Heartsick (46 page)

The thought kept the smile on his face as he surrendered his sore, tired body to sleep. He felt his hand relax around the pillbox. The last thing he was aware of was Debbie lifting it out of his hand and putting it back on the table.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T
hanks to my
writing group: Chuck, Suzy, Mary, Diana, and Barbara. I know I keep saying it, but your input made all the difference. Thanks also to my agent, Joy Harris, and everyone at the Joy Harris Agency; as well as my editor, Kelley Ragland; George Witte, Andy Martin, and everyone at St. Martin’s Minotaur. I am lucky to know such excellent people in publishing. Dr. Patricia Cain and Dr. Frank McCullar provided medical consults, and Mike Keefe and the dogs walked with me along the Willamette while I picked out places for corpses to wash up. Thanks to my mom, always, my dad and Susan, and my large and fantastic family (especially my aunts, the Cain Millers, and my graceful and strong grandmothers). Roddy McDonnell, thanks for making me such an awesome parallel parker—it is still my proudest talent. Laura Ohm and Fred Lifton, thanks for the food and company; and to my friends at
The Oregonian,
thanks for letting me write for you, and hang out with you. Maryann Kelley, I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. Thank you, Wendy Lane, of Lane PR, the only person I ever write for who responds with two words: “It’s perfect.” Special thanks to my husband, Marc Mohan, for his editing prowess and for his tolerance of my love of televised surgery, and thanks to our daughter, Eliza, for taking all of those extra long naps. Eliza, you can’t read this book until you’re twenty-one. I mean it.