“I don’t know,” she said, turning her head away. She thought about how one of the bullets had gone straight into the left half of his brain. The injury could mean that his psychological functions could be impaired or even permanently damaged. No one knew yet how seriously injured he was, if he would be able to return to a normal life or not.

“So you knew that he was suicidal?” he asked.

“I knew that he was carrying a deep sadness.”

“A deep sadness?”

“You aren’t going to give up, are you?” she said, meeting his eyes.

“I love family secrets.”

“So I’m guessing you’re going to overwhelm me with questions now.”

“One might think you know me,” he said, laughing.

“And I do. In two minutes, you’re going to ask me if we should get lunch.”

“Not if—where we should get lunch.”

“Okay, where we should get lunch then.”

“And what are you going to answer?”

“That I know a good place called The Colander,” Jana said, starting to walk.

The snowflakes landed on her face as she passed a snow-covered park bench. A man pulling a little girl on a sled went past her with a scraping sound.

She continued forward, not needing to turn around, because she knew that Per had already begun following her.

* * * * *

Acknowledgments

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I want to thank everyone who helped me with this book. Everyone who read and gave their opinions, who answered my questions and helped me gather facts, who gave me their time and energy. Many thanks to my editor, Jacob Swedberg, for his careful editing and invaluable cooperation. Thanks to Sofie Mikaelsson and Joel Gerdin for information on general police work. To Johan Ahlner and Lotta Fornander for factual information. And to my sister, my parents and my parents-in-law, who continue to relish my successes and who so happily celebrate them with me.

I want to say a particularly warm thank-you to my mom and dad for all of the hours you have spent reading, supporting and encouraging me. You’ve always been there for me. Few have the gift of such devoted and loyal parents.

Thanks to Jonas Carlsson Malm, Jonas Winter and the late Tommy Johansson. You were the first to believe in Marked for Life and Prosecutor Jana Berzelius.

Thanks to my readers for fun meetings, wonderful conversations and many laughs in boutiques, bookstores, book fairs, libraries and on social media. You give me the happiness and inspiration to write.

This story is fictional. Any similarities between characters in the book and real people are coincidental. The settings are generally described as they are in reality, but I have occasionally distorted them or added certain details to serve the needs of the story. Any errors that have crept in are my own.