She stepped a little closer to the desk. A little closer to him. And he came a little closer to rounding the desk, grabbing her and kissing her. Fortunately, he still had enough good sense to keep himself in check.

“It’s some research I dug up this afternoon,” Alex told him. “Something’s been in the back of my mind, nagging me relentlessly ever since those bones were first discovered. And I know I won’t rest until I find out whether there’s something to my idea or not.”

Her voice trailed off and she looked down at the papers, leaned forward and gave them a half-turn, stopped as if suddenly struck by a new thought, then just as suddenly looked Beck.

“I have an idea—it’s only a theory right now—that those bones may have belonged to a young Choctaw Indian couple who broke from their tribe while they were being relocated to Oklahoma during the Trail of Tears. I think they may have been on their way to the home of their ancestor’s when they met their unlucky fate.” As an extra bit of information, she added, “Many of the earliest Choctaws settled in Mississippi and Louisiana along the Pearl River.”

“Interesting,” he said aloud, as he moved from behind the desk, all the while thinking nothing was as interesting as the woman standing so close to him the hairs on his arms stood on end.