Summary: "My name is Anastasia Steele, I'm an editorial assistant at Seattle Independent Publishing, and I think my boss is trying to frame you for murder." The untimely death of a famous Seattle socialite leads Ana down a path she never anticipated: solving a murder while keeping an innocent man out of prison. But will her plan prove to be too dangerous? AU

Party's Over

By Strawberry Pajamas

Chapter 1: Arrest

Saturday, 10:42 pm

Pushing Olaplex products might have been a mistake… Aveda deep conditioner has been selling out lately, perhaps because it's more affordable? In that case, we'd need to sell more Morroccan oil to make up the difference…

Elena tapped an acrylic fingernail on her laptop's trackpad as she stared at the screen, frowning. The Excel spreadsheet of Esclava's sales in the past quarter glowed brightly on her screen, as if demanding she stared directly at it. Profits from product sales were slim this quarter, even worse than the last quarter, and Elena was beginning to worry she'd have to make some serious cuts in the next few months if she wanted to make money. She'd tried to get her employees to push the more expensive products, but maybe it would be better to discontinue some lower-selling ones? If none of that worked, she could always fire some of her hairstylists or take out another business loan.

Can't rely on other people's money forever.

With a tired sigh, Elena pulled herself up from the dining table and walked into her open-concept kitchen, heading for the wine rack. Picking out a decent-looking red, she uncorked it and poured herself a generous glass. She brought it up to her lips and took a long sip… the taste was soothing, and it helped take the edge off.

Elena walked over to the kitchen island and set her glass down. She pressed her hands on the countertop and gazed out the window at the opposite side of the dining room, letting out a sigh. Usually the money she couldn't make in the salon she would make up for by finding Christian a new submissive… young attractive brunettes would pay Elena top dollar for the chance of being dominated by Christian Grey. But the new girl who just started subbing for him was sent by somebody else, so Elena knew she couldn't expect her next windfall to happen anytime soon.

Lost in her thoughts, Elena didn't immediately hear the quiet thumping sound coming from the front hallway. She suddenly blinked and looked over to where the sound came from, frowning - it was far too late at night for visitors. Maybe it was just a squirrel or something scrabbling up her door frame? She picked up her glass of wine and began walking across the living room toward the front hallway, making sure her robe was tied securely around her body as she did so.

She suddenly heard a creak, and someone stepped out of the hallway in front of her. Elena gasped in surprise, freezing so suddenly that half her wine sloshed out of her glass and onto the floor.

"Oh my God, you scared me!" Elena said, pressing a palm to her chest while glaring at the other person. "Why the hell are you sneaking into my house so late at night without knocking?"

There was no response from the other person, and they took another step toward Elena, staring directly at her in a very unsettling manner. Elena realized something was very wrong here, and she took a tentative step back, her eyes locked on the other person in fear and trepidation.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked, her voice suddenly quavering. "This isn't funny… leave or I'm calling the police."

This didn't seem to deter the other person as they began to move toward Elena, their movements quick and aggressive. She stumbled backwards in fear, and saw the silver flash of a blade as it came toward her in the blink of an eye.

The sound of rushing water had filled her ears as the blade entered her multiple times, the excruciating pain barely registering over the shock of what was happening. She didn't even have time to scream, and her mind went blank as she collapsed… the wineglass slipped from her hand before crashing to the floor, glass shattering everywhere and red wine splattering across the hardwood.

The man simply stared down at her, clutching the knife in his hand as blood dripped from its tip. Robotically, he wiped the blade off with the hem of his shirt before turning and walking back out the front door as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Elena Lincoln lay stone dead on the floor of her living room, her eyes open and unseeing. Blood seeped from her body and pooled around her, mixing with the spilled wine and the shards of her broken wineglass.

24 hours later

Sunday 10:21 pm

Christian walked downstairs into the great room of Escala, the whole place as quiet as it normally was on Sunday evenings. He still wore his Dom jeans from his playroom session earlier, but he had thrown on a white t-shirt to cover up his chest; he planned to get some work done in his study now that his sub had gone back home for the week, but first he was going to get a drink.

Last night was his first session with Elizabeth, his new submissive, and she definitely didn't disappoint. That was usually the case with new subs, though… the thrill of fucking and dominating someone new made him eager to give all he had, and Elizabeth was clearly ready and willing to receive all of his attentions.

I think this will surely be a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Christian poured himself a finger of scotch before walking over to his floor-to-ceiling windows and gazing out over the night sky, illuminated by the buildings of Seattle. He took a small sip, grimacing slightly as the alcohol burned his throat on the way down. The night felt peaceful and quiet, and he soaked up the silence as he closed his eyes.

Ding ding ding ding ding

Christian opened his eyes with a frown and turned toward the elevators, noticing a red light he had never seen before blinking over the doors while making a dinging sound. What the hell?

After a moment, a thump sounded as Taylor hurried in from around the corner, wearing flannel pajama pants and a navy blue Marines t-shirt. He looked alarmed.

"Taylor, what's going on?" Christian asked, gazing at the blinking light.

"Someone's coming up to the penthouse," Taylor said, staring at the elevators. "The doorman must've overrode the code to allow someone to come up without our permission. But who…?"

He was interrupted by the elevator doors sliding open, and Christian's heart began thumping wildly. Who the hell was coming at this hour?

In a moment, five or six police officers swarmed into the penthouse, all of them in full cop gear - hats, jackets, vests, walkie-talkies, and even a few guns. Christian felt too stunned to even react, and he could only stare in shock as they all rushed into the great room.

"Seattle PD! Hands in the air!" a red-haired bearded cop barked as he approached Christian, gun cocked. Christian, one hand still clutching the glass of scotch, instinctively raised both of his hands in a surrender position. "Are you Christian Grey?"

"Yeah," Christian said immediately, his heart pounding. "What the hell's going on?"

Red-haired cop looked at the cop next to him and jerked his head toward Christian. The guy moved forward with a pair of handcuffs, and Christian felt his blood run cold.

"Hey!" Taylor shouted, moving forward, and several cops shouted at him to stay back. He halted in his tracks. "Do you guys have a warrant? You can't come barging in here like this!"

"Who are you?" the red-haired cop snapped at Taylor.

"I'm his personal security officer," Taylor snapped back. "Tell us what the hell's going on! It's against the law to come in here without a warrant."

"This isn't a search and seizure," the cop explained. "Although we do intend to obtain a warrant within the next 24 hours. Mr. Grey is being arrested."

Christian felt pale and dizzy. "Wait - arrested? I didn't do anything!"

"Your DNA and fingerprints were discovered at the site of a recent murder," the red-haired cop said to him. "You're coming with us to the station to answer a few questions."

Christian felt like he couldn't breathe as the cop with the handcuffs moved forward and grasped his wrist. Christian instinctively jerked it back. "Wait, what?! Who the fuck was murdered?"

"The body of Elena Lincoln was discovered inside her home earlier today with multiple stab wounds," the red-haired cop explained. "We believe she had been killed less than 24 hours ago."

Christian felt numb… Elena was dead? He tried to step away from the police officers, but several of them moved forward to grab both his arms and pin them down. Christian wasn't used to so many people touching him all at once, and he kept instinctively trying to pull away. They forced him to put his hands behind his back; the glass of scotch fell from his hand and it shattered on the marble floor by their feet. In a daze, he felt the cool metal of handcuffs locking around his wrists.

"Mr. Christian Grey, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you."

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: Hope you liked this first chapter! I know this is a small departure from what I normally write, but I thought I would try something new :)

Please review!