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arms, but he hadn t the right. Not any longer.
 Are you going to help me or not? She clearly wondered why he
was staring at her.
He nodded and set down his camera cases.  I didn t think I
would ever see you again.
Her brow arched.  I know I haven t been reliable lately, but we
co-own  Smith and Jones or have you forgotten?
 No, I haven t forgotten. I m just surprised to see you. You
haven t joined the team on an assignment in a long time.
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Karen Michelle Nutt
 I wanted to be here for this one. I . . . Her gaze met his.  I need
this. One shoulder lifted in a shrug.  Is there going to be a
problem?
 Of course not. He never wanted anything is his life as much as
he wanted to work with her one more time.
 Good, because it s going to be a long night. Who else is showing
up?
His cell vibrated, making him jump. The theme music from the
Ghostbusters movie broke the silence. He didn t move.
 Are you going to answer that?
That snapped him out of his trance.  Yeah, of course. He walked
away as he flipped his phone open. He spoke to the caller briefly
then turned to Brynna.  That was Kenneth. The others already
said they couldn t make it, and now Kenneth bailed. He forgot
about his nephew s Christmas concert. He tried to smile, but it
felt more like a grimace.  It s just you and me, kid. Like old
times. He held his breath waiting for her to respond.
 I m okay with that. Working together is the one thing we do
well.
 Ouch.
 Sorry, I didn t mean it as a dig. Her chin jutted out with
resolve, disproving her statement.
 I guess I deserve it. He gave her a loose-muscled shrug to show
her remark hadn t hurt, yet her words stung like needles and his
voice betrayed him.
Her features softened and she closed the distance between them.
Her light caress on his forearm made him flinch and her hand
fell away.  I don t want to fight.
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The Spirit of Love
 I don t either. He reached for her, but had second thoughts and
shoved his hands in his pockets.  I never meant to hurt you.
 I know. I didn t mean to shut you out.
He swallowed the lump of emotion lodged in his throat.
 Come on. Her eyes sparkled with the possibility of adventure.
 The ghosts are waiting to be found. We have work to do.
It took three trips to set up the equipment in the pool room.
There was a camcorder on the stairs, and one on both balconies
overlooking the empty pool. During the day, the Queen Mary
hosted theatrical ghost tours with flashing lights, mist-filled
rooms, and ghostly laughter. What a different ballgame to be
down here when no one else was around. No sounds from the
other decks filtered through and there were no portholes to allow
sunlight to seep in. It was like stepping into a neutral zone,
neither in the present nor the past, but somehow an observer of
both.
This project would be his last run. Having lost all heart for it,
Travis wanted out of this business. They should have closed up
shop when Jake died. Brynna didn t want any other assignments
but the ones she set for herself. She didn t sleep half the time,
determined to keep the equipment running twenty-four hours a
day, seven days a week in hopes of catching a glimpse of their
son. Endless arrays of tapes and rolls of film showed nothing.
Secretly, he was glad Jake had found peace and wasn t lingering
behind, confused and disoriented.
Travis set one of the motion detectors near the dressing room,
another at the top of the stairs facing the pool.
 Don t forget the EMF meter around the walls and the
thermometers, Brynna reminded him.
 I ll check out the power sources first. He picked up the EMF
meter. Whenever there was an electrical charge, natural or
artificial, the meter registered the electromagnetic fields. He d
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Karen Michelle Nutt
start with the far left wall. To have an accurate interpretation
they had to pinpoint all the power sockets to not pick up a false
reading of activity. They marked the areas with blue tape.  Are
the eyewitness records in the briefcase? he called over his
shoulder.  We should go over them again. I want to set up one of
the camcorders where most of the witnesses felt a phenomenon.
 They should be in the file along with the baseline record sheets.
Have you read any of the stories? Brynna asked.
 I skimmed over them last night before I went to sleep. Brynna
chuckled, making him turn to look at her.  What s so funny?
 You used to say you didn t like reading ghost stories before
bedtime.
His life of late had been a living nightmare. A few ghost stories
weren t going to make it any worse.  Things change, I suppose.
 Yeah.
After checking the power sources, he placed the thermometers [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]