What Hides Inside: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 2

later.”
“Good idea.” Cecile smiled as she turned onto the Cottage Hill Road traffic. “So. You were saying that we’re pretty sure there’s a gateway in the tunnel.”
“Yes. And if that’s the case, the rumors of things hiding in the tunnels would be more or less accurate.”
“True.”
“So here’s an interesting thought.” Twisting in his seat, Sam stared at Cecile’s profile. “Why weren’t there any stories before now?”
Cecile glanced at him, brow creased in thought. “That’s a good question. Oleander House had a history going back over a hundred years, even though it was intermittent. This school has nothing like that, or at least it sounds like it doesn’t. The students would know if it did, I’d think.”
“David and Dean haven’t mentioned any similar stories turning up in their research,” Sam mused, rubbing his chin. “We can ask them when we all get back to the office.”
Cecile was silent for a moment, a pensive expression on her face as she guided the SUV through the afternoon traffic. “What I’m wondering is, what does it mean?”
A theory had been forming in Sam’s head. A profoundly disturbing one. He almost hated to voice it. But keeping it to himself wouldn’t make it any less true.
“I think,” he said reluctantly, “that the gateway is being controlled somehow.”
“Controlled?” Cecile shot a wide-eyed look at him. “By who?”
Sam had force the words out. “By something from the other side.”
The way Cecile’s hands tightened on the steering wheel spoke volumes. She didn’t have to speak for Sam to know she thought he was right.
They drove the short distance to the next student’s residence in silence. Pulling up in front of a two-story brick apartment building, Cecile parked the SUV and shut off the engine. “This is the only other student whose parents would let her talk to us. Her name’s Karen Redmond. Apparently she was dating Patrick Callahan, the first boy who disappeared.”
“Maybe she saw something.” Sam opened the door and hopped out, frowning as he and Cecile walked to the front door of the building. “I hope she didn’t, though.”
The sadness in Cecile’s eyes told Sam she knew exactly what he meant. He hated to think of a teenage girl having to watch her boyfriend being dragged off by a creature like they’d faced at Oleander House.
In the building’s small, dingy lobby, Cecile found the correct buzzer and pushed the button. After a moment, a man’s voice answered, flat and tinny through the intercom. “Yeah? Who is it?”
“Cecile Langlois and Sam Raintree, from Bay City Paranormal Investigations,” Cecile answered. “I spoke to you on the phone this morning, you said we could come by and talk to Karen.”
A short silence followed. “Okay, come on up. Second floor, turn right from the top of the stairs. We’re in 23B.”
“Thank you.” Letting go of the intercom button, Cecile took a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s go.”
They tramped up the stairs, found the apartment and knocked on the door. It was answered a matter of seconds later by a tall, thin man with a graying beard. He held a hand out.
“I’m Gene, Karen’s dad. Nice to meet you both. Come on in.”
“Thank you for letting us come over today, Gene.” Cecile returned their host’s smile. “I know it’s an imposition, this close to the holiday.”
“Not really. It’s just Karen and me, since her mom died last year. You’re not interrupting any plans.” Gene’s smile faded, sorrow clouding his face. “She’s had a hard time of it. First losing her mother, then her boyfriend going missing. He’s a good kid. I hope they find him.”
Sam didn’t know what to say. He shoved his hands in his pockets, wishing he wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable in the face of other people’s raw emotions.
To his relief, Cecile took control of the situation. “Gene, is Karen ready to talk to us?”
Gene nodded. “Sure. Y’all sit down, I’ll get her.”
Sam sat beside Cecile on a worn flowered sofa. Looking out the window behind the couch, he saw a large courtyard with a basketball court and a small rectangular pool. Dead leaves littered the top of the blue plastic pool cover. Two toddlers chased each other across the thin grass, shrieking with laughter. A young woman sat on a bench nearby, reading a book and glancing up every few seconds at the playing children.
It was a sweetly domestic scene, in spite of the general shabbiness of the place. It saddened Sam to