The Alibi

By John Locke

Shortly after arriving in Eddyville, Kentucky, successful landscape architect James Flynn’s entire world is turned upside down. In a good way, he thinks.

After all, what could be better than having the two prettiest young ladies in Lyon County vying for his affections?

Suddenly, one of them needs an alibi that only he can provide. All she needs is for him to say they’ve been together for the past four hours. How much trouble could that possibly cause?

Advance Praise for "The Alibi"

“More twists and turns than a 60’s dance marathon!”

“Locke is the world’s greatest writer of Hillbilly banter.”

“This is the one book you’ll take to the beach this year. Or the pool. Or the lake. Or wherever you like to read.”

“Tough, sassy, stark, funny, terrifying. Crystal Barrow and McKenna Ransom are my new favorite heroines.”

“Readers won’t soon forget this odd mix of often funny, often dangerous, bigger-than-life characters. The Alibi is Locke’s best novel in years.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Locke
• Release date: Mar 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781937656355

John Locke

John Locke kommt 1632 im englischen Wrington zur Welt. Nach dem Besuch der Westminster School in London studiert Locke bis 1658 in Oxford. Zwischen 1660 und 1664 lehrt er dort Philosophie, Rhetorik und alte Sprachen. Sein enzyklopädisches Wissen und seine Studien in Erkenntnistheorie, Naturwissenschaften und Medizin bringen ihm früh die Mitgliedschaft in der Royal Society ein. Als Sekretär und Leibarzt des Earl of Shaftesbury ist Locke in Folge der politischen Machtkämpfe in England gezwungen, ins holländische Exil zu fliehen. Erst 1689 kehrt er nach England zurück und widmet sich auf seinem Landgut seinen Studien. Im selben Jahr erscheint anonym Ein Brief über Toleranz, der die ausschließliche Aufgabe des Staates im Schutz von Leben, Besitz und Freiheit seiner Bürger bestimmt. Die hier formulierten Ideen finden in der amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitserklärung ihren politischen Widerhall. Lockes Hauptwerk, der Versuch über den menschlichen Verstand, erscheint erst 1690 vollständig, wird aber vermutlich bereit 20 Jahre früher begonnen. Es begründet die Erkenntnistheorie als neuzeitliche Form des Philosophierens, die besonders in der französischen Aufklärung nachwirkt. Locke lehnt darin Descartes' Vorstellung von den eingeborenen Ideen ab und vertritt einen konsequenten Empirismus. Aus der theoretischen Einsicht in die Begrenztheit der Erkenntnisfähigkeit ergibt sich für Locke die Forderung, daß sich weder ein Staatssouverän noch eine Glaubensgemeinschaft im Besitz der allein gültigen Wahrheit wähnen darf. Der mündige Bürger, der in der Lage ist, kritisch selbst zu entscheiden, wird konsequenterweise zum pädagogischen Ziel Lockes. John Locke stirbt 1704 als europäische Berühmtheit auf seinem Landsitz in Oates.

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The Alibi

By John Locke

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you are reading this eBook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

THE ALIBI

Copyright © 2022 John Locke. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the author. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the author or publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Cover Designed by: Claudia Jackson

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Published by John Locke Books, LLC

Visit the author’s websites:

http://www.daniripper.com

http://www.donovancreed.com

ISBN: 978-1-937656-35-5 (eBook)

ISBN: 978-1-937656-36-2 (Paperback)

Version 2022.02.21

John Locke

New York Times Best Selling Author

Guinness World Record Holder for eBook Sales!

8th Member of the Kindle Million Sales Club

(Members include James Patterson, George R.R. Martin, and Lee Child)

John Locke had 4 of the top 10 eBooks on

Amazon/Kindle at the same time, including #1 and #2!

…Had 6 of the top 20 books at the same time!

…Had 8 books in the top 43 at the same time!

…Has written 43 books in six separate genres, all best-sellers!

