Chapter Twenty-Six
1. Once she had reached the police department, she ran inside, dropping her Hermès Birkin bag onto the counter. – Sometimes I have to remember when I’m writing that Carmen is rich. Therefore the items she wears, carries, etc. have to have a certain price tag as well.
2. Believe me, Harris; you have a better chance at fuckin’ me than getting me to be an informant.” – This quote by Carmen was intentionally put in this scene to show how feisty and nasty she can get when someone she loves is being threatened. She says this to Lt. Harris after he reveals that the Brookstone PD is working once again to take down Jay.

Chapter Twenty-Seven
1. Once Carmen had gotten everything squared away with Malachi, she called Kane to schedule a late lunch at Old Town Bistro.- There was actually a restaurant called Old Town Bistro in Rock Hill, SC, when I was writing this book. It has since closed down. I used the name of the restaurant only because I liked the way it sounded. The set-up that I visualize for the book is totally different from what the restaurant looked like in Rock Hill.
2. “Whoever catches Jay first will get the most money out the pot.” – Years ago, a guy friend of mine gave me a book on Pablo Escobar called Killing Pablo. In the book, it spoke of how different government agencies were in a race to get Pablo first. I used this same scenario for this situation with Jay. If two agencies were trying to get Jay, in this fictional world, it would be the DEA and the Triad.
3. The first place he took her was to the desk of a man who was drawing out the shape of a ring. He let her watch him for a few seconds before he brought her over to a young woman who was sawing off a piece of carving wax. – I watched a YouTube video on how to make a diamond ring and I incorporated information from the video into this scene for the book.

Cuban Link

4. “Linx,” he replied, looking out the window. – This line is from the scene in which Carmen meets Linx, one of Jay’s new workers for the first time after being attacked by Blu’s men. The idea for this character came solely from the rapper Cuban Link. I’m a big fan of his song, “Flowers for the Dead.” I knew Jay’s new men on his team would be of Hispanic descent and I wanted them to be stocky. I remembered the rapper and felt he looked similar to what I wanted so I decided to name the character Link. Then to jazz it up a little, I took off the k and added the x.