The first book in the Hailey Cain series, 2010

Hailey’s War is a work of fiction and takes the usual liberties with the nonfiction subjects its story touches on. I drew on multiple sources in researching all of these subjects. However, I want to note that Hailey’s reflections on the history of the Golden Gate Bridge are largely derived from Tad Friend’s article “Jumpers” in the October 2003 issue of the New Yorker, a fascinating piece that also inspired the documentary The Bridge.

JULY 4

The moon rises over the mountains of central Mexico, a nearly full moon in a sky the deep blue of an hour past sunset.

Get up.

I’m lying on a slope just down from a rural highway, lying in a mix of slate and grass and dirt that is damp with blood. There is dirt in my eyelashes and blood in what little of my hair I can see. There isn’t much pain, but I’m very, very tired.

Get up or you’ll die here.

My memories of what happened are inexact. I remember driving on a narrow highway through the mountains and into a dim tunnel with rough stone walls. Then this, looking up at the mountain ridge and the sky. I don’t know how I got from the tunnel to here. It seems impossible, but I think I was shot.

I search my memories for some explanation. A rough voice: You’re one of our most promising cadets. I hate like hell to see this happen to you.

No, that was too long ago.

A younger voice: Pack up just what you need, I’m getting you out of L.A.