woods not far from where she sat. It sounded like someone walking, and it quickly brought Andrea out of her thoughts. She knew it was Carlos trying to surprise her as she felt her heart lift; she knew he wouldn’t let her down. Turning around looking in the direction of the path, Andrea was surprised when she didn’t see anyone. She figured Carlos had parked at the top of the trail and walked down to meet her.

Before Andrea could check her phone for another text, she felt a presence right behind her, and now she could hear heavy breathing. Not having a chance to say anything before the big hand covered her face and mouth with a towel, Andrea soon found herself gasping for air before she closed her eyes.

Initially she thought Carlos was playing around, but after being dragged through the woods with no regard for her safety, Andrea was terrified because she now knew the man was not Carlos. The whole ordeal seemed to last for hours as she remembered trying to cry out when she discovered her mouth was gagged.

Hours later, Andrea woke up and discovered her hands were tied behind her back. She heard a loud sound like a heavy door closing with a thud. With her eyes darting around the dark room, she searched for the direction of the heavy footsteps now coming toward her. Andrea tried to calm her breathing, pretending she was still unconscious. She began to shake uncontrollably when a big burly man dressed in overalls entered the room.

There was a dim light shining in one corner of the room that now allowed Andrea to study the strange man. She watched him while he had his back turned to her as he cut rope with a knife and carelessly let the rope fall to the dusty wooden floor. Realizing her feet were free, she figured the rope was to tie her feet. The man briefly left the room and returned with a shovel in hand and a pair of work gloves stuffed in his back pocket. He carefully dropped an old blanket on the floor beside Andrea.

Believing her fate was to be buried alive, Andrea wondered if he believed she was already dead. She noticed how slowly he moved, with no sense of urgency, like he had all the time in the world. There was a full moon that night, and Andrea knew it would be daylight in a few hours. Her thoughts quickly focused on Carlos. She wondered if he had ever showed up and if he’d alerted anyone that she was missing.

The strange man walked slowly over to the lamp, and soon the room grew dark. If it weren’t for the moonlight, Andrea would be left in total darkness. Paying attention to everything she heard, she listened as he began to hum a tune she’d never heard before while he worked. He must’ve been in the room with her for at least fifteen minutes before he took the shovel and locked her inside the room, leaving the blanket on the floor. Andrea knew for sure he’d be back before daylight to get her to finish her off. She wondered where he’d gone since she never heard a vehicle in the distance.

Every night he would enter the room just as he had the first night and bring her food. Andrea had never been a big fan of peanut butter, but she was starving and couldn’t afford to pass it up. Besides, he was a big scary man, and she didn’t want to make him angry, so she ate what she was given.

He would come in and feed her every night then rape her repeatedly like clockwork. Andrea tried to kick and scream during the first attack as she attempted to fight him off. Although her efforts to fend off her attacker were in vain, Andrea now realized that whatever was in the food and water caused her to be oblivious to the pain.

Every morning when she opened her eyes, she wondered if anyone was coming to her rescue, and every morning she would be sick to her stomach from the night before. Andrea was thankful for the drug and felt she would be better off dead than to have to endure the torture.

* * *

Andrea’s family had been worried sick since she had not returned home. They were shocked by her disappearance. Andrea was looking forward to going home and had already packed her belongings. It was late Sunday morning when her cousin discovered her missing. Once her family realized she’d not slept in her bed, they called the police and filed a report. Her family made several calls to her cell phone, but all the calls went unanswered. It had been a week since Andrea disappeared, and the family knew something terrible had happened.

* * *

As Andrea began to stir from her sleep, she realized he had forgotten to bind her ankles the night before. Blinking her eyes repeatedly, Andrea processed the possibilities. Just as she mustered up enough strength and courage to use her elbows and knees to pick herself up from the floor, she found herself extremely weak as if she’d been given more than the usual dosage.

She listened carefully for any outside noises. Andrea couldn’t believe her luck as she crawled to the middle of the floor, trying to keep the wooden floor from creaking. Just as she was convinced she was alone, she found herself wobbly as she balanced her feet to stand. Seconds later, the footsteps were back and this time moving faster than before. Andrea stood helplessly in the middle of the floor and made a run for the window. Just as she reached the window, the door creaked as it opened. As fear raced through her frail body, she listened as the footsteps neared her. Without turning around, Andrea closed her eyes as the man struck her in the back of the head, and she fell to the floor with a loud thud. Andrea felt her eyes roll back in her head as pain shot through her body, and suddenly she went numb all over.

* * *

It was right before daylight when the caretaker finished preparing the grave for a funeral scheduled for the next morning. Mrs. Jones had lived to be eighty-seven years old and died of natural causes almost a week ago. She had a host of nieces and nephews as well as grandchildren. She would surely be missed by all, especially since she’d lived in Northport her entire life and seemed like a grandmother to many.

The entire town was in mourning and showed up in record numbers at the service. Mrs. Jones was known for watching out and caring for youths when she would see them go astray while away from home. She had no problem correcting someone else’s child in their parents’ absence. It was known all over Northport that Mrs. Jones had helped raise many children in her time.

