Oleander House: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 1

David, who grinned unrepentantly. “David, you and Cecile take the washhouse. Amy and Andre, you take the barn. Sam and I will stay here and get started on those tapes. Everybody keep your radios on channel two. I’ll leave one on in here as well, so if there’s an emergency Sam and I will hear you.”
Amy gave Bo a sharp look. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then stopped, frowning.
“Sam might as well go ahead and get some handson experience with tape review,” Bo said, as if in answer to an unspoken question in Amy’s eyes.
His answer didn’t seem to satisfy her, but she kept quiet. Sam glanced from one to the other, wondering what was going on.
Pushing up out of his chair, Andre held a hand down to Amy. “Come on, babe. Let’s get going before he changes his mind.”
Amy let Andre pull her to her feet. They gathered their equipment and went into the hall, headed for the outbuildings behind the house. As they left, Amy shot Bo a look heavy with things unsaid. David and Cecile were close behind, and in a few moments Sam and Bo were alone.
Sam wanted to ask what was going on with Amy, but something about the way Bo’s eyes sparked warned him off. Probably some private thing anyway, he told himself.
He cleared his throat. “Okay. So. Which tape you want me to take?”
“What about the nursery tape from overnight? Would that be okay with you? And I’ll take the one from the servants’ quarters. We’ll start on the others if we have time after that.”
“Sure, that’s fine.” Sam picked up the tape from the nursery and put it in the video camera, which was already hooked up to one of the portable televisions. “Remind me why we can’t just use digital?”
“Too easy to manipulate. Anyone with the right software and the skill can fake a very convincing ghost or other phenomenon on digital. Tape’s harder to fake things on. An expert can usually spot even the best fake on tape. We use regular thirty-five mm and Polaroid cameras for the same reason.”
“Makes sense.”
Sam started the tape rolling. The nursery flared to life on the screen, strange and unsettling in the faintly greenish glow of the night-vision filter. His hands trembled a little, remembering the night before. He jumped when a warm hand covered his, fingers curling around to brush his palm. He turned to meet Bo’s concerned gaze.
“You okay?” Bo asked, his voice soft. “You’re shaking.”
Those big, dark eyes were so close. Sam licked his lips. “Um. Yeah. I was just thinking of last night. It was…” Terrifying. Exhilarating. So close… “It was exciting.”
Bo nodded. His hand didn’t move. “What did you see?”
“I don’t… I mean, we didn’t really see anything.”
“Maybe not. But something happened that you’re not telling me.” Bo stopped the tape without looking, sharp gaze fixed on Sam’s face. “I’ve known Andre for years. He doesn’t rattle easily, but last night he was more shaken up than I’ve ever seen him. And I may not know you yet, but my gut tells me that whatever he experienced, you experienced the same thing. Am I right?”
Part of Sam still wanted to deny it, if only because Andre clearly didn’t want anyone to know. But Bo was his boss now. He figured he owed him the truth.
“Yeah,” Sam said finally. “At least, I know what I felt, and I think Andre felt the same thing, but I don’t know for sure because I haven’t had a chance to talk with him about it.”
“What was it?” Bo leaned forward, thick braid swinging over one shoulder. “Tell me.”
Sam wondered if Bo knew he was still holding Sam’s hand. “The temperature dropped, and then I had this sudden sense that there was something near. Something not friendly.”
“And you didn’t see anything?”
“Not a thing. For a second there, I really thought something was going to manifest. But it didn’t. The feeling went away just as suddenly as it appeared.”
“Andre felt the same thing?”
“I think so.”
Bo sat back, letting his fingers slide away from Sam’s as if he hadn’t noticed they’d ever been there. Sam wished he didn’t feel the loss quite so keenly.
“Why didn’t you want to tell us last night?” Bo asked after a moment. “You and Andre both.”
“I can’t speak for Andre, but I didn’t say anything because I didn’t quite know what to think of it. I just needed a little time to process it.” Sam stared at his lap, feeling guilty now. “I should’ve told you.