Don't Go Read online

  I’m a former lawyer, but family law wasn’t my field. One of the country’s best family lawyers, Margaret Klaw, Esq., of Berner Klaw and Watson, P.C. in Philadelphia, who also writes for The Huffington Post, helped me so much in making sure I got the legal details correct in this thorny issue of family law, which, unfortunately, comes up frequently with returning vets.

  Another lawyerly thank-you to a brilliant and dedicated public servant, Nicholas Casenta, Esq., Chief Deputy District Attorney of the Chester County District Attorney’s Office, who has helped me with every book so far, including this one. We’re lucky to have you, Nick!

  Thanks to my old friend Virginia Ayres, for her in-the-clutch help. Thanks to Tom Melvin, genius accountant, who helped me with the financial details herein, as usual. Thanks to Lauren Bowser of O’Brien’s Funeral Home, for her expertise and sensitivity.

  I want to take a special moment to thank my editor, Jennifer Enderlin, who has encouraged me to stretch with each novel. And big thanks to the brilliant, fun gang at St. Martin’s Press, starting with the terrific John Sargent, Sally Richardson, Matthew Shear, Matt Baldacci, Jeanne-Marie Hudson, Brian Heller, Jeff Capshew, Nancy Trypuc, Kim Ludlam, John Murphy, John Karle, Sara Goodman, and all the wonderful sales reps. Big thanks to Michael Storrings, for an astounding cover design. Also hugs and kisses to Mary Beth Roche, Laura Wilson, and the great people in audiobooks. I love and appreciate all of you.

  Thanks and big love to my incredible agent and friend Molly Friedrich, who has guided me for so long now, and to the amazing Lucy Carson and Molly Schulman.

  Thanks and another big hug to my dedicated and wonderful assistant and best friend, Laura Leonard. She’s invaluable in every way, and has been for more than twenty years. Thanks, too, to my girl pack of Nan Daley, Rachel Kull, Paula Menghetti, Franca Palumbo, and Sandy Steingard.

  Thank you very much to my amazing and brilliant daughter Francesca, a wonderful writer in her own right, for her love, support, and great humor.

  And to my family, for everything.

  Also by Lisa Scottoline

  Fiction

  Come Home

  Save Me

  Think Twice

  Look Again

  Lady Killer

  Daddy’s Girl

  Dirty Blonde

  Devil’s Corner

  Killer Smile

  Dead Ringer

  Courting Trouble

  The Vendetta Defense

  Moment of Truth

  Mistaken Identity

  Rough Justice

  Legal Tender

  Running from the Law

  Final Appeal

  Everywhere That Mary Went

  Nonfiction (with Francesca Serritella)

  Meet Me at Emotional Baggage Claim

  Best Friends, Occasional Enemies

  My Nest Isn’t Empty, It Just Has More Closet Space

  Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog

  About the Author

  LISA SCOTTOLINE is a New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author of twenty novels. She has 30 million copies of her books in print in the United States, and she has been published in thirty-five countries. She has served as the president of Mystery Writers of America, and her thrillers have been optioned for television and film. She also writes a weekly humor column with her daughter, Francesca Serritella, for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and those critically acclaimed stories have been adapted into a series of memoirs, the first of which is entitled Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog. She lives in the Philadelphia area with an array of disobedient pets. Visit www.scottoline.com or follow Lisa on Facebook or Twitter.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  DON’T GO. Copyright © 2013 by Smart Blonde, LLC. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.stmartins.com

  Cover design by Michael Storrings

  Cover photographs: father and daughter © Grady Reese/Corbis; park © Igorsky/Shutterstock.com; sky © Tpenalver/Getty Images

  ISBN 978-1-250-01007-0 (hardcover)

  ISBN 9781250025999 (e-book)

  First Edition: April 2013