Oleander House: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 1

chuckle killed the protest Sam was about to make. “You tell him he better behave, or else.”
Sam’s mouth went dry at the implications in that silky, sexy voice. He knew he was probably imagining it, but he couldn’t help himself. The very idea of Bo punishing him went straight to his crotch. His pulse sped up, pounding in his ears so that he didn’t even hear what Amy said, or if Bo said anything else.
“Oh. Oh, man, is it me or did it just get cold in here?” Andre rubbed his arms, dark gaze darting around the room.
Amy snatched her notebook and pen out of her pocket. “Temp?”
Andre swallowed and glanced at the specially made digital thermometer. “Just dropped ten degrees, from seventy-five to sixty-five Fahrenheit.”
Amy nodded, scribbling furiously. “EMF?”
“Jumped a little. Four, up from two point seven.”
Sam swung the video camera in a slow arc, capturing looks of mingled fear and excitement that mirrored his own feelings. His heart raced and the hairs on his arms stood up as a sense of something utterly alien tingled over his skin.
Amy stuck the notebook back in her pocket and held up the camera. “Sam, let’s get a couple of simultaneous shots with Polaroid and thirty-five mm, okay?”
Andre held out a hand. Sam passed the video camera to him and switched on the Polaroid. “Ready.”
“Right there beside the rocker, that seems to be the center of the cold spot. On my mark. Three. Two. One. Now.”
Lights flashed. Sam blinked, trying to clear the black spots from his vision. He didn’t like the way they swarmed around, as if they had a life of their own. The back of his neck twitched. He had to force himself to stay calm.
“Andre?” Amy’s voice was sharp and worried. “Baby, you okay?”
Sam turned to stare at Andre. His deep brown skin had taken on an ashen hue and his hands shook. An electric charge ran up Sam’s spine as Andre’s eyes met his. The expression on Andre’s face said he’d felt the same sense of alien presence that Sam had. Then as suddenly as it had appeared, the feeling of a sinister something nearby evaporated. Sam let out a shaky breath.
“Um. Yeah, I’m fine.” Andre wiped a dew of sweat from his upper lip. “Just got a little creeped out, I guess. Sorry.”
Amy gave him a skeptical look. Andre smiled at her, kissed her forehead and started methodically circling the room. “No change in EMF readings. Temp’s come back up.”
Sam took the camera back from Andre and resumed filming, but his mind wasn’t on the video anymore. All he could think of was that strange sense of something undefinable waiting to make itself known. For one white-hot second, it had been almost close enough to touch. The thought twisted his guts with equal parts dread and curiosity. He couldn’t help thinking that this week might turn out to be much more interesting than any of them had ever imagined.
Chapter Three
    They trooped down the stairs in a huddle, all talking at once. Except Sam. He used his filming duties as an excuse to hang back and think. What he’d felt in the nursery had shaken him. The thing he’d sensed, whatever it might be, was no simple spirit. Of that, Sam was absolutely certain. He made up his mind to talk to Andre alone as soon as he could, find out if Andre had felt that sense of menace as strongly as he had.
    Bo, David and Cecile all looked up when Amy’s group entered the library. Sam switched off the camera as Bo jumped up from his perch on the couch.
“Something happened.” Bo’s dark eyes blazed. “Yes,” Amy said. “We had a temperature drop, and
    I think Andre sensed something.”
    A roomful of eyes locked onto Andre, who shot a fearful glance at Sam. “I don’t know about that. I just got a little spooked, is all. It was nothing.”
    Sam kept quiet. Andre clearly didn’t want to admit what he’d felt to the others, and Sam was oddly reluctant to tell the others what he’d sensed.
    Amy rounded on Andre with a fierce frown. But before she could say anything, Cecile spoke up.
“Well, maybe you didn’t feel anything, but I certainly did. I sensed a presence in the old servants’ quarters.”
“Yeah.” David leaned toward Cecile. “What was it, Cecile? Something about a horny soul?”
“A lonely soul,” Cecile snapped. She glared at David, then turned her back on his teasing grin. “A lost and lonely soul inhabits that room. I felt that perhaps it’s the ghost of a young woman, who committed suicide after her husband died