…Has been published throughout the world in numerous languages

by the world’s most prestigious publishing houses!

…Winner, Second Act Magazine’s Story of the Year!

...Named by Time Magazine as one of the Stars of the DIY-Publishing Era

Wall Street Journal: John Locke (is) transforming the ‘book’ business

John Locke’s International Best-Selling Books

Donovan Creed Series:

Lethal People

Lethal Experiment

Saving Rachel

Now & Then

Wish List

A Girl Like You

Vegas Moon

The Love You Crave

Maybe

Callie’s Last Dance

Because We Can!

This Means War!

The President’s Daughter

The Day Miriam Lost Her Sh*t!

A Woman Scorned

Emmett Love Series:

Follow the Stone

Don’t Poke the Bear

Emmett & Gentry

Goodbye, Enorma

Rag Soup

Spider Rain

Dani Ripper Series:

Call Me!

Promise You Won’t Tell?

Teacher, Teacher

Don’t Tell Presley!

Abbey Rayne

Hot Mess Express

Dr. Gideon Box Series:

Bad Doctor

Box

Outside the Box

Boxed In!

Stand-Alone Novels:

Kill Jill

Casting Call

When David Died

Sorority Girl

Daisy & Bobby

Your Secret Admirer

It Was Just Sex (It Meant Nothing!)

Size Matters

Lucky You!

Another Man, Another Chance

You Never Forget Your First

The Alibi

Kindle Worlds:

A Kiss for Luck (Kindle Only)

Non-Fiction:

How I sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months

Contents

Part One: James Flynn

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

16.

17.

Part Two: McKenna Ransom

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

Part Three: Christian Tarver

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Part Four: James Flynn

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Epilogue

Part One

James Flynn

Present Day . . .

1.

I OPENED THE door twice this morning before realizing the knocking sound was a woodpecker. This time I ignore it until a young woman hollers, Flynn! It’s me, Crystal. Stay put if you’ve got a woman in there. She waits a moment before saying, That was a joke, Hon. Please don’t tell me there’s a woman in there!

I finish brushing my teeth, rush to the door. Crystal, hi! Please, come in.

Crossing the threshold, she looks around the empty room. Damn, Dude, you work fast! Where’d you store the furniture and whatever else was in here?

I didn’t. Someone kicked in the back door and stole everything that wasn’t nailed down.

When?

Hard to say. I moved Dad out on Monday and came back last night to this.

You should’ve called me, she says.

"What could you have done?"

Fixed the back door, for one thing. Not to change the subject, but what’s the deal with the dog across the road?

You mean the hound from hell? He’s making me mental!

How long’s he been barkin’ like that?

From the moment I got here, and all night, and all morning. What time is it now?

Ten.

So, 14 hours, nonstop.

That ain’t an angry bark, Crystal says. Sounds more like sufferin’. Where’s the family?

I shrug.

Did you check to see if he’s got food and water?

No.

"Why not? Please tell me you don’t hate dogs!"

Last thing my dad said before I checked him into the care facility was ‘steer clear of the neighbors across the road. They’re crazier than ducks in a bird cage, and more dangerous than a nest of vipers.’

Crystal nods. He’s right about that, and dollars to donuts, they’re the ones that stole his shit. Still, you can’t just leave a dog to die in this heat. Did they steal all your dad’s bowls and buckets?

Pretty sure they did.

She thinks a minute. Any old cans in the garage? If we find one, we can wash it out.

I’ll check.

Moments later, I come back with a broken-handled bucket. After washing it out, I fill it with water, and we walk across the road and greet the neighbors’ half-dead dog. Crystal points to his overturned water bowl. See that? You probably saved his life just now. She hops over the chain link fence in one quick motion, like it’s the simplest thing in the world to do. The dog awkwardly gets to his feet and slowly limps toward her. Crystal brings me his water bowl and I fill it with water from the bucket. She places it on the ground and pets the dog while he drinks. Then she takes the bucket and pours the rest of the water on his head and neck and rubs it into his fur. When that’s done, she hands me the bucket, hops the four-foot fence like it’s no taller than a brick, and we head back to Dad’s place.

