Finding Tessa by Jaime Hendricks (best ereader for comics .TXT) 📗

decision to take his own life by eating the barrel of that gun instead of facing what was coming to him, Jace was free. So was Tessa. Finally.

Of course, Trey got out unscathed. Rosita’s being pregnant was attributed to some boyfriend no one knew of, and Jace decided not to let the cat out of the bag. There was no reason to hurt Trey’s wife, Aleesha. Even Jane Doe was identified in the interim. She was from out of state, and they arrested her boyfriend in connection with her murder.

The paperwork was filed and expedited, and Tessa’s current ID was legal. For the next few days, anyway.

“You ready?” he asked her as he finished his coffee from his favorite mug.

World’s Greatest Dad.

“Yeah, I think I have everything,” she said. “Everything I could find, anyway.”

She’d been working hard on the nursery, all grays and yellows—daffodils—with pops of pink and blue. They didn’t know the sex of the baby yet and they planned to keep it a surprise.

She stood by the door with a small bag over her shoulder. Jace washed out the mug at the sink, then set it on the shelf to dry while they were away. His bags were already packed and in the trunk. He hooked Candy up to the leash.

“Come on, girl. You want to go visit Grandma and Grandpa?”

Her butt wiggled, and they closed the door to their home behind them. They were driving down to Florida so Jace could formally introduce Tessa to his parents. Evan and his parents, and Hobart and Pearl, would follow in a few days.

And they would be the only witnesses on the beach, with the pastor, when she legally became Tessa Montgomery.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

So many people have lifted me on this journey, so I’m going to gush. The first and most important is Anne Tibbets, my fantastic agent, whose hard work, fierce loyalty, dedication, and friendship have propelled my dreams into a reality. Thank you for taking a chance on me, and by giving me the freedom to write what I want to write without hovering. I feel so lucky every day that you’re my agent. I’m crossing my fingers for a long and prosperous career for both of us, together.

Thank you to Luisa Smith, my beyond brilliant editor, for picking this book up, dusting it off, knocking it around, shining it up, and making it great. You’ve been a dream to work with! I look forward to taking your direction in the future, with a smile. To the rest of the team at Scarlet—thank you to my publishers Charles Perry, Otto Penzler, and Jake Shapiro in publicity for getting this book into the hands of so many wonderful readers. And to the creative team who developed my cover—excellent job!

Barbara Poelle. I still owe you that martini. Okay, three.

Vanessa Lillie, I wouldn’t be here without you. You’re not only a talented author and go-getter, but you’re someone I’ll always be proud to call a friend. I’d also like to shout out amazingly talented authors Jennifer Pashley, Danielle Girard, Lynne Constantine, and Wendy Walker. Thank you for everything you’ve done for the newbie. And to my additional critique partners and great authors, Mary Keliikoa and Dr. Jessica Payne.

My beautiful and amazing cousins Victoria Overpeck and Nicole Slininger: blood made us family, we made us friends. And special thanks to my good friends Krista Tully Nelson, Wendy Crimmins, and Sue Principato for your encouragement.

Other amazing support has come from Steve Viner, Katerina Ermolin and Crystal Smalls-Wright. Utmost thanks to IG Book Blogger @Ludwigreads—putting me on a list of 2021 anticipated thrillers with bestselling authors I idolize made me feel like I finally made it. Thanks to Marc Bonagura and everyone in his Brookdale Spring ’17 Creative Writing class, especially my poodle, Matthew Mazzucca.

Chris Mormando—you keep acting, I’ll keep writing. I’m convinced these paths will cross again someday. And I have to mention my cheer section of close friends. Jami Hooker, Tara Feehan, Keri Feeney, Carolyn Skoczek, Meghan Kretz, Diana O’Malley, Connie Hirsch, Morgan Mann, and of course, Tracey Ramponi, who is watching over all of us from heaven. And to my newest friend Lauren Mikucki who became one of my closest . . . we’ll always have Huddy’s.

Old friends are the best friends, so special shout out to Suzanne Cohen, Jillian Jaques, Tara Reilly, Jennifer Higgins, Ginny Kotler, Janina Vitenas, Stacey Figueroa, and Gina Bonczek. I’ve known you all for multiple decades and your continued friendship and support mean the world to me.

Of course, one stands out in particular. My BFF, my ride-or-die since I was four years old. The one who has been there for every single thing in my life, no matter distance or obstacles, the one who always drops everything when I need her: Ann Marie DePaulis, you are the best friend anybody could ever ask for, you always have been, and you will be when we’re drinking coffee and eating cheesecake like the Golden Girls we always said we’d be.

The rest of my family—my sister Kristin Homrighausen, my goddaughter Bethany Walter, Angela and Paul Sala, Susan and Gary Claypool, and the best decisions my cousins ever made, Jim Overpeck and Mike Slininger. This is also for my grandparents in heaven, John and Helen Gallo.

My parents, Hank and Geri Sbordone. Where do I start, where do I end? You’ve both always been there for me with unconditional love and support, encouraging me to live how I wanted to live, and you allowed me to spread my wings to make my own dreams come true. I am where I am because of you.

To my husband and doggie-daddy John: when you say, “I didn’t do anything, you did it,” it’s much more than that. When life threw me a curveball, you swept in and saved the day, giving me the ability and time to make a go of this whole author thing. A