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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?

“Sorry to barge in on you like this.” I step inside and see he’s very much taken over where his father left off. Large-scale pieces. Bold and almost savage lines. “It’s just that we found some signed paintings of your dad’s over at the Art Center. Maybe you can come over and ID them for us, or even help us know who they belong to.”

“Oh wow.” He rubs his hands on a rag he’s holding and then drops it into a nearby five-gallon plastic bucket on the concrete floor without looking down, as if he knows right where everything is. The space behind him is spotlessly organized. Brushes and tubes of color are neatly and even chromatically arranged on his worktable. In Jack’s day, when he painted here, the space had always looked as if it belonged to a hoarder. Now everything is startlingly in its place; the floor swept bare. “What were you doing over there?”

“Just following up a lead on the Cameron Curtis case. The paintings were a total surprise.” I drift a little closer to his easel, and subtly see him move his body in front of it.

“The Art Center. Why would you be looking there?”

I glance at the canvas again, registering something decidedly female in the shapes at play, this time, the curves and dimensions. “Oh, a random tip we got.”

“Interesting.” His eyes flick coolly, electrically, over mine. I recognize the change in his energy, which is almost reptilian now. He’s reading the air between us the way a snake does with its tongue. Reading my mind, or trying. “You’re sure they’re my dad’s?”

I know I can’t hide what he’s already seen. That I’m putting the pieces together. Figuring out what I’ve missed before. What’s been right in front of me. All I can do is play out this game. “Definitely. They’re all of Time and the Maiden. Do you remember seeing anything like that when Jack was alive?”

He frowns a little and shakes his head. “I don’t think so. Let me lock up and I’ll meet you over there.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind waiting.”

“Oh, sure.” His pupils flick over me again. He seems to be enjoying this. “I just have to grab my wallet and I’ll be right with you. Hang on.”