A Deadly Wandering

After college, Terryl met a girl named April at a church group. They quickly became best friends, and when April was diagnosed with leukemia, Terryl reevaluated her life’s direction. She spent time by April’s bedside, admiring the way April’s husband Neal was the model caregiver. Terryl took a Mormon mission to Costa Rica in April’s stead, fulfilling her best friend’s long-time dream.

Terryl returned from the mission ready to leave the baggage of her past behind. She got married and moves to Logan, Utah, where she worked as a victim’s advocate in the county prosecutor’s office.

In an alleged rape case, Terryl got more involved than the typical victim’s advocate. Taking on almost an investigative role, Terryl uncovered that the guilty man was the victim’s father, which led to his arrest.

Dr. Atchley, a Kansas University psychologist, walks his dogs and thinks about a question a student asked him about the validity of intelligent design. Originally, he labeled it pseudoscience, but later he sends a clarifying email to the student, the gist of which is that faith is the antithesis of science.

Growing up in Silicon Valley when Moore’s Law was driving computer power to double every two years, Atchley was fascinated by computers and dreaming of working as a botanist on a space station.