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There wasn’t anything to do for her now except make sure the Phoenix police tracked down the person who’d given her the lethal drug and put them in prison or, better yet, in the ground.
He gently lowered the lid, then turned and walked out to join his family in the nave.
The Anglo minister, robed in white vestments, introduced himself and offered condolences before taking his place at the altar. In the corner, a gray-haired Diné woman settled at the upright piano.
Caleb sat alone in the front pew, separated from his grandfather, uncle, and aunt across the aisle. Zach and Gia had taken the row behind them. His grandfather’s security detail stationed themselves discreetly nearby.
As the funeral staff wheeled the casket to the altar, a hymn rose into the high ceiling, echoing off white stucco walls. Caleb stood, eyes fixed straight ahead, the bulletin clutched in one hand, unread.
Movement to his right caught his eye.
Gia scooted across the aisle and whispered. “Can I sit with you?” Her voice was hesitant. “You shouldn’t be alone.”
His chest tightened. “Please.” He shifted to make space.
Her bare arm touched his coat sleeve, and he swore he could feel the warmth of her touch beneath the fabric.
From the second row, Zach scowled.
Caleb almost grinned. Let his cousin stew.
He’d enjoy Gia’s company while he was here.
By this afternoon, he’d be gone, headed to Phoenix. Once he’d cleaned out his mother’s belongings and spoke to the police about her death investigation, he’d be on a plane back to DC.
Back to the life he knew and understood.
At the cemetery, the midday sun warmed the winter air. Red clay and dormant sagebrush surrounded scattered headstones. No flowers. No mementos. Only a barren landscape forgotten by the living. Traditional Diné avoided spending time with their dead, believing that severing all ties ensured their loved ones’ passage to the spirit world.
Caleb’s mother’s casket was placed beside his grandmother’s grave. Gia stood at his side, bundled into a black puffer jacket, hands buried in her pockets.
“You don’t like the cold.” he said as she shivered.
“I lost my tolerance.”
He caught the faint edge to her voice and tucked the observation away.
As the priest delivered the final blessing, Caleb stood apart from his family. Gia stood with him, her presence grounding him.
His grandfather stepped forward first, scooping a handful of soil from the rocky earth. He scattered it over his daughter’s casket and said a few words in the language of his people. Then his uncle, his aunt, his cousin.
When it was Caleb’s turn, he crouched low and let the dry earth sift through his fingers.
She’d wanted to be buried here. The homeland she’d left behind.
He still didn’t understand why. He dropped the soil onto the varnished wood and stepped back as the cemetery workers lowered the casket into the hard-packed earth.
Gia’s gaze swept the land, her face drawn with a goodbye she didn’t want to acknowledge.
Not for his mother, whom she’d never met. He was good at reading people. Had to be in his profession. But even if he wasn’t, he would have known her intentions.
“You’re leaving,” He kept his voice low to keep it from carrying to where his family waited nearby.
Startled, she met his eyes.
“If you run, you’re alone.” He pulled his business card from his wallet and slipped it into her hand. “I can help. This is what I do. Your ex found you here—he’ll find you again.”
The flash of fear in Gia’s eyes twisted like a knife in his gut. He cursed himself for putting it there.