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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?

“It’s the risk you run when you play big.” Over the bar, the TV is tuned to a soccer game in Argentina, but a news banner scrolls beneath with the latest on Polly’s case. Her name and face are known all around the world, and yet aside from this missed call, no one has seen or heard from her in a week. It makes me feel more anxious than I’d like to admit about our own case. “Anything happening on the town meeting?”

“I reserved the community center for Saturday and have a request in for taking over the building full-time as a rescue center. The Mendocino Beacon has agreed to mass-produce Cameron’s missing poster for mailings.”

“Saturday’s good,” I agree. “We’ll get better attendance, maybe some tourists, too. That room should look full.” I scan the tables around us for confirmation. These are the very people we want on our side. “I’m going to talk to Gray right after this, and then Emily. We need to have pictures plastered everywhere for the cameras. Images move people. Seeing Cameron’s face at different ages will make her more real. Those missing posters might as well be invisible.”

“I get that,” Will says. “I wish we had stronger language before we run the new printing. Obviously we can’t say ‘Kidnapped’ without being misleading.”

“And borderline unethical,” I add. “What about something like ‘Foul Play Is Suspected’? That might hit a good middle spot and get us a little more attention. Today is the sixth. We’re two weeks in without a single solid lead. I don’t like the way the odds are shaping up.”

He nods soberly just as Wanda comes up with a plate for Cricket, a hamburger patty she’s broken up into bite-sized pieces. “Shh,” she says, flicking her eyes at the kitchen window before running to grab our check.

Though I know it will probably lead to an argument, I say, “Why did you tell Caleb I’m on this case, Will? I thought we agreed I was totally off the record.”

“What? It’s Caleb, not some journalist.”

“So?”

“I’m sorry. It just came up when we were talking. I guess I thought it would make him feel better.”

“Better how?”

“About Jenny. That the two of us are on it. That we won’t let it all happen again.”

What he’s saying has already crossed my mind. As a story, it’s too much for anyone to live through once, let alone twice. And not just for Caleb. Pretty much anyone over twenty-five was here when Jenny was murdered. That’s why things have to turn out differently this time—for all of us.

(thirty-seven)