“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON NOW? TERRORISTS ATTACKING THE MALLS?” Goldilocks’s comment stopped Angel dead in her tracks. Roc and Zoom had used the same tactic. Create confusion, murder, and then escape in the chaos. It was a timely thought that made her instantly aware of her surroundings. She felt her life was in danger, saw it coming for a split second, and then all hell broke loose as the mall erupted in gunfire and screams… The first shot from Rahman’s bullet grazed Angel in the upper arm as she pushed people out of her way. The second shattered the window behind her as she dove for cover. “F—k!” Angel cursed at the sight of her own blood, adrenaline pumping too fast to feel the pain. “Angel!” Goldilocks screamed, not knowing how serious her wound was. “I’m good! Move!” “A major pioneer of street fiction.” —Library Journal RAVES FOR TERI WOODS AND HER NOVELS DUTCH “Almost unparalleled in its shock value… thoroughly absorbing… a fast-moving story with ruthless dialogue… vividly highlights the crime-riddled existence of notorious Newark gangster Bernard James, aka Dutch… will keep any lover of this genre captivated.” —The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers “A bone-chilling story of murder, violence, and the struggle for power. It is a harrowing tale.” — MyShelf.com ALIBI “The classic investigative query—‘Where were you on the night in question?’— allows Woods to once again prove why she’s in a league of her own.” —Philadelphia Tribune “Gritty… While giving a sympathetic voice to her financially desperate heroine… Woods observes that easy cash comes with a steep price.” —Library Journal (starred review) “Woods writes with feeling a strong sense of Philadelphia setting… Fast-paced and exciting, Alibi is an action-filled story about the desperate life of one urban girl and the consequences of trying to break away.” —Booklist “Blistering… This wickedly satisfying page-turner will leave readers eager for the next installment.” —Publishers Weekly “Woods has established herself as the Queen of Urban Fiction… launching a revolution in reading… Her hustle made real the dream of every wannabe author, the fantasy that your work will inspire a generation, will create a wave of response and thought, that posits you as a leader and a vanguard of a movement all your own.” — Heavy.com “A fast-paced, action-filled page-turner.” — MyShelf.com “Gritty drama that only Woods can deliver… [she] writes with the suspense and ingenuity of a crime novelist and has crafted a literary adrenaline rush for mystery, thriller, and urban fiction fans alike.” — The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers “An engaging thriller with an intricate plot.” — BlackVoices.com “A fast-paced read… Teri Woods is quite a good writer.” —Sacramento Book Review TRUE TO THE GAME III “Vividly depicts the 1990s drug culture… urban fiction fans will welcome the melodramatic final entry in bestseller Woods’s True to the Game trilogy.” —Publishers Weekly TRUE TO THE GAME II “Raw… gutsy.” —Essence “Four out of five… Wonderful… a great story… a fast-paced, exciting read that will surely keep you on your toes.” — Urban-Reviews.com “Explosive… excellent… masterful… A must-have… definitely worth waiting for… solidifies Ms. Woods’s place as one of the Queens of Street Lit.” —The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers Copyright This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. Grand Central Publishing Edition Copyright © 2005, 2010 by Teri Woods Story by Dutch All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Previously published by Teri Woods Publishing Grand Central Publishing Hachette Book Group 237 Park Avenue New York, NY 10017 Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com www.twitter.com/grandcentralpub First eBook Edition: March 2010 Grand Central Publishing is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The Grand Central Publishing name and logo is a trademark of Hachette Book Group, Inc. Group, Inc. ISBN: 978-0-446-56743-5 Contents “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON NOW? TERRORISTS ATTACKING THE MALLS?” RAVES FOR TERI WOODS AND HER NOVELS COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PROLOGUE CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE THREE YEARS LATER CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE RAHMAN CHAPTER SIX PUSSY CONTROL CHAPTER SEVEN WAR CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE PEACE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN QUANTICO, VIRGINIA CHAPTER TWELVE READING GROUP GUIDE A Preview of Alibi This book is dedicated to my nephew, Andrew Wansel. Boy oh boy, I knew it was bad in the beginning. I didn’t know how bad it would get, and it was really touch and go there, nephew, because it wasn’t just business; the personal fell apart, too. The funny thing about it is you are the last person on earth I thought I would ever call a hundred and ninety-nine times a day. But I did, and you answered a hundred and ninety-nine times and you really were the only person that I could trust and talk to. And not only that, but you actually knew what I was talking about! WOW! And you listened to me, every day, day after day, after day, after day, and you really helped me and I really appreciate it. You are a good nephew. Thanks for the ear time.