You’re a nice person, I say.

Nicer than your neighbors, at least. Have you seen McKenna yet?

The TV show?

"The neighbor. McKenna Ransom. She’s a goddess livin’ among apes. That’s her dog, I s’pect, or those nutjobs would’ve eaten it by now."

Which nutjobs?

The Ransom clan. There’s seven livin’ in that one little house. Six are meth heads with about ten teeth between ’em. She pauses. And then there’s McKenna.

She’s not into drugs?

"Not into anything but work, best I can tell, ’less it’s the dog. As for the rest, you’ve got three generations, each uglier and more inbred than the next, startin’ with Granny Ransom, who’s meaner than a hot-poked goose. Toss in Waymon, her sorry sack of shit son and his nasty-ass wife Donna. They’re late 60’s, and June bug crazy. Their son LaMont’s a bearded hand grenade with the pin pulled out and his girlfriend Everly has more facial hair than Dusty and Billy from ZZ Top, God rest Dusty’s soul. Roundin’ out the clan is Everly’s kid, Lilly, who coulda starred in Children of the Corn."

Is LaMont Lilly’s father?

"They never tested, but his chances are about one in five, since that’s a rough estimate of how many men attended Everly’s famous Fuck Me Party a few years back. Lilly’s father is whoever’s sperm swam the fastest that night."

How old is she?

Five, which means if you’ve been countin’ you’ve hit six Ransoms besides McKenna, and yes I’m fully aware that means I accused a five-year-old of usin’ drugs, but when you see her, I s’pect you’ll agree. She laughs. "I’ve got a friend that invited Lilly to her daughter’s birthday party last month as a courtesy and couldn’t believe Everly brought her. When the girls started playin’ dolls Lilly put one in a fryin’ pan and turned on the stove. The mom said, ‘You can’t play with fire in this house. Why’d you do that?’ And you know what Lilly said?"

Tell me.

She said, Roastin’ babies makes it easier to pull their skin off."

Jesus!

Later, when Everly came to pick her up, my friend said, ‘Tell your mom we loved havin’ you,’ and Lilly said, ‘She’s not my mom, she’s my dad.’

Is that true?

Nope.

You’re sure?

Positive.

What about all that facial hair? Maybe she’s a he.

Crystal laughs. I can’t let that rumor take hold, since I’ve seen her stark naked. Trust me, there’s no penis under them jeans!

"I’d love to hear that story!"

It’s more sad than interestin’.

In that case I won’t pry. Bottom line, they’re all crazy, ugly junkies?

Except McKenna.

The goddess.

Exactly.

How’d she manage to be the exception?

One rumor is they kidnapped her as an infant and raised her as their own. Now they’re like that old TV show on cable.

Which one?

"The Munsters."

I laugh. McKenna’s like poor, unfortunate niece Marilyn?

If Marilyn was a hundred times prettier.

"No one’s that pretty!"

McKenna is. In fact, she’s so pretty I can’t stand the thought of you layin’ eyes on her. When you do, you’ll turn to stone and forget me in a minute.

That’s crazy. You’re gorgeous.

Not even close, but it’s sweet of you to say.

I shake my head. Why is it the prettiest girls never think they’re pretty?

"We do, Flynn. But you said ‘gorgeous,’ not pretty. I happen to think I’m really pretty! Put me up against most girls in the county, I’ll hold my own. But McKenna’s way past pretty, and she ain’t but forty yards from your door!"

Except for today, because her dog’s already barking again.

I know, right? It’s pitiful to hear. Hope she comes back soon, ’cause he won’t last long in this heat. I dread her return, but I want what’s best for the dog.

I know you do. But since I have zero interest in seeing McKenna, I’m going to change the subject, okay?

