Absent Friends (45 page)

The undead, so legends say, though visible to the eye and capable of great destruction, don't appear in mirrors. The Invisible Man, though, who cannot be seen at all: does his presence, as it is said, distort reflections?

Grateful acknowledgment is given for permission to reprint from the following:

“Musée des Beaux Arts,” copyright 1940 and renewed 1968 by W. H. Auden, from COLLECTED POEMS by W. H. Auden.
Used by permission of Random House, Inc.

Excerpt from “A Martial Law Carol” from COLLECTED POEMS IN ENGLISH by Joseph Brodsky. Copyright © 2000 by the Estate of Joseph Brodsky. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.

ABSENT FRIENDS
A Delacorte Press Book / October 2004

Published by Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved
Copyright © 2004 by S. J. Rozan

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

Delacorte Press is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Visit our website at
www.bantamdell.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rozan, S. J.
Absent friends / S. J. Rozan.
p. cm.
1. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001—Fiction. 2. Staten Island (New York, N.Y.)—Fiction. 3. Women journalists—Fiction. 4. Firefighters—Fiction. 5. Friendship—Fiction. 6. Secrecy—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3568.O99A64 2004
813'.54—dc22 2004045471

eISBN: 978-0-440-33509-2

v3.0