What Hides Inside: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 2

laughed and hugged him. “Thanks, Sam.”
“Why is it,” David called from somewhere behind them, “that everyone’s always hitting on my girl? Even the gay guy, for Christ’s sake.”
“It’s a secret woman-power,” Cecile answered dryly. “What are you guys doing here? Shouldn’t you be investigating the North leg of the tunnel?”
“Yeah, well, we’re done.” David glanced at Andre, who looked tense and shaken. “We didn’t find anything as far as EMF or seeing anything, but Andre had one of his feelings. Y’all weren’t back at the stairs yet, so we figured we’d come find you.”
Cecile trembled against Sam’s side, her arm tightening around his waist. “Sam and I felt something too. What did you experience, Andre?”
The big man pressed his lips together for a moment before answering. He seemed almost angry. “It was kind of like Oleander House, but not as strong. Just a feeling of some sort of intelligence nearby.”
Sam and Cecile glanced at each other. “That’s exactly what Cecile and I felt. Only I had to concentrate and put effort into picking it up this time, rather than it just hitting me out of the blue.”
“Like it was more focused this time. More controlled.” Andre’s brown eyes burned with the light of discovery. “Y’all, we need to go more in-depth here. Set up cameras, do some concentrated research. And frankly, I’d like to open up these side tunnels and check ’em out. What I felt seems to have its origin in there.”
“I agree.” Bo twirled the end of his braid, his expression thoughtful. “I have no idea if we’ll be allowed to open the side tunnels, but we can try. I’ll speak with Mr. Innes while y’all set up the cameras.”
“Find out if he’s got the names of students we can talk to,” Sam added. “We need to find out what, if anything, the students have seen down here.”
“Are we staying here in the tunnels for the rest of the day?” Dean asked. The idea didn’t seem to make him nervous. Probably because he’d been here before, Sam figured.
“No,” Bo said after a moment’s thought. “I think we need to film the tunnels without our presence disturbing things. We’ll take shifts guarding the door.”
“I’ll go get us all some lunch,” David offered.
Andre chuckled. “That’s smooth, man.”
David widened his eyes in an utterly ineffective attempt at looking innocent. “What’re you talking about?”
“Getting out of first shift guard duty.” Letting go of Sam, Cecile slipped her arms around her boyfriend’s neck and kissed him. “Don’t worry, dear, you’ll get your turn.”
“I’ll take the first shift,” Sam volunteered. “I don’t mind.”
Dean flashed a flirtatious grin. “Want some company?”
Sam’s mouth went dry. He was saved from having to answer by Bo.
“I’ll take the first shift with Sam. I have some things I need to discuss with him anyway.” Bo’s voice was firm. “Okay, here’s the plan. We’ll go get the equipment, and I’ll talk to Mr. Innes while y’all set everything up. David and whoever wants to go help him can grab lunch and we’ll all eat, then Sam and I will pull guard duty for a while. Say we run the cameras until midnight, that’ll be about twelve hours, and there’s six of us, so that’s four hour shifts. So Sam and I will stay until four, then Cecile and Andre until eight, then David and Dean until midnight. Sound good?”
Everyone nodded, though no one looked particularly enthusiastic.
“Great,” Bo said. “Anyone who’s not on guard duty is free to leave or stay, whatever you want to do. We’ll all keep our cell phones and radios on, just in case.”
“Gotcha.” David kissed Cecile’s forehead, then drew away and put his video camera in his bag. “Let’s get out of here, it’s fucking hot.”
“You got that right.” Switching off his EMF detector and thermometer, Andre started down the hall toward the steps.
The rest of the group followed. Dean, Cecile and David had their heads together, all talking at once. Bo lagged behind, and Sam found himself slowing his own pace to match.
“I hope you don’t mind me taking watch with you,” Bo murmured. “I really do want to talk to you.”
“Of course I don’t mind.” Sam glanced at Bo, who was looking straight ahead as they walked. “Why do I get the feeling it’s not about work?”
“Because you know me so well it’s scary.”
They traveled the remainder of the tunnel and up the stairs in silence. As their