What Hides Inside: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 2

impossible to miss. Sam stared hard at him, trying to read his face. That beautiful, heartbreakingly closed-off face, hiding an equally beautiful soul Sam had begun to realize he’d never be able to share. All the fight drained out of Sam in a rush that left him weak.
“I don’t want to date Dean. I want you.” Sam sighed and sank into the nearest chair. “I wish you’d try. I wish you’d give us a chance out in the open. But I can’t make you.”
“I’m sorry, Sam,” Bo said, his voice soft and shaky. “You’ll never know how much. But it’s better this way, and we both know it.”
Sam shook his head. “Maybe so. But I don’t have to like it.”
“No, I don’t guess you do.”
Silence fell. Sam stared at the floor, refusing to meet Bo’s gaze. After a long, tense moment, Bo turned and went into his office. The door closed quietly behind him. Dropping his head into his hands, Sam closed his eyes and breathed deep. When the urge to scream and cry and throw things went away, he moved back to his desk and started the video where he’d left off.
He may have lost Bo as a romantic partner, but Bo was still his boss, and he still had a job he loved. A professional relationship might not be the same, but it was better than nothing. Sam was determined to hang onto that.
Chapter Six
    Cecile returned twenty minutes later. With a mumbled thank-you, Sam took his burger and fries and handed her a five dollar bill, keeping his face turned away. She didn’t comment, but Sam knew she had to wonder what had happened. He was grateful when she put her headphones on and returned to the video she’d been watching before, nibbling chicken strips as the file played.
    Bo stayed in his office. Sam wasn’t surprised. At three o’clock, the front door banged open.
    Looking up, Sam saw David and Dean enter the office. They were talking excitedly, their voices stumbling over each other.
    Arching an amused eyebrow, Cecile paused her video and got up to greet David. “That must have been some trip to the library.”
    “You have no idea.” David swooped Cecile into his arms and gave her a resounding kiss. “Amazing the stuff you can find out if you dig a little.”
    “And we didn’t even have to dig all that hard.” Dean glanced around the room. “Where’s Bo and Andre? We want to tell y’all what we found out.”
    “Bo’s in his office.” Sam glanced at the closed door, his chest constricting. “Andre hasn’t come back yet.”
    “Oh.” Some of the light went out of Dean’s eyes. “I hope he’s okay. I feel really bad about this morning.”
    Letting go of David, Cecile took Dean’s hand and squeezed it. “Please don’t feel bad. He gets like that sometimes. He took Amy’s death pretty hard.”
    “Yeah, David told me what happened.” Dean glanced at Sam, and Sam knew instantly David had told him everything. The mingled sympathy and curiosity in Dean’s eyes made it crystal clear. “Y’all think maybe South Bay High is another dimensional gateway, don’t you?”
    “It’s possible, yes.”
    Sam hadn’t even heard Bo’s office door open. Turning toward Bo’s voice, Sam forced his face into a blank mask. He knew he wasn’t acting normal, he knew the others would notice, but it was the best he could do. If he tried to talk to Bo, he’d lose it completely.
    “We have no solid proof, of course.” Bo pushed away from the doorframe and walked into the main room. His eyes cut sideways for a second, giving Sam a look he couldn’t decipher. “But there are too many similarities to Oleander House for us to discount the possibility. Not that we ever had any real proof of Oleander House being a gateway either.”
    David plopped into a chair and put his feet up on his desk. “Well, the things we found out about South Bay wouldn’t count as proof, but I think they strengthen the circumstantial case.”
    “So stop teasing and tell us what you learned,” Sam demanded, congratulating himself when his voice didn’t quaver.
    “Okay.” Hurrying around behind Cecile’s desk, Dean sat next to Sam and leaned forward, his face lit with excitement. “Listen to this—”
    At that moment the front door opened. Andre sidled in, watching the huddled group warily. “Um. Hi. Sorry I’ve been gone so long, I, uh…I had things to do.”
    No one questioned this declaration, though Sam could tell he wasn’t the only one who wanted to. “Forget that,” David said, grinning. “You’re just in time to hear