Jack didn’t move. He still didn’t understand. “How do you mean, ‘his spot’?”
“It was a barn. I met Joseph there. Eight of us, in hiding. Joseph was with his mother.”
“Petrak was her maiden name,” said Jack.
“Yes. One week before massacre, we all hear it not safe to stay in Lidice. Not safe for Jews. Not safe for a Petrak. We leave in time.”
It finally made sense. “My grandfather got confused at the end. He told me he was Jewish.”
She smiled sadly. “He was,” she said, “and I was a Petrak. Now go. Go and do your grandfather’s wishes.”
Andie urged him forward with her eyes, as if to say this was his moment.
The sculpture overlooked a valley, and the walk to the spot was entirely downhill. But it didn’t make it any easier for Jack. As he trudged through the snow, he was thinking of his grandfather. He was thinking of his friend Neil, too.
He stopped exactly where Eliška had told him to stop. A wisp of wind grabbed the fresh snow and covered his shoes with powder. He dug the canister from his coat pocket and removed the top.
“I’m a Petrak,” he said as he released some of the ashes into the wind. Then he remembered Neil’s family name before fear of the Nazis had changed it to Goderich.
“And I’m a Goldsmith,” he said, watching the remaining ashes scatter.
Acknowledgments
My sincere thank you . . .
To my editor, Sally Kim; my agent, Richard Pine; and Sally’s editorial assistant, Maya Ziv, who did a great job shepherding my eighteenth novel through production while Sally was on maternity leave. Olive will be in high school by the time I write another eighteen novels, and I guess her mother should hear this now: It will fly.
To Janis Koch (aka “Conan the Grammarian”), who is fighting to save the world from misspellings and bad grammar, one book at a time. (Don’t get her started on the impact of texting on the English language.) The errors that remain in Afraid of the Dark are all mine.
To Kevin Smith—inventor, scientist, and your basic all-around genius who could write a book on creative solutions for suspense writers who have painted themselves into a technological corner. Who knew what cool things you could do with aluminum foil?
To my sister, Roberta Hall, for the genealogical legwork that led me to our “Petrak” ancestors in Bohemia, and to the Muzeum Památníku Lidice, for the wealth of information on the sad history of Lidice and the Lidice Memorial.
Finally, to my wife, Tiffany. I’d be afraid of much more than the dark without you in my life.
JMG
May 20, 2010
About the Author
JAMES GRIPPANDO is the New York Times bestselling author of eighteen previous novels, including Money to Burn, Intent to Kill, Born to Run, Last Call, Lying with Strangers, When Darkness Falls, and Got the Look, which are enjoyed worldwide in twenty-six languages. He lives in Florida, where he was a trial lawyer.
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Also by James Grippando
Money to Burn
Intent to Kill
Born to Run*
Last Call*
Lying with Strangers
When Darkness Falls*†
Got the Look*
Hear No Evil*
Last to Die*
Beyond Suspicion*
A King’s Ransom
Under Cover of Darkness‡
Found Money
The Abduction
The Informant
The Pardon*
And for young adults
Leapholes
*A Jack Swyteck Novel
†Vincent Paulo’s debut
‡FBI agent Andie Henning’s debut
Credits
Jacket photograph montage © Arcangel Images
Jacket design by Ervin Serrano
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.
AFRAID OF THE DARK. Copyright © 2011 by James Grippando. 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.
EPub Edition April 2011 ISBN: 9780062078605
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Contents
Chapter 1
January
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapt
er 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
February
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by the Author
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
Afraid of the Dark Page 36