* * *

Later that afternoon, as the mourning friends and family stood around the gravesite, one of the locals was perturbed by a ringing cell phone. But as they made their way through the crowd, they couldn’t figure out whose phone continued to ring. As the minister said the closing prayer, and the family said their final good-bye, the phone could still be heard faintly in the distance but was not found.

* * *

Carlos had missed another day at work because he attended a funeral for his grandmother. He’d been almost like a zombie the whole time Andrea was missing, and he couldn’t confide in anyone. Almost looking around for Andrea, Carlos was stunned to hear what sounded like her ringtone as they stood around the gravesite. At first he thought it was her cell phone, but that was impossible.

After searching the area, trying to find where the sound came from and coming up empty-handed, he knew he was hallucinating. He had been through a horrible ordeal after losing his grandmother and then with Andrea being missing in the same week. Carlos knew he could probably benefit from counseling as he mourned them both. He was sure his family would understand his behavior due to the death of his grandmother, but no one would understand him mourning a complete stranger.

Chapter One

Brandon Masterson had lived in Selma, Alabama, all his life. Brandon witnessed many disturbing things growing up in the South, but he was a wiser man because of those lessons in life. Luckily for Brandon, his mom raised him in the church. He was a Southern Baptist and had accepted God at an early age. Brandon and his sister, Kathryn, were baptized together, although she was three years younger than he was. His father, the Dallas County Chief of Police, did not attend church with them on a regular basis, but Mrs. Masterson made sure her children did. While professing to be a Christian, Brandon often wondered if he and his father ever served the same god.

Brandon had graduated two years ago and decided to join the police force following in his father’s footsteps. While following in those footsteps, Brandon had to set the record straight on more than one occasion that he was not his father. Sheriff Masterson was from the old days when blacks and whites were segregated, and sometimes Brandon would wonder if he wished it were still that way.

* * *

When Brandon was a freshman in high school, a local girl went missing and had the whole town in an uproar. Stella Stone was a very popular fourteen-year-old African American girl who disappeared one day after leaving the library. She was a very active member in the community as well as a cheerleader for the Lakeview Tigers.

Although Brandon was a year older than Stella, he remembered watching her grow up as they attended the same school. Brandon knew Stella was a good girl who always spoke when she saw him, regardless of who was around. Stella didn’t let the fact that she grew up in a sometimes racist town keep her from excelling. She was well liked by most people, and no one could understand why anyone would want to hurt such a nice girl. Making the honor roll every semester, Stella was bound to do great things.

Brandon was stunned to hear of Stella’s disappearance and wasn’t sure what to make of it. They had been attending the same school since middle school and had become pretty good friends. Selma had several close-knit communities where everyone knew everyone, and all the children, regardless of color, were friends. Although there were still some racial tensions present in the city, the disappearance of Stella seemed to put all that to rest.

Brandon and a few of his friends even tried to figure out the murder themselves by conducting their own investigation. He, Brad, and Tyson had been friends since elementary school and played cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers, and every other childhood game boys would play together. They would meet in their clubhouse in Brandon’s backyard every day after school and try to come up with a list of clues and possible suspects. Brandon wanted to solve this case and make his father proud of him.

The boys would go over the facts and events leading up to Stella’s disappearance and tried to develop a list of things that could’ve happened to her, places where she could possibly be, and finally, a list of suspects. They all knew Stella was a very likeable girl and couldn’t possibly have enemies. Brandon felt it was an accident or a random crime.

The list of suspects included a couple of the town’s rowdiest people, a suspected member of the KKK, a drifter who showed up in town a few months back, and one of the town’s most recently released sex offenders. After they’d come up with a good list of suspects, they now needed to find out if they had an alibi for the day Stella disappeared. Between the three of them, they would split the list with Brandon taking the lead and volunteering to snoop around his dad’s office.

When the boys met up the next week, it was discovered that all had an alibi except for the sex offender and Johnny Rush, the drifter. Cole Jones was not supposed to come in contact with any minors and had been questioned by his parole officer. Johnny Rush could not be found.

Two weeks had passed since Stella disappeared, and Brandon found himself consumed with trying to figure out what happened. Initially, a lot of kids thought Stella had run away from home. Growing up in a place like Selma, with the largest nearest city being Montgomery which was forty miles away, people dreamt of getting out and taking advantage of the opportunities of a larger city. In Selma, the biggest business in the area was the paper mill on the west side of town. People talked about running away to Birmingham or Montgomery all the time, so when it was discovered that Stella had relatives in both places, the story of her running away sounded even more believable.

It was on a Thursday morning when the search for Stella Stone came to an abrupt halt. Stella’s body had been found in a wooded area not far from the local high school. She’d been missing for three weeks and disappeared without a trace. Since Stella attended Lakeview High School, the school decided to postpone classes the day her nude body was discovered bound and gagged.

The Summerfield community was in an uproar over the senseless killing, and they urged the police to work around the clock to make an arrest. Although it was a time when things weren’t so fair for people of color, people of all races were shocked and saddened by the news and demanded justice. Once it was released that Stella had been raped, the accident theory was thrown out, and Brandon knew there was a murderer in the midst.

* * *

Days turned to weeks and weeks into months. It wasn’t until the boys’ senior year did they officially give up solving the murder. The sheriff’s office wasn’t any closer to finding the killer than they were two years ago. The city and people had pretty much returned to normal, except maybe for the black community. They had their own suspicions of what happened to Stella. The only suspect Brandon thought was credible was the drifter, who the sheriff’s department seemed to have no interest in.

In Brandon’s mind, the most reasonable theory was that the killer was someone passing through who had no reason to return. All their leads turned out to be nothing, and all the suspects had alibis except for the drifter. Brandon believed Johnny Rush disappeared around the same time Stella did. The thing that frustrated Brandon the most was that his father never once considered the information Brandon gave him to be credible, which further drove a wedge between them.

Chapter Two

Although Tonya had a basketball scholarship at the University of Alabama, her focus was majoring in criminal justice. Ever since she was a little girl, she was always fascinated with solving mysteries and had developed quite a knack for it. When Tonya left Georgia, she knew living apart from her parents would be difficult since she’d been the baby of the family for so long.

Her brother, Tony, lived in San Antonio, Texas, with his wife, Serena, and their new baby. Her sister, Tara, had left the military to travel around the country with Terry, who still played professional basketball for the Miami Heat. Tara and Terry had finally set a wedding date, and Tonya and her family were so excited.

Now it was just her mom and dad at home, and they could focus on each other without the typical interruptions. Home was only three hours away, and Mr. Danston made sure he got his baby girl and scholarship recipient a dependable vehicle for travel back and forth. Although her relatives there would be able to assist her should she need it, Tonya had always been independent and never wanted to have to lean on anyone for anything.

Tonya’s parents had made a deal with her upon arriving at the university. She would have to remain on campus her entire freshman year. If she maintained a 3.5 or higher grade point average at the end of her freshman year, she would be able to move off campus and get an apartment. Tonya knew this was a fair deal, one she would be able to keep. She couldn’t wait until next year and had already been viewing the neighboring cities to find a decent place to live.

Tonya would have Sunday dinner with her relatives every first and third Sunday, which made the feeling of being homesick subside. She enjoyed having relatives not far from school, and she liked the fact that she could visit whenever she needed to. Tonya had been trying to convince her cousin Natalie to come out to UAB and tour the campus.

Natalie was a basketball fanatic too but had always envisioned moving away from home to go to college. She was interested in journalism and knew she would be news anchor some day. Natalie and Tonya were very close and had become even closer since Tonya moved to Tuscaloosa. Tonya had even made it to her high school to watch her play during a tournament. The girls got along well, and Tonya tried to teach Natalie everything she knew and steer her in the right direction just as Tara had with her. Natalie was an only child and appreciated the time she and Tonya spent together.

* * *

When Tonya made it home, she was exhausted. She’d had a slight head injury in the second half of the game. Once she was checked out by the team’s physician, she rested on the sidelines a few minutes before returning in the final minutes.

The basketball game was a thriller from start to finish. Tonya was one of the starting guards and was known for her incredible speed and ball-handling skills. She had scored eighteen points in the game, which was the most she’d scored since she began playing college basketball. The coach was very impressed with her, and her teammates were just as happy for her.

Since she lived in the sports dorm, she almost felt like she had more sisters than she could stand, but she welcomed it. Having Tara out of the house and so far away forced her to enjoy her surroundings even more. If her parents agreed to getting her that apartment next year, being in the dorm with girls from all walks of life who gave their advice freely would be the one thing she would miss.

Tonya had been in the area for several months and felt like Tuscaloosa had become her home. It was not much different from Fairburn. Both cities were proud southern cities with the fine southern warmth. She still had not begun dating, and with her short-term goals of making good grades and getting her own place, there was no time for dating.

All her close friends from home decided to stay close to home while Tonya settled on relocating to Tuscaloosa. She knew being on her own would help her to become more independent and grow up faster. At her high school graduation, she and some of her closest friends vowed to keep in touch and get together every summer. They would have their own annual reunion back in Fairburn.

She knew the next day was the first Sunday of the month, and she needed to prepare for church. By the time she was dressed and ready for bed, it was almost midnight. Sunday school started at ten in the morning, and immediately following that was the regular church service. On the second and fourth Sundays, if Tonya was determined to go to church, she would visit some of the other local churches closer to the university.

When Tonya arrived, the girls were dressed and ready to go. Tonya had been taking Natalie and Janelle to church with her every Sunday she attended with them. This Sunday, the girls asked Tonya to pick up one of their new friends on their way, and Tonya agreed willingly. When they pulled in front of Danielle’s house, the girls watched her walk out onto the front porch and lock the door before walking to Tonya’s car. Once the exchanges were made, the girls got comfortable and sang along with the music on the gospel station Tonya was playing in the car.

Natalie’s mom and dad met the girls at church, and they all went out to lunch after church was over. Danielle seemed to fit right