Oleander House: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 1

good. He had to remind himself that it didn’t mean anything. Just two guys having a laugh.
    The outdoor kitchen, a long, low brick building with massive chimneys on each end, was dim inside and wonderfully cool. Grimy windows broke the sunlight into a soft haze that failed to illuminate more than a few feet of the earth floor. Here and there, broken panes let in a single ray of fierce molten gold, all the brighter for the otherwise unrelieved gloom.
    Sam switched on his flashlight and swept the beam around the room. Dust and cobwebs lay thick on every surface. In the far corner, something squeaked and scuttled across the floor.
    “Mice,” Bo said, unnecessarily, as he turned the EMF detector on.
Switching the flashlight to his left hand, Sam thumbed on the video camera and started the tape rolling. “Why’s it such a mess in here? Didn’t Mr. Gentry open the outbuildings for tours?”
“No. He had plans to at some point, but as you can see, they’d need a lot of work before it would be safe to let the public in. He hadn’t gotten that far yet when he had to close the house.”
“Hm.” Sam panned around the room, stopping when Bo’s face came into frame. “What’re you getting on the EMF?”
“It’s a little lower than it is in the house. I’ve got one point two right now, pretty steady.” Bo glanced at the thermometer he held in his other hand. “Temp’s seventy-two degrees.”
“And that’s nice and cool compared to outside. Damn.”
“Yep. It’s probably pushing a hundred out there.” Bo started walking slowly around the perimeter of the room, his gaze fixed on the EMF detector. “Are you feeling anything, Sam?”
Nothing you want to know about . Sam licked his dry lips and tried not to stare at Bo’s ass. “Not like last night. I assume that’s what you meant.”
Bo glanced at Sam, the corners of his mouth curling up in a slight smile. His eyes flicked down and back up, glittering in the gloom, and suddenly Sam couldn’t breathe. If he’d gotten that look in a bar, he’d have turned on the charm and bought the man a drink.
He squashed the bright flare of hope before it could burn out of control. It’s your imagination, idiot, he scolded himself. This isn’t a pick-up joint, and Bo isn’t gay.
“Hm. That’s odd,” Bo said.
Sam swallowed and forced himself to focus. Bo was walking in a small, slow circle, frowning at the EMF detector. “What’s odd?”
For a moment, Bo didn’t answer. Then he sighed and looked up. “The EMF spiked for just a second. But it’s gone back down now. Did you get anything on the camera?”
“No. And before you ask, I didn’t feel anything unusual either.”
Bo grinned. “You’re already reading my mind, Sam. That’s scary.”
Sam laughed. “I’ve been working on my psychic powers.”
“Oh, really?” Bo took a step closer, smiling into the camera. “So what am I thinking now?”
Sam gulped, keeping the camera up to hide his reaction. If he didn’t know better, he’d have sworn Bo was flirting with him. But that, he knew, was impossible. Maybe that’s just how he is with everyone . You don’t know him at all, really. Don’t start reading into things.
“Let’s see,” Sam said, lowering the camera and hoping Bo couldn’t see him blushing in the dimness. “You’re thinking that we should note exactly where the EMF spike occurred, and after we finish sweeping the room, we should see if we can make it spike again. Then, we should search this room and the surrounding area outside to see if there’s anything electronic that could’ve caused it. That right?”
Bo smiled. “Close enough. Let’s get to work.”
    Investigating the old kitchen took much longer than Sam had thought it would. Every square inch had to be thoroughly documented with EMF, thermometer and videotape. Bo explained that electromagnetic fields generally fluctuated to some extent, even within a small area. Readings needed to be taken of the entire space, so they would have an average reading against which to measure any spikes.
    Sam found himself fascinated by the whole thing. It was far more complicated and involved than he’d realized, and he loved it. Even though nothing happened after the single spike in EMF, he wasn’t disappointed. It was enough to be a part of the investigation, to know that whatever the outcome was, he’d played an important part in it.
    He could even tell himself, with some degree of confidence in its truth, that being with Bo had