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Back The Night Bird
Chapters (60)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. CONTENTS
  5. Start Reading
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. 52
  58. FROM THE AUTHOR
  59. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  60. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Todd was his real name. Todd Farley, not Todd Ferris. Until last summer, he’d worked for a video production company in Reno. He was three years older than Merrilyn Somers, but the two of them had dated since she was in eighth grade. They’d sung together in the Nightingales choir at their local high school. They’d gotten engaged the summer after Todd graduated from college. They were in love the way only young people can be in love, with no dark clouds hanging over their future.

Until Darren Newman.

Todd had stayed at his job in Reno while Merrilyn went to SF State. He drove over the Sierra Nevada mountains one weekend a month to see her. They had everything planned. Money. Jobs. Children. According to their friends, Todd knew he had something special in Merrilyn. He counted the days until her graduation. He lived and died for her.

Until Darren Newman.

After Merrilyn’s murder, anger filled him up. He raged against Newman. He raged against Frankie. He raged against the police who’d let it happen. Weeks later, with no note or warning, Todd disappeared from Reno. His friends and family had no idea where he went. They only knew that something had broken inside Todd’s soul. He was officially a missing person, according to the Reno police, and the expectation in his hometown was that he’d gone off to a remote spot in the mountains and killed himself, because he couldn’t live without Merrilyn.

But that wasn’t the truth.

He’d gone to San Francisco. Todd Farley had become Todd Ferris. The Night Bird was born.

“He might not come,” Frost said in her ear.

Frankie shook her head, although no one was around to see her. “He’ll be here.”

She struggled against the wind up the coastal trail, following the path along the jagged inlets of the headlands. Low brush clung to the cliff side twenty feet away, where the sharp wall dropped off to a ribbon of beach. Waterfalls spilled down the rocks. Huge stones made islands in the surf. Overhead, the cloudless sky stretched in a swath of azure until it met the midnight blue of the Pacific at the horizon.

Just like it had been on January 1.

She tried to remember, but all she saw in her mind was her father below her, dead eyes staring back where he’d fallen. Everything else—how they got there, what she said, what she did—was blank. Jason knew, but Jason was lying. She didn’t believe him; she didn’t think her father had killed himself. Something else happened. And Todd knew what it was.

He’d listened through the spy software on her phone as Frankie’s memory was wiped away, like a wave erasing footprints on the sand. She had to know what he’d heard.