Vankle, who had paid for the accident that killed Lena and Jonas, was dead.

Hartley, who had tried to cover it up and run me out of office in other ways, was dead.

And Toby Monroe, who had known about it, was finally out of office.

I hadn’t yet had a moment to process all this. To think about the justice I’d been searching for . . . for so long.

And just maybe, if Jerome Bleeker got into the governor’s office, things in Georgia might be looking up.

“So all the bad men we know are gone,” Remy said.

“There’s always new bad men,” I said. “That we don’t know.”

“True.”

Remy’s voice changed then. “So . . . what do you say? You gonna join us?”

I thought for a moment. I needed to start getting out there. Not every story in my life was going to mirror my past, for good or bad.

“Sure,” I said.

“I’ll text you the address,” Remy said, and then hung up. I walked back into Marvin’s and let the dogs get at their water bowls.

“You mind if I borrow your car?” I said to Marvin. “I feel like taking a drive. And not in a truck.”

“If you can handle it.” He smiled slyly.

The day before, Marvin had drawn thirty grand off his military pension. That, plus a trade-in of his old Charger got him a 2012 Porsche 911.

Apparently he wasn’t joking when he said he always wanted to drive one.

I fired the beast up and headed out.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First off, I would like to thank all the people who read The Good Detective and The Evil Men Do—my first two books—and those who wrote notes of encouragement via email or social media. To that end, I love to meet readers and get emails. So if you like the book (or have a note or suggestion), don’t be a stranger. Shoot me an email at [email protected] and you’ll be the first to know when the next one is coming out or read advance excerpts. Or just say hello.

My friend and workshop coach Jerrilyn Farmer continues to be a source of inspiration and great criticism, and for this book, she gave me the title. If you’re playing the home game, my editor Mark Tavani and I have been doing an alternating “good” and “evil” thing with book titles. So this is where I would normally tell you to look out for another book with the word “evil” in the title by spring or summer ’22. But I’m working on a new book, and I may let P.T. and Remy grab a short breather. Not sure as of this writing. If you’re on my email list, you’ll be the first to know.

I would like to thank Noah, Maggie, and Zoey for being my first three editors and the biggest sources of encouragement in my life. A couple folks to recognize on the “second round” edit team for their help from geography to legal to firearms to continuity: Ryan Loiacono, Suzanne Miller, Kerry Archbold, Allison Stover, Bette Carlson, Andy McMahon, and my great agent, Marly Rusoff (and Michael).