Chapter 1 - The Evidence
The officer walked out of the garage holding the clear plastic evidence sleeve.
He moved with a grim purpose that made my stomach turn.
My sister Rachel stood frozen as the officer approached us.
Her hands were shaking violently inside her coat pockets.
The officer stopped in front of me and held up the sealed document.
It was a printed email perfectly folded into a square.
He asked if I recognized the sender address.
I stared at the black ink through the glossy plastic.
My heart stopped beating for a full second.
The email address belonged to me.
It was my personal account.
The officer read the single line of text out loud.
The message said to make sure they never wake up and that the money would be transferred tonight.
I stepped back and shook my head in pure disbelief.
I told the officer I had absolutely nothing to do with that piece of paper.
Rachel looked at me with wide and terrified eyes.
She whispered that she was only supposed to put them to sleep.
She swore she did not know anything about a permanent hit.
The officer placed his hand heavily on his service belt.
He informed me that I was officially a suspect in the attempted murder of my husband and daughter.
Two more officers stepped onto the porch and pulled out their handcuffs.
Rachel started screaming that it was all a terrible mistake.
An ambulance siren wailed in the distance as they loaded my family into the back.
I was placed into the back of a police cruiser and locked inside.
My entire world was collapsing around me in real time.
Then the detective knocked on my window with a grim expression.
He told me to look closely at the timestamp on the printed email.
It was sent exactly four minutes ago.
But I did not have my phone.
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The officer sitting in the front seat had confiscated my phone ten minutes ago.
Someone else was sending messages from my account while standing right outside my house.
