Twilight: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 3

gray sky. Snowflakes pelted his face, their icy sting melting into liquid cold in the heat of his skin. The trees, the ground and the roofs of the cabins were all covered in white. The snow was falling so fast Sam couldn’t see more than twenty feet or so. At this rate, he figured, they’d definitely have eight inches by that night.
So will I. Sam snickered. Dean was a bad influence.
He hadn’t gone more than a few steps when he saw Anne and Darren standing beside the cabin next door. Both were eyeing him with a wary sort of look. The happy afterglow of kissing Bo faded away, leaving Sam feeling cold inside. Forcing his feet to move, he walked up to them with a smile. He and Dean were charged with interviewing the staff about the sightings. Now was as good a time as any to start.
“Hi,” he said. “Do y’all have a few minutes to talk?”
They glanced at each other. “Um, sure,” Darren answered, sounding anything but. “Common room okay?”
“That’s great, actually. Dean’s already up there, he and I wanted to ask you guys about the sightings out in the woods.” Sam turned to Anne. “What about it, Anne? Can you talk?”
“Not right now. I have things to do.” Her voice was distinctly cool, and she wouldn’t meet Sam’s eyes. “See you later, Darren.”
“Yeah, see you.” Darren gave Sam a nervous smile. “Let’s get inside.”
Sam nodded. He watched Anne’s tense back as she hurried toward the staff quarters. Instinct told him she and Darren had seen him and Bo kissing, and both of them now knew the true nature of his and Bo’s relationship.
Having Anne of all people know about him and Bo gave Sam a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Lex and Carl won’t hold it against us, he reminded himself. They hired Sandra knowing she was a lesbian, why would it make any difference to them that Bo and I are together?
Sam wished he felt more reassured than he did. Vowing to break it to Bo before Anne could confront him—or prod Lex or Carl into it—Sam followed Darren toward the common room.
Chapter Eight
    The uncomfortable looks Darren kept darting at Sam from the corner of his eye cemented Sam’s certainty that he and Bo had been seen. To his relief, Darren didn’t mention it. Sam’s gut told him Darren wouldn’t say anything to anyone else either. If only Anne could keep it to herself, they’d have nothing to worry about.
    You don’t have anything to worry about anyway, he told himself as he and Darren climbed the steps to the office and common room. There aren’t any guests here, and Lex and Carl aren’t the sort to kick us off the job for something like this.
    He dismissed the little voice in the back of his head warning him that Anne was a wild card, and he and Bo should be careful. The worst she could do was tell the others here at Sunset Lodge, and no harm could come of that. Not really.
    When they entered the common room, Dean wasn’t there. Sam frowned. “Wonder where Dean went? He was supposed to wait here.”
    “He may have gone down to the staff quarters with Anne.” Darren gave Sam a cautious smile. “They’ve been flirting back and forth like crazy.”
    “Yeah, I noticed.” Relieved that Darren seemed to have regained his normal comfort level with him, Sam crossed the room and sat in one of the chairs beside the window. He motioned Darren to join him. “Hopefully, Dean’s asking her about the sightings instead of trying to get in her pants.”
    Darren let out a startled laugh. “So what is it you’d like to know?” he asked, settling in the chair beside Sam’s.
    “Have you seen the creature some of the guests claim to have seen?”
Grimacing, Darren nodded. “Yes, I did. Once.”
Sam turned in his chair and leaned forward. “Tell me what you saw, if you don’t mind.”
“It was the day after Harry went missing. I’d walked up to Sunset Rock to watch the sunset. Hoping I’d run into Harry, I have to admit, even though we all kind of figured even then that he wasn’t coming back.” Darren sighed, his dark eyes filling with sadness. “Anyway, I started back a little ahead of the crowd. When I drew even with that big boulder, I caught a movement on the edge of my vision. I turned to look, and I thought I saw something like a black shadow move off into the woods. It moved incredibly fast. I thought it was my imagination, until two guests saw it the next evening.”
“So you saw it at twilight, just like the other people did.”
“Yes.”
“Has