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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?

“Not much. Karen was pretty guarded with me, too, but I still think the two girls have more in common than it looks from the outside. Remember when Karen told you and Denny how Shannan started acting out sexually in what—sixth grade? That’s a glaring sign right there. No one at that age gives a blow job in the bathroom by choice, Will. Desire has nothing to do with it. Sex has nothing to do with it. She was working out some kind of emotional garbage, whether she knew that or not.”

“You’re thinking she was abused, too?”

“She might have been, but there are lots of other ways Shannan could have gotten messed-up boundaries. If she saw her mother beat up, for instance. If there was too much dislocation, or negligence. Karen might have been so distracted by her own problems, she couldn’t really bond with Shannan, or consider her needs. And where’s the dad in all of this? He must have abandoned the family, and that’s another strike against her. Another hole to fill.”

He sits forward, swirling his glass until the ice cubes rattle. “Okay, let’s say you’re right, and that they’re both sending out these bat signals, both of them the same kind of not-quite-okay gorgeous girl. What then? What kind of guy preys on that? Who are we looking for, Anna?”

“I don’t know yet, but it’s all I can think about.” With a snap of my fingers, I call Cricket over and rest my hands on the warm back of her head. It’s amazing to me how quickly I’ve adapted to having her nearby, how much she means to me already.

“Did you ever wonder why we’re both here right now?” Will asks.

“Because you wanted a drink?”

I was hoping for a smile, but he’s all business. “I mean here in Mendocino. With all this going on.”

“Bad karma?” I try again.

“Very funny.” He clears his throat and moves closer to me on the couch until our knees are only a few inches apart, near enough so that I can feel his body heat bleed into the space. “It does feel like karma sometimes, though. What’s the saying about life giving you what you can least handle?”

I manage a hollow laugh. “We’re not the luckiest two people.”

“No.” He takes a long pull on his cocktail, draining the last of it without effort. It’s a move that’s very familiar to me. The faster you drink, the faster you can try to erase whatever needs erasing. “Can I show you something?”

I steady myself on the glass in my hand. “Sure.”

(forty-nine)