Closer: Bay City Paranormal Investigation, Book 4

“Thanks for letting us stay here. I know we’re getting in the way of your vacation, but damn, it’ll be good not to have to drive back and forth between here and Mobile every night.”
“It’s no problem.” Bo shot a warning glance— entirely unnecessary, Sam thought—in Sam’s direction before letting go of Andre to hug Cecile Langlois. “There’s absolutely no reason not to share this place with y’all, it’s huge.”
“I can’t believe I gave y’all my week here, and ended up staying here anyway. Must be karma or something.” Grinning, Dean Delapore bounded up, flung himself at Sam and Bo and kissed them each on the cheek. “So. Y’all been having fun? You disturbing the neighbors every night?”
“Come on, the nearest neighbors have to be a quarter mile away,” Bo protested, squirming out of Dean’s grip with a laugh.
“So, what you’re saying is, you’re really loud, huh?” David Broom slapped Sam’s back as he strolled toward the back of the SUV to help Andre get the equipment. “Nice hickey, Sam.”
“He’s lying,” Bo muttered, grabbing Sam’s hand before it could fly up to his neck. “You don’t have any marks there .”
Sam blushed, thinking of the giant purple bruise Bo had left on his inner thigh that morning.
Cecile hooked a hand through Sam’s elbow and smiled up at him. “I know you probably weren’t happy about this. Thank you for letting us stay.”
Like I had a choice.
Sam shoved the uncharitable thought aside. He knew having the team stay here was the best option, and he knew his friends felt bad already about interrupting his and Bo’s vacation. He didn’t want to make them feel worse, when they were just doing their job. Just doing what the boss said.
“No problem.” Sam patted her hand. “I can’t wait to hear about the new case.”
She gave him a stern look as they went to help unload the SUV. “You do know that you and Bo aren’t supposed to be working on this one, right?”
“I know. Believe me, I know. But that doesn’t mean we don’t want to hear about it.” Glancing at Bo, who was deep in conversation with Andre, Sam leaned closer to Cecile. “Besides, you know as well as I do that Bo won’t be able to resist. If he’s in, I’m in.”
Cecile didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. They both knew Sam was right.
Between the six of them, they got all the luggage and equipment unloaded and stowed in the house within a few minutes. Once everyone got settled into their rooms—all on the first floor, Sam was pleased to note—the whole group converged on the back porch in the gathering dusk. Sam lit a couple of citronella candles to provide some light and keep away the mosquitoes.
“Okay,” Bo said, claiming the chair between Sam and Andre. “Tell us all about this case.”
“It’s pretty simple, really.” Leaning forward, Andre grabbed a handful of chips from the big bowl Bo had put in the middle of the round patio table. “Joanne Biggers is the current manager of Fort Medina. She called us the other day asking if we could investigate the fort’s ghosts.”
“The place has been haunted forever,” Dean chimed in, taking a swig from his bottle of Corona. “It was built in the late sixteen hundreds, and it’s been collecting ghost stories ever since. I remember going on a field trip there in eighth grade. It’s a cool place. Really creepy.”
“So it’s just regular ghosts?” Sam asked. “Not…anything else?”
Not portals. Please. He figured it wasn’t a portal case, or Bo would’ve already said something, but he had to ask. Just to put his mind at ease.
“No portals,” David answered, blunt as always. “Just your garden-variety spooks.”
“Mostly residuals, from the sound of it.” Andre popped the last of his chips into his mouth, chewed and swallowed. “Although a couple of the reported sightings sound more like apparitions. Hopefully we’ll find out soon enough.”
Beneath the table, Bo’s hand crept onto Sam’s thigh and gave a gentle squeeze. Sam laid his hand over Bo’s, grateful for that reassuring touch. Bo knew how much Sam dreaded the time when another interdimensional portal case would come along. Sam’s dreams were still haunted by visions of Bo’s near death after the creature from the other side bit him at South Bay High.
Cecile shifted in her seat, tucking one slender leg beneath her long gauze skirt. “We’re meeting Joanne at the ticket office tomorrow night at nine o’clock. The