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The room was smaller than she remembered, dominated by a large desk covered with neatly arranged stacks of paper, color-coded folders, and a laptop that hadn’t been turned on since Anna’s death.Kari hesitated only briefly before sitting in her mother’s chair.

The leather creaked under her weight, conforming to her body in a way that suggested Anna had spent long hours here.Kari ran her fingers along the edge of the desk, then opened the top drawer.Pens, paperclips, a stapler—ordinary office supplies arranged with care.

The second drawer contained file folders labeled by year and subject.Kari flipped through them quickly: “Emergence Stories, 2023”; “Spider Woman Legends, 2021”; “Creation Myths, 2019.”

The bottom drawer was locked.

Kari sat back, considering.She’d noticed the locked drawer during her initial sweep of the house after moving in but had respected it as one of her mother’s private spaces.Now, with Ruth’s words fresh in her mind—The answers are in her house—the locked drawer took on new significance.

She checked her watch again.Not enough time to deal with this now.She’d need to find the key or, failing that, pick the lock—breaking it wasn’t an option.Either way, she’d have to wait until after her shift.

Kari stood, taking one last look around the small office.Something about this room felt important, as if it held answers to questions she hadn’t yet formed.

But if so, those answers would have to wait.

Stepping out into the blinding morning sun, she locked the door behind her, acutely aware of leaving her mother’s space—her papers, her research, her secrets—unexamined once again.But duty called, and Kari Blackhorse had always answered, even when it led her to places she’d rather not go.

As she climbed into her Jeep, she couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever her mother had been researching—whatever had been important enough to lock away—might somehow connect to her death.Not by exposure, as the coroner’s report claimed, but something else.Something worth keeping secret.

Kari started the engine, the familiar rumble grounding her.Today was just another day of police work.Reports to file, cases to review, a new partner to navigate.The mystery of her mother’s research would have to wait.

But as she pulled onto the main road toward the tribal police headquarters, Kari made a silent promise to herself.She would find what her mother had feared would die with her.And maybe, in doing so, she’d finally understand why Anna Chee had chosen to spend her last days alone in the desert.

CHAPTER TWO

Kari arrived at the Navajo Nation Police Department headquarters fifteen minutes early for her shift, a habit ingrained from her years in Phoenix.The single-story beige building with its modest blue sign looked nothing like the gleaming glass precinct she’d left behind, but there was something comforting in its unassuming presence against the vast desert backdrop.

She’d been back for just over three weeks now, but the transition still felt incomplete.Every morning, she caught herself reaching for the Phoenix PD mug she’d left behind, looking for the high-rise view that no longer existed.The tribal headquarters, with its community bulletin boards and hand-drawn missing persons flyers, operated on a different rhythm—slower in some ways, more urgent in others.

As she approached the entrance, the glass door swung open.Detective Ben Tsosie was already on his way out, his angular face set in its usual serious expression.He wore the department’s standard khakis and button-down but somehow made the uniform look more formal than everyone else.

“Blackhorse,” he said, nodding briefly.“Good timing.We’ve got a call.”

Kari switched directions without breaking stride, falling into step beside him.“What kind of call?”

“Body at Canyon de Chelly.Near Spider Rock.”Tsosie’s voice was clipped and professional.“Hikers found it about forty minutes ago.”

Kari felt a jolt of adrenaline at the word “body,” followed by a twinge of discomfort at the location.Spider Rock wasn’t far from where her mother had been found.

“Tourist?”she asked, following Tsosie to his department-issued SUV.

“Unknown.Officer Nez is securing the scene.Said we should hurry.”He unlocked the vehicle with a chirp of the remote.“I’ll drive.”

It wasn’t a question, but Kari didn’t mind.The drive would give her a chance to observe Tsosie, to begin understanding the man she’d be partnering with for the foreseeable future.Three weeks in, and he remained largely a mystery—competent, punctual, and about as forthcoming as a petroglyph.

They settled into the SUV, Tsosie adjusting his seat before pulling out of the parking lot.The morning heat was already intensifying, the dashboard reading 88°F.By midday, it would likely hit triple digits.

“ETA?”Kari asked, watching the reservation landscape pass by her window—scattered houses giving way to open desert.

“Forty-five minutes.Less if we push it.”

Tsosie accelerated smoothly, the SUV handling the transition from pavement to dirt road with barely a shudder.He drove with quiet confidence, one hand on the wheel, his eyes scanning the horizon as if cataloging what had changed since he’d last passed this way.

The silence stretched between them, not quite uncomfortable but nowhere near ease.In Phoenix, Kari had partnered with Maria Santos for three years—long enough that conversation flowed naturally, interspersed with comfortable silences built on mutual understanding.Here, with Tsosie, every silence felt like a test neither of them knew how to pass.

“You know this area well?”Kari asked finally, partly out of genuine curiosity and partly to break the quiet.

Tsosie nodded.“Grew up near the south rim.Used to hike these canyons every summer with my uncles.”

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