Karen Vail 01 - Velocity (55 page)

Thanks, as wel , to those who went above and beyond to help sel my books:
Jane Willoughby
and
Ingram Losner
for their extraordinary work in San Diego, and
Wayne
and
Julia Rudnick
for their Herculean efforts in Arizona.

Samantha McManus
and
James Patton
at Microsoft for al their efforts in helping me launch
Crush
.

Len Rudnick
, my uncle, for ushering me to and around Phoenix like no other media escort could. Between the tours for
The 7th Victim, Crush,
and
Velocity
, we’ve amassed some great memories. I’l always cherish the time we spent together.
Melodie Hilton
, director of marketing and public relations, Napa Val ey Wine Train, for making the Wine Train available to us for filming, and for arranging our Wine Train book signing event.
K. R. Rombauer
for his hospitality and for al owing us to film in
Rhombauer
’s extensive wine cave.

Gretchen Pahia, Larry Comacho, Bil Thompson; Tom Hedtke, Beth O’Connor, Vicky Lorini; Col een Holcombe; Douglas Thompson; Russel Ilg; John Hutchinson, Virginia Lennevil e; Jean Coggan, Kristine Wil iams; Alex Telander; Jeff Bobby; Donna Powers, Pamela Ervin; Covahgin Van Dyk; J. Paul Deason, Betsy Ostrow; Marlee Soulard; Chris Acevedo (and Sophie), Daniel Piel; Maryelizabeth Hart, Terry Louchheim Gilman, Patrick Heffernan, Lori Burns, Linda Tonnesen; Barbara Peters, Lorri Amsden, Patrick Mil ikin; Bobby McCue, Linda Brown, Pam Woods, Kirk Pasich; J. B. Dickey, Fran Ful er; Joan Hansen; April Lil ey, Christine Hilferty; Marc Hernandez and Ronny Peskin; Kara Schneider, Dena Roy, Valerie Burnside; Greg Hil ; Lisa Haynes; Teresa McClatchy; Laura Sylvia, Marisa Ferche; Jessie Portlock; Joe Wilder; Mandi Holstrom; Tracy Puhl; Marsha Toy Engstrom and her

“Hoodies”; Michael Troyan; Deborah Lee; Keith Kilby, John Keese, Nathan Spradlin; Marc Stiles; Patrick Mal oy.

Marvin Kamras; John Hartman; Andrea Ragan; Russel and Marion Weis; Corey Jacobson; Mikel London, Andrew Gul i; Lindsay Preston, Brendan Twardy, Geof Pelaia, Stephen Mlinarcik, Virginia Matri, and the Col ege of Art and Design in Cleveland, Ohio.

To
my readers . . .
As always, thanks for your support, for spreading the word about Alan Jacobson’s novels to friends, family members, neighbors, col eagues, book clubs, and bloggers. I promise to always try my best to entertain you with unique characters and interesting stories. Come out and see me sometime at one of my signings, or check out my Web site and Facebook fan page. I’m here for you.

As always, I conducted exhaustive research in an attempt to ensure accuracy. If I’ve blown some fact, it’s my responsibility, not that of the individuals mentioned above. Likewise, if I’ve accidental y omitted someone, please forgive me (and let me know, so I can correct it).

Due to its sensitive nature, certain aspects of SWAT procedure may or may not have been altered to protect those in the field. Likewise, certain DEA operational procedures and capabilities or locations may have been modified to protect those who are risking their lives to keep us safe. However, al other information, including that regarding drug-related statistics, methods of transportation and subterfuge used by the cartels, the pervasiveness of il icit drugs, and other such information included in
Velocity
are accurate to my knowledge at the time of this writing.

In a few instances of hotel/casino layout, I’ve taken some minor literary license for both security and dramatic reasons.

About
Margot
, Roxxann Dixon’s white standard poodle . . . My wife and I are proud owners of two standards, one of which came from a local rescue organization and one from a breeder in North Carolina. The latter’s mother, Margot, recently passed away unexpectedly. She was not just a champion on the show circuit, but a special dog with tremendous intel ect and personality, which she passed on to our big guy. Margot has been, and wil be, missed. Dixon’s fictitious poodle is named in the real Margot’s honor.

Copyright © 2010 by Alan Jacobson

Published by Vanguard Press

A Member of the Perseus Books Group

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information and inquiries, address Vanguard Press, 387 Park Avenue South, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10016, or call (800) 343-4499.

Cataloging-in-Publication data for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

eISBN : 978-1-593-15651-0

Vanguard Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail [email protected].