Paying The Piper (30 page)

M
y
thanks goes, yet again, to my wife, Julie, for all her hard work. She helped turn this from an idea into a story. Special thanks goes to Supervisory Special Agent George Fong of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for his help and generosity. I think I listened to what he had to tell me. Finally, congratulations to the winners of my “Casting Call” contest for letting me immortalize their names as characters in this book. They know who they are, even if no one else does.

Photo by Barry Evans Studio, 2003

A
nthony
Award–winning
author of a dozen books as well as over 150 published stories and articles, Simon Wood is an ex–race car driver, a licensed pilot, an animal rescuer, an endurance cyclist, and an occasional private investigator. Having dealt with dyslexia from an early age, Wood’s ambition has been met with rave reviews for his previous publications, including
Accidents Waiting to Happen, Dragged into Darkness, Working Stiffs, We All Fall Down, Terminated, Asking For Trouble, The Fall Guy
, and numerous others published under his horror pseudonym, Simon Janus. Originally from the UK, Wood moved to the US in ’98 to share his world with his American wife, Julie—and a longhaired dachshund and four cats.