“This job, it gets to all of us. Some cops start thinking the rules don’t apply to them anymore. And I guess when Frank’s wife died, he just went off the deep end. After that all he cared about was the job.”
I could fill in the rest. Shauna had a hard enough time accepting that daddy dearest was always at the station. When she realized he was spending what spare time he had with Nicole, a girl even younger than herself, she flipped. It probably wasn’t that hard to fill Rachel’s and Kim’s minds with lies and turn them against Nicole, which led to her death. And it wasn’t hard to see why Nicole might have fallen for McKinney—how he had seemed so powerful back then.
“I don’t feel sorry for him.”
He met my eyes. “I don’t either. I’m just sorry this all happened.”
“That won’t give me years of my life back.”
“No.” He stood up. “But you still have years left. Do good things with them.”
He got in his car and drove off.
*
That night I heard a knock on my back window. I woke up with a start, Captain barking beside me. I pulled back the curtain. It was Ryan. He motioned for me to open the window. I gave Captain a command to quiet down and slid open the lock. Ryan grinned at me.
“Want to go for a drive?”
“Where are we going?”
“Wherever we want.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There never seem to be enough words to express how much I appreciate the following people, how they made all the difference—even if their role was a small one, it was huge to me. But I’ll try my best.
With enormous gratitude to my editor, Jen Enderlin, who told me I could do it, then helped me get there. I’ve learned more from you than I can even begin to acknowledge. Your insights, encouragement, and advice have helped me grow as a writer with every book we work on together.
For the team at St. Martin’s Press: Sally Richardson, Matthew Shear (who wrote me the loveliest e-mail, which I will treasure forever), Dori Weintraub, Lisa Senz, Nancy Trypuc, Kim Ludlam, Kelsey Lawrence, Laura Flavin, Elizabeth Catalano, Stephanie Hargadon, Caitlin Dareff, and the entire Broadway and Fifth Avenue sales forces. Also, thanks to Dave Cole, who has now done a stellar job copyediting three of my books, and Ervin Serrano, who designed this amazing cover. I hope you all know how grateful I am.
Deepest thanks to Mel Berger. Your ongoing support, sense of humor, and guidance has been invaluable over these past years. I couldn’t ask for a better agent and friend. Thanks also to Kathleen Breaux, Ashley Fox, Tracy Fisher, Laura Bonner, Raffaella DeAngelis, Annemarie Blumenhagen, Covey Crolius, and the rest of the fantastic team at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment in New York and L.A.
In Canada, thanks to Jamie Broadhurst, Fleur Matthewson, and the entire group at Raincoast Books. I’m lucky to have such wonderful cheerleaders in my corner. I’d also like to thank all my foreign publishers around the world. One of my greatest pleasures is hearing from my foreign fans.
As always, endless appreciation to my lovely and wise critique partner, Carla Buckley, who can bash around story ideas for hours, understands my craziness, and convinced me to try Skype. How did we live without it? Your friendship and humor has helped me out of many dark corners and snarled plots.
For their professional advice I’d like to thank in no particular order: Bert King, Chris Lucas, Constable J. Moffat, Renni Browne, Shannon Roberts, Virginia Reimer, C. Saffron, M.L., Canadian Prison Consulting, Kim Brown, Lori Hall, and Stephanie Paddle. Any mistakes are most certainly mine.
For their constant support and love, my husband, Connel, who is truly the best man I know; my daughter, Piper, who was tucked securely in the womb during most of the writing of this book (and blessed our lives in a million ways since her arrival); and little Oona, who keeps me company in my office every day.