“Then you’re a better person than I am. Every day I wanted to get in touch. And then the months and then the years went by and whatever courage I had to face you was just gone. You should hate me. I deserve that.”

  “I finally found my sister,” said Pine. “And you found us. I don’t really have room left for hate, Mom.”

  Julia smiled sadly. “I wish your father could be here to see you girls. He loved you so much. Every waking moment of his life, it was all about his girls.”

  Pine glanced at Jack and then said, “He was a wonderful dad.”

  Then she turned to Blum and introduced her to her mother.

  The women exchanged a hug and Julia said, “Jack has told me that you have been a wonderful friend to Lee. I thank you very much for that.”

  “I’m the lucky one, actually,” said Blum.

  Mercy said, “So I have to know—why did you name me what you did?”

  “Because, honey, you were the first one to come out after two days of excruciating labor and an epidural that never took. It was just the first word that came to my mind.”

  Julia and Blum exchanged a knowing look.

  Mercy smiled. “Yeah, I guess I can understand that.”

  Julia gripped her daughters’ hands. “Would you like to see my little flower shop? It’s close enough to walk.” She smiled. “It’s called ‘Twin Pines.’ I guess you know where that name came from.”

  “That sounds wonderful, Mom,” said Pine.

  Mercy nodded. “Yeah, it does.”

  “Carol and I will meet you there,” said Jack.

  “You can walk with us,” said Julia.

  Blum stepped forward. “No, it just needs to be the three of you right now, Julia.” She smiled, her eyes full of emotion. “For a lot of reasons.”

  She and Jack walked back to the SUV.

  The trio of women turned to the west, where the sun was just starting to set, throwing the sky into luxurious eddies of red and gold.

  And they slowly walked arm in arm toward that luminous glow.

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  Acknowledgments

  To Michelle, finally, the truth about Mercy. Thanks for all the help with this series! Atlee could be you!

  To Michael Pietsch, Ben Sevier, Elizabeth Kulhanek, Jonathan Valuckas, Matthew Ballast, Beth de Guzman, Anthony Goff, Rena Kornbluh, Karen Kosztolnyik, Brian McLendon, Albert Tang, Andy Dodds, Ivy Cheng, Joseph Benincase, Alexis Gilbert, Andrew Duncan, Bob Castillo, Kristen Lemire, Briana Loewen, Mark Steven Long, Thomas Louie, Rachael Kelly, Kirsiah McNamara, Nita Basu, Lisa Cahn, Megan Fitzpatrick, John Colucci, Alison Lazarus, Barry Broadhead, Martha Bucci, Rick Cobban, Ali Cutrone, Raylan Davis, Tracy Dowd, Melanie Freedman, Elizabeth Blue Guess, Linda Jamison, John Leary, John Lefler, Rachel Hairston, Tishana Knight, Jennifer Kosek, Suzanne Marx, Derek Meehan, Christopher Murphy, Donna Nopper, Rob Philpott, Barbara Slavin, Karen Torres, Rich Tullis, Mary Urban, Tracy Williams, Julie Hernandez, Laura Shepherd, Jeff Shay, Carla Stockalper, Ky’ron Fitzgerald, and everyone at Grand Central Publishing, for running on all cylinders for me.

  To Aaron and Arleen Priest, Lucy Childs, Lisa Erbach Vance, Frances Jalet-Miller, and Kristen Pini, for making my life so much easier.

  To Mitch Hoffman, for continuing to make me dig deep.

  To Anthony Forbes Watson, Jeremy Trevathan, Lucy Hale, Trisha Jackson, Alex Saunders, Sara Lloyd, Claire Evans, Sarah Arratoon, Laura Sherlock, Stuart Dwyer, Jonathan Atkins, Christine Jones, Leanne Williams, Andy Joannou, Charlotte Williams, Rebecca Kellaway, and Neil Lang at Pan Macmillan, for upping your game with every book.

  To Praveen Naidoo and the stellar team at Pan Macmillan in Australia. When I see what you’ve done for me there it is truly amazing. I am so grateful.

  To Caspian Dennis and Sandy Violette, for being absolutely pefect at what you do.

  And to Kristen White and Michelle Butler, without you, things would not be nearly as much fun. And I’m not just talking about the margarita machine!

  About the Author

  David Baldacci is a global #1 bestselling author, and one of the world’s favorite storytellers. His books are published in over forty-five languages and in more than eighty countries, with 150 million copies sold worldwide. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television. David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org.

  Facebook.com/writer.david.baldacci

  Twitter @davidbaldacci

  Instagram @davidbaldacciauthor

  Also by David Baldacci

  ATLEE PINE SERIES

  Long Road to Mercy

  A Minute to Midnight

  Daylight

  Mercy

  ALOYSIUS ARCHER SERIES

  One Good Deed

  A Gambling Man

  WILL ROBIE SERIES

  The Innocent

  The Hit

  The Target

  The Guilty

  End Game

  JOHN PULLER SERIES

  Zero Day

  The Forgotten

  The Escape

  No Man’s Land

  KING & MAXWELL SERIES

  Split Second

  Hour Game

  Simple Genius

  First Family

  The Sixth Man

  King and Maxwell

  THE SHAW SERIES

  The Whole Truth

  Deliver Us from Evil

  MEMORY MAN SERIES

  Memory Man

  The Last Mile

  The Fix

  The Fallen

  Redemption

  Walk the Wire

  THE CAMEL CLUB SERIES

  The Camel Club

  The Collectors

  Stone Cold

  Divine Justice

  Hell’s Corner

  STANDALONES

  Absolute Power

  Total Control

  The Winner

  The Simple Truth

  Saving Faith

  Wish You Well

  Last Man Standing

  The Christmas Train

  True Blue

  One Summer

  SHORT STORIES

  Waiting for Santa

  No Time Left

  Bullseye

  The Mighty Johns (A Digital Novella)

 

 

  David Baldacci, Mercy

 

 

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