An Inner Darkness Book 5 Bay City paranormal

upstairs. Adrian’s in the family room, reading. He’s kind of nervous about this.”
    Cecile made a sympathetic noise. “Poor thing, I know this must be scary for him.”
“I’m sure. That’s why at least one of us will be with him at all times.” Bo set his bag on the floor. “Come on, Sam. We’ll go talk to him and make sure he’s okay with everything.”
    Dropping his bag of extension cords and batteries, Sam followed Bo into the family room. Adrian lay curled on the sofa, reading Mrs. Frisbee and the Rats of NIMH. Sam smiled. He’d loved that book himself when he was Adrian’s age.
    The boy set his book aside and sat up when his father and Sam entered. “Hi.”
“Hi, son.” Bo settled beside Adrian and gave him a quick hug. “How have things been the last couple of days?”
“Not so bad.” Adrian shot Sam a shy half-smile. “I think the stuff Sam showed me helped.”
    Pleased, Sam grinned back. “I’m glad, Adrian.” Bo gave Sam a grateful look before turning back to his son. “Okay, I talked to you before about why we wanted to do this, and what we hoped to accomplish. Do you have any questions? Anything you’re worried about?” www.samhainpublishing.com 97
    Ally Blue
Adrian chewed on his lower lip for a moment. “Is someone going to stay with me in my room?”
    “Absolutely. Only Sam and I are staying overnight, and since Sam has the same abilities we believe you do we thought it would be best for him to camp out in your room.”
    “Okay.” Adrian glanced from his father to Sam and back again. “What about you?
Where are you staying?”
    “I thought I could stay right here in the family room, on the sofa. I can set up the laptop in here and monitor the cameras remotely.” Bo brushed Adrian’s bangs out of his eyes. “Is that plan all right with you? We both want you to be comfortable with what we’re doing, so if you have different ideas please let us know.” Adrian stared at his lap. “Can you both stay with me? I mean, I know Sam has to stay because he knows about all this weird stuff that happens to me, but I want you with me too. Is that okay?”
    The concern on Bo’s face melted into an expression of such tenderness it nearly brought Sam to tears. He felt a wave of fierce gratitude toward Adrian for making Bo so happy.

    “Of course that’s okay,” Bo answered, his voice shaking just a little. “We can put the laptop in the hallway outside your room and take turns monitoring it. You won’t have to be alone at all.”

    Adrian’s relief was clear in his eyes. He nodded. “So what happens now? Can I help with investigating?”

    Bo darted a questioning look in Sam’s direction. Sam shrugged. Personally, he thought it might be good for the boy to be involved in the work, but the final decision was Bo’s.

    “I don’t see why not.” Bo pushed to his feet. “Come on, we’ll show you the equipment we’re going to use and how to work it, and you can help Sam and me take video and EMF readings in your room.”
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An Inner Darkness
Adrian’s face lit up. “Cool.” He jumped up from the sofa to follow his dad into the hall. “I want to do the EMF, can I?”
    Laughing, Bo rested an arm across Adrian’s shoulders. “Sure.” Sam trailed behind them, smiling. Adrian hung on his father’s every word, his face the picture of rapt attention as Bo explained how to perform an EMF sweep. It was good to see the boy so excited about something. After all the upheaval in his life lately, he deserved to feel in control of something for a change.
    They found the rest of the group clustered around the dining room table, sorting and distributing equipment. David glanced up and grinned as they walked in. “Hey, guys.

    Have we gained a new investigator?”

    “Yes.” Bo patted Adrian’s back. “Adrian is going to help Sam and me do the initial sweep of his room and decide where to set up the recording equipment there.”
    “Very cool.” Jogging around the table to where Bo and Adrian stood, David held out his hand. “Good to have you on board, Adrian.” The boy took David’s hand and shook. “Thanks.” Sam grinned at Adrian’s red cheeks and somewhat embarrassed smile. “We need a video camera and EMF detector for the sweep, are they all set?”
    “Just about.” Dean switched on one of the EMF detectors and studied the display.
Nodding, he handed it across the table to Sam. “Here. Fully charged and ready to go.”
“And