Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Reagan Arthur, Joshua Kendall, Sabrina Callahan, and my new family at Mulholland and Little, Brown for the care and enthusiasm with which they’ve greeted me and my book.

As always, I’d like to express my gratitude to Richard Abate, whom I’m lucky to count as a manager and a friend.

Thanks to Lieutenant Kip Westmoreland of the Texas Rangers, who is not to blame for liberties I took or facts I bent for the sake of a good story. He was kind to share some of his time with me.

Thank you to my parents, Sherra Aguirre and Gene Locke, for instilling in me a deep love for East Texas.

Thanks also to Dr. Cheryl Arutt for every Thursday session along this journey.

Finally, this book would not exist without the love and understanding of my family, specifically my daughter, Clara, who missed her mother at many a soccer game while I was writing, and my husband, Karl, who often did the work of two parents. You two are answered prayers, dreams come true, and grace on earth.