Music to my ears.

You never said why you came to visit me. Not to mention, how’d you know which house was my dad’s?

"As to knowin’ which house, there ain’t many secrets in Eddyville, Kentucky. But it’s technically your house, right? I heard you bought it for your dad six years ago."

I cock my head. How on earth did you hear that?

In Lyon County the shelf life for secrets is five minutes, tops. What took you so long to answer the door?

I tell her about the woodpecker.

She says, "Wow, you are a city man. Bet you never spent a single night in the woods!"

Is that a deal breaker?

Not for me. I detest redneck men. It’s the main reason I said yes when you asked me out last night.

I smile at her brazen attempt to rewrite history.

What really happened last night is . . .

2.

. . . BEFORE LEAVING MY dad at the care facility yesterday, he happened to mention that the Eddyville Marina restaurant made the best salt wings known to man. When I arrived last night, the restaurant was closed, but a cute young lady walked up behind me and said, You just missed them.

How can they be closed? I asked. It’s only seven-thirty!

Death in the family. By the way, I’m Crystal. If you want, I can heat somethin’ up for you.

You work here?

She laughed. "I’ll give you the ten-second tour. This here’s the restaurant. Over there’s retail. Yonder’s the boat docks. Across the parkin’ lot’s boat repair. See the fenced in area with the big buildin’? That’s winter storage. You asked if I work here? Dude, I work everywhere! My parents own the place. She held up a set of keys. Trust me to feed you?"

Of course. But don’t you need to be with your family during their sorrow?

Nope. I got a lifetime pass not to attend any Scruggs functions, includin’ funerals.

How’d you manage that?

The hard way. My Uncle Ronny and his son Bodie tried to rape me last year.

My jaw dropped. "Your uncle tried to rape you?"

"Him and my cousin. Thankfully, I’m nimble around drunks and managed to escape with minimal damage."

She unlocked the restaurant, escorted me in, sat me at a booth. Then she poured me a beer and said, "Bodie’s the dead one, thank God for small favors. Blew his ass to hell in his meth lab this mornin’. What’s your name?"

Flynn.

Flynn what?

Flynn’s my last name. First name’s James, but everyone calls me Flynn, so...

You related to Bobby Flynn?

He’s my dad.

I worked on Bobby’s bass boat last Spring. He had a stroke, right?

He did.

How’s he doin’?

Better.

Good to hear, she said. Can I ask how old you are?

Thirty-one. You?

Nineteen. Are you single? Reason I ask, I don’t see a weddin’ ring nor pale circle on your ring finger.

I’m divorced.

How long?

Two years.

Any kids?

"No. Do you ask all your customers this many questions?"

Crystal had a nice smile and showed it. You may as well kick back and relax, ’cause I’m just gettin’ started. Is that your Jag in the parkin’ lot?

It is.

You love it?

I do.

Me, too. Where you from?

Louisville.

How long you in town for?

It’ll take at least two or three weeks to pack Dad’s furniture and personal effects, put them in storage, fix up the house, and put it on the market.

You datin’ anyone local yet?

I laughed. I just got here. You’re the first and only female I’ve met.

In that case you are one lucky man, James Flynn.

Why’s that?

As it happens, I’m available for dinner tomorrow night, if you’d care to ask me out.

"I would like to."

She grinned. You won’t be sorry. Need a menu?

That depends. Can you make salt wings?

If we’ve got some, I can heat ’em up. I’ll go see.

She found some, and Dad was right. They were incredible. We talked, I ate, we shared some blackberry cobbler, and talked some more. After she hugged me goodbye, I drove to Dad’s and learned that someone had broken into the house, which brings us to the present, where the dog’s barking his head off and Crystal’s saying, The reason I showed up on your doorstep is because I wanted to tell you in person why I have to cancel our date tonight.

Aw, shit. I was afraid it was too good to be true. Is everything okay?

"Not really. Our manager