“Thank you.”
“What’s next for you now?” he asks. “Back to work?”
“No. I need . . . a change of focus, I think. Did I ever tell you that, before law school, I always wanted to be a singer?”
He smiles in a way that makes me smile back. “No, I would have remembered that.”
“Yeah. Long story there, but I think I’m going to try to turn back time a little bit and see if I can’t make a go of it.”
“You’ll have to tell me when you get your first . . . do they still call them gigs?”
“I actually don’t know. But I’ll do more than tell you because . . . one of the other mistakes of my former life that I’d like to remedy was not returning your phone calls way back then. So, if you’re not seeing anyone at the moment, can I turn back time on that too?”
He hesitates, and I fear I’m going to get shot down. But then he says, “I’d really like that too. I know this sounds corny, but I’ve always thought of you as the one who got away.”
It is corny. But I’ve thought about him that way too.
“Chalk it up to me being an idiot. I like to think I’m much smarter now.”
“How about if we start again on Saturday night?” Then he quickly adds, “Unless that’s too soon.”
“No. No, that sounds absolutely perfect.”
By now we’ve reached the parking lot, and I can see my father leaning against the town car that brought us here. He’s no longer holding an umbrella, and I realize that the rain has stopped.
“The sun is coming out,” I say.
Gabriel closes his umbrella and shakes the excess rain onto the ground. “Look,” he says, pointing up.
It’s a rainbow, filling the sky. The kind that makes you stop and take notice.
I’m normally the cynic who would say that it’s just a coincidence. That it’s not a sign from God or my sister smiling down on us. But that’s another thing I’m ready to change. Today, I’m certain that it is a sign from God. And my sister is smiling down on us.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Dead Certain. Please e-mail me at [email protected] with your thoughts about the book. I love to hear from readers, and I write back!
Dead Certain is my fifth book, and the most fun to write. I hope my enjoyment came through on the page, and I hope that you enjoyed it too.
Writing in my house is a family affair. My wife, Susan Steinthal, is the best editor, sounding board, and critic any writer (or husband) could have. All that and she’s responsible for my being happier than I ever dreamed possible. I dedicated Dead Certain to my daughters, Rebecca and Emily, not only because they are my world but because at the heart of the book is the relationship between two sisters, and that part is modeled on my daughters’ bond, which never ceases to amaze me. My stepson Benjamin gives the best comments of anyone (and is my first reader), and Michael is always willing to explain technology and global politics to me. Finally, I miss my parents, Linda and Milton Mitzner, more with each book that they never got to read.
I owe an incredible debt to all my friends and family for their enthusiastic support. I’m looking at you: Jessica and Kevin Shacter, Jodi (Shmodie) Siskind, Jane and Gregg Goldman, Lisa and Eric Sheffield, Matt and Deborah Brooks, Beth Miller, Bonnie Rubin, Ellice Schwab, Abby Doft (who lent her name), Leslie Wright, Paolo Amoroso (who lent his name), Kelly Nelson (who lent her name), Margaret Martin, and Ted Quinn.
I want to single out Clint Broden for thanks. Clint is a real person and a real criminal defense attorney of the first rank in Dallas, and in my fictional universe he is a fictional person and a fictional criminal defense attorney of the first rank in New York.
This is my first book for Thomas & Mercer, and the experience has been nothing but spectacular. Liz Pearsons has been a joy to work with, and I was thrilled to be reunited with Ed Stackler, my very first editor. Ed made many insightful critiques about Dead Certain that made it far better than it would otherwise have been. Also a big shout-out to everyone on the Thomas & Mercer team, many of whom I sadly never met, but each of your contributions truly makes the book better.
My agent, Scott Miller of Trident Media, is the man who starts it all going, and without him I’d still be printing my books out for just my family to read. My thanks also go out to Scott’s colleague, Allysin Shindle, and to Jon Cassir of CAA, who I have faith will one of these days bring my books to film or television.
When I’m not writing, I’m lawyering as a partner at Pavia & Harcourt. Everyone at my firm is enormously supportive, especially Diane Pimentel, Olga Sushko, and George Garcia.
One of the creative sparks that gave rise to Dead Certain was that people who know me assume that there is a great deal of autobiography in my fiction. Like Charlotte, I disabuse them of that notion, and like Ella, my friends and family roll their eyes when I do. But if readers want to glean anything about me from my writing (and I recommend that they don’t), it’s that my family means everything to me—that and I have pretty good insight into how a sociopath thinks, apparently.
Again, thank you all so very much for your readership! It means more than words can say.