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“Yeah, we’d better get. I’m sure Dev is champing at the bit to do our day two catch-up before we get going again. After you,” he said and gestured towards the door.
I walked in front of him, putting a little extra swing in my hips for good measure.
I mean . . . why not?
CHAPTER10
~Paxton~
The woman would be the death of me. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. And working with her so closely lately wasn’t helping. The only thing that didn’t make me feel like a lecher was that I saw how she looked at me. There was definite interest there. I suspected that if I asked her out, she’d probably say yes. But that was the last thing we needed right now. At least during an investigation of this magnitude. Maybe after we’d wrapped things up at Lamour.
Maybe.
Sky and I parked in front of the house and made our way inside, seeing that things were buzzing. Like every day right before a shoot, prep was in full swing. We’d settle in in a bit to get the latest from everybody and go over shooting assignments, but at this point, it was all checking and double-checking equipment and batteries, re-evaluating camera positioning and cable connectivity, and other necessary but inane things. With a twenty-thousand-square-foot location, not to mention the area outside we’d set aside to investigate if we had time, it was a big task.
“Where do you want us?” I asked the room at large when we walked in. Dev looked up from what he’d been doing near the desk with Turner and smiled.
“Hey, guys,” he said. “How was the kitchen, Padre?”
“Crazy-busy,” I answered. “Thank goodness Sky saved me by bringing new clothes and offered to help for the last rush.”
“Good on you,” Hanlen said as she walked into the room, offering a fist for Sky to bump. “Everything’s set in the attic, babe,” she said to Dev. “You guys can check the camera output.”
I looked at Hanlen. “You put static cameras in the attic?”
“Yeah,” she said. “After what happened yesterday, we didn’t really want you guys up there without some extra eyes and ears.”
I nodded and saw Sky doing the same.
“So, I take it that’s where you want us?” Sky said.
“If you’re up for it.” Dev wrapped a cable around his hand and elbow, making a loop.
Sky looked at me, and I shrugged. “Why not?”
“Yeah, okay,” she said and went to check her gear.
I walked over to the table to see that they’d added another monitor that had a quad-box. It looked like they had a new camera in the attic, one more in the landing hallway between the second and third floors, and one outside focused on the big live oak in the yard.
“What monitoring devices do we get tonight?” I asked.
Van came over. “Dev wants to try out the JumpBox tonight. We figured you could take the Geoport, and Lark will use the Wonder Box. You guys should all get the same results as you did with the JumpBox since they all basically do the same thing, just with slightly different technologies. You just won’t get the visual output of the words.”
“Works for me,” I said. They were all great devices, but I loved using the new stuff that Lennie and Van came up with. They were always making the equipment we already loved better, and it was fun to see what they could come up with next. I hoped they found a way to make what they did even more profitable. I knew they were looking into a side endeavor on a nearby island. It’d be interesting to see if anything came of it.
The sun sank into the horizon, casting the mansion in shadows. It felt even more ominous tonight than it had the night before and I was curious to see what might shake out as the investigation progressed.
Birdie came into the room, and I took in her face. She looked a little drawn. “Hey,” I called. “You okay?”
She moved closer to me. “Yeah. I just don’t like the way things feel in here tonight. It’s like balancing on the edge of a rooftop, you know? Either you’re gonna fall, or someone’s going to pull you back to safety.”
“I was just thinking the same. It feels more charged in here tonight. And not in a good way.”
“No, definitely not good,” Dakota said as she joined us and rubbed at her temple.
“All right, guys,” Dev said and looked around the room. “As I’m sure any of you with any sensitivities have already figured, things are more active tonight. Our ghost crew checked in earlier and said we need to be extra aware. They said that things have really gotten shaken up for some reason—more than we usually encounter after we inevitably stir things. They counted no less than fourteen different presences earlier, and they think there are more. They also said that what we assume is the malevolent entity, likely the non-human one, is extra amped tonight. We assumed that us poking around last night would probably provoke things—and it did, which is why we cut early—but . . . just look alive. Be aware, protect yourselves, and keep in contact at all times.”
“I’d like to do a blessing if everyone’s okay with it,” Birdie said, and everyone nodded. Even Sky.
