"It's Ruth," she admitted."When I saw her earlier, she seemed not just worried but truly afraid.Sentimental, too.She actually told me I was precious to her—in those exact words."
Ben raised an eyebrow."That doesn't sound like the Ruth Chee I know.She usually communicates affection through extra food and stern advice."
"Exactly," Kari said."Something about this case is getting to her.She performed a full purification ceremony before I arrived, and she was burning protection herbs when I left.It was like..."She searched for the right words."Like she was preparing for something terrible to happen."
"Did she give you any concrete information about what's troubling her?"
"She admitted she knew one of the original victims—a woman named Laura Yellowhair, who had been her friend.Apparently, Laura was documenting medicinal plants before she was killed.But when I pressed for details about the killer, Ruth shut down.Said some evil shouldn't be named or remembered."
Ben was quiet for a moment, his gaze fixed on the moonlit landscape below."My uncle Hastiin once told me something similar," he said finally."During my first year on the force, we responded to a situation at an elderly man's house.The man had been behaving strangely, talking to people no one else could see, drawing symbols on his walls with charcoal.When we arrived, he was catatonic."
Kari watched Ben, noting the unusual hesitation in his normally confident demeanor.
"The medical evaluation showed no physical cause," he continued."But one of the paramedics pulled me aside, showed me something.The old man had covered his arms with the same symbols that were on the walls—concentric circles with lines radiating outward, like a doorway or portal.They were drawn so carefully, so uniformly, that it didn't seem possible for human hands, especially an elderly man with arthritis."
Ben shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his eyes still fixed on the landscape below them."Three days later, I mentioned the case to my uncle, described the symbols.He recognized the man's name immediately and turned pale.Told me to burn the shirt I'd worn that day and wash with cedar.Said the old man had been a respected medicine person until he began exploring ceremonial sites alone at night, claiming he could hear voices calling from inside the rock.My uncle warned me not to speak of him again.Said some knowledge comes with a price, and the old man had paid it by looking too deeply into things meant to remain hidden."
"What happened to him?"Kari asked."The old man, I mean."
"He recovered enough to function, but he was never the same.Lived another three years, barely speaking, always keeping his back to walls so nothing could approach from behind."Ben shrugged, though the casual gesture couldn't disguise his discomfort."I always dismissed it as dementia or mental illness, but my uncle and the other elders treated him with a kind of cautious respect, like someone who had survived something they understood but couldn't explain to outsiders."
"You think Ruth's fears are similar?"Kari asked."That whatever Joseph discovered was something that changes people permanently?"
"I think—" Ben began, but his response was cut short by the crackle of the radio.
"Command, this is Cottonwood Wash checkpoint," came an urgent male voice Kari recognized as Officer Wilson's."We have a suspicious subject who just evaded our patrol.Individual fled when approached for questioning."
Kari and Ben immediately straightened, all personal reflections forgotten as they focused on the developing situation.
Daniels's voice cut in."All units be advised, we have potential suspect activity at secondary location.Cottonwood Wash team in pursuit.Requesting immediate backup while maintaining primary site security."
Kari and Ben exchanged concerned glances.Cottonwood Wash was the fourth location in the original murder sequence—not where they expected activity tonight if the killer was following the historical pattern precisely.
"It could be a diversion," Ben said, voicing what they were both thinking."Draw resources away from Whipple Creek while the real attack happens here."
"Or they realized we're watching Whipple Creek and adapted their plan," Kari countered."Either way, we can't ignore a potential sighting."
"Cottonwood Wash suspect is confirmed heading into the restricted canyon area," Wilson added in a separate transmission."We're in pursuit but requesting additional personnel familiar with the terrain."
Captain Yazzie's voice came through, authoritative despite the late hour."Blackhorse, Tsosie—proceed to Cottonwood Wash.I'll maintain command here with Teams One through Three.Daniels, can you redirect any FBI personnel to support?"
"Affirmative," Daniels replied."Sending two agents from the command post now, but they're at least fifteen minutes out."
Kari started the engine, and her decision was made."We're en route to Cottonwood Wash," she said, turning their vehicle toward the access road."ETA twelve minutes."
As they sped through the darkness, Ben pulled up a topographical map on the vehicle's computer."Wilson and his partner were stationed at the main entrance," he said."If the suspect fled into the canyon, there are three potential exit routes—the south rim trail, the dry creek bed that leads to the old mining road, or the narrow passage through Thunder Rock."
"The mining road is the easiest escape route," Kari said, navigating the winding reservation roads with practiced skill."But Thunder Rock offers better concealment, especially at night."
"I'm thinking the same," Ben agreed."The passage is difficult to navigate unless you know it well, but it connects to a network of smaller canyons where someone could effectively disappear."
They reached Cottonwood Wash in eleven minutes, parking at the checkpoint where a single tribal police cruiser remained.Officer Clark, who had stayed behind to maintain the secure perimeter, quickly briefed them as they checked their equipment—flashlights, service weapons, and radios.
"Wilson and Martinez followed the suspect into the canyon about fifteen minutes ago," he said."Last radio contact placed them near the petroglyphs on the west wall.Suspect was described as medium height, wearing dark clothing.Wilson thought it might be male based on the running gait, but couldn't confirm."
"We'll approach via the Thunder Rock passage," Ben said."If the suspect knows the area, that's where they'll head."
They moved swiftly but cautiously into the canyon, the moonlight casting enough illumination to navigate without flashlights that would announce their presence.The sandstone walls rose around them like massive breakers, petroglyphs barely visible as darker patterns against the rock face.
