Chapter 1

The cheap beer tasted like regret, but I forced another swallow. My friend, Sarah, laughed beside me at her off-campus birthday party, music thumping through the floorboards.

I smiled back, a tight, forced thing.

This was it. My alibi.

My phone buzzed. I didn’t need to look. Kate.

“Hey Em, you still up for that internal preview at the university exhibit tomorrow? Got us access!”

The exact same message. My stomach clenched.

Last time, that invitation led to a stolen artifact – a Revolutionary War general’s seal – appearing in my bag.

It led to my academic career dissolving. My parents, draining their retirement to pay lawyers. My fiancé, David, his own career tarnished by association.

It ended with me, bleeding out in a desolate parking lot, attacked by some fanatic who thought I’d desecrated history.

Not this time.

I finished the beer, my third. Enough to register, not enough for a serious charge. Hopefully.

“Gotta go, Sarah. Early start,” I said, hugging her.

“Drive safe, Em!”

The flashing blue and red lights appeared in my rearview mirror about ten minutes later, just as I’d anticipated on the quiet state route. My heart hammered, but a strange calm settled over me.

This was the plan.

The state trooper was young, his face stern under the brim of his hat. “License and registration, ma’am.”

I fumbled, making a show of it.

“Have you been drinking tonight, ma’am?”

“Maybe a couple at a party, officer,” I slurred slightly, more for effect than from the alcohol.

He made me step out. The field sobriety test was a clumsy dance I performed with feigned incompetence. The breathalyzer confirmed what I already knew.

“I’m placing you under arrest for driving under the influence,” he said, his voice flat.

Relief, cold and sharp, washed through me. I almost smiled.

He cuffed me. The metal was cold against my wrists.

“You find this funny?” he asked, noticing my expression.

I just shook my head, letting my shoulders slump.

At the local precinct, the air was stale with coffee and disinfectant. I sat on a hard plastic chair, waiting. The processing was slow.

Then the door to the waiting area opened.

David.

His face was a mask of worry, his lawyer-sharp eyes scanning until they found me. My parents were right behind him, Mom already dabbing her eyes.

“Emily! Oh, my God, are you okay?” Dad rushed forward, his voice rough.

Mom reached for my hand. “Honey, what happened? They said DUI…”

David cut in, his voice low and firm, addressing the desk sergeant. “I’m David Miller, her fiancé and legal counsel. What are the exact charges?”