She's My Kind of Rain (Sue Thomas FBEye)

Chapter Four

Jack had left an obvious trail, making sure every intersection was marked properly. When the tunnels began irradiating light, Storm stopped and disembarked from her bike.

"From here, we walk," she told him. "We're entering the caves, the unstable part of the mine."

Flashlight in hand, he followed her.

As the walls became more luminous, he ran his hand over the smooth surface. "Those look like natural formations. They should be more solid than the manmade tunnels, shouldn't they?"

"They compromised the structural integrity of the caves when they dug up an artificial reservoir on the surface."

He lifted his head. "You mean there's a body of water on top of us?"

"Yes." she smirked. "Is that a problem?"

A problem? He was about to verbally dismiss his unease when he noticed the water trickling down. "No, but could we hurry—just in case?"

Her quiet laughter did nothing to appease the dreadful feeling sitting in the pit of his stomach. They reached an archway. Pausing, he gasped in wonder at the glowing cave opening in front of him.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she whispered melodiously.

"Yes." This was worth risking a cave-in. "Have you ever tried painting this scene?"

Her eyes grew misty as she gazed dreamily at Mother Nature's artwork. "Yes...in pastel. I...I'd hung the picture over the fireplace."

"Maybe one day you'll—"

She shook her head, erasing the memory. "No," she said with finality. "Come."

They advanced, the sound of their steps drowned out by the waterfall. Her elbow poking his backside turned his attention away from the steamy water pooling at the bottom of the falls toward the sidewall.

"Clothes," she pointed.

Hung from stony protrusions, they found a pair of wet jeans, cotton pants and a blouse.

"I'm pretty sure those were their clothes." She scanned the cave. "They—Myles?"

He followed her horrified gaze. Near the pool, rocks had fallen from the ceiling and behind them he saw entangled bare legs.

He rushed to their rescue, only to stare in disbelief at the blond woman wrapped in Jack's arms, with her head resting on his shoulder. Jack's chest rose with every breath he took, disturbing the grains of sand covering his body. The same residue coated Sue's skin. It was almost like the couple had frolicked on the floor of the cave all wet from—

He chased the images popping in his mind.

"Yeah, it sure looks like they survived a terrible ordeal," Storm chuckled. "I'll be waiting under the archway."

Myles rolled his eyes, wondering how long it would take him to forget that their sweet Sue wore very sexy white undergarments or that Jack favored striped jersey boxers.

"Jack," he called, tapping his team leader's free shoulder.

Jack's eyelids fluttered. "Myles?"

"I'm a figment of your imagination, Jack," he said, his voice carrying across the cave. "I will come to your rescue in ten minutes and will make lots of noise." His gaze traveled to Sue. "Make sure you're...decent."

With this last advice, he left to join Storm.

"Sue didn't see us," Myles told the visibly amused woman. "We didn't go inside that cave, got it?"