Lola walked her to the door.Outside, the sun was setting over the desert, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple.The heat had finally begun to break, and the evening air carried the scent of sage and juniper.
"Be careful in Los Angeles," Lola said."It's not like here.The city has a way of swallowing people whole."
"I spent ten years in Phoenix.I can handle a city."
Lola shook her head sadly."L.A.isn’t Phoenix.And Tayen isn't just some missing person.She's family.Our family.Bring her home if you can.But if you can't..."She paused."At least bring me the truth."
Kari drove home in the gathering dusk, Lola's words echoing in her mind.The truth.That was what everyone wanted, wasn't it?Dorothy Naalnish wanted the truth about her son.Kari wanted the truth about her mother.And now Lola wanted the truth about her niece.
The truth, Kari had learned, was rarely simple.And sometimes it was the last thing anyone actually wanted to hear.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ben was waiting on her porch when she got home, two bottles of beer sweating in the evening heat.He handed her one as she climbed the steps, his expression suggesting he already knew something was up.
"You didn't come back to the station," he said."I figured either you'd been abducted by aliens or something happened at the Naalnish place."
"Something happenedafterthe Naalnish place."Kari unlocked her front door and gestured for him to follow."I got a call from a cousin I haven't seen in years.She needs help finding her niece."
Inside, the house was warm from being closed up all day.Kari opened windows while Ben settled into the armchair he'd claimed as his own during their many working evenings together.Her mother's house had gradually become a second office for them both, a place to review cases away from the fluorescent lights and interruptions of the station.
She told him about Lola, about Tayen, about the Glimmer account that had gone dark.Ben listened without interrupting, sipping his beer and watching her pace the length of the living room.
"Can I see the profile?"he asked when she'd finished.
Kari pulled out her phone and navigated to Tayen Stern's Glimmer.She'd saved several screenshots at Lola's house, preserving the images before the account potentially disappeared entirely.She handed the phone to Ben and watched his face as he scrolled.
"She's pretty," he said."Young.Looks like she's living the dream out there."
"Look at her eyes."
Ben looked more carefully.After a moment, he nodded slowly."She's performing.Every photo, every smile.None of it's real."
"That's what Lola said."
"But that doesn't mean she's in trouble."Ben set the phone down on the coffee table."A lot of people perform on social media.It's practically the whole point."
Kari stopped pacing and leaned against the doorframe."Maybe."
"Could be she just doesn't want contact with her past.Plenty of runaways feel that way."
"Could be."Kari picked up her own beer, which had grown warm in her hand."But I promised Lola I'd try to find out for sure."
Ben was quiet for a moment."You're thinking about going to L.A."
"I'm thinking about it.Yes."
"What about the Naalnish case?"
The question hung in the air between them.Kari walked to the window and looked out at the darkening desert.Somewhere out there, beyond the horizon, the FBI was examining bones that should have been hers to examine, investigating a murder that should have been hers to solve.
"The Naalnish case isn't ours anymore," she said quietly."You heard Agent Rivera.They don't want us anywhere near it.All we can do is wait and hope they decide to share something eventually."
"And your mother's files?The other sixteen cases?"
"Those aren't going anywhere."Kari turned back to face him."They've been waiting fifteen years, some of them.A few more days won't matter."
Ben studied her for a long moment.They'd worked together long enough that he could read her moods, could tell when she was struggling with a decision."You want to go," he said."Not just because of Lola.You need to do something.You're going crazy sitting here waiting for the FBI to throw us scraps."
