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about Van’s behavior? I’ll admit, I’ve never witnessed anything to match it. Wait a minute. I’ve got an idea.”
    He put his phone on speaker so Maryruth could listen; then he dialed the West home and asked to speak with Gayl.
    â€œGoing to take Van’s offer?” Maryruth asked with a smile.
    Jerry’s expression was pained. “Very funny, Doctor Benning. Amusing. Gayl? Hi, this is Doctor Baldwin. Look, I’m doing a follow-up on ... some work and I need to ask you a few questions. This is just between us, O.K.?”
    â€œSure, Doctor Baldwin. Am I in some kind of trouble, or something?”
    Jerry laughed to reassure the girl. “Oh, no, Gayl. Nothing like that. What can you tell me about some mysterious light in this part of the county? It’s out near some railroad tracks.”
    Several seconds of silence. “Nothing, Doctor Baldwin,” Gayl finally said. “I never heard of any light.”
    DON’T PUSH IT! Maryruth quickly wrote on a notepad and showed it to Jerry.
    He nodded. “All right, Gayl. I was just curious, that’s all. Thanks for your help.”
    â€œSure, Doctor,” Gayl said, her voice very light and breezy, no hidden secrets contained therein. “Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”
    She broke the connection.
    â€œThe plot thickens,” Jerry said. “Maryruth, what in the hell is going on around here?”
    â€œI will admit, it’s capturing my attention,” she replied. “Some sort of game the kids have going on?”
    â€œI don’t think so. No. I’d bet that’s not it. It’s Maryruth, I experienced a feeling of something sinister a few moments ago. Laugh if you wish, but the sensation was a little too real to be comfortable.”
    â€œI’m not laughing, am I? You said Van told you he and Gayl went out to see this light last Saturday night, right?” Maryruth asked.
    â€œSat right there in that chair and told me so. Said all the kids go out there to see it. His very words.”
    â€œInteresting. Now the problem lies in finding out why she would lie about it.”
    â€œIf she is lying,” Jerry said. “And something tells me she isn’t.”
    â€œNow that is even more interesting,” Maryruth said, arching an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate on that statement?”
    â€œI don’t believe she has any memory of ever seeing the light.”
    â€œI’m a psychologist, Jerry, not a mindreader. What are getting at?”
    Jerry looked at Maryruth and felt something stir within him. It was as if he were seeing her, really seeing her, for the first time. Maryruth was a petite woman, not over five two, with midnight black hair and deep blue eyes, a heart-shaped face, full lips. Kissable, the thought came to Jerry. A superb figure. He suddenly wondered what she would look like naked?
    Maryruth was also entertaining some interesting thoughts about Jerry Baldwin – just as sexual.
    â€œWhere am I going with this?” Jerry asked.
    She shrugged.
    â€œOver my head, I think,” he admitted.

4
    Heather and Marc asked their parents for permission to ride out to the dig site. After a couple of phone calls to determine just where the site was and whether or not the area was dangerous, the parents agreed. Heather and Marc packed sandwiches and bottles of water, mounted their ten-speeds, and hit the blacktop leading to the historic site. The road was new, and that made for easy pedaling and good time. When they rolled into the archaeological site, it was hot and quiet and deserted. Both young people felt something alien about the place. But neither could, at that time, put the sensation into words.
    A word would come to them soon enough, and it would be terror.
    The dig site was not what either of them had expected.
    â€œI thought there would be a lot of people out here,” Marc said, disappointment in his voice.
    â€œYeah, me too. But it