“Sure. Where?”

“I want to get a tattoo.”

Kovac chuckled and put an arm around her. “That’s my girl.”

•  •  •

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A CKNOWLEDGMENTS

Every four years I donate a special opportunity to the fundraising auction for the United States Equestrian Team Foundation: the chance to appear as a character in one of my books. Proceeds from the auction go to help fund our Olympic equestrian team.

The winner of the 2012 auction was Ullrich Kasselmann of Performance Sales International. Based in Hagen, Germany, P.S.I. is renowned as one of the largest and most famous auctions of international quality show horses in the world. Mr. Kasselmann himself is a longtime fixture in the horse business as a top rider, trainer, and supporter of the industry. My thanks to Mr. Kasselmann and everyone at P.S.I. for their incredible generosity in supporting the USET Foundation. And to Dr. Ulf Möller, also from P.S.I., happy birthday from Betsy Juliano!

For the purposes of the story, Mr. Kasselmann is playing the part of Minneapolis Homicide Captain Ullrich Kasselmann. Dr. Ulf Möller appears as assistant chief medical examiner of Hennepin county. And P.S.I. has become Performance Scholastic Institute. Sorry there wasn’t a horse to be seen in this book!

My cup runneth over with generous people this time around. I also need to thank Mr. Kevin Boyle, who purchased the same privilege for his fiancée, Marysue Zaytoun, with the proceeds going to the American Heart Association. I hope Marysue enjoys her fictitious stint as Nikki Liska’s wonderful neighbor!

A UTHOR’S N OTE

In The 9th Girl, fifteen-year-old Kyle Hatcher both experiences bullying and crusades against it, supporting the acceptance of others regardless of race, religion, interests, or sexual preference. Kyle’s hero and role model is real-life hero and role model, Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts welterweight champion of the world Georges St-Pierre.

GSP, as he is known to fans around the world, is the shining example of what a champion should be: dedicated, driven, hard-working, generous, a gentleman, and, above all, respectful of himself and others.

As a boy growing up in Saint-Isidore, Quebec, Canada, St-Pierre experienced bullying on a daily basis. As one of the most famous mixed martial artists in the world today, he now works through his Georges St-Pierre Foundation to bring awareness and solutions to the epidemic of bullying in contemporary society.

Please visit GSP’s website, www.gspofficial.com, for more information on his foundation and for links to other excellent sources of information on fighting the good fight against bullying, such as www .stopbullying.gov, www.bullying.org, and www.stompoutbullying.org.

A BOUT THE A UTHOR

Tami Hoag’s novels have appeared on national bestseller lists regularly since the publication of her first book in 1988. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages worldwide. She is a dedicated equestrian in the Olympic discipline of dressage and is an avid fan of mixed martial arts and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. She shares her home with two English cocker spaniels in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Find Tami Hoag on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TamiHoag

and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TamiHoag.

Or at www.tamihoag.com.