Edge of Darkness: The Complete First Season (Paranormal Investigations Unlimited) Read online

  Wait. What?

  “Real estate agencies pay for that?”

  “Sometimes. Actually, they pay for it a lot more than you think, especially here in the Northeast where there are so many old houses. With the home market being as slow as it is around here right now, the real estate agency doesn’t want to lose a prospective buyer because there’s a spook hanging around that likes to clank about the kitchen in the middle of the night. Once a home gets a reputation for being haunted, it’s never going to sell.”

  Presley tried to wrap her head around that but couldn’t. “So, what, you walk around the house, check under the bed for Casper, then collect your money when he doesn’t jump out and say boo?”

  Logan’s mouth quirked. “It’s a little more technical than that, but you’ve got the basic idea.”

  Presley wondered if he was teasing her again. “That seems like a sort of shady way to make a living, don’t you think? Taking money to tell someone their house isn’t haunted.”

  Logan shrugged. “I don’t disagree with you there.”

  She wanted to ask why they did it then, but Robert spoke before she could get the words out.

  “It’s not as shady as it sounds, Presley.” He squirmed in the seat and pushed his glasses up. “I mean, it’s no different than a home inspector checking a house for leaky pipes or bad wiring, and not finding any. They use their particular skills. We use ours. Besides, we wouldn’t be getting paid for our services if there wasn’t a demand for them.”

  “If it sounds as if Robert is defensive, it’s because he’s the one who talked Logan and me into doing these demonic home-inspections,” Mav said.

  “In his defense, business has been better than we thought it would be,” Brielle pointed out. “There actually is a need for it.”

  “Just because there’s a need, that doesn’t mean we have to charge people for it,” Logan grumbled.

  Presley blinked in surprise. She’d thought a socially maladjusted guy like him would appreciate ripping off honest people.

  “That’s the same kind of thinking that put your little save-the-world endeavor so deep in debt,” Robert said to Logan. “I’m simply trying to show you that you can help people and still make a little money on the side. Letting people owe you favors now and then is fine, but it doesn’t put gas in the Hummer. There’s nothing wrong with making a little profit from helping people. Especially if the only reason you charge money anyway is so you can help more people. Right, Presley?”

  “Um…” Presley hesitated. She hated it when people put her on the spot. “Well, when you put it that way, I suppose not.”

  Logan snorted.

  Presley stifled a groan. Well, that comment certainly wasn’t going to win her any brownie points from him. Not that she wanted to win any, of course. She didn’t care what he thought of her. It was just that she was already a source of contention between him and Robert. She didn’t like the idea of adding to it, especially since she wanted to learn as much as she could from them in the three days she going to be with them. Her sanity depended on it.

  She let out a sigh as an uncomfortable silence descended on the SUV again. While she knew asking about ghost hunting was probably going to be a bad way to start up another conversation, particularly with Logan, she couldn’t think of anything else to talk about. Besides, she was supposed to be there to do research for her book and that meant finding out what made the average ghost hunter tick. If she didn't ask them anything, they’d get suspicious at some point.

  “How did you guys get into hunting ghosts?” she asked, trying to sound casual. “Do you do it full time or is it more of a part-time thing?”

  When no one answered right away, Presley thought they were going to ignore her, but then Robert spoke.

  “Logan and Mav do it full time, but Brielle and I just help out now and then, mostly on the weekends.”

  Presley was a little surprised to hear Robert didn’t hunt ghosts on a full-time basis. From the way he talked, she assumed he was partners with the other two men. “That isn’t a bad way to make a little extra money, I guess.”

  Brielle shook her head. “We don’t get paid. We help out Logan and Mav because they helped both of us.”

  Presley remembered what Robert had said about Logan and Mav letting people owe them favors. “Did Logan and Mav get rid of a ghost for you?”

  “Something like that,” was all Brielle said.

