MQuinn 03 - Lethal Beauty
Page 25
The one thing Kenny hadn’t been guilty of was killing Sindy. He had tried to lure her through Atkinson, but she had gotten leery and then spent a few weeks hiding from everyone until news of Kenny’s arrest made it clear she was safe.
Facing retrial for Dandan’s murder, David Leacham had accepted a plea bargain. But for twenty years, not two, thanks to the information Jiao and Warren had provided. Kwong was also facing charges for threatening Jiao.
When Jiao was discharged from the hospital, Bo Yee had offered to take her in. When Mia last saw them, Bo had seemed to have found some measure of peace.
For his cooperation, Warren had gotten probation. With his bribe money confiscated, he had gone back to his job as an electrician. Mia had heard that he had also started attending Bo’s church, but she didn’t know if that stemmed from a real conversion or was simply the most twisted crush ever.
The one question Mia had not been able to answer, not even for herself, was whether Frank had been pressured not to re-try Leacham. Either way, there was a distinct chill between them, and she wasn’t sure it would ever lift.
But she wouldn’t think about that tonight. Tonight was for celebrating. She had invited everyone she knew, and most were coming. People from work. Her dad and Luciana. Bo and Jiao. Eli and Charlie. Eli was bringing his daughter, and even though Rachel was two years older than Gabe and emotionally light years ahead, Mia had caught him hanging a sprig of mistletoe over a doorway.
“What?” he had said when she raised an eyebrow at him. “A guy can dream, can’t he?”
Yes, she concurred silently, as she looked at the food and thought about her friends, we all can dream.
READING GROUP GUIDE
1. Before you read Lethal Beauty, were you aware that there were modern day slaves in America and that they work in all different types of industries?
2. One of the key witnesses, Sindy, goes missing after being in foster care. Have you ever considered being a foster parent? Do you know anyone who has been one or someone who spent time in foster care as a child?
3. Today, even teenagers can turn to legal drugs and supplements to help them concentrate, loose weight, gain weight, be less anxious, etc. Do you think too many normal issues are being turned into medical problems, or that it’s good that today’s teens have more options for help than kids did twenty or more years ago?
4. When Gabe first goes online to read message boards about steroids, he gets a one-sided picture of the truth. Have the Internet and other targeted media become an echo chamber, presenting information that isn’t balanced? Should we as individuals try to do something about it? How can we get the full picture when we seek out information about controversial subjects?
5. Mia decided to go cold-turkey on junk food, purging her house of any foods she thought her family shouldn’t be eating. How do you balance the need to eat healthy with the desire for something fun and/or fast? Do you have tricks for keeping a kitchen that helps you support a balanced diet?
6. At first when Eli sees the African American woman come out to talk to them about Jiao’s surgery, he think she’s a nurse. “This was the surgeon, Eli realized as Charlie nodded, not the scrub nurse. How often did he only see what he expected to see?” Have you found yourself making assumptions about people based on how they dress, the color of their skin, or other externals? How can we train ourselves to not jump to conclusions?
7. Even though David Leacham is guilty, Warren is able to bring the trial to a halt by refusing to vote to convict him. Do you think the jury system is the best way to go about deciding cases? If not, what would you propose in its place?
8. Who do you think Mia should end up with? Charlie? Eli? Neither?
9. Have you ever wondered about the working conditions of a foreign-born worker whom you encountered? What would you do if you suspected that the man at the convenience store or the woman at the dry cleaners had been trafficked? If you have information about a potential trafficking situation, please contact the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-373-7888 or text BeFree (233733). The hotline is open all hours, all days. They take reports from anywhere in the country related to potential trafficking victims, suspicious behaviors, and/or locations where trafficking is suspected to occur. All reports are confidential. Interpreters are available.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My warmest gratitude and thanks go to the readers of the Mia Quinn mysteries. Your enthusiasm for Mia is inspiring and humbling.
Thank you O’Reilly, from Wiehl. And thank you to my “sister from another mother”, Deirdre Imus. Thank you to Roger Ailes, for hiring a certain legal analyst, and to Dianne Brandi. And thank you to Robin Burcell, former police officer, for answering procedural questions.
Thank you to this amazingly wonderful publishing team! Daisy Hutton, vice president and publisher, wise beyond her years; Ami McConnell, senior acquisitions editor and friend; Amanda Bostic, editorial director, brilliant; LB Norton, line editor, with the keenest of pens and the sharpest of wits; Becky Monds, editor, keeps the whole team on track with a smile on her face; Jodi Hughes, the ever on-target associate editor; Karli Jackson, associate editor; Kristen Vasgaard, a brilliant manager of packaging; Laura Dickerson, marketing manager, is inspired; Kerri Potts, senior marketing associate, and the inspiration behind my Facebook page; and, of course, special thanks to my friend Katie Bond, director of marketing and publicity. What a great team!
Special thanks to our book agents, Todd Shuster and Lane Zachary of Zachary, Shuster, Harmsworth Literary and Entertainment Agency and Wendy Schmalz of the Wendy Schmalz Agency, who have worked tirelessly.
Thank you to my friend and collaborator, April Henry.
And always, Mom and Dad, thank you does not even begin to express how I feel.
All the mistakes are ours. All the credit is theirs. Thank you!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo by Kyle Widder Photography
Lis Wiehl is a New York Times bestselling author, Harvard Law School graduate, and former federal prosecutor. A popular legal analyst and commentator for the Fox News Channel, Wiehl appears weekly on The O’Reilly Factor, Lou Dobbs Tonight, Imus in the Morning, Kelly’s Court, and more.