This is the life you wanted for me, Dad. I hope you know.
The game was about to begin, and as Jack took his place on the mound, as he waited for his son to hit the ball off the tee, he had a feeling Shane and his parents really were watching.
And that somewhere in the bleachers of heaven, his father wasn’t only smiling.
He was giving him a standing ovation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book took a hundred times more research and courage than any I’ve ever written. Along the way, many people helped make it possible. I simply cannot leave the beaches of Belize without giving thanks where it is so deeply deserved.
First, a special thanks to a retired FBI agent who specialized in human trafficking. The agent read this book with little turnaround time, and the notes and advice given to me took the story to another level. Thank you for your service with the bureau, and for your meticulous attention to detail with this book. You were the difference down the stretch.
Also to my amazing Simon & Schuster editor, Trish Todd, and my publishing team, including the keenly talented Libby McGuire, Suzanne Donahue, Lisa Sciambra, Isabel DaSilva, Paula Amendolara, Kristin Fassler and Dana Trocker, along with so many others! When I told you I had a book that was very different from one of my Baxter stories, you all hesitated. But you read my proposal and loved it! Thank you for believing I could write about undercover agents, surveillance and trafficking and still tell a story with heart.
Thanks also to former Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy, who passed away during the writing of this book. Carolyn, I still miss you dearly. Your passing came far too soon, but I will do as you asked. I will keep writing the best possible book God places on my heart. To everyone at Simon & Schuster, you clearly desire to raise the bar at every turn. Thank you for that. It’s an honor to work with you!
Also thanks to Rose Garden Creative, my design team—Kyle and Kelsey Kupecky—whose unmatched talent in the industry is recognized from Los Angeles to New York. Very simply you are the best in the business! My website, social media, video trailers and newsletter—along with so many other aspects of my virtual conferences and television pieces—are at the top of the business because of you two. Thank you for working your own dreams around mine. I love you and I thank God for you every single day.
A huge thanks to my sisters, Tricia and Susan, along with my mom, Anne. You give your whole hearts to helping me love my readers. Tricia, as my executive assistant for fifteen years; and Susan, as the president of my Facebook Official Online Book Club and Team KK. And, Mom, thank you for being Queen of the Readers. Anyone who has ever sent me an email and received a response from “Karen’s mom” is blessed indeed. The three of you are making a tremendous impact in changing this world for the better. I love you and I thank God for you always!
Thanks also to my son Austin, for helping me navigate the difference between a Black Hawk and a Chinook helicopter along with a hundred other details in this book that had to be right. You knew just how to help me and just where to lead me in my weeks of research. It was a blast working with you!
Thanks to EJ for praying for me every day while I was writing this book, and to Tyler for doing more than his share of the work on our other projects while I camped out on A Distant Shore.
Also, thank you to my office assistant, Aurora Galvin. You create space for me to write! My storytelling wouldn’t be possible without you.
I’m also grateful to my Team KK members, who step in at the final stage in writing a book. The galley pages come to me, and I send them to you, my most dedicated reader friends and family. My nieces Shannon Fairley, Melissa Viernes and Kristen Springer. Also Hope Burke, Donna Keene, Renette Steele, Zac Weikal and Sheila Holman. You are my volunteer test team! It always amazes me, the typos you catch at the final hour. Thank you for loving my work, and thanks for your availability to read my novels first and fast.
Also, my books only happen with the help of my family, especially my amazing husband, Donald. Honey, thank you for your spiritual wisdom and leadership in our home, and thanks for talking through books like this one from outline to editing. The countless ways you help me when I’m on deadline make all the difference. I love you!
And a special thanks to a man who has believed in my career for two decades, my amazing agent, Rick Christian. From the beginning, Rick, you’ve told me to dream big, set my sights high. Movies, TV series, worldwide reach. All of it for God and through Him. You imagined this, believed it and prayed for it alongside me and my family. You saw it happening and you still do! While I write, you work behind the scenes on film projects and my future books, the Baxter family TV series and details regarding every word I’ve ever written. You are brilliant and driven, compassionate and dedicated. I used to dream of having you as my agent. Now Tyler and I are the only authors who do. God is amazing. Thank you, Rick, and thank you for praying for me and my family. That most of all.
Finally, my greatest thanks to God Almighty, who is First and Last and all things in between.
