Thou Shalt Not(108)

She nodded.

She looked upset.

His door was closed, so I knocked.

“Come in,” he said.

When I opened the door, he stood up.

“Luke, shut the door and have a seat,” he said. His mood seemed to match Carla’s. “We need to talk.”





Since beginning work on Thou Shalt Not in early 2013, there have been a multitude of maddening moments where all I wanted to do was buy thousands and thousands of matches and set fire to every single letter of every single word in the story and call it quits. But, there were people along the way who kept my pyromaniac fingers away from the matchbox, and kept them focused on finishing the book instead of torching it. To say that I wouldn’t be here without them is the understatement of all understatements.



Luisa Hansen - I had no idea what to expect from a “Beta Reader” when I first entrusted TSN to you. Your support was always overwhelming, and the “WTF I need more!” emails and texts I would get after sending a section that left you hanging kept me going when I felt like being done with it all. You are an absolute gem and I am ridiculously blessed to have you in my corner.



Tosha Khoury - You were a tremendous support along the way, encouraging me and offering suggestions and giving honest feedback. Even when I knew it was tough for you, you told me the truth. And that helped make TSN a better book. Without you, it might still have that god-awful ending! You were also incredibly patient with me as we tried out a million different cover designs for the book. If I were you, I would have reached through the phone and strangled me. But, you and Matt did a wonderful job on it, and I am in your debt. Thank you a million times over...You’re the best!



Serena Prather Knautz - You have been Team JJ since the beginning, and were supporting and promoting TSN before you had even read the first word of the first chapter. I’m not sure what I did in a previous life to deserve having you on my side, but hopefully it was enough to keep you around for a long time. See you at Wrigley in the summer!



Nina Gomez - I’m pretty sure you read TSN faster than anyone else, and your enthusiasm and support for it were just what I needed to finish strong. And, you helped me decide to make a tweak to the ending that wouldn’t have happened without your insight. Thank you. And thank you for being so good to those who have supported me. You have been invaluable to the process, and you probably didn’t even know it.



My Salty, Nutty Rossumatos - You guys make me laugh every single day. Thank you for being so hardcore about a book you hadn’t even read. I hope I didn’t let y’all down. And thank you to Robin for bringing us all together to share our salty, nutty minds.



Lori Sabin - You are the best editor a person could ever ask for, but you are an even better friend. Since I didn’t let you edit this section, I’ll try knot too mess up two badleigh. Thanks for putting up with all my punctuation errors and nonsense questions. Your advice and tweaks throughout the process definitely made TSN a lot better read. You have also put up with errors and nonsense in my life outside of TSN, and your advice and tweaks and friendship has made me a better person. Or is it “have made...”? :-) I love you dearly. Even more than Tarryn loves Robert Redford.



Tarryn Fisher - You pushed me. And pushed me. And cursed at me. And pushed me some more. And never let me quit. Even when I thought I was finished and you said “What is this bullshit?” There would not be a Thou Shalt Not if it weren’t for you and all the time and effort you put in to helping make this a better book and me a better writer. Thank you for letting a little part of my story share space with Olivia and Caleb in Thief. And thank you for bringing them back for TSN. I still can’t believe this book is finally done, but I can’t wait to move on to the next one so that you can push me and encourage me and curse at me some more. I love you dearly too as well.





“I used to have a girlfriend named Phoebe. She ripped through my bank account. Two plastic surgeries,” Bernie said, holding up two fingers. “Breasts and nose. And then she ran off and married a man.” Bernie was perched on the edge of my desk, looking thoughtfully out the window at the darkening sky.

I smiled, stacking the last of the files into the cabinet drawer and pushing it closed with my hip.

“It’ll simmer down,” I predicted. “Turn into a tropical storm.”

“Yeah,” Bernie nodded. “See you Friday if we’re not all dead.”

I grabbed my purse and lifted my fingers in a half wave, as I headed for the elevators.

I’d been in a rush that morning and parked on the street instead of in the garage. The benefit to the shorter walk was the privilege of people watching, and the stand that sold roasted chestnuts. I picked up my pace when the sky started grumbling. Any minute there was going to be a burst and I would get soaked. The real question was if the chestnuts were worth it or not. There was a brief pause as I looked at the chestnut stand and my car just a little ways past it. Why not? I thought.