Closer: Bay City Paranormal Investigation, Book 4

forced him to look at her. A crease formed between her eyes. “Sam, what happened?”
Irritated, Sam pulled away. “He didn’t hit me. It was just… I mean, we…um…”
He didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t sound crude. Evidently his blush gave him away, though.
David snorted. “They just had a little rough sex, Cecile. Stop fussing.”
It was uncomfortably close to what Bo had said earlier. To his horror, Sam felt tears prick his eyes. He blinked until it went away and forced a smile. “I’d rather not discuss my sex life right now, if it’s all right with you. Tell me about the investigation tonight. Did you find anything?”
Cecile gave him a sharp look, but let it drop. “I got some video of the woman some people have seen in the courtyard.”
“And I caught something else on thermal,” Dean added, wandering in at that moment with a bag of cables in his hand. Andre trailed behind him, a canvas bag in each hand. “Not sure what it was. It moved so fast I couldn’t really tell. Maybe we can figure it out when we go over the evidence.”
“Sounds like you had a productive night.” Sam looked at Andre. “What about the portals? Did you and Cecile sense anything?”
Andre shook his head. “The EMF and the general energy of the place seem more unstable than they did the first night we went there, but they were unchanged from the past two nights. We didn’t sense anything that felt like a portal, or even a potential one.”
Sam let out a breath, the tension draining from his body. “God, that’s a relief.”
“It sure is.” Yawning, Andre turned and shuffled toward the door. “C’mon, let’s finish unloading. I’m beat.”
“Coming.” Cecile squeezed Sam’s hand, then jumped up and followed Andre and David out the door.
Dean set his bag on the floor and walked over to sit beside Sam, his eyes full of concern. “You okay?”
“Bo and I had another fight. He was acting really irrational there at the end.” Sam probed the cut on his lip with his tongue. “I’m going beyond worried into seriously alarmed here. I have no idea what to do.”
Dean’s brow furrowed. “What did he say?”
“He told me that if he was in any danger, it was because of me. Because my psychokinesis can open the portals. And he said…” Sam trailed off, not wanting to admit some of the things Bo had said and how ashamed they had made him feel. “He said a lot of things. Some of it didn’t make much sense.”
Dean pursed his lips. “Hm. Okay, I was gonna say something this morning, but I didn’t because it just seemed so crazy to think Bo would do this. But after what you just told me…”
“What?” Sam prodded when Dean fell silent, frowning and chewing his lip. “Come on, you’re scaring me.”
Dean gave him an apprehensive look. “All right. Please don’t get mad at me for saying this, but does Bo… Well, does he take any kind of medication?”
“Not for months now, no. They stopped the antibiotics only a couple of weeks after he was bitten, and he hasn’t needed the pain pills since before Sunset Lodge. I don’t see—” Suddenly Sam did see. His eyes went wide. “No, that can’t be it. I’d know if he were still taking prescription drugs for pain.”
“Maybe, maybe not. Lots of people pop ’em like candy without anyone ever suspecting, even the people closest to them. In any case, it’s a possibility we can’t afford to ignore. The blanking-out spells, the mood swings, the irrationality? Acting in ways that just aren’t normal for him? Those are all signs of substance abuse. And prescription narcotics are some of the most commonly abused substances there are.” Taking Sam’s hand between both of his, Dean gave it a gentle squeeze. “I don’t want to believe it either. Hopefully I’m wrong. But I think we should consider that that’s what might be going on here. Addiction does funny things to a person, and it can happen to anyone.”
Before Sam could think of anything else to say, the front door opened and Andre, David and Cecile came in carrying the last of the equipment. Dean glanced at them. “We’ll talk later,” he whispered. Patting Sam’s hand, he stood and went over to talk to Andre.
Sam smiled and said good night to the group through a haze of shock and fear. Could Dean be right? Could Bo really be hooked on the narcotics Sam thought he’d taken the last of months ago? The possibility shook Sam to the core.
But he’s never acted this way before now, Sam’s