  Beside Presley, Robert shook his head. “I wish it had been as simple as a ghost. My situation was a little stickier than that. Trust me when I tell you there are a lot worse things than ghosts out there, Presley. If it wasn’t for Logan, my wife and kids would be—”

  “Robert,” Logan said warningly.

  Robert flushed. “Oh, right. Sorry.”

  Presley frowned as he turned to look out the side window, wondering what the heck that had been about. Robert had obviously been going to reveal something huge, something Logan clearly didn’t want her to hear. She wanted to press Robert for details but decided it would be better to ask him later, preferably when Logan wasn’t around. The guy was a walking, talking conversation killer.

  “Tell us about the book you’re writing,” Brielle said brightly.

  Presley felt a moment of panic. Brielle had probably only asked because she wanted to defuse the situation, but they’d still expect her to answer—she was supposed to be writing a book. But of course, there really wasn’t a book, and she hadn't even given any thought to one. The idea that they’d ask her questions about it hadn’t even entered her mind.

  They were all looking at her expectedly, so she’d better think of something—quick.

  “I only just started the book, so I’m still working out all the particulars. But basically, it’s about a ghost hunter who falls in love with this ghost he discovers in a haunted house,” she explained. “For some reason—and I haven’t quite figured this part out yet—the ghost can materialize into a real woman whenever he’s around. Of course, he’s the only person who can see or touch her, and she can only materialize in the old, dilapidated house she’s trapped in, which poses all sorts of problems.”

  Logan let out a snort. “That’s supposed to be a romance?”

  “Sounds more like a horror story to me,” Mav said.

  Presley felt her face color. Yeah, okay, the story sounded like crap, but what did either of them knew about romance? She was about to ask them that question, but Brielle put a hand on her arm.

  “Ignore them, Presley,” Brielle said. “Not only are they both men, but they’re also both horribly unromantic ones. I think your story sounds very romantic. It also explains why you want to hang out with us. So you can get the ghost hunter stuff authentic, right?”

  Presley nodded. “I want the tools and techniques the ghost hunter uses in my book to be believable. I also want to learn some general stuff about ghosts, too. Not that I expect to really see any. But regardless, I’d like to get a feel for what would they look like, how they act, and how you’d make them go away.” That last part was obviously the most important to her, if in fact any of this turned out to be real. But figuring she should keep going so she wouldn't raise any suspicions, she added, “I hope you guys don’t mind if I take a little literary license with some parts of your job. I know you don’t deal with life and death situations as part of your daily routine, but I’ll have to put that kind of stuff in the story to make it exciting.”

  In the front of the SUV, Logan and Mav exchanged looks, the hint of smiles playing around the corners of their mouths. Presley didn’t know what she said that was so funny, but even Brielle and Robert seemed to find it amusing.

  Now that they knew she was interested in the type of equipment ghost hunters used, Brielle and Robert kept up a steady stream of conversation all the way to Moores Mill. While the information they gave her would have been nice if she was actually writing a ghost hunter romance book, it didn’t really help her know if ghosts were real—other than the fact that Logan, Mav
, Brielle, and Robert obviously thought they were.

  When she tried to steer the conversation around to any ghost encounters they’d had, both Brielle and Robert confessed they hadn’t seen much more than shadows. Presley was surprised. She’d expected them to regale her with one scary story after another. Made-up stuff, of course, but still good stories.

  “More substantial sightings are pretty rare,” Robert admitted as they turned into a subdivision. “Logan and Mav have seen a lot more than we have.”

  Presley glanced at Logan and Mav, hoping they would elaborate, but to her annoyance, neither one did. She should have known. Deciding it was useless to try to pry anything out of either man, she looked out the window and was amazed when Mav pulled into a driveway in front of a two-story house on a cul-de-sac. After hearing Robert talk, she’d expected the place to be old, decrepit and creepy looking. Even in the gathering darkness, she could see it was well-kept with a manicured lawn and a fresh coat of paint. No self-respecting ghost would be caught dead in a house like this. Or should the expression be caught alive in a house like this?

