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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?

Just inside the garage door, there’s a heavy black rotary phone. I kick the doorframe hard, just above the knob, and it clatters open. When I dial Will’s office, my hand twitches, every muscle tense and jangling. Cherilynn picks up.

“We have the suspect,” I tell her. “He’s headed east out of town, maybe toward the highway. He’s driving a white Toyota pickup. The license plate starts with H46. I didn’t get the rest. I’m at Caleb Ford’s house on Kelly Street.”

“I’m sending someone over for you,” she says before she clicks off. “Stay put.”

I feel almost dizzy as I hang up, praying that it’s not too late to stop Caleb before he reaches Cameron. His threat to me, that he’ll kill her if I follow, is terrifying. But now that he’s on the run, chances are that he’ll do that anyway, as fast as he can.

From Main Street, I hear sirens begin to wail. I’m headed out the door to meet the unit when my eyes catch again on the black-and-white photo over the workbench. And now I know why it looks familiar. It’s of a Pomo woman in traditional dress with a baby laced into a woven basket, breasts loose under her garment, a mound of gathered acorns nearby. Her home is cone shaped, made of bark and reeds, and planks of redwood. Just like the shelter I saw in the woods that day.

I race through the door, into the driveway. The rain is falling faster and the sky is nearly black as I take in the lit-up cruiser speeding toward me, desperate to see Will inside, or in the second car just behind it. They both screech to a halt, doors flying open. Will’s face the only one I look for as raindrops pelt sideways into my face and neck.

“He’s gone back to the woods,” I shout, though I know it won’t make sense to him yet. “Back to kill Cameron.”

(sixty-three)

“Can you lead us there?” Will demands to know once I’ve explained everything, still out of breath, my body shaking terribly. “You remember the way?”

It’s not just Will that I have to convince, but all of the state and local officers that have been newly dispatched, dozens of strained faces all pointed at me. The APB has gone out wide with a description of Caleb’s truck, but by now he’s most likely had time to stash it somewhere and start hiking toward the Pomo shelter. I’ve only seen it once, on that long hike from my cabin, and that was miles from where I’d first set out and who knew how far from the nearest road. Can I find it again? Do I actually know where it is?

“Yes,” I make myself say.

—