What Hides Inside: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 2

sound rude,” Bo said, brows drawing together, “but I’m not sure we’re the right people to help you. It seems more a matter for the police. It may take a while, but I’m sure they’ll find out something eventually. There’s always evidence to be found, somewhere. People don’t just disappear without a trace.”
Except when they do. Sam darted a pointed look at Bo, and saw the man’s eyes widen a little as he remembered what Sam just had. Josephine Royce, who’d vanished off the face of the earth after the death of her lover, Lily. Vanished, most likely, into the same world from which Lily’s killer had come. Almost twenty-five years later, her whereabouts remained a mystery.
Not again. Not another Oleander House. The thought formed a hard knot of dread in Sam’s guts. They’d been hired to investigate several suspected cases of dimensional gateways since word of the events at Oleander House got out, but so far all had ended up having more mundane explanations. Sam breathed a frantic prayer to whoever or whatever might be listening that this was another such case.
Mr. Innes shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I know it seems like a strange request. And to be perfectly frank, I agree with you. I don’t expect you to find anything out of the ordinary at my school.”
“But?” Bo prodded when Mr. Innes hesitated.
“But,” the principal continued, “the students are terrified. Not that I blame them, but their fear is misdirected.”
“And how can we help you fix that?” Sam asked, trying not to sound as on edge as he felt.
The man glanced at him with a frown. “Wild rumors have been circulating at South Bay. Rumors of…things, creatures, living in the tunnels beneath the school. The students are saying that these beings are taking unwary students in between classes and dragging them into the tunnels.”
Bo’s eyebrows shot up. “Tunnels?”
“Yes. South Bay was built in 1901, and was originally a monastery. The tunnels started out as simple cellars, built to store food and wine. The monastery was converted into a school in 1922, after the monks left. In the 1950s, the tunnels were expanded and designated as bomb shelters. They were sealed up in 1977, when their use by students for drugs and romantic trysts and such became a problem. They’ve been closed ever since.”
Bo’s expression gave nothing of his thoughts away, even to Sam’s practiced eye. “Did the police search the tunnels for the missing students?”
Mr. Innes nodded. “The seals on the one remaining accessible door had been broken somehow, and there was evidence of student use. Condoms, beer cans, things like that. There was no sign of the missing students, however, or of what may have happened to them. There was evidence that the place is infested by unusually large rats, but that isn’t terribly surprising.”
“So what you’d like us to do,” Bo clarified, “is to investigate the school, specifically the tunnels, in order to put your students’ minds at ease by proving to them that there are no supernatural beings hiding there and abducting people.”
“Exactly. Your company has quite a stellar reputation in this town, after the case you solved in Mississippi. If you say that nothing unnatural is happening at South Bay my students will listen to you.” Mr. Innes smiled, relief written into every line on his face. “You can start immediately. As you know, Chief Modesky has ordered the school to close, but only long enough for her to put protective measures in place. We are planning to reopen South Bay as usual after the Thanksgiving holidays. That gives you more than a week to perform the investigation. Will that be enough time?”
Bo licked his lips, which had the effect of tightening Sam’s jeans. As casually as he could, Sam crossed his legs, hoping Bo wouldn’t notice the flush he felt creeping into his cheeks. Why did Bo’s every unconscious movement have to affect him this way? Especially since their relationship seemed to have no future. Sam blinked away the sudden stinging behind his eyelids and forced himself to focus on business.
“What if we do find evidence of paranormal activity?” Bo asked.
“You won’t.” Mr. Innes seemed absolutely confident.
“Most likely not,” Bo agreed. “But before we consent to investigate your school, I need to know that you’ll take our findings seriously, no matter what they are. We’re professional scientific investigators, and we never declare a place