Ben let out a long breath and shook his head.
“Anyway, we’ll get the cameras in there in a few days. I’ll have the boys keep an eye out for spooks.”
“Speaking of cameras, we need a few more shots out by the clearing,” Trina said. “Do you think you can help out? Your work on cam is pretty good.”
“Yeah, sure. I got a frozen lasagna. I’ll throw it in the oven for dinner.”
“Lasagna,” Ben breathed.
“That would be nice.”
For a moment, Casper and Trina exchanged an undefinable emotion. He looked at her, his desire palpable enough to send gooseflesh up his arms. Still, something had come between them. It wasn’t Ben, even though he physically sat between them. It took him a moment to realize what it was. His heart sank a little as he figured it out. This was the beginning of goodbye.
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Chapter Thirty-Two
Trina entered a pleasant miasma of Italian food hanging in Casper’s kitchen. He wore that stupid sausage apron and big oven mitts as he dragged the tray from the oven.
“Where’s Ben?”
“Finishing some stuff. I just wanted to hang out a little. Once we have enough footage for the pilot, I’ll have to move on.”
She could see him take a deep breath, his back to her. “Yeah. I’d like to spend as much time with you as I can before that happens.”
Trina felt a twinge. On the one hand, she was certain he would ask her to stay. On the other, there was a chip in Scarlet’s bra compelling her to finish up and get out of Dodge. She watched as he fussed, this domestic facet of him as intriguing as his solid presence. For a moment, she became lost in her want of him. Her needs outweighed the want.
Rattling in the cupboard brought her out of her thoughts. Casper took down plates and grabbed a spatula from a container on the counter. Finally, he turned. “I could visit you. Anywhere you are, I could come to you.”
Oh God, was she tearing up. Pull it back, sister. “I would like that.”
His head angled. “I hear a ‘but…’ in there.”
She studied the top of the breakfast bar. “Things happen. Things change. We’ll just have to see how things work out.”
“Hold on here, you’re not dumping me, are you? Because we’re not actually a couple.”
Trina refused to let the tears come. “My career has been so derailed. I’m not sure what it’s going to take to fix it. I don’t even know where I’ll be six months from now. The world changes, Casper. There isn’t anything you can do about it.”
He stared at her, amber eyes intense, brows knitted. “Of course you can do something about it. Sure, things change, but you can make your own future—”
“I smell lasagna.” Ben walked through the French doors. His eyes shifted between the two of them. “Did I interrupt something?”
Casper turned to the lasagna and began dishing. “We’re just talking.”
Trina sniffed and wiped her eyes.
“You’re not sad, are you?” Ben asked. “How can you be sad when there’s lasagna?”
She forced a smile. “You’re right.”
Casper dumped rinsed greens in a salad spinner and pumped it dry. He responded to the timer on the microwave dinging and pulled a half loaf of garlic bread from the oven. Trina watched, her eyes mostly on the snug fit of his jeans. Frozen lasagna wasn’t exactly cooking, but she felt she was losing a lot more than a capable, stable man she felt so at ease with, who also happened to have a sexy body. Tears prickled again, and she breathed them away.
***
Ben sat back from the dining room table, a hand over his stomach. “That was awesome. Thanks, Casper. Ooh, I think I need to take a nap.”
“Take my bed. I want to hang out with Casper a while,” Trina said.
He lumbered to his feet, cell phone in hand. “I’ll set my alarm.”
They followed him out to the porch. Above, the sky purpled. Crane flies in spidery flight banged against the side of the house. Frogs peeped in the distance, harmonizing with crickets. Heat of the day blew off with the breeze.
“It sure is beautiful here,” Trina said.
Casper said nothing, but she could feel his gaze. His hand snuck into hers. Trina leaned against him, her head on his shoulder. She took in his smell, the firmness of muscle against her cheek. He was just so… present.
“That Ben can eat.” Casper said. “I thought there would be leftovers.”
Trina smiled, but pulled away from him.
“Speaking of eating, we have a big family dinner the last Sunday of the month. You wanna come? It ain’t exactly paranormal, but it won’t be normal, either.”
She craned to give him the hairy eyeball. “You want me to meet the family?”
“It’s quite a spread. And hey, you gotta eat, I gotta eat.”
Last Sunday of the month echoed in her head. Her time was running out. Both to shoot enough for her pilot, and to spend time with Casper. “Okay. What the hell. We gotta eat.”
The sun set, the sky remaining bright. They sat talking and not talking. Trina’s heart throbbed at the thought that this feeling wouldn’t last for much longer.
Ben opened the door of the in-law with a huge yawn. He rolled his cases behind him, heading for his truck. It was time.
The shoot was a lot different this time. Trina filmed herself moving cameras to create the illusion that she was alone. She read the scientific gobbledygook about EMF sags from Ben’s cue cards. In the clearing, she did another EVP session.
When they packed up, Ben said, “Once we get a few shots of you reviewing evidence, we’ll have about eighteen minutes of usable footage.”
“What?” Trina stopped putting her cameras away. “That’s not even enough for a half-hour show. I’m contracted for hour-long episodes.”
“We can pad it out with a longer intro.”
She saw something pass between Casper and Ben.
“Will the Carstairs investigation fill up the rest of the time?” Casper said.
Trina shrugged. “If we capture something. Can we take some B-roll of the exterior?”
Casper latched the rolling case. “Sure. We can do it tomorrow night.”
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Chapter Thirty-Three
Casper rose late after the night shoot. Rafts of sheetrock and boxes of tile sat outside the Carstairs house as he drove up. He noted a Dumpster sat in the driveway, filled with debris. Inside, the demolition was complete, Laramie worked on the plumbing rough in while Cheyenne worked on the electric.
“Moving right along,” Casper said.
Laramie frowned. “Still unlikely to get done in less than three weeks, Cass.”
“Make it happen.” Casper looked over the plans. The biggest change was a separate soaking tub and standing shower. “Find any rot or mold?”
“Nope, no rough carpentry needed. We’re lucky someone did this in the ’80s. Be a bitch to remodel a 1909 bathroom.” Cheyenne looked over Casper’s shoulder.
“Notice anything weird happening?” Casper asked. “Anything moving, or gone missing?”
Laramie eyed them. “I see about thirty grand disappearing right before our eyes.”
Casper ignored him. “I need youse to be outta here by about eight tonight.”
Laramie folded his arms. “Eight? We knock off at five, Cass.”
“Not for this we don’t. How’s Sheridan doing at the apartments?”
“No problem,” Cheyenne said. “It’s all trim now.”
“You better be pretty damn sure this is gonna get that skirt outta town, Cass.” Laramie said.
Casper nodded. “I’m sure,” he lied. “I’m gonna go check on Sheridan.”
The day passed quickly. At sunset, he drove up with Trina and Ben. Marino Brothers trucks were gone, the dumpster topped off, materials moved off the porch. For the sake of atmosphere, he had Cheyenne leave a light on in the attic. In th
e dark, the house looked creepy.
Trina pulled out a night vision camera. “Is it okay if I take a look inