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Andrea giggled and slapped his shoulder, and Gavin felt another irrational rush of jealousy.
“I’ll bet Gavin’s brave enough to go inside,” Parker said, nodding at the other boy with a grin.
Gavin’s face went white. Sarah crossed her arms and said, “Why don’tyougo in if you’re so brave,” she said.
“I will,” Parker assured her, “but this is Gavin’s first haunted location, and I think he deserves to be the first of our group to enter. What do you say, Gavin?”
Gavin swallowed and just barely managed to keep his voice nonchalant. “Sure. I’m down.”
“He isdown!”Parker called exuberantly. He bowed deeply and gestured toward the shelter. “Lead the way,mon capitaine!”
Gavin took a deep breath and started toward the shelter. Out of nowhere, Sarah grabbed his elbow. “Be careful.”
Her brown eyes stared widely up at him, and he noticed for the first time how her dark hair framed her face. “Yeah,” he said. “All right.”
She released him, and he started toward the shelter. A musty breeze wafted through the entrance, carrying with it the decades-old scents of mold and earth. He shivered though the night was warm and hesitated just before the door.
“What are you waiting for?” Parker called. “Lead us to paradise!”
“You have an odd definition of paradise,” Andrea said.
Gavin took a deep breath. The door was closed just barely too tightly for him to fit. He pressed his hands against one of the slabs. It was cold as marble under his palms. He took another deep breath and heaved. The door trembled, then, with a sigh of protest, began to move slowly along its track.
Parker and the girls cheered, and Gavin felt a rush of pride. He blushed and hoped Sarah was impressed with his strength.
Wait, Sarah? Not Andrea?
He didn’t have time to dwell on his changing object of affection because he felt something soft and heavy thump against his leg.
He heard Sarah shriek and looked down at his leg. When he saw the body of a man staring up at him with lifeless eyes, he leaped backward with a cry, tripping and falling to the ground. The body fell in such a way that its eyes stared directly at his. He forgot himself, forgot about looking strong and manly for Sarah, and let out a blood-curdling shriek.
CHAPTER ONE
Faith laughed, a full body laugh that brought heat to her cheeks and tears to her eyes. When was the last time she had laughed like that?
Dr. West laughed too, shaking his head and removing his glasses to rub his eyes. “Oh my God,” he said, “That sounds just like him. Did he give you the speech? The one about watching too many good agents lose their careers over stupid obsessions?”
“He did,” Faith replied, “stared straight out the window with his hands behind his back in parade rest.”
“Watching the American flag, right?” he asked, grinning.
“Yes!” she said, laughing again. “Like he’s Captain Ahab or Nemo or, I don’t know, you’ve read more books than me.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the captain he was imitating was named Picard.”
“Really?” Faith asked, “The Boss is into Star Trek?”
The Boss, Special Agent-In-Charge Grant Monroe, looked and acted like a Marine Corps drill instructor. The idea of him gazing intently at the exploits of the USS Enterprise brought her to laughter again.
“Big fan. He’s even seen the Animated Series.”
“There was an animated series?”
“Apparently. You should do the greeting, the live long and prosper thing, next time you see him.”
“Oh, I definitely will.”
He grinned. “Just don’t tell him I told you. All right, enough breaching doctor-patient confidentiality. Let’s get back to work.”
