This one was inspired by a lot of old television shows. :o)

Chapter 1

Stringfellow Hawke opened his eyes and looked around to see that he was lying alone in bed. He could hear the rain hitting the roof of the cabin and the thunder booming in the distance. He realized the thunder was the cause of his sudden awakening. He listened intently as he heard Caitlin shuffling around downstairs. He could smell the aroma of cinnamon drifting up to the bedroom.

"Caitlin, what are you doing?" he yelled to her from the loft. "It's early. Come back to bed."

"Just a minute," she yelled back. "I'll be right up."

String who had sat up when he first noticed Caitlin was gone laid his head back on the pillow and listened as she slowly crept back up the stairs. He rolled over on his side and stared at her as she reached the top of the stairs carrying a tray with cinnamon rolls and orange juice. She put the juice on the nightstand and carried the plate of rolls with her as she climbed back into bed.

"Breakfast in bed?" he asked. "This is new."

Caitlin smiled and snuggled up to String before handing him the plate. "It's an old tradition in my family," she said. "My mom always made cinnamon rolls on rainy weekends. The whole family would climb into bed together and just spend time talking and laughing."

String smiled at her. "Sounds like a great memory."

"It really is," she replied. "I was lucky to have such a close family. There are so many things I really want to share with you now that we're together."

String sat the plate down and reached over to pull her hair to the side. He began kissing her neck as she munched on a cinnamon roll. "I'd love that," he said. "But I have another rainy day tradition that I'd like to start too."

Caitlin turned to face him and shoved the rest of her cinnamon roll into his mouth. "As soon as you finish eating," she replied with a grin.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied laughing at the look she gave him.

A few moments later, String could hear the sound of a helicopter landing on the dock.

"Who would be here this time of morning in this rainy mess?" he asked.

Caitlin sighed. "I can only think of one person," she said.

"Michael!" they said in unison.

Caitlin threw on her robe and Hawke pulled on his sweatpants before they both headed downstairs.

Hawke barely made it to the front door before he heard the knock. He opened it quickly to see a drenched Michael standing there.

"Why in the world are you here on a day like this Michael?" asked String as he coaxed him into the cabin.

"Believe me," replied Michael. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't urgent," he said. "I've already talked to Saint John and he's on his way."

"Why? What's up?" asked Caitlin.

Michael handed Hawke a letter. "I received this letter this morning. It was written five days ago. Read it and you'll see the problem."

String read the letter and his concern grew quickly.

"What is it?" asked Caitlin.

"It's a letter from Doc," replied String. "Apparently he was investigating the death of a good friend who was in a mental hospital. He wrote the letter and sent it to Michael and me in case something went wrong."

"How would you know if something went wrong?" asked Caitlin.

Michael sighed. "He was supposed to contact us three days after writing the letter to inform us about it. If he didn't then we were to assume something had gone terribly wrong. I've gotten all the information you'll need on this hospital," he continued. "Apparently his friend was supposed to have committed suicide but Doc didn't believe it. The place is run by a Doctor Case. He's known for doing some controversial treatments with his patients. Doc seemed to think he might be the cause of her death and he went in as an intern to try and prove it."

"How can we help Michael?" asked Hawke.

"Luckily the place is going through several staff changes so adding new people in there will be easier," he replied. "Saint John has an interview Monday morning for an orderly position and Caitlin will go in as a new intern. Her position is already set."

Michael handed Caitlin a large packet. "This should be enough information to make you seem pretty knowledgeable. You'll have until Monday to study it all," he said.

"What about String?" she asked.

"Let me guess," he said. "I'm going in as a patient.

"Yes," replied Michael. "You'll go in as yourself. You'll be suffering from PTSD. I thought it would be the easiest case to make and wouldn't get you flagged as a fake so quickly."

"When do I go in?" he asked.

"We'll hold off on sending you in until Tuesday," he said. "I'll feel better having Caitlin and Saint John in place before you go in."

"I hope that we aren't too late to find Doc," said Caitlin. "That's a lot of time to wait."

"I know," replied Michael with a frown. "I wish we could do more, sooner but if we spook these people, we may never know what happened to him or his friend."