Closer: Bay City Paranormal Investigation, Book 4

very much didn’t want to know.
Chapter Five
    The remainder of the night passed without further incident. They wandered the fort separately from the rest of the team, Bo filming while Sam watched him. After the first few minutes, Sam kept his psychic senses partially open, hoping to catch any changes if Bo should have another episode.
    A couple of times, Sam saw Bo freeze and stiffen for a moment. Sam let his mind fully open to whatever might be there at those moments, even though Bo never mentioned any more visions. The fort’s energy pulsed and shifted to the extent that Sam couldn’t be entirely sure what he did and didn’t feel, but he never sensed anything alarming, and after a while he began to relax a bit.
    Not that he was letting it go. He didn’t feel safe brushing the issue aside, considering BCPI’s experience with the portals and how little they truly knew about the phenomenon. Later, when they were alone, he planned to pin Bo down and have a serious talk. Now, however, wasn’t the time. He’d learned the hard way that pushing Bo about such a subject in the middle of an investigation caused more problems than it solved.
    The group assembled at the entry arch at two a.m. and went to work taking down the cameras and putting away the equipment. They worked silently, all anxious to finish and get back to the house.
    Sam yawned as he slung the bag full of extension cords into the back of the SUV. “Damn, I’m beat. I hate investigating at night.”
    “You said it, brother.” David hefted two bulky camera cases into the vehicle. “That’s the last of it. Where’s Andre and Bo? I need to get in bed in the next ten minutes or I’m gonna collapse and sleep wherever I fall down.”
    “I think they’re talking to Joanne.” Sam stepped back and slammed the tailgate shut. He turned around just in time to see Bo and Andre exit the ticket office, followed by a middle-aged woman in a calico dress. “Never mind, here they come.”
    Bo, Andre and Joanne walked up as Cecile and Dean joined Sam and David at the back of the SUV. “Hey, Joanne,” Dean said. “Thanks for letting us use that table.”
    “Sure thing.” She smiled, crinkling the corners of her eyes. “It’s in the office, so y’all can use it any time you want.”
    “That’s very good of you, thank you.” Andre stuck his hand out. “Same time tomorrow night?”
She took his hand and shook it. “That’ll be fine. See you then.”
The group called goodbyes as she hurried to her battered old blue Subaru, got in and cranked the engine. She drove away, waving out the open window.
“Are we ready to go?” Cecile yawned and leaned against David’s shoulder. “I’m worn out.”
Andre nodded. “We’re ready.”
Sam pulled up the middle seat so Cecile and David could crawl into the rear, then locked it back into place and climbed into the middle seat beside Bo. “So, did y’all experience anything interesting?”
“I’ll say.” David leaned forward, folding his arms on the back of Sam’s seat as Andre pulled out of the parking lot. “We saw a mist form in one of the bunkers. I got it on video, and Cecile asked some questions to see if we could catch some EVPs. It was the same bunker where you got that thermal, Dean. May have been the same dude.”
“Cool.” Twisting around, Dean peered over the back of his seat at David. “Get this, y’all, I caught footage of the headless soldier.”
“Oh man, awesome!” David held his hand up over Sam’s shoulder, and Dean reached over to high-five him. “We didn’t see anything there.”
“Yeah, well, I hope the video comes out okay. I saw it pretty well, but it’s probably a residual, and you know how those are. They don’t always show up well on video.”
“We’ll see, I guess.” Andre glanced over his shoulder, a crease between his brows. “Sam and Cecile, did either of you feel a…” He paused, clearly searching for the right word. “A change in the energy of the fort? Nothing spectacular, just a very brief blip before it went back to normal?”
“I did, yes,” Cecile answered, her tone thoughtful. “Twice. Well, maybe three, I’m not sure. The psychic energy here is very strong, and it seemed to fluctuate a lot tonight, so it’s difficult to tell, really.”
The hairs stood up along Sam’s arms. “When did y’all feel this?”
“I don’t remember.” A car pulled out of a nearby drive behind them, its headlight illuminating Andre’s frown in the rearview