  She made no comment as she got out of the Hummer, especially since everyone else looked quite serious as they grabbed duffel bags out of the back. Deciding to go along with it, Presley followed them up the front walk. Maybe she’d make an appointment to see her shrink tomorrow. Something told her she was going to be taking a lot of drugs in the very near future.

  * * * * *

  Presley looked around as she walked into the entryway of the house, but she couldn’t see much without a light. She waited for someone to turn one on, but instead they pulled out small flashlights.

  Brielle held one out to her. “Regular lights can create an electromagnetic field and give us a false positive on our EMF meters. Appliances can do it, too, so we’ll shut off the power before we start.”

  Taking the flashlight from Brielle, she turned it on, frowning when she saw the meager light it put out. How the heck was she supposed to see anything with this?

  Robert must have noticed the look on her face because he said, “It’s LED so it doesn’t put out a lot of light, but because it uses an extremely small watch battery, it’s as close as we can get to a zero electromagnetic field signature and still be able to see.”

  Presley nodded even though she had no idea what he was talking about. She wanted to ask, but Logan was already barking orders.

  “Robert, Brielle, you’ve got the first floor. Mav, you take the basement. I’ll cover the upstairs.”

  Had he left her out on purpose? “What about me?”

  Logan turned that impenetrable golden-brown gaze on her. “It was Robert’s idea to have you tag along with us, so you can go with him and Brielle. And try not to get in their way.”

  He didn’t wait for an answer but turned and headed up the steps. Presley clenched her jaw as she watched him go. Brielle was right. He was a jerk.

  “Don’t pay attention to him,” Brielle said. “Come on. Robert and I will show you the tools of the trade.”

  Taking Brielle’s advice, Presley put the surly ghost hunter from her mind and instead turned her attention to Robert and the strange looking stuff he was pulling out of the duffel bag. If Logan didn’t want to play nice, that was fine with her. She’d go to Mav with any paranormal questions Brielle and Robert couldn’t answer. He seemed like the nicer of the two men.

  “This is the EMF meter we were telling you about,” Robert said as he stood up. “There are several different varieties, but this one is called a Tri-Field Meter. They’re more expensive than the other kinds, but Logan and Mav like it because they think it gives more accurate readings. Brielle and I like it because it’s simple to use.” He held it out to Presley. “You can go ahead and take a closer look at it if you want.”

  She took the EMF meter and shined her flashlight on it. The unit was rectangular in shape with a knob on the bottom that switched between magnetic, electric and radio fields. The top half was made up of a scale with a needle that measured the amount of energy coming from each of the fields. It looked pretty high-tech, but it could be a Geiger counter for all she knew.

  “If the needle moves, does that mean there’s a ghost in the house?” she asked as she handed it back to Robert.

  “Not necessarily,” he said. “It picks up electromagnetic fields, which can come from anything electrical. You need to be able to differentiate between those and the ones put off by ghosts. That’s where the real talent of the ghost hunter comes in, being able to tell a false positive from the real thing.”

  “It’s also why we turn off the power and use other detectors, like thermal scanners,” Brielle put in.

  “What are those?” Presley asked.

  “They’re basically a regular digital thermometer, only they measure the temperature of the air.” Robert crouched down to rummage in the duffel bag. A moment later, he held out a thermometer that looked a lot like the one the nurses in the hospital had used to check her temperature. “Like this.”

  She nodded. “Why is it important to take the air temperature?”

  “It lets you know if there are any cold spots in the room.”

  “Cold spots?”

  “Air pockets that feel colder than the rest of the room,” Brielle explained. “Ghosts are nothing more than coherent energy fields. The energy they use to materialize is pulled right out of the environment. When you pull that energy out of a room with no electricity, you get cold spots. They’re literally sucking the heat out of the room to exist.”

