by Julie Kramer
Out of the corner of my eye, a shadow moved. I jerked back, bracing myself for one more terror, but a closer look revealed Nick Garnett, holding one of my shoes. My throat got all choky. And I knew he had answered my call for help.
At that moment, I was stalwart enough to tell him I loved him, out loud, in front of a throng of people. But I also knew that wasn’t what he needed to hear just then.
“Mom, Dad, there’s someone I want you to meet.”
Garnett swooped me up and it was like that final scene from An Officer and a Gentleman with Richard Gere and Debra Winger, only instead of Debra Winger, picture Sissy Spacek as Carrie, covered in pig’s blood.
The farm crowd even cheered, like the sweatshop workers in the movie. I thought if the director could just roll the credits then, happily-ever-after would be mine.
EPILOGUE
Certainly, it could have been worse.
The cops considered charging me with killing Clay Burrel, too. But when the headless woman was identified through dental records as his wife, and when my Texas Face-book friend verified that one of Sam Pierce’s last acts as a newsman was to nose around in Clay’s private life. They dropped the murder charges against me.
Benny negotiated a plea bargain in which Toby surrendered to authorities for his part in the wind farm fatality. He was sentenced to five years for manslaughter at the federal prison camp in Duluth, where minimum-security male inmates are housed. He joined a prison program to train dogs for disabled people. Noreen divorced him.
After being sued under the Endangered Species Act, wind farms agreed to curtail turbines on slow wind nights during bat migration season after experiments showed bats were more likely to be on the move then.
• • •
DNA tests proved that baby Jimmy was Sam’s child. He inherited two million dollars from his father’s estate. His mother and grandparents are still locked in an ugly court fight for visitation.
The Minneapolis newspaper advertised for a new gossip columnist and received nearly five hundred applications, mostly from unqualified candidates. Then the paper went into bankruptcy and eliminated the position.
Buzz Stolee was traded to the L.A. Lakers.
The Saudis brought a second 747 to Rochester to carry all their spoils back home.
Father Mountain gave a sermon about how, while we all want terrorists and killers to be distant strangers, often the greatest danger comes from those closest to us, whom we would not suspect.
Judge Tregobov sentenced the dine-and-dash thief to pay restitution for his mooched meals and work eighty hours of community service in a kitchen for the homeless.
Channel 3 changed its social networking emphasis from Face-book to Twitter. Employees were ordered to recruit followers and break news by constantly tweeting 140-character messages.
• • •
Channel 3’s story about the monarch migration was the highest-rated night of the sweeps month, higher even than the nights viewers were invited to tune in and look an accused murderer in the eye.
The numbers were helped by heavy promotion of Sophie completely covered in orange and black butterflies. A noise startled them and they scattered, leaving her standing in a Mexican jungle, wearing a string bikini.
I was so depressed Garnett promised to take me to see the butterflies for our honeymoon if I married him.
I told him I’d think about it.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My editor, Emily Bestler, tops the list of people I owe special thanks to for Silencing Sam. She made me feel welcome at Atria Books, and her words—after I handed in my manuscript—about enjoying the read so much, meant a great deal to me.
It hurts to write a book. My gal pals Kevyn Burger, Caroline Lowe, Trish Van Pilsum, and Michele Cook offered comfort and humor along the way.
The following folks earned my gratitude by sharing their special knowledge: Doug Jones and the Pioneer Prairie Wind Farm folks for bringing me into the world of wind turbines, and especially to Brodie Dockendors for giving me an up close look at the mechanical giants; Linda Anderson Carnahan for suggesting the wind turbine/bat connection; Sgt. Kathy Hughes for allowing me to tour the Hennepin County Jail with the Citizens’ Academy and Hennepin County Sheriff Deputy Andy Peterson and his explosives detection dog, Bunny; St. Paul K-9 officer Mark Ficcadenti for his training talent; Judy Baccas for telling me about a special night in her life; Liz Zilka for her knowledge of airbrush makeup; Joe Kimball for his word puzzle expertise; Scott Libin for discussing how television stations deal with dirty words on the air; Vernon Geberth, author of Practical Homicide Investigation; Dr. D. P. Lyle, author of Forensics; and especially to Dakota County Medical Examiner Dr. Lindsay Thomas, who looks death in the eye each day with class.
The rest of the gang at Atria for all they did for Silencing Sam: assistant editor Laura Stern for handling numerous details; Jeanne Lee for cover design; Isolde Sauer for production and copyediting; Mellony Torres for publicity; Rachel Bostic for marketing; and my publisher, Judith Curr, and associate publisher, Chris Lloreda.
Agent Elaine Koster and her associate Stephanie Lehmann did more for me this past year than there is room to tell.
Kinfolk merit mention for their work in building buzz about my series (although I suspect their help stems from their joy in seeing their names in the back of a book): Ruth Kramer and her red hat ladies; George and Shirley Kimball and their church gang; Rosemary and Don Spartz and their Lake Summerset neighbors; Mae Klug and my entourage of cousins, especially Beth Klug and Rosemary Jacobs; all my far-flung Spartz- and Kramer-rooted cousins, many of whom I’ve become reacquainted with through Facebook; Jerry and Elaine Kramer; Joe and Delores Spartz; Tom and Rena Fitzpatrick; Jerry and June Kimball; and Lorraine Kehl. My siblings and their families: Teresa and Galen Neuzil with Rachel; Bonnie and Roy Brang; Mary Agnes Kramer; Steve and Mary Kramer with Matthew and Elizabeth; Kathy and Jim Loecher with Adriana and Zach; Mike Kramer; Christina Kramer; Richard and Oti Kramer; Jenny and Kile Nadeau with Rebecca, David, and Daniel; Jessica and Richie Miehe with Lucy; George Kimball and Shen Fei with Shi Shenyu (Huan); Nick Kimball and Gannet Tseggai; Mary and David Benson with Davin; Steve Kimball with Craig; Paul Kimball; James Kimball; Vicki and Paul Blum; and four generations of friends and relatives in the Adams, MN, area, including my school teachers and 4-H leaders.
My children have all grown up loving to read, and their pride in having an author for a mom keeps me writing through the rough patches. My thanks to Alex and Andrew—the best kids anywhere; Katie and Jake Kimball—Minnesotans in their hearts always; and Joey and David Kimdon—with dear Aria and Arbor.
And always, to my darling, Joe.