Oleander House: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 1

griefroughened voice. David stood a few feet away, eyes red and swollen, Cecile’s hand clutched in his.
Officer Titus shot him a stern look. “So you already said. I’m questioning Sam right now.”
Cecile gazed at Sam with something like pity in her eyes. “It wasn’t Sam’s fault,” she said softly. “We just found out. We weren’t even sure he was a focus until just now, when this happened.”
Titus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Ma’am, I’ve already heard this once, I don’t need to hear it again. We’re all going downtown in a little while to take your official statements, you can explain what the fuck you’re talking about to the detective when we get there. Okay?”
Cecile nodded absently, her gaze never leaving Sam’s. He turned away, unable to face her sympathy when he knew that he’d killed Amy as surely as if he’d cut her open himself.
“All right,” Titus said, pushing to his feet and glancing at Sherry. “Go on and take him to the ER.” He pointed a thick finger at Sam. “Soon as they release you, call the police station in Gautier. Ask for Detective Paulson. She’ll want you to come in and give your statement.”
Sam nodded. At that moment, Andre let out a gutwrenching wail. Sam raised up on one elbow, needing to see. Two other paramedics were pushing a plasticcovered stretcher out the door. Sam didn’t need to be told what the shape under the plastic was. Bo knelt on the floor beside Andre, holding him and stroking his back while he cried.
The sound of Andre’s grief hit Sam like a sledgehammer. He rolled onto his side, away from the heartbreaking sight, and let the tears come. Sherry and another paramedic helped him onto a gurney and wheeled him out the front door to load him into the ambulance. He gazed up at the star-sprinkled sky, watching the red lights flash and trying to forget the sound of Amy’s screams.
    Twelve hours later, Sam walked out of the Gautier police station with Detective Paulson’s cell and pager numbers on a business card in his back pocket. He crossed his arms and stared morosely at the concrete beneath his feet. In a few minutes, an officer would come and take him to the hotel where he and the rest of the group had been ordered to stay until the investigation into Amy’s death was finished.
    Sam sighed. Everything he owned in the world was still at Oleander House. The detective had promised to send officers to accompany all of them to the house today to collect their things, but at the moment he had nothing but the clothes on his back. He felt dirty and depressed and more exhausted than he’d ever been.
    The automatic door whooshed open behind him and footsteps shuffled to a halt on his left. He didn’t have to look up to know who it was. Bo had stayed at the station, waiting for him. He hunched his shoulders and scuffed the toe of his sneaker against the sidewalk.
    “No one blames you,” Bo told him softly. Sam smiled grimly at his feet. “Not even Andre?” Bo’s silence said it all. “He’s grieving right now,”
    Bo said after a moment, the faint tremor in his voice the only clue to his own grief. “Give him time. He knows inside that it wasn’t your fault.”
    Sam lifted his head to meet Bo’s haunted gaze. “You know as well as I do that Amy would not have died if I hadn’t pushed you like I did. If I hadn’t let my emotions get away from me.”
    They stared at each other for a long time, neither speaking. Bo looked away first. “I knew I wanted you from the second I saw you. If I’d just admitted to what I felt instead of trying to deny it, you wouldn’t have been so angry and frustrated, and that…that thing wouldn’t have had its gateway into our world.”
    Sam wanted badly to pull Bo into his arms, hold him and kiss his hair and let Bo’s warmth soak into him. But his guilt was too big for him to reach across. He took a slow, deep breath.
    “Maybe we’re both a little bit to blame,” Sam said quietly. “But in the end, I’m still the focus. I’m still the conduit it used to manifest itself. And I can’t put that responsibility on anyone else. Not when I knew what I was, and what could happen if I wasn’t careful.”
    A uniformed officer exited the building and motioned them to follow, stopping anything else Bo might’ve said. They trailed after him and climbed obediently into the back of the squad car. Sam gazed out the window during the short drive to the motel. The sky had clouded over.