Page 34 of The Girl Who Was Taken

She was up against him now, their faces inches apart.

Casey glanced at the door. The last of the members had gone. He dropped the extension cord and grabbed her by the waist, pulled her into him.

“Don’t tease if you can’t deliver.”

Nicole dropped her beer. It hit the ground and spouted fizz. She put her hands on the back of his neck. “I’m not a teaser.” She pulled his face to hers and kissed him.

Casey’s hands were all over her, and after a minute he pushed her backward onto the table. Her earlobe was in his mouth when he whispered, “How old are you?”

Nicole grabbed his face and looked into his eyes. “You duct-taped my mouth and threw me in a shed overnight. This can’t be any more illegal.”

He pushed her farther onto the table. Besides their voices and their moans, the only noise came from the generator outside that gave life to the single, isolated bulb that cast the brewery in shadows.

CHAPTER 17

August 2016

Two Weeks Before the Abduction

Diana Wells was good and buzzed. A nineteen-year-old freshman at Elizabeth City State University, getting into bars was never a problem. Her fake ID said she was twenty-two, the picture was close enough, and it hadn’t failed her yet. The ID came from a friend’s sister, and Diana flashed it to bouncers with confidence. She didn’t like that it listed her fake self as 160 pounds. She was 145 since cutting carbs this summer, and could again fit into the skinny jeans from Christmas.

Out with two friends tonight, the flirting had started an hour before. First, the guy ordered them a round of lemon drop shots and waved when they all looked over. Then, he’d said hi on the way to the bathroom, ignoring all of them but Diana. With her two best friends, both size two and the ones who usually captured guys’ attention, Diana loved the spotlight tonight.

He was older. Maybe a grad student, and Diana was happy to expand outside the circle they always hung with. It was a drag to see her two friends flirt with a group of guys and casually pick the ones they thought were cutest. Diana was left with the scraps. The quiet guys who also hung in the shadows and waited for the end of the night to see what was left. Diana was it.

Tonight, though, things were different. She was finally living the college social lifestyle, crushing on a guy who was into her from the beginning, not by default.

He was with another couple, a guy and a girl who were sitting next to him at the bar. They both were obviously in on what was happening.

“Are you going to talk to him,” one of her friends asked.

“I don’t know,” Diana said. “He looks older.”

“Probably a grad student.”

In the middle of their discussion, he waved his arm, inviting her over. Diana’s eyes widened, and he waved harder. He gave her a look.Come here. I gotta beg you?

Her friends laughed and pushed her out of their circle. “Go! Lover Boy calls,” her friends teased.

Diana, drink in hand, walked shyly toward him.

“I’ve only been buying you drinks all night,” he said when she was close enough.

“Thanks for the shots,” Diana said.

“I’m Casey,” the guy said.

“Diana.”

The bartender lined up four shot glasses and poured them full with a sticky red concoction.

Casey pulled them over. “Fuzzy navels. Here.” He handed a shot to Diana.

The couple next to him grabbed the remaining shot glasses and held them up.

“These are my friends,” Casey said. “Nate and Nicole. This is Diana.”

“Cheers,” Nicole said, and they all tilted their heads and slammed the shots.

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