What Hides Inside: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 2

hug. She hugged him back and gave him a wan smile.
They didn’t mention it again during their exploration of the tunnel. Sam felt a mixture of relief and dismay knowing Cecile shared his impressions of the school. He tried not to think of what could happen if South Bay High turned out to be a true dimensional gateway.
I won’t let it happen again, he promised himself. Never again.
He hoped it was a promise he could keep.
    Half an hour later, the group stood on the steps in front of the school, a pile of equipment at their feet. Sam squinted against the brightness, trying not to get distracted by the way Bo’s ebony braid gleamed in the sunlight.
    “All right,” Bo said. “Here’s the plan. David, Dean and Andre, take the left-hand side of the tunnel. Sam, you and Cecile will come with me down the right-hand side. One person mans the video camera, one does EMF and temp readings, the other takes notes and carries the recorder for EVPs. Andre, Cecile and Sam, all three of you keep your psychic senses open and record any and all impressions. Got it?”
    The group answered with a chorus of yeses and nods. Mr. Innes looked puzzled. “Would you mind explaining those terms to me? I’m not familiar with them.”
    “EMF is electromagnetic field,” Andre answered. “The EMF often spikes during paranormal activity, though spikes can be caused by other things too so you have to be careful how you interpret it. EVP stands for electronic voice phenomena. That’s when you get voices or other unexplainable sounds on tape, stuff you didn’t hear at the time.”
    The principal’s eyebrows went up. “Do you get these findings often?”
    Bo shook his head. “No. We do frequently pick up sounds on the recorder that we are able to explain away later, or things that we actually heard at the time of recording, but it’s not usual to get true EVPs.”
    “And we should be able to determine which EMF spikes are caused by electrical equipment and stuff, now that we know where the fuse boxes and things are,” Sam added.
    “Hm. I see.” Mr. Innes gave them a tight smile. “Well. Madam, gentlemen, I will be in my office. Please take as much time as you need.”
    “Oh, hey, wait a sec.” David dug through his backpack and pulled out an extra walkie-talkie. He turned it on and handed it to Mr. Innes. “Take this. That way, we can call you if for some reason we’re trapped in the tunnels.”
    The principal frowned as he took the radio. “Surely you don’t expect such a thing to happen.”
“Nope, but it pays to be careful.” Hefting his backpack, David swung open the front door and grinned over his shoulder at the rest of them. “Well? What are y’all waiting for, an engraved invitation?”
Hoisting his own pack onto his shoulder, Sam followed the others inside. Mr. Innes parted ways with them at his office, and the BCPI group continued down the hall to the tunnel entrance.
Bo stopped as they reached the little alcove. “Okay, everyone, check your radios. We’re on channel two.”
Sam flipped his on and glanced at the display. He had the correct channel and a full battery bar. “I’m good.”
“Me too,” David answered. Andre, Dean and Cecile echoed him.
“All right.” Bo turned to look at Sam. “Do we have extra batteries?”
Sam nodded. “I’ve got several in my bag.”
“So do I,” Andre said, peering into his leather satchel.
“Good.” Drawing a deep breath, Bo grinned. “Okay, let’s get busy.”
Getting a firm grip on the handle, David hauled the heavy door open. It was surprisingly quiet, swinging against the wall with only a slight squeal. The students must keep the hinges oiled, so no one can hear them sneaking in here. The thought made Sam chuckle.
Bo led the way down the steps, the rest of the team trooping single file behind him. Sam brought up the rear, with Dean right in front of him. It disturbed Sam immensely that he couldn’t seem to stop staring at the strip of creamy skin showing between the man’s lowslung jeans and snug sweater.
It’s just physical, he told himself. It doesn’t mean anything, except you desperately need a good fuck.
The tension in Sam’s shoulders relaxed somewhat when they reached the bottom of the steps and Dean moved away to talk to David. Sam didn’t like the attraction he felt for the newest member of the BCPI team. Even though he had no intention of acting on it, his body’s reaction still seemed like a betrayal of his feelings for Bo.
Setting his