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ChapterTwo
Bee gazed at the screen of her phone. Because of the poor cell signal, the video kept stopping to buffer, but the choppy playback did nothing to detract from the magnetic appeal ofDr. Adam Powers, Scientific Expert, as the on-screen writing identified him.
Seated against a dark background with his lack of stubble revealing sharp cheekbones and a square jaw, Adam wore black-framed glasses and a black shirt open at the collar. Speaking to Clyde, who was uncharacteristically off camera, Adam pointed at a monitor beside him that showed surveillance camera footage of an alleged ghost sighting.
“If you slow the video, you can see the floorboards above shake, dislodging a cloud of dust caught by the ambient light,” he explained. “On the infrared camera, the dust moves swiftly and appears to float toward the wall, where the…”
He continued speaking, his voice deep and certain. If Bee squinted a little, she could make out the turquoise-blue color of his eyes behind his glasses.
Though she’d watched all the episodes ofHex or Hoax?, she’d been so caught up in preparing her pitch for the Explorer Channel executives and producers that she hadn’t paid much attention to Adam Powers.
For the past few years, Clyde had mentioned “our scientific expert, Dr. Adam Powers” at the end of every episode when discussing the evidence he’d collected, but Adam hadn’t appeared on the show until a few months ago.
Bee wondered what had taken the producers so long to put him in front of the camera. He certainly had a commanding presence. His dark good looks were even more captivating in the shadowy shot, and he spoke with unquestionable authority and confidence. If he proclaimed the world was flat, people would probably start warning each other to stay away from the edge.
The video buffered and restarted. On-screen, Adam gestured toward the footage again, his shirtsleeve riding up to expose his muscled forearm and—
“Problem.”
Bee jerked her gaze from the phone screen and looked up to find Peter arriving for the start of his ten o’clock shift. She dropped her phone back into her bag and schooled her expression into one of professional interest.
“Good morning,” she said. “Did you say there was a problem?”
“Yeah.” He hurried toward her, his curly blond hair flopping over his forehead in a way that made young women sigh. At twenty years old, Peter was working on his undergraduate requirements at Skyline College and had proven to be a dedicated and reliable employee over the past year.
“Out on the front porch.” He edged past her in the cramped space behind the circulation desk, where barely enough room existed for a desk, much less the ancient copier and the carts stuffed full of books.
“What happened?” Bee asked.
“The bottom front step is broken.” Peter grabbed one of the plastic hazard signs they kept wedged near the copier. “Looks like someone put a boot through it or something.”
Bee winced. “All that heavy equipment must have put too much weight on it. I’ll call Joe at Metalworks and see how fast he can get over here to fix it.”
“In the meantime, I’ll put this out so no one gets hurt.” Peter went back out to put the warning sign on the step.
Bee placed the call to Joe and hung up just as Peter returned, straightening his skinny necktie. He squeezed past her again. As she moved aside, Bee bumped her hip on the corner of a metal cart.
Not for the first time, she experienced a brief wish for her own office—or at least enough space to work without risking bumps and bruises. The only physical injury a library career should pose was a paper cut.
“Mishaps aside, how’s it going so far?” Peter asked.
“I’m not sure, actually,” Bee admitted. “The crew seems pretty comfortable about how they want to set things up, but I haven’t yet spoken with Clyde Constantine or the show’s scientific consultant…at least, not about the show. I wanted to discuss the details with them this morning, but…well, I had a mishap with a tray of coffee.” She gestured ruefully to her clothes. “I just want to establish some parameters and get an idea of their process before they begin filming tomorrow.”
Peter began sorting through the returns. “And you’re sure this is a good idea? I mean, I think the publicity will be great for the library, but they could also claim we’ve been perpetrating a big hoax for all these years.”
Bee squashed a rustle of unease. “There’s no hoax. Everyone in town knows that.”
“Yeah, buttheydon’t.” Peter nodded toward the crew milling around the foyer. “And if they don’t get any good footage, we could be screwed.”
“Of course they’ll get good footage,” Bee said. “John Marcus isn’t going into hiding because a TV crew is here.”
“I hope you’re right.” Peter headed off with a cart to shelve the books.
Bee tried to focus on her work but found it hard to concentrate.
It was true thatHex or Hoax?was based on a “fact or fiction” premise. With Clyde Constantine as the host and chief paranormal investigator, the seven-year run of the Explorer Channel program was one of the most successful cable shows in history.
Clyde and the crew traveled the world to visit sites rumored to contain extraordinary phenomena—ghosts, aliens, cryptozoology, telepathy—which they then investigated with scientific-based reasoning and experiments.
