Tyler Anne Snell - Credible Alibi

The first had been Detective Santiago, her brother’s partner. Jazz was a family friend but treated Madi with short, clipped questions. Where had Madi been in the hours leading up to dinner? Why had she called Loraine? If she hadn’t done it, then why did the call log on her phone say she had? Where did she get the shotgun?

How badly had she hated the woman?

Madi had gone over her afternoon and night several times before Jazz excused herself. Her brother Caleb never came in.

Declan, the sheriff and Madi’s eldest brother, eventually did and explained why.

“Caleb can’t work this case because he can’t get his emotions in check,” Declan had said. He hadn’t sat down across from her. His body was riddled with tension, his face pulled down in a frown. Madi didn’t need any triplet connection to know he was trying his best to keep his own emotions in check. “Him working this case is a big-time conflict of interest. Jazz will take over as well as a detective from the local PD in Kilwin down the road.”

“She’s teaming up with the police department?” Madi had been stunned at the news. The two only ever worked together on emergencies like high-speed chases that crossed the town limits or manhunts that spanned the county. Now they were doing the same with her?

It made her already-knotted stomach quake.

Declan had sighed.

“It was at Mayor Harding’s suggestion, and honestly, it took all I had to convince him to keep us on the case. You have two brothers on the force. Our family history doesn’t help. This is only going to rock the boat on public perception of us.”

“Family history? Do you mean the abduction?” she had nearly shrieked. “We were eight! How is that our fault?”

“I’m not blaming any of you for that, and you know that. I meant what happened with Caleb last year. I think the mayor would like the Nashes out of the spotlight for a while. Even though you know as well as I do that the town has never really let go of what happened when you were kids.”

Madi did know that Overlook was incapable of forgetting one of its biggest unsolved mysteries. It wasn’t every day that three children were attacked, abducted and held for three days before escaping on their own...and that, to this day, no one had ever been able to ID the man responsible. Never mind understanding his motive.

As far as what had happened with Caleb, talk had gotten out of hand quickly but had died down.

Or so Madi had thought.

“The mayor thinks it’s best for you, the department and the town if we’re extra careful with how we move forward,” he continued, as if his words were scripted.

“And that means what exactly?”

Declan let out another long sigh. This time Madi saw the defeat in it.

“That means that my chief deputy will run point on this case while I handle the rest of the department and try to keep this in-house as much as I can. Past that, Caleb and I will have nothing to do with this case. We can’t afford anyone blaming us for favoritism or being impartial.”

Madi felt the tears spring to her eyes before they ever fell down her cheeks. She was angry. She was scared. Caleb being taken off the case made sense. Declan stepping away hadn’t crossed her mind as a possibility.

Pain twisted his expression. His face softened.

“I know you didn’t do it, Madi,” he said, voice low. “But the evidence against you is pretty damning. I can’t dismiss it, even though I know you’re innocent. Hell, I think everyone in this department knows it, too. We just have to do our jobs and do them carefully, or we could end up hurting your cause instead of helping it.” He reached out and touched her hand. “Jazz is great at her job. So are the rest of my people.”

Madi wiped at her cheeks. She nodded.

“I understand.”

He smiled but then let go of her hand. Then his face went stony.

“Are you sure there’s no one who could corroborate your side of the story, though?”

Madi shook her head. She brought her hand down to her stomach.

“It was only the two of us.”

Declan left soon after. Another hour went by. Madi’s thoughts went between everything that had happened and the other surprise she’d gotten that night.

Julian Mercer.

In the flesh.

This might be too much for me to handle, Grandma , she thought ruefully.

The third person to visit her finally was Caleb. He moved into the room like they were teens again and sneaking out of the house to go to the barn loft to meet their friends. He hurried to her side and crouched down next to her. There was an undeniable excitement in his movements that she didn’t understand.

“Why did you lie to us, Madi?” he asked in a rush. “Pride be damned, you’re looking at murder charges!”

Madi felt her eyes widen. Did Caleb really think she killed Loraine?

“What are you—”

“You should have told us about your alibi the moment we showed up on scene!” Madi didn’t know what he was talking about. She said as much. Caleb looked exasperated. “I know you didn’t want to get him in trouble with his boss, but my God, Madi, this is serious.”

“His boss?”

“Julian Mercer. Your alibi.” He thumbed back to the door. “He just wrote his official statement about you two being together. I mean, yeah, I have some personal questions I’d like to ask—for instance, who the heck is this guy—but right now he could be that creep you dated in college and I’d be happy as punch.”

Madi didn’t have time to correct her brother before the door opened and in walked Declan and a man who must have been the lawyer.

They expressed the same sentiment.

Madi should have come clean about being with Julian during the afternoon and leading up to the discovery of Loraine’s body, instead of trying to cover for him so he didn’t get into any trouble with his boss. No one’s job was worth the risk of her being suspected of murder.

Now they couldn’t charge her. Which meant they couldn’t hold her there any longer.

The air in the interrogation room became lighter. Her brothers’ shoulders were no longer sagging. There was new life behind every word and movement. The entire mood had changed.

It made Madi realize how dire her situation had been before Julian’s lie.

And that was what it was—a lie.

Yet with one hand resting on her pregnant belly, Madi realized it was a lie she wouldn’t correct.

Not until Loraine’s real murderer was caught.

“So I’ve been downgraded to lead suspect instead of a shoo-in for murder.”

Madi was as beautiful as Julian remembered but undoubtedly tired. Her eyes were red and swollen. She rubbed her hands together, fretting with nervous energy. They stood outside the Wildman County Sheriff’s Department. A hint of the sunrise colored the distance. The air was cool and seemed to add to her discomfort.

Julian wanted to reach out and take all of the concern and worry away, but truth be told, he was out on his own limb of uncertainty.

He’d just lied to the authorities. In a big way, too.

“They’re going to find the real person who did this,” he said, hands shoved into his pockets to curb the urge to tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. “Now that they aren’t focused on you they can do that.”

Madi shot a nervous look toward the front doors. They were standing next to the sheriff’s truck in the parking lot. Declan and Caleb were still inside. This time with the husband of the murdered woman. He’d been out-of-his-mind angry and had to be kept in a separate part of the building.

I don’t care if she’s pregnant! She killed my wife! She killed my Loraine! She needs to pay!