  Presley nodded again. She had no idea ghost hunting was so complicated, especially since it wasn’t as if it was an actual science. On the other hand, it made it obvious Brielle and Robert genuinely believed this stuff. Remembering she was supposed to be doing research, she handed the thermometer back to Robert. “Maybe I should be taking notes.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Brielle said. “We can go over everything again tomorrow at the office, if you want.”

  Presley smiled. “That’d be great. Thanks.”

  Even though she didn’t expect to see a ghost, Presley’s pulse quickened as she followed the two part-time ghost hunters from room to room. Now that her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she could see fairly well with the little flashlight and she found herself looking around eagerly for signs of the paranormal. She kept waiting for their detectors to go off at any minute, but to her dismay neither the EMF meter nor the thermal scanner so much as even beeped.

  When Mav met back up with them in the entryway ten minutes later to report he’d come up empty-handed as well, she had to fight to hide her disappointment. She’d already concluded she wasn’t going to see a real ghost or anything, but she’d been hoping the needle on the EMF meter would have at least tremored a little. Clearly, being a ghost hunter wasn’t as exciting as the television shows made it out to be.

  “Did you get anything?” Mav asked when Logan came downstairs a few minutes later.

  “I picked up some readings in the master bedroom.”

  Of course he did. The big, bad ghost hunter didn’t want the new girl to think he wasn’t fully qualified hero material.

  “Can you show me?” she asked.

  His eyes narrowed. “Show you?”

  “Yeah. That’s what I’m paying you for. Besides, I want to see the ghost for myself.” She lifted a brow. “Unless you’re making it up to impress me.”

  Logan clenched his jaw, but whether it was in response to her words or the amused chuckle from Mav, she wasn’t sure.

  “Fine,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  Presley followed him up the steps, as did the rest of Paranormal Investigations Unlimited. She didn’t know why she kept butting heads with Logan, but she couldn’t help it. His attitude was so damn infuriating. He could at least try to act civil. She was paying him two-hundred-and-fifty dollars a day, after all, not to mention fixed his damn gas-guzzling Hummer.

  Once they got to the bedroom, Logan pulled out his EMF meter and turned it o
n. Presley leaned closer to get a better look and was surprised when the needle barely moved a quarter of an inch.

  “That’s it?” she asked. “That’s your big ghost. How scary.”

  Logan slanted her a hard look. “Yeah, I know. You could always go wait in the Hummer if you’re too afraid.”

  She gave him a sweet smile. “I think I can keep it together.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  Presley ignored his sarcastic tone and looked around the room. “If the EMF meter is picking up a ghost, where is it?”

  Logan glanced at her as he put the meter back in the duffel bag he had slung over his shoulder. “I never said it was a ghost. I said I picked up some readings.”

  “From what?”

  He shrugged. “Residual energy, maybe. It’s a bedroom, so it isn’t surprising there might be some still hanging around.”

  She frowned. “Why would there be residual energy in a bedroom?”

  His mouth quirked. “If I have to explain it to you, maybe you shouldn’t be writing romance books.”

  Presley’s face went red as she realized what he meant. She’d walked right into that one.

  Robert cleared his throat. “Any activity where emotions run high, like during sex, can leave residual electromagnetic energy behind, though it usually dissipates rather quickly. This place has been vacant for months, so the fact that there’s still enough energy to pick up indicates the people who lived here must have been particularly…energetic.”

  “Does that make sense?” Logan drawled. “Or do you need Robert to explain what he means by energetic?”

  Presley’s color deepened. “No, I don’t need him to explain, thank you. I might need to do research for the ghost hunting portions of my book, but I can draw from my own experience when it comes to the sex scenes. I’ll let you read my book after I’m finished with it, so you can fill in any gaps in your own knowledge base.”

  That comment earned her a scowl from Logan. On the bright side, it also got a chuckle out of Mav, as well as a laugh from Brielle. Score another point for the new girl.