Cheryl awoke to blowing snow and an empty bed. She wondered
about power lines, but they must have held up or Gary
would’ve been lying beside her. She knew she’d better check
on him.
He was standing when she entered their shared office,
stretching muscles cramped from hours at his computer. The
moment he saw her, he grinned broadly, the way he always did
when he was hot on the trail of vindication. He captured her
in a vigorous bear hug. “You’re not going to believe this,
woman.” He only called her that when he was exuberant.
Drawing her to his computer, he opened a file. Twenty new
locations, all remote, out-of-the-way places in North
Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and southern Asia had been
added to the original five. Cheryl, who taught history and
geography, had never heard of any of them.
Cheryl usually avoided getting involved in Gary’s projects,
but this time was different. He really seemed to be onto
something. His findings were remarkable, not only because of
their implications but because of the discipline they’d
required. She rubbed his neck affectionately. “Get some rest
while I look this over.”
Gary was unbelievably productive when he narrowed his
vision, but at a price. Sometimes, he was so focused on the
dots, he couldn’t see how they fit together, and he missed
the obvious. Knowing this, Cheryl looked up the places on
his list in her Oxford World Atlas while Gary dozed. It took
her fifteen minutes to discover the pattern, an hour to
confirm it beyond a doubt. She looked at what she’d done,
smiling. If only she knew what it meant.
