An Inner Darkness Book 5 Bay City paranormal

have a more mundane cause than paranormal phenomena.”
    “Meaning old houses creak a lot and tend to have noisy plumbing.” David set the camera case he was carrying on the floor and turned to Bo. “So. Where do we start, boss-man?”
    “Before we do anything else we need to tour the house and see the spots which are the most active paranormally speaking. Andre and I can do that while the rest of you unload the equipment and set up the computer.” Bo looked over at Lee and Janine, who stood side by side at the bottom of the staircase. “Is that all right with y’all?” 38
    www.samhainpublishing.com
An Inner Darkness
    Lee nodded. “That’s fine. Janine and I can show you the house and point out all the places where we’ve experienced strange things.” Janine crossed her arms. “Well, since I haven’t experienced any of these so-called phenomena myself, I can’t very well show you anything. I think I’ll just stay here and keep an eye on things while you show them around, Lee.” The cold glare Janine leveled at Sam told him he was in for another of her venomous tirades the moment they were alone. He suppressed a sigh. At least the kids weren’t around to witness any of it this time.
    Before Sam could decide what—if anything—to say, Bo moved to his side. “I think you should come with Lee, Andre and me,” Bo told his ex-wife, a clear warning in his voice. “You might not have seen anything yourself, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have any information we can use.”
    Janine’s eyes narrowed. Sam cut her off before she could start the fight she obviously wanted. “It’s okay, Bo. We’ll be fine.” Bo turned to meet Sam’s gaze. Seeing the question in Bo’s eyes, Sam gave him a nod and a faint smile. He wasn’t looking forward to whatever Janine had to say, but he’d deal with it. If he kept his cool and refused to rise to her bait, maybe they could even agree on a truce or something. God knew he was sick of fighting with her.
    To Sam’s surprise, Bo took his hand, pulled him close and planted a light kiss on his lips. It was swift and chaste, but it was a bold move considering that Bo had never kissed Sam in front of Janine before. Sam wondered why he was doing it now, of all times. Facing Janine, Bo pinned her with a hard stare. “I want you to listen to me,” he said, each word clipped and careful. “We are all here tonight in a professional capacity, and that includes Sam. Whatever your personal feelings might be, you need to put them aside and let us do our job.”
    Janine sneered. “I never wanted you here in the first place.”
“But I did, and this is my house as much as it is yours.” Lee slipped an arm around her shoulders. “Just…be nice, okay? For me. Please.” www.samhainpublishing.com 39
    Ally Blue

    Janine’s cheeks went red. She glared up at Lee. For a second, Sam thought she was going to chew Lee out. Then her expression softened. “Don’t worry, honey. Go give Bo and Andre the grand tour.”

    “Thank you, sweetheart.” Smiling, Lee kissed the top of her head. “Okay. Bo, Andre, why don’t we start upstairs? The boys’ rooms seem to be the most active spots.”

    “All right.” Bo squeezed Sam’s hand before letting go. “Andre, could you bring your video camera, just in case? I’ll take notes.” Andre patted the camera bag slung over his shoulder. “I’m on it.”

    “Great, thanks.” Bo plucked a small spiral notebook and pen from his back pocket.
    “Let’s get going. The rest of you set up what you can, but wait on the cameras until Andre and I get back. We’ll let you know the best spots for those.” Sam watched Bo and Andre trudge up the stairs behind Lee. He wished he could go with them. No matter what implied promises she’d given Lee, Sam didn’t trust Janine to keep the peace.
    As if in response to his thought, she stalked over to him and leaned close, hands clasped behind her back. “I see you can’t stop staring at Bo. Not terribly professional, Sam. Do you always think about sex when you’re supposed to be working?” Sam shut his eyes. God, he was sick to death of her digs. Why couldn’t she just leave him alone? Especially now, when she and Lee seemed to be happy together.
    Struck by a sudden inspiration, Sam opened his eyes and met Janine’s angry glare.
“Why do we have to be enemies, Janine?”
Her eyes went wide. “Are you kidding?”
    “No, I’m not.” Sam glanced around the room. David and Cecile had