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THE ASHES OF ALIBI
Chapter 1: The Midnight Call
The rain in Seattle didn’t just fall; it haunted. It streaked down the floor-to-ceiling windows of Mia’s downtown penthouse, blurring the city lights into bleeding smears of neon. Mia stared at her reflection in the glass, her fingers tightly wrapped around a glass of scotch she hadn’t touched.
At thirty-two, she had everything. She was the youngest senior partner at Vance & Sterling, the city’s most ruthless corporate law firm. But success in the courtroom required a certain coldness—a willingness to bury secrets so deep they choked.
Her phone buzzed on the marble kitchen island. The screen lit up with a name she hadn’t seen in five years.
Lucy.
Mia’s chest tightened. Lucy was the missing piece of a past she had spent half a decade trying to erase. They had been inseparable in college, bound by a shared brilliance and, later, a shared trauma.
She picked up the phone. "Lucy?"
"Mia... thank God." Lucy’s voice was a ragged whisper, breathless and trembling against a backdrop of howling wind. "I didn't know who else to call. I'm at the old boathouse on Whidbey Island. You need to come. Now."
"Lucy, slow down. We haven’t spoken since the trial. What’s going on?"
"He’s dead, Mia," Lucy choked out, a sob breaking her voice. "Ethan. He found me. He knew everything about what happened that night. We got into an argument, and... there was so much blood. I didn't mean to."
Mia’s blood turned to ice. Ethan. The charismatic, manipulative heir to the Vance tech fortune. The man who had ruined Lucy’s life five years ago and walked away scot-free thanks to a heavily bought verdict.
"Is anyone else there?" Mia demanded, her legal brain overriding her panic.
"No. Just... just me. And him."
"Don't touch anything," Mia ordered, already grabbing her trench coat from the entryway. "I'm on my way."
The drive to the ferry was a blur of hydroplaning tires and blinding headlights. By the time Mia’s sleek black sedan pulled up to the abandoned, collapsing wooden structure of the Whidbey boathouse, the storm was at its peak.
She pushed the creaking door open. The metallic scent of copper hit her instantly.
Inside, illuminated by the beam of a heavy-duty flashlight, stood Lucy. Her blonde hair was soaked, clinging to her pale cheeks. Her hands were stained crimson. And there, slumped against a stack of rotting fishing nets, was Ethan. His eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, a heavy brass nautical instrument lying beside his cracked skull.
But before Mia could utter a word, a shadow detached itself from the far corner of the room.
"Well, well. The gang’s almost all back together."
Mia whirled around, her heart leaping into her throat. Jason.
Jason stepped into the light, a twisted, bitter smile on his face. Five years ago, Jason had been Ethan’s fiercely loyal best friend—and Mia’s fiancé. When Mia chose to defend Lucy’s honor over protecting Ethan, Jason had vanished, taking a piece of Mia’s soul with him. Now, he stood in the shadows of a murder scene, looking entirely too calm.
"Jason?" Mia gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you both the same thing," Jason said, his voice dripping with venom as he looked down at Ethan’s body. "Though it looks like Lucy finally finished the job she started five years ago. And you, Mia... always running in to clean up her messes."
"It was self-defense!" Lucy shrieked, backing away. "He was going to kill me, Jason! He said he was going to expose what we did!"
Jason took a slow step forward, pulling his ringing phone from his pocket. He looked down at the caller ID, then up at Mia.
"That’s funny," Jason murmured, his eyes locking onto Mia’s. "Because Detective Marcus from the Seattle PD is calling me right now. It seems someone anonymous reported a break-in at this exact coordinates twenty minutes ago. Before Lucy even called you, Mia."
Mia looked from Jason’s cold stare to Lucy’s trembling, blood-stained hands. A sickening realization washed over her.
Ethan hadn't found Lucy tonight.
They had been set up. And the trap was about to snap shut.