Page 25 of Solid as Steele
He squatted, and his thighs screamed in pain. “Another set of footprints. Looks like boots. Big size. Male.”
“Agreed.” Mackenzie bent and took pictures. “And a unique pattern.”
He looked at her. “You’re thinking we might be able to match it to someone’s boots.”
She stowed her phone. “If we can find a solid suspect, yes, but otherwise, no. Most of the guys around here wear boots of some kind, and it would be like playing Cinderella to find the person who made these prints.”
The sight of Mackenzie sitting in a chair and all the men of the area coming forward to show her their boots came to mind. He chuckled silently as he stood and continued along the base of the outcropping.
A blackbird swooped into a rock crevice, drawing his attention to the dusty bottom of a small winding creek. The curving indentation was several feet deep and dotted with rocks worn smooth from years of the creek flowing over them. It looked like someone had taken bags of rocks and tossed them in a random pattern when coursing water had laid them there.
“Looks like a dried-up creek bed,” she said from behind him.
He looked back at her. “I wonder how long it’s been dry.”
She joined him. “I don’t know the area well, but we’ve had some pretty dry years lately and maybe it’s been this way for a while.”
He started up the creek and wound around the outcropping of jagged rocks.
He came to a stop. Flashed a hand in the air. Tried not to gag and empty his stomach. “Stop. Don’t come around here.”
His heart thumped. Raced. But he stood strong to block Mackenzie from seeing the horrific sight.
Had this been what he’d seen to cause his memory loss? The sight before him was shocking enough to take his memory and more.
Mackenzie appreciated Owen trying to protect her. She really did. Found it endearing even. But she was a strong woman and could handle seeing whatever he’d discovered. Even if it did make his face go white.
She pushed past him. Wished she hadn’t. Came to a stop.
“Oh. Oh my.” She turned away.
“That’s why I told you not to come back here.”
“But I’m too stubborn.” Her stomach roiled. She was glad for two things. They hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, and the sun only inched above the horizon, so the horrific sight in front of her wasn’t completely visible. But in moments, the sun would beat down on the creek bed.
Still, what she’d seen was burned in her brain for all eternity.
She looked at Owen. “It’s a woman, right?”
“The clothing would suggest that.”
“Seems like the body was submerged in the creek until the water dried up to reveal her skeleton.” Mackenzie held his gaze. “I’d heard with all the drought in the west lately that’s happened with some lakes. Water receding and revealing bodies, I mean.”
“Sounds plausible.”
“And do you think this is what you were trying to forget?”
“Seems possible.” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his tan throat. “Wish I could forget it now.”
“We need to call the authorities.”
He nodded and frowned. Dark panic consumed his expression.
“Means you’ll be fingerprinted.” No point in dodging his worries. Better to confront it head on. “Maybe even be asked for a DNA sample.”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
