Twilight: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 3

glare at Sam, Bo and Dean as the two officers rounded the corner of the cabin next door.
Sam stared after her, shocked. “Oh shit. Did she really see it? Did she see that thing kill…whoever it was we found in the rhododendron thicket?”
“It seems so.” Bo tugged at his braid with his free hand. “If she did, then she’s the only one who really knows what happened. I wish we could talk to her. I’d love to know precisely what she witnessed. Maybe if we knew that, we could figure out whether Harry was truly the focus for the portal to open.”
“Yeah, too bad she’d rather fillet you than talk to you.” Easing the sweatshirt away from Sam’s wound, Dean inspected it with a keen eye. “I think the bleeding’s about stopped. It’s a clean cut, no ragged edges and not too horribly deep, so hopefully you won’t need stitches. We will have to take you to the ER and get it washed out good so it won’t get infected, though.”
Sam grimaced. “That sounds painful.”
“Can be. But they’ll give you some pain meds first.” Dean replaced the sweatshirt over the cut and squashed Sam’s hand between his once more. “Let’s get inside. I have a small first-aid kit with me, I can at least fix you up with a clean pressure dressing before we head down the mountain.”
Gritting his teeth against the pain in his hand, Sam nodded. “Okay. I want to change clothes, too. These are all wet now.”
Flanked by Bo on one side and Dean on the other, Sam let them lead him back into the cabin. He couldn’t help glancing behind him as he walked through the door. Awful as the experience with Anne had been, he wished he could have just ten minutes alone with her. Ten minutes to learn the things she knew about the day Harry Norton had died.
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. With a humorless smile at having his mother’s favorite bit of wisdom pop into his head, Sam walked into the cabin.
    When the three of them arrived at Lex and Carl’s office twenty minutes later, they were greeted by both detectives and a uniformed officer. Lex and Carl sat side by side at the desk, looking shell-shocked.
    Parsons rose from her chair as Sam, Bo and Dean entered. “Are you ready to go?”
    Bo nodded. “We are, yes. The sooner the better. We need to get Sam to the hospital and get his hand taken care of.”
    “Of course.” Parsons gestured to her partner. “Ramirez and Officer Chambers will accompany you down the trail. Chambers and the others who arrived last night came up on horseback, you’re welcome to take what horses you need for the trip.”
    “We’ll need at least two,” Dean said. “One for Sam, and one for Bo. Neither one of them should really be hiking that far right now.”
    Ramirez frowned. “Did Anne cut both of you?” “No, just me,” Sam answered. “But Bo’s leg’s still recovering from an injury he got a couple of months ago, and it’s been bothering him a lot since we got up here.”
Bo wrinkled his nose, but didn’t argue. Moving to the other side of the desk, he held out a hand to Lex. “Thank you both for having us up here to investigate your place. I have your email and cell numbers, I’ll let you know if we find out anything else about…” He darted a swift, cautious glance at the detectives. “About the haunting.”
Lex gave a wan smile as she shook Bo’s hand. “Thank you, Bo. All of you. I’m so sorry about what happened with Anne.”
“It could have been much worse. At least she’s caught now.” Letting go of Lex’s hand, Bo turned to shake Carl’s. “We’ll be in touch.”
Carl’s expression was solemn as he shook Bo’s hand. “Thanks. We’ll look forward to hearing from you.”
After Sam and Dean said their farewells, the BCPI team followed Ramirez and Officer Chambers outside and down the steps to the path. They trudged down a side path to the small barn used for the horses, which bore supplies and occasional visitors to Sunset Lodge. Inside, it was dark and relatively warm. The odors of horses, leather and manure permeated the air. An officer was already there, checking tack and inspecting the horses’ hooves. She looked up as they entered the building.
“Saddle two, please. We have two injured to get down the mountain.” Ramirez walked over to stroke one big animal’s nose. “Hey, girl. Yeah. Who’s a pretty girl? You’re a pretty girl, yes you are.”
Dean’s eyebrows shot up, but he wisely kept quiet. Covering his mouth with one hand, Bo coughed in