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Back When the Stars Go Dark
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?

Will’s eyes have gone slightly glassy, and I know why. For the last ten days, since Cameron’s family reported her missing, he’s been in a minefield, but now it’s twice the size, with double the risk. “If this is the same guy who took Cameron,” he says finally, “I mean, if he’s actively on the hunt, there’s no chance we’re going to find her alive, is there? You can tell me.”

But there isn’t an easy answer. Seventy-five percent of murdered abducted children are killed within the first three hours of being taken. But Cameron isn’t a child anymore. She’s fifteen. And then there’s this: In the slag heap of cases I’ve worked through the years, only once have I had a teenaged victim manage to escape her captor and come home, two years after she was abducted.

Usually even finding a body is a win. Whatever you can imagine, humans can do. And yet at the same time my cop brain knows that Cameron is probably dead, another voice, one that’s pure instinct and intuition, is telling me not to give up.

“Listen,” I say to Will. “We just can’t know until we get more information. You’ve been in touch with the department in Petaluma?”

“First thing this morning. Eddie Van Leer is the lead detective with the Petaluma PD.” Will reaches for the nearest notebook and rifles the pages. “Rod Fraser is the FBI special agent. You ever work with him?”

“Once, about ten years ago. He’s solid. Not your typical FBI guy at all. Doesn’t need to be the smartest guy in the room.”

“Well, somebody’s doing something right down there. Polly’s face is everywhere already. It’s a national case, when I’ve got nothing here. Van Leer tells me he’s got sixty men on the job already.”

“You can see why it’s blowing up there, can’t you? A twelve-year-old girl plucked out of her own bedroom on a Friday night? What parent hasn’t had that nightmare?”

“Okay, but Cameron Curtis has been my nightmare for more than a week now. I’m over my head here, Anna.” His voice catches and rings with strain. “I’ve had no help, no leads. The family is coming unhinged. And what do I tell them? Christ.”