Leila said, “Seems to me like you’re the ones who need privacy.”
Hunt was saved from embarrassing himself further when his mobile phone rang. He looked at the call display but didn’t recognize the number. He excused himself.
“Pierce Hunt,” he said once he was away from the table.
“Tom Hauer, Pierce.”
The acting administrator of the DEA was the last person Hunt expected to hear from. “What can I do for you, sir?”
Hunt looked back at Anna, who was in deep discussion with the two girls, and waved at her. She didn’t wave back, but she smiled, and in doing so her eyes sparkled in the midafternoon light.
“I need your help.”
That jolted Hunt back to full awareness. “My help? You fired me, remember?”
“Yes, but that’s exactly why you’re the perfect person for the job. Interested?”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The first thank-you should go to you, my readers, for without you, this book would have remained an untold tale. Thank you for your time. Thank you for setting your life on pause and taking the plunge. I hope you enjoyed the ride. Thanks to all of you who joined my mailing list at simongervaisbooks.com. I love our exchanges, and I greatly appreciate your support.
This book benefitted from the hard work of many people. I truly believe that a novel’s success is proportional to the quality of the team behind it, and I’m fortunate enough to work with the very best. Many thanks to the incredible editorial team at Thomas & Mercer. My deepest appreciation to Liz Pearsons, who took a leap of faith on my behalf. I’ll always be grateful. Thanks to Grace Doyle, Sarah Shaw, Gabrielle Guarnero, and the rest of the team.
A sincere thank-you to Caitlin Alexander, whose keen eyes and feedback helped me make this a better book. Thanks, too, to my friend and USA Today bestselling author James Hankins. I owe you one. Thank you to my friends and Wall Street Journal bestselling authors Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson for their support. Much gratitude to NYT bestselling authors Brad Taylor, Marc Cameron, Ted Bell, Lee Goldberg, Andrew Peterson, and Matthew Fitzsimmons for their kind words and encouragement. Thanks to Ryan Steck at the Real Book Spy for everything he does for the thriller writers community. Many thanks to my mom and dad for believing in me. It means a lot.
A special thanks to my remarkable literary agent, Eric Myers of Myers Literary Management. I appreciate everything you do for me.
I’m indebted to my wife, Lisane, who has been by my side from the very beginning of my literary adventure. Never did she waver in her support. I wouldn’t be where I am today without her. She’s my everything. A big thank-you to my two beautiful children, Florence and Gabriel, for their patience. I love you with all my heart. You make me a better person.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2013 Esther Campeau
Simon Gervais was born in Montréal, Québec. He joined the Canadian military as an infantry officer and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1997. In 2001, he was recruited by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and became a federal agent. His first posting was in Toronto, where he served as a drug investigator. During this time, he worked on many international drug-related cases in close collaboration with his American colleagues from the DEA. His career switched gears in 2004, and he was placed with a federal antiterrorism unit based in the Ottawa region. During the following years, he was deployed in several European and Middle Eastern countries. In 2009, he became a close-protection specialist tasked with guarding foreign heads of state visiting Canada. He served on the protection details of Queen Elizabeth II, US president Barack Obama, and Chinese president Hu Jintao, among others. Gervais lives in Ottawa with his wife and two children.
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