BooksBarbecue
Back When the Stars Go Dark Save as PDF
Chapters (83)
  1. Epigraph
  2. Maps
  3. (prologue)
  4. Part 1: Signs and Vapors
  5. (one)
  6. (two)
  7. (three)
  8. (four)
  9. (five)
  10. (six)
  11. (seven)
  12. (eight)
  13. (nine)
  14. (ten)
  15. (eleven)
  16. (twelve)
  17. Part 2: Secret Things
  18. (thirteen)
  19. (fourteen)
  20. (fifteen)
  21. (sixteen)
  22. (seventeen)
  23. (eighteen)
  24. (nineteen)
  25. (twenty)
  26. (twenty-one)
  27. (twenty-two)
  28. (twenty-three)
  29. (twenty-four)
  30. (twenty-five)
  31. (twenty-six)
  32. (twenty-seven)
  33. (twenty-eight)
  34. (twenty-nine)
  35. (thirty)
  36. (thirty-one)
  37. (thirty-two)
  38. (thirty-three)
  39. (thirty-four)
  40. (thirty-five)
  41. (thirty-six)
  42. (thirty-seven)
  43. (thirty-eight)
  44. (thirty-nine)
  45. Part 3: Time and the Maiden
  46. (forty)
  47. (forty-one)
  48. (forty-two)
  49. (forty-three)
  50. (forty-four)
  51. (forty-five)
  52. (forty-six)
  53. (forty-seven)
  54. (forty-eight)
  55. (forty-nine)
  56. (fifty)
  57. (fifty-one)
  58. (fifty-two)
  59. (fifty-three)
  60. Part 4: The Bent Grove
  61. (fifty-four)
  62. (fifty-five)
  63. (fifty-six)
  64. (fifty-seven)
  65. (fifty-eight)
  66. (fifty-nine)
  67. (sixty)
  68. (sixty-one)
  69. (sixty-two)
  70. (sixty-three)
  71. (sixty-four)
  72. (sixty-five)
  73. (sixty-six)
  74. (sixty-seven)
  75. (sixty-eight)
  76. (sixty-nine)
  77. (seventy)
  78. Dedication
  79. (acknowledgments)
  80. (author’s note)
  81. BY PAULA MCLAIN
  82. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  83. What’s next onyour reading list?

I get out with the dog at my heels and look for signs anyway—trampling, oil stains, tire marks, footprints. We comb both sides of the road carefully, and then backtrack through the meadow and woods, scanning for anything off-key. He could have overpowered her immediately and dragged her somewhere nearby. He could have discarded her body in the ferns, or buried her in a shallow grave. The grim possibilities roll through me, because this is my job. I’m looking for a body, knowing we might never find one. And then there is the irrational part of me that can’t let go of the possibility that Cameron is still alive. The two sides of me are in constant battle. My mind believes she’s gone forever. My heart can’t accept that. Won’t.

It’s almost noon when I finally stop, my jeans damp at the cuff and my feet tired. I walk back to my car and just sit behind the wheel for a long time, wondering where to go next. And then it hits me, the psychic.

—

Tally Hollander isn’t hard to locate. I find her name in a phone book in town and then drive to the address in Comptche in less than twenty minutes, finding the driveway marked with a large painted sign that says ABUNDANCE FARM: ALPACA WOOL AND MILK SOLD HERE. Most of the psychics and mediums I’ve worked with over the years have been unassuming, even frumpy. But an alpaca farmer? Who knew you could milk one anyway?

Up the curving drive stands a modern farmhouse with a wide wraparound porch and sloping corrugated metal roof. To one side, a shiny Airstream trailer sits with a red-and-white awning stretched over the entrance. A chalkboard is propped there, spelling out the names of her animals and the prices of various items, milk and cheese and wool, honey and jam and fresh flowers. I’m beginning to think you couldn’t make up a woman like this except as a character in a movie.

I climb out of my Bronco and the dog follows, ignoring the animals like the trustworthy sidekick she obviously is. A woman walks out onto her front porch in a long linen dress with an apron over it, double tied at the waist, and gray felt clogs. Her hair is cut in an edgy crimson bob, with quirky asymmetrical bangs.

“Can I help you?” she asks.

“I hope so. I’m Anna Hart, a detective working with the Mendocino sheriff’s department. Do you have a few minutes to talk?”

“Of course.” She rests her hands on her hips in an open, sunny way. “And you brought a friend. Why don’t you both come on in?”

—