THE RABBI LOOKED AT THE DOCTORS. “Is that it?”
“That’s it,” said one. “He’s gone.”
“Not fair, is it?” said another. “For a heartless butcher like him to die with a smile on his face? He should have suffered.”
The rabbi did not reply, but walked sadly away.
EPILOGUE
GRACE WALKED OUT OF THE HOSPITAL and down the street. New York looked its most beautiful in the spring sunshine, as vibrant and alive as she had ever known it. The streets were thronged with people, rushing about the business of life as if it mattered. It was at once familiar and strange, like walking through a dream that she had had many times before.
She was alive. She was free. Grace understood that these things were supposed to make her happy. She wondered if they ever would.
Looking back over her shoulder at the hospital, she thought fondly of Mitch Connors. Mitch was a good man. A kind man. Grace had sensed that from the beginning. In another life, a different dream, I could have loved him. But that chance had passed, blown away like a feather in the wind. She knew she would never go back.
Would she really go abroad? Probably. Or perhaps she would simply fade away here, as she had before, disappear into the comforting anonymity of the city.
Turning the corner, Grace Brookstein walked toward the subway. The crowds on the sidewalk opened up to let her in, then closed around her like a womb.
She was gone.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
MY SINCERE THANKS ARE DUE ONCE again to the Sheldon family for their trust in me, their support and generosity. Also to my editors, May Chen, Wayne Brookes and Sarah Ritherdon, and to everyone else at HarperCollins who has worked so hard on this book. To my agents, Luke and Mort Janklow and Tif Loehnis, and to everyone at Janklow & Nesbit: you are the best. And last but not least to my own family, especially my darling children, Sefi, Zac and Theo, and my husband, Robin, who supports me in everything I do. I love you.
—TB, 2010
About the Authors
Novelist and screenwriter SIDNEY SHELDON remains one of the world’s top bestselling authors. His books have sold more than 300 million copies and have been published in dozens of languages—Guinness World Records heralds him as one of the most translated authors in the world. He is also the only writer to have won an Oscar, a Tony, and an Edgar award.
TILLY BAGSHAWE is the New York Times bestselling author of four previous novels, most recently Sidney Sheldon’s Mistress of the Game. She lives in Los Angeles and London with her husband and children.
www.SidneySheldon.com
www.TillyBagshawe.com
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BOOKS BY SIDNEY SHELDON
Mistress of the Game
Are You Afraid of the Dark?
The Sky Is Falling
Tell Me Your Dreams
The Best Laid Plans
Morning, Noon & Night
Nothing Lasts Forever
The Stars Shine Down
The Doomsday Conspiracy
Memories of Midnight
The Sands of Time
Windmills of the Gods
If Tomorrow Comes
Master of the Game
Rage of Angels
Bloodline
A Stranger in the Mirror
The Other Side of Midnight
The Naked Face
Credits
Jacket design by Richard L. Aquan
Jacket photograph Montage: Hand by Jan Cobb; Dress by RobertStock/ClassicsStock
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
AFTER THE DARKNESS. Copyright © 2010 by Sheldon Family Limited Partnership, successor to the rights and interests of Sidney Sheldon. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bagshawe, Tilly.
Sidney Sheldon’s After the darkness / Tilly Bagshawe.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-06-172830-3
1. Billionaires—New York (State)—New York—Fiction. 2. Ponzi schemes—Fiction. I. Sheldon, Sidney. II. Title. III. Title: After the darkness.
PR6102.A525S567 2010
823'.92—dc22
2009051270
EPub Edition © April 2010 ISBN: 978-0-06-199549-1
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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