he wanted and now he was going after Mary Alice. It wasn’t fair.
“We were just going,” John said, taking Mary Alice’s hand as if she belonged to him.
“So soon?” Woody asked, and John realized he was blocking their way. “Come on back inside with your old cousin Wood. I got something for you.”
“I don’t think so.” John threw the empty cup into the yard. “I should take her home. Her mom will be looking for her.”
“Just a little hit,” Woody insisted. “Or another, I guess I should say.” He winked at Mary Alice. “Think you can handle a drink, sweetheart? Might help dry those pretty blue eyes of yours.”
Mary Alice looked odd. She was smiling, almost flirting. “I wasn’t crying.”
“Sure, babydoll.”
“Woody,” John began, but Woody put his hand over John’s mouth to stop him, telling Mary Alice, “This one likes to talk too much.”
She laughed, and John felt his anger spark up. She was laughing with Woody. She was laughing at him.
Woody asked, “You think you can handle a little drink, little girl?”
Her lips went into this sexy kind of half-smile. “I can handle it.”
“Mary Alice,” John said.
Woody had taken away his hand and wrapped his arm around Mary Alice’s shoulders. He licked his lips as he looked down her shirt, telling John, “Shut up, Cousin.”
Mary Alice laughed. “Yeah, John, shut up.”
Woody pulled her closer in and she tilted up her head. He kept his eyes locked on John’s as he pressed his open mouth to Mary Alice’s.
She started to kiss him back and John felt like somebody had ripped his heart out of his chest. He stood helpless as Woody’s hand went down Mary Alice’s blouse, cupped her breast like groping her was something he did every day. His mouth got wider against Mary Alice’s and she jerked away, coming to her senses a second later than she should have.
She yelled, “Stop it!” as she tumbled toward John.
John caught her, holding her up. The button had ripped off her shirt where Woody’s hand had reached inside.
“You’re disgusting,” she told Woody, clasping the blouse closed, tears springing into her eyes.
Woody was smiling. “Come on, baby. Don’t be like that.”
“I can’t believe you,” she cried. “Your tongue is disgusting.”
His smile became more sinister. “Watch it now.”
She curled in closer to John, crying, “Please, take me home.”
John started to lead her away, his eyes on Woody, not liking the way his cousin was staring at them.
“Get back here,” Woody ordered, reaching out for her again.
“Leave her alone!” John yelled, fists clenched. Woody had about a hundred pounds on him but John firmly believed he could and would kick his ass if he so much as touched another hair on Mary Alice’s head.
“Whoa.” Woody held up his hands, taking a step back. “Didn’t know you’d already claimed her, little man. Go on. Take her home to her mommy.”
“Stay away from her,” John warned. “I mean it.”
“No hard feelings,” Woody said, but he was still leering at Mary Alice like a lion who had been denied its prey. “Best man wins.”
“Damn straight.”
“Here,” Woody said, digging into his front pocket. “Parting gift.” He tossed a bag of powder to John. “No hard feelings, right, Cousin?”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
FEBRUARY 6, 2006
John had found out about the news story by accident. He had been vacuuming out the cargo space of a mud-splattered Subaru Forrester. He picked up a stack of newspapers to throw in the trash and the whole pile fell from his hand like playing cards scattered on a table. He bent down to gather up the pages and saw two words he had never noticed before: Local Edition.
The Subaru’s owner was from Clayton County, but John knew if there was a special insert for one town, there had to be one for the others.
He had told Art he was having stomach problems so he could leave work early and headed straight downtown to the main branch of the Fulton County Public Library. The newspaper’s online archive required a credit card for access, so instead he requested microfiche of the Gwinnett County local editions going back the last three months. Two hours later, he’d found what he was looking for. The story was dated December 4,2005.
SNELLVILLE GIRL ABDUCTED
FROM LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD.
There weren’t many details. No name was mentioned, just the age—fourteen—and that she had been walking from her home to visit an aunt down the street. Obviously, the family wasn’t talking to the press and there was no mention of suspects or leads the police were following. John scanned