Takes place in the fall of 1989 then the spring of 1991 in a small town at the edge of industrial Weston in the northeast (a composite locale in Pennsylvania). Part 1, Fire in the Dark, relates the story of high school senior, hothead, and soccer star Maryl O'Donnell and her conflicted relationship with Millerville's hunky linebacker, Derek Teaberry. Their families were friends until tough times forced a wedge between them. Maryl tangles with Derek's younger sister, who is injured in the incident, and Derek pushes Maryl's twin, Megan, into an intimacy she did not want. A series of events, culminating in a fire at the O'Donnells' small business, results in Maryl being suspected of conspiring to collect insurance money. Her often-violent responses to pressure don't help, and memories of her part in a childhood kidnapping cloud her judgement. Maryl must enlist the help of her nemesis, Derek, in uncovering who is behind the fires-with a long-ago death as the key to solving the mystery-while the real culprit seeks to avenge one tragedy with another, the life of a talented young goalkeeper. Part 2, A Shot in the Dark, finds Maryl at the end of her freshman year at a small college. On a scholarship, Maryl tries to find a balance between academia, athletics, and recreation; in addition, she must maintain a part-time job and keep her boyfriend at bay until the time is right . . . and then the past intrudes, in the form of the young man she helped put in jail who has been released and wastes no time making her aware of it. A ghost appears from the past, further complicating matters. Faced with choices she never asked for, Maryl must choose between helping someone she thought was lost to her forever, keeping her scholarship or her personal integrity, and in the end, protecting herself from a terrible fate.