Raiders of the Lost Heart(72)

“Ford?” a faint voice called out.

“Dr. Matthews? Dr. Mejía?” called another.

“Corrie? Ford?”

Their names were being called in the distance.

“That sounds like Ethan,” Ford said.

“And Sunny. And they’re getting closer.”

The possibility of getting caught was always there. Heck, Ethan had almost caught them the day before. But not like this. Not when completely naked with a hard-on that refused to go away. And not with one of Ford’s students there to see. And who knew? Maybe there were more of them searching for Corrie and Ford. Maybe the whole team would pop out of the jungle at any moment, catching Corrie in the exact kind of scandal that she’d so desperately fought to avoid.

Luckily, their things were well hidden under a tree where they’d enjoyed a shady respite from the sun. Unluckily, they couldn’t chance running toward it in time to get dressed. Ford and Corrie twirled through the water, each looking for an escape route. But with the voices getting closer, they had no time.

“I think I see something,” Corrie said, pulling on Ford’s arm and swimming toward the waterfall.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Look,” she said, staring into the cascade. “We can hide on the other side.”

Ford cocked back his head. “The other side? Corrie, have you lost all sense?”

“No. Check it out,” she said, before disappearing beneath the surface. He tried to reach for her hand, but he was too late.

Ford’s heart rate increased. With the churning falls, he couldn’t see below the surface. Not that the falls were massive by any stretch, but they still pounded the surface of the water with a steady thrum. Where was she? Where did she go?

Ford could swim, but he couldn’t swim that well. And he didn’t know CPR. Panic settled over him. How long had it been? Thirty seconds? A minute?

He lifted his hands to scream out her name, not worrying anymore about Ethan, Sunny, or anyone else who might be looking for them, when, suddenly, there she was, waving at him from the other side of the sheet of water. What the . . . ?

She signaled for him to follow her. This was a horrible idea. Sure, Corrie had made it under. But Corrie was a badass who could do pretty much anything.

Well, here goes nothing.

Ford took off his glasses, clutched them in his hand, took a deep breath, then prayed for his survival as he plunged beneath the falls. With the churning water, it was hard to see where he was going. Even harder without the aid of his glasses. He swam with his arms outstretched in front of him to avoid butting his head into a rock as the crashing falls beat against his skin. But the beating faded along with the deafening noise. Once he determined he was out of harm’s way, Ford slowly rose to the surface and found Corrie staring at him with a huge smile on her face.

“That was incredibly dangerous,” he said, putting his glasses back on, as if he could see any better with water-covered spectacles. “What if something had happened to one of us?”

She rolled her eyes. “Ford, you really need to live a little. We’re fine. It wasn’t even that bad. Now, come on . . . How awesome is this?” she asked, lifting her head and gazing at the cavernous space.

Ford closed his eyes and let out a huge sigh. Live a little. Tipping back his head with his face toward the ceiling of the cave, he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. Jagged, wet rock defined the space. Cold, damp. Yet beautiful.

“Wow . . .”

“Wow is right,” Corrie said, sidling up beside him as they stared into the dark space.

“How did we not notice this hours ago?” he asked, unable to stop his eyes roving over their backdrop.

“That waterfall. It’s like a curtain.”

The instant she said the word, Ford and Corrie snapped their gazes to each other. “？‘Nature’s curtain,’？” Ford said. “The real one.”

“Oh my God, Ford. This is it. This is Chimalli’s hiding place!”

It would make some sense, seeing as the cave they’d previously found hadn’t amounted to anything.

“Do you think it’s possible? I mean, to come through the water every time?”

“I don’t know . . . maybe. What’s up there?” she said, pointing to a crack in the rock.

“It’s too dark to see,” Ford said. Corrie started climbing onto the rock. “Corrie, wait. You won’t be able to see a thing up there. I know you want me to live a little, but I want you to live, too, and that’s a recipe for disaster.”

She sighed. “Fine. You’re right. I’ll be right back,” she said, swimming toward the waterfall.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ve got a waterproof flashlight in my bag. I’m going to get it. Wait here.”

And she disappeared again.

The cave felt colder and darker without her. As if that wasn’t the most appropriate metaphor. He shook his head. Way to come clean. But could she blame him? This clearly wasn’t any old cave. And it ticked all the boxes—nature’s curtain, close to the bowl, damp and hidden. And the other cave hadn’t led to a single artifact. They’d assumed it was simply because Chimalli must not have left anything in it. Which could still be the case. But with Corrie hot on the trail with this new potential discovery, Ford would be hard-pressed to resume their prior conversation anytime soon.