Dear Finn won’t get away without a little payback. I’ve heard fraternity hazing at Harvard can be hell. I’m counting on him suffering, just a little.

I have changed my mind about my baby’s name. She will be named Amelia. I will send a photo and a note to Detective Devlin. She really did do me a great favor, putting that bullet through a very black heart. She needn’t worry about her future where that part of all this is concerned.

Her secret will always be safe with me.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Birmingham, Alabama, holds a very special place in my heart. When my older daughter was born with multiple and life-threatening issues, she was rushed to Birmingham’s Children’s Hospital. After major surgery, months of hospitalization as an infant, and multiple additional surgeries over the years, my girl is happy and healthy and the mother of two daughters of her own. Most recently my younger daughter, who has two sweet boys, was faced with her youngest needing surgery. He was taken to this same hospital and is doing fantastically well. I am so incredibly thankful for this amazing place. For me and my family, Birmingham truly is the Magic City.

I have immense respect for Birmingham and its prestigious police department. Any negativity about either portrayed in this novel is strictly a product of my vivid imagination and is in no way based on real people or events.