BooksBarbecue
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?

It is way too much, what he’s been doing alone. It is way too much for both of us, but I’m not going to tell him that now. I put down my coffee and reach for his hand, rough and cool, before pulling back again. “Whoever took Polly Klaas might be our suspect too, but that’s a long shot, Will. A serial offender has very specific patterns and preferences. Polly is prepubescent, and also young looking for her age. She doesn’t have breast buds, doesn’t excite the same kinds of appetites. Cameron may be emotionally young, but she looks like a woman, not a child.”

“Okay, I get that. But opportunity comes into play sometimes, doesn’t it?”

“Sure. Polly could have been the first girl who walked by when he’d been triggered and knew he would take someone. But think about his behavior for a minute, Will. This guy in Petaluma walked right into a full house with a knife drawn, leaving witnesses.”

He nods slowly. Blinks against the unkind light. “And Cameron just vanished.”

“That’s how it usually happens, honestly, especially with teens. If you want to find someone like Cameron, where all the evidence is either absent or invisible, you have to study your victim to find answers. You have to live and breathe her. Dive deep. And then maybe, maybe, she’ll show you where to look for her.”

“You really want to jump into all this with me?” The hope in Will’s voice is palpable, a tattered flag waving through smoke.

“As long as I’m not the face of anything. My name doesn’t go down anywhere. Not on statements, not on payroll. I won’t talk to the media and I definitely won’t talk to the FBI. I’m here for you and those girls. That’s it.”

“Whatever your rules are, we can make it work. I’m just glad you’re here.”

I take a breath, and then feel for the cool, metallic edge of his desk, my shoulders already knotting with responsibility. “Me too.”

(fifteen)

On Tuesday, September 21, Cameron went over to her best friend Gray Benson’s house to study after school, and then walked home alone, arriving at around six-fifteen. She and her mother, Emily, ate dinner, and then Cameron went to her room. Just after ten, Emily checked on Cameron. The two said good night and then Emily alarmed the house as usual, heading to bed and assuming Cameron did the same. But at seven the next morning, when she went to wake Cameron for breakfast, Emily found her room empty and the alarm deactivated. She didn’t have time to think about why, if somehow it had malfunctioned or if she’d forgotten to turn it on. Her daughter was gone.