Silhouette

by Dave Swavely

  Justification … just as if I’d never done anything wrong, and just as if I’d done everything right. And a promising future ahead—all because of what someone else had done for me. I now treasured this concept, because it felt as good as anything I had ever experienced.

  As we were leaving the hill, Lynn’s hand in mine, I looked back again at the row of graves, and was reminded of the pain it took to get me where I was. I had mourned them adequately, however, so now I took some comfort from the appropriateness of their final resting place. The Rabins, Darien, and the children were laid above a future home of BASS, symbolizing the fact that their lives and deaths, one way or another, had paved the way for the future. And though their passing from this world was the worst thing that had ever happened to me, I knew that it would somehow be a part of everything good that happened in the world to come.

  All week the discordant notes of Mozart’s Hostias and Sanctus had been playing in my head like a broken record. But today, for the first time, the sanguine strains of Benedictus were breaking through. It seemed that my soul was determined to finish the masterwork, like the ghostwriter of old, not willing to let it end with a sad refrain.

  This day full of tears was the dying composer’s last line.

  But tomorrow full of hope is the one I want to add.

  Acknowledgments

  Many thanks to my editor, Brendan Deneen, who showed his good taste by believing in Silhouette and his great talent by partnering with me to make it a better book. And to Nathan and Calvin, who have done some of the same things for this project: I’m looking forward to your future!

  About the Author

  DAVE SWAVELY is a published author of four nonfiction books. He lived in the beautiful Napa Valley for ten years and now resides in lovely Chester County, near Philadelphia. This is his first novel, and the sequel, Kaleidocide, will also be published by Thomas Dunne Books.

  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.

  THOSMAS DUNNE BOOKS.

  An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.

  SILHOUETTE. Copyright © 2012 by David Swavely. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.thomasdunnebooks.com

  www.stmartins.com

  Cover design by Ervin Serrano

  Cover photographs by Collaboration JS / Arcangel Images and Shutterstock

  ISBN 978-1-250-00149-8 (hardcover)

  ISBN 9781466802674 (e-book)

  First Edition: November 2012