Three Women, One Alibi

She helped him back to the bedroom. He held on to her, feeling the effects of too much alcohol and the heaviness from too much bullshit. Rod moved slower now. The wine, the heat from the hot tub, and the emotions of the night all weighing on him. He sat on the edge of the bed, untying his robe with clumsy patience, eyes half-opened. “Long day,” he muttered, like an apology for the parts of him he could not control. Irina kept her face calm. “We should get some rest, then. There’s always tomorrow, love.” He nodded, then squinted at her like he was trying to remember what tenderness looked like. “Maybe a glass of water?” “I’ll get it,” she said, already moving. She gathered the empty glasses from the coffee table and carried them into the kitchen. Her steps were quiet, but the floor announced her, a mild complaint under her feet. She paused in the kitchen doorway. Not because she was scared, but because she was measuring. Listening. Watching the way the cabin guarded her secret. The window above the sink reflected her in small portions. Calm mouth. Pale face. Eyes that did not look away. She set the glasses down on the counter and stepped onto the deck. The night was cold and humid. The kind of cold that sharpens anyone’s thoughts. Pines and fog. Sky reflected on the lake like a canvas, until someone remembers what the water hides. Somewhere beyond the trees, Sonia and Susie sat quietly in the car. Irina could not see them, but she could feel their presence like a ghost. She went back inside and let the screen door click behind her, gently, almost polite. She didn’t lock it. She poured water in two glasses. When she returned, Rod adjusted himself on the bed. “That was fast,” he said, smiling lazily as she crossed the room. She handed him the glass of water. Once he took the glass, she watched the surface tremble before it settled. He raised it without waiting. “To us,” he said. She touched her glass gently to his. “To the end,” she whispered. He didn’t hear her. But that didn’t matter. She set her glass on the nightstand and climbed into bed beside him, close enough to sell it to him. Rod rolled towards her, breath sweet with wine, satisfied already. His hand found her waist like he still believed it belonged there. Outside, the cabin’s balcony light held steady behind the curtains. Inside, Rod’s breathing deepened, thick and certain. Irina kept her eyes open. *** The car was parked deep in the trees, headlights off, the cabin visible as a soft glow through mist and branches. The lake was a faint shimmer beyond that, something big and quiet and indifferent. Sonia sat behind the wheel, heater running low. She did not fidget. She did not scroll. She watched the cabin like it might blink. Susie sat beside her with the stainless case on her lap. Every few minutes she checked her watch, then the cabin, then the dark line of the deck. “She should have signaled,” Susie murmured, barely moving her mouth. “She will,” Sonia said. Her voice was calm while her gaze was already on the case latch. “Irina understands that the timing must be perfect. She will not rush if he is still awake.” Susie clinched her jaw. “I hate that she has to be the one in there with him.” Sonia looked at her. “That is why she is the one in there. She can hold her face. She can hold the room. And that is why we are here for her.” Susie swallowed. The woods pressed around the car, the branches tapping the hood like impatient fingers. Somewhere in the distance, an owl called, long and hollow. A minute passed. Then another. Sonia watched the cabin with measure. Still lit. Still quiet. “He is taking too long to go down.” “Then we wait,” Susie said. “We should not improvise.” The cabin light flickered once. Not a signal. Just movement. Someone walking. Someone turning off a lamp. Someone deciding what happens next. Sonia’s grip tightened on the steering wheel. “Come on, Irina.” And then it happened. A text buzzed her burner phone. Ready. A pause long enough to make Sonia’s stomach drop. Sonia sat up straighter. “That’s it,” her breath caught. She turned off the engine and the heater went off. The car stood in the dark. Both women stayed still for one more second, listening for any change inside the cabin. Nothing. Sonia nodded first to Susie, and then to herself. They closed the doors without slamming them. And the woods swallowed the sound.