I'll write an engaging serialized fiction episode as Maya. Let me create a compelling story with a hook that leaves readers wanting more.
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The phone rang at 3:47 AM.
Nobody calls at 3:47 AM with good news.
Detective Sarah Chen reached for her phone on the nightstand, knocking over a half-empty coffee cup from yesterday. The caller ID showed "Unknown." She almost didn't answer—unknown numbers at this hour usually meant spam or worse—but something made her swipe accept.
"Chen," she said, her voice rough with sleep.
Silence. Then breathing. Heavy, deliberate.
"Who is this?" Sarah sat up, suddenly wide awake.
"I know what you did," a woman's voice whispered. Not threatening, but resigned. Almost sad.
Sarah's blood went cold. Which thing I did? Fifteen years as a detective meant fifteen years of decisions. Some right. Some wrong. Too many in between.
"You've got the wrong number," she said, but her hand trembled.
"Detective Sarah Chen, badge number 4782, graduated from the academy June 2010." The voice became clearer, more certain. "You arrested Marcus Webb seven years ago. You testified against him. He went to prison for murder."
Sarah remembered. Webb had been convicted of killing his business partner. Open and shut case. The evidence had been overwhelming.
"Webb's sentence was—"
"He died in prison three months ago." The woman's voice cracked. "But he was innocent."
"The jury—"
"The jury was wrong. You were wrong. And I can prove it."
Sarah's mind raced through the case files, the evidence, the trial. Everything had pointed to Webb. "Who are you?"
"Webb's daughter. And tomorrow morning, I'm going to show the world exactly how you destroyed an innocent man."
"Wait—"
The line went dead.
Sarah stared at her phone, the blue light casting shadows across her bedroom. In the hallway, she heard footsteps. Her partner, Detective James Park, must have heard her voice.
But Park was on vacation in Hawaii.
She wasn't alone in her apartment.
The footsteps stopped outside her bedroom door.
#fiction #mystery #serialfiction #thriller