Chapter 1

This story takes place in May and June of 2006

We left out of Albuquerque early in the morning. It was Monday, but Darlia's last day of school had been Friday, and she didn't have to go back for three months. I remember I used to love three-month vacations when I was in school, and wonder how I'd do without them when I became an adult. Now I've been doing without for years, and I still love the idea. I haven't taken one that long yet, but I can afford to if I want. This year we would, in fact, have probably three months vacation total, though not at the same time – we always spend a month in the desert in high summer, a month in Leanna sometime during the year, and now we were headed for a month in the town where I'd been a cop.

We were in Cecelia's red Mazda; I love my truck, Darlia likes it, and Cecelia doesn't mind it, but an old Chevy pickup isn't the best vehicle for a long cross-country run. I've made sure that the engine is in top shape, and the same with the radio and all the other running gear, but a single bench seat with the gear shift in the middle isn't as comfortable as a four door car – not for a family of three, anyway. Cecelia's my wife, Darlia's my daughter, and I'm Darvin Carpenter, a private investigator in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Our route would be partly on I-40, just to get us out of town. From there we'd go a more scenic route. Red Hawk is in Dewey County, between Lenora and Camargo, in western Oklahoma. We didn't have any detailed plans for the route, though we'd looked at the map and had a general idea of how we wanted to travel. We'd make decisions on which road to take when we got to the intersections. We had all summer, and weren't interested in rushing around.

Cecelia was driving the first stage. She's never driven for a living, but she ought to; she's very good at it. Like me she drives one-handed – though it's her right hand on the wheel, and she doesn't need to shift gears with her automatic transmission. That one-handed grip enables faster turning, without hands getting in the way – you can whip the steering wheel right around - and she keeps her eyes moving; nothing happens within a mile of her that she doesn't know about. And she never, ever uses her cell phone while driving. Not only does she dislike talking on the phone almost as much as I do, but she is an adherent of the "hang up and drive" school. Little makes her angry, but one thing that does is people who are trying to drive with one hand glued to their ear. Albuquerque drivers are scary at the best of times; with cell phones going they're people we have no desire to be around.

I looked over at her as we crossed Tramway and entered Tijeras Canyon. Once again the name Nefertiti came to my mind. Though that ancient Egyptian queen had fuller lips and a longer neck, and lighter skin and a longer nose, than Cecelia does, her face had the same wedge shaped profile. My wife, with her thin lips and flat nose, isn't Nefertiti's twin, but the resemblance strikes me all the time.