The trail dipped. The scrub brush of the flatlands disappeared briefly as she sank into a nest of trees. When she climbed out of it, she could see the path hugging the cliffs, with all the low vegetation shivering in the wind.

There he was.

She didn’t know where he’d come from, but now he was directly ahead of her, no more than fifty yards away. His back was to her. He faced the water.

“I see him,” Frankie murmured.

“Say again. You’re breaking up.”

“I see him.”

Todd had tramped away from the trail through the brush to the fragile clifftop. Bits of wet dirt trickled away under his feet toward the beach. Blooms of California poppies dotted the land around him like orange drips of paint. He wore no coat, just a gray sweatshirt and jeans. His thinning hair blew back over his forehead. His eyes looked out into the distance of the ocean, but he knew she was there.

“Where is he?”

“At the cliff.”

“Stay away from him. Let us take it from here.”

“No, I can’t do that,” she said.

In her ear, Frost swore. She knew he was running, but they were far behind her. Frost, Jess, the police officers, the helicopters, all were minutes away. For now, she and Todd had the cliff to themselves.

She left the path and pushed through the sandy soil. The wind nearly lifted her body from the ground. The waves and the gales screamed. So did the white-and-black gulls, hovering gracefully on the currents of air beyond the cliff, as if to taunt those who couldn’t fly.

Todd’s head swiveled as she approached him. He stared at her with his dreamy eyes, but now she could see what was behind those eyes. Loss. Tragedy. Madness. And more than anything else, anger. Fury at the world. Fury at her.

“Fran-kie,” he chanted, using the Night Bird’s voice. “Fran-kie.”

She felt an instant chill. She was conscious of the long drop beside her. In both directions, up and down the coast, she saw no one at all.

“I know who you are,” she told him, raising her voice to be heard over the wind.

He shook his head. When he spoke, he used his own voice again, and she had to come closer to hear him. They were near enough that he could have sent her off the cliff with a swipe of his hand. “You don’t have any idea who I am.”

“You’re Todd Farley. You were in love with Merrilyn Somers. I’m sorry. Really, Todd. I hate what you’ve done, but I’m sorry, too. I know you lost someone you loved. I know the pain you must have felt.”

“Todd Farley is who I was,” he replied. “That’s not who I am anymore. I’m someone different.”

She wondered if Frost could hear him talking, or if the wind drowned Todd’s soft voice.