Read Oleander House: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 1 for Free Online Page B

his agreement. “It was pretty weird.”
Andre stroked his chin. “Hm. Maybe we ought to go ahead and set up the camera in there right now, get some video this afternoon?”
“Good idea,” Amy said. “As a matter of fact, Bo, maybe we should keep a camera running in there all the time. Between what happened last night and what you heard on the tape, I’d say we’ve got reason to believe that the nursery might be a particularly active part of this house. We don’t want to miss anything.”
“That’s true.” Bo bit his bottom lip in a way that caused a rush of heat through Sam’s groin. “Andre, you and David go on and set up the equipment in the nursery. Cecile, take stock of our supplies, make sure we’ve got tapes enough to keep the camera rolling twenty-four hours a day.” Cecile spluttered in protest. Bo ignored her and plowed on. “Each tape lasts six hours. Amy, you work out a schedule for changing the tapes.”
“What do you want me to do?” Sam asked when it became clear Bo was finished issuing instructions.
Bo gave him a warm smile that did nothing to reduce Sam’s already profound attraction to the man. “You can come help me make lunch.”
Amy’s sudden sharp frown made Sam feel vaguely uneasy, as if she could read his thoughts and found them distasteful. He wondered, as he had earlier, why she didn’t like Bo spending time with him. That she strongly disapproved, he didn’t doubt for a second, but the why of it eluded him. After all, he hadn’t told anyone he was gay, and he knew for a fact he hid it well.
Maybe not as well as you think, a quiet little voice whispered in his head. Maybe it’s all over your face, how much you want him.
Ignoring the voice and Amy’s frown and the warmth pulsing between his legs, Sam stood and smiled back at Bo. “I’d love to help cook. Tell me what to do, I’m all yours.”
“Okay, everybody, let’s get busy.” Bo flashed that dazzling smile again. “C’mon, Sam.”
Sam followed Bo toward the kitchen. Bo looked over his shoulder at him for a second, and Sam wondered if he imagined the banked fire in those dark eyes.
    One turkey-and-Swiss sandwich and a plate of pasta salad later, Sam and Bo gathered their equipment and headed out back to explore the old outdoor kitchen. The heat smacked Sam in the face like a damp, sticky hand the minute he left the relative coolness of the back porch. Insects droned in the pines that clustered behind the outbuildings.
    “Jesus, David wasn’t just kidding about it being hot out here.” Sam squinted up at the deep blue sky. The sun’s disc seemed to waver in the heat-shimmer. “Is it always like this down here?”
    “In the summer? Pretty much, yeah.” Bo gave him a sidelong smile. “The upside is that the winters are relatively mild most years.”
    “You mean there’s no snow?”
“Rarely.”
“Good. Fucking hate snow.”
Bo gave him a startled look, then burst out
    laughing. Sam laughed too. It felt good. He had to remind himself that it didn’t mean anything. Just two guys having a laugh.
    The outdoor kitchen, a long, low brick building with massive chimneys on each end, was dim inside and wonderfully cool. Grimy windows broke the sunlight into a soft haze that failed to illuminate more than a few feet of the earth floor. Here and there, broken panes let in a single ray of fierce molten gold, all the brighter for the otherwise unrelieved gloom.
    Sam switched on his flashlight and swept the beam around the room. Dust and cobwebs lay thick on every surface. In the far corner, something squeaked and scuttled across the floor.
    “Mice,” Bo said, unnecessarily, as he turned the EMF detector on.
Switching the flashlight to his left hand, Sam thumbed on the video camera and started the tape rolling. “Why’s it such a mess in here? Didn’t Mr. Gentry open the outbuildings for tours?”
“No. He had plans to at some point, but as you can see, they’d need a lot of work before it would be safe to let