After dinner, Erik used the excuse that he was going out to the plaza to check on news of the missing girl, and then he went to see Dovecrest. He actually did stop at the plaza, which was now a makeshift command post, of sorts. But they told him what he already knew-there were no new leads in the case. He looked for Sheriff Roy and couldn’t find him-he was going to show him the pictures of the altar stone and ask him about them. But he did find Pastor Mark, who had been offering some comfort to the missing girl’s mother earlier.
“Erik, I wanted to thank you for your help last night,” Mark said.
“Oh, it’s nothing. It could be my kid out there.”
“These are very sad times. Very sad times.”
Erik made some small talk as he tried to figure out how to ask the pastor about the altar stone. Finally, he decided to just jump in.
“Pastor, do you have a minute? There’s something important that I’d like to share with you?”
“Why sure, Erik. What is it?”
Erik led him over to his car and took the folder containing the picture and the article from the front seat.
“Pastor, I’ve been doing some research and I think something very strange and unsettling is going on here. I’m not sure what to do.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, these woods…. Here. Look at this stuff I found in the library.”
Pastor Mark looked at the picture and read the article, then the retraction that followed later.
“What are you saying, Erik? That this stuff is real?”
Erik went on to explain what had happened to Todd, and what the boy had told him. Then he told him about Steve Harvey, the radio talk show host, and his story.
“I don’t know if any of these things are connected or not, or how it all adds up, but even the sheriff thinks there have been some weird goings on here. And now we have a missing girl.”
Mark rubbed his forehead for a long moment. “So you think this…thing, this rock is out there in the woods somewhere? Why hasn’t anyone found it?”
“Because I don’t think it wants us to find it. Look, I know this stuff all sounds crazy and I’m probably being paranoid because my son got lost in the woods a couple nights ago and now this teenage girl has disappeared. But I had to share this with someone. If I’m wrong you’d at least be the guy to help me out.”
“Well, I am from the old school, the conservative school….”
“And what I’m saying is ‘New Age’, right?”
“On the contrary. The Bible teaches that Satan exists and that there are demons. That was true in ancient times. Why wouldn’t it be true today?”
“So you think this is possible?”
“Possible, yes. I’ll admit that I’m not convinced yet, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. It just means I haven’t been convinced yet.”
“So what should we do?”
“I think we should begin by seeing if this altar stone really does exist.”
“If it does, I know one man who could lead us to it. Johnny Dovecrest. I’m sure he knows something about all this.”
Mark nodded. “Then let’s go pay him a visit.”