Read Twilight: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 3 for Free Online

of schedule, which
makes it difficult to hire people. Most of our employees
are young people with no spouse or children. Harry
was—is—our oldest worker, in both senses of the word.
He just turned fifty last month.”
Sam and Bo glanced at each other as they
descended the steps side by side. Lex’s words and the
grief on her face made it clear that she wanted to believe
Harry was still alive, but felt in her heart he wasn’t. “I guess that’s all of our stuff,” Bo said, slinging
his backpack into the back of the SUV beside Sam’s. He turned to Andre, David and Cecile, who stood shoulder to shoulder at the bottom of the verandah steps. “Good luck with the rest of the investigation here. Y’all know what to do. And be sure to call us on the manager’s
radio if there’s an emergency.”
David nodded. “Will do, boss-man.”
Hurrying forward, Cecile hugged first Dean, then
Bo and finally Sam. “Be careful, okay?”
“We will, don’t worry.” Sam patted her back,
kissed the top of her head and let her go. “See y’all in
four days.”
“You have the directions to the trailhead, don’t
you, Andre?” Bo asked as he opened the front passenger
side door of the SUV and climbed in.
Andre patted his back pocket. “Right here. I’ll be
there at four o’clock on Thursday.”
“Okay.” Bo smiled at the three remaining at the
Inn. “Bye. Y’all be good.”
Dean pulled open the back door of the SUV and
climbed in. Sam slid in beside him, closed the door and
rolled down the window. “Bye, guys,” he called as Lex
hopped behind the wheel and began steering the vehicle
down the narrow cobblestone drive. “See you soon!” All three called goodbye, and Cecile blew them a
kiss. Dean leaned over Sam to wave out the window at
them. When they rounded a corner of the drive and lost
sight of their friends, Dean settled back into his seat and
buckled his seat belt. Sam rolled up the window, cutting
off the flow of chilly air from outside.
“Looks like that winter weather you predicted is on
the way, Lex.” Dean tilted his head to frown at the sky.
“You think we’ll make it up the mountain before it
hits?”
“Hopefully, but there’s no guarantee.” Lex steered
the SUV onto the winding, tree-lined road running past
the Kimberley Inn. “The trails can be difficult to
negotiate when it’s snowy or icy, but we’re not
supposed to get any of that until tomorrow sometime.
The storm might even miss us altogether. It’s coming up
from the south, heading northeast, so we might or might
not see any accumulation to amount to anything.” “I brought my waterproof hiking boots,” Dean
cheerfully informed them.
“We all did. Our whole team actually drove up
here a day early so we could do some hiking, so we all
had boots with us.” Twisting in his seat, Bo gave Sam a
questioning look. “You remembered to wear yours,
right?”
Amused, Sam held up a boot-clad foot. Bo had the
good grace to blush. He’d been plastered against Sam’s back, mouth latched onto his neck, while Sam was attempting to lace the boots in question that morning.
Sam had a tender red bruise there to prove it.
As Bo turned around again and started asking Lex
questions about Sunset Lodge, Dean nudged Sam’s arm.
Sam looked over at him, eyebrows raised. Darting his
gaze from Sam to Bo and back again, Dean grinned and
waggled his eyebrows. Sam bit the insides of his cheeks.
Dean always managed to make him laugh, no matter
how scared, worried or angry he was. He needed to
laugh right now, and he suspected Dean knew that quite
well.
Thanks, Sam mouthed.
Dean nodded and patted his thigh. Relaxing into
the leather seat, Sam turned his attention to Lex. It took just over an hour to reach the small parking
lot at the Birch Gap trailhead. By that time, Lex had
filled them in on the history of Sunset Lodge and they’d
begun to discuss sleeping arrangements.
“We’ve had several cancellations, but they’re not
all for the same days,” Lex explained as