“Get back from the edge,” Sawyer said, heart chugging at the thought of her falling into the cavern. “Those boards could give any minute.”
“Did you saya body?” Mia asked, ignoring him.
“Yes, a body,” he said in a more heated tone. “Now get back from the edge, before you give me a heart attack.” He tugged the rope. “I’m ready to come up.”
The tension on the rope tightened, and Sawyer’s harness dug into his waist and thighs as he began climbing up the rocks, out of the cavern. When he reached the top, he swung one leg over and rolled across the floor to where the pulley system was set upon the more solid boards near the door.
Before he had a chance to stand up, Mia was kneeling beside him, her hand on his shoulder. “You okay?”
He nodded, grateful for her calming touch. He’d seen his share of dead bodies, but it never got any easier. “I’m fine, but we should call the police. The bones looked old so I doubt the murder happened recently, but we can’t know for sure. Desert insects can pick a skeleton clean pretty quickly.”
Mia’s hand came to cover her mouth, muffling her voice. “I can’t believe this. I wonder who it could be?”
“There was that Wallace girl who went missing,” Bubba said, leaning down to unhook the rope from Sawyer’s harness. “She disappeared a few years before we graduated high school.”
“Judging by the size of the skeleton and what’s left of the clothing, I think it’s a man’s body.” Sawyer came to his feet, and began unbuckling himself from the harness. “I can’t be sure, but I think he was stabbed before he was pushed into the cavern. There’s a knife still wedged between his ribs.”
Mia shook her head. “I can’t think of any men who’ve disappeared, but my uncle will know. Uncle Ned’s been the chief of police since I was a little girl. I’ll call him, and see what he wants us to do.”
While Mia stepped out to the street to place a call to her uncle, Sawyer and Bubba dismantled the pulley system, fitting it back into Sawyer’s equipment case. They were quiet, the upbeat mood that had followed them as they’d inspected the rest of the town evaporating in this haunted space.
Speaking of haunted, now that Sawyer knew there was a body hidden beneath the jailhouse floor, the ghostly touch he’d felt the other day took on new meaning.
“I don’t believe in ghosts,” he said, exiting the building with Bubba close behind him. “But that place makes my skin crawl.”
Bubba grunted. “Glad to hear it. I was afraid it was just me. I didn’t want to admit I was about to wet my pants, and lose manly points.”
Sawyer smiled, but his grin vanished as Mia ended her call and crossed to meet them at the base of the stairs. “What’s up?”
“Ned’s going to be out here with a team in the next half hour,” Mia said. “He said he’ll need us to give a report. I told him we could leave your pulley system for them to use to get down to the body. Is that okay?”
Sawyer nodded. “Of course. It won’t take ten minutes to set it back up. And I’m happy to stay and help haul people up and down.”
Mia sighed and a smile flickered briefly across her lips before vanishing. “Thank you so much. I’m so sorry about this.”
“It’s not your fault,” Sawyer said. “I doubt it’s the fault of anyone who’s still alive. The Old West wasn’t a gentle place. People met bad ends every day.”
Mia shook her head. “But not here. From everything I’ve read in Amelia’s journals, Lonesome Point was a haven from that kind of thing. I mean, it was still rough, and far from perfect, but Amelia and her friends maintained order. People who would do something like this weren’t welcome in town, and they never stayed long.”
Sawyer nodded, squinting into the sunlight streaming from behind the butte. “I’d be interested in taking a look at those journals, if I could. Sometimes old journals and letters can help fill in the blanks during a restoration.”
“Of course.” Mia crossed her arms as her loose tee shirt threatened to blow up in the wind. In a tee shirt and battered jean shorts, she looked every bit as sexy as she had the other night in her tight jeans and silky shirt. He’d been looking forward to being alone with her tonight all day, but now, he didn’t know if she’d be up for keeping their date.
“Gram had them scanned into a digital file a few years ago,” Mia continued. “I can get everything to you on a flash drive when we meet up tonight.”
Their eyes met, and Sawyer smiled, the knowledge that they were still on for later enough to lift his spirits, even at a time like this. He couldn’t wait to put this unexpected darkness behind them and spend the night with Mia. He’d had a good time with her and Bubba as they toured the property—she told the hell out of a story, and the banter between the two old friends had been fun to witness—but he was ready to be alone with her.
Their talk last night at the bar had only made him more intrigued. He loved that Mia had a strong hold on what she believed to be right and wrong, but was also capable of compassion, even when she didn’t know the entire story. Holding her hand last night had been…intense in a way he hadn’t expected. The rush of feeling he’d experienced as he looked into her soft brown eyes should have been a warning to keep his distance, but he didn’t want to stay away. He wanted to get closer, as close as two people could get.
Even now, meeting her gaze in the harsh sunlight only moments after finding a murder victim, Sawyer’s breath still came faster and the air between them felt thick with possibilities.
“I think I hear sirens,” Bubba said, heading toward the gate. “I’ll let Ned in.”
Sawyer turned, straining his ears, but heard nothing but the wind whipping through the gaps in the wooden planks of the old saloon.
“He’s giving us space,” Mia said, coming to stand beside him. “Bubba’s into you.”
Sawyer glanced down at her, lifting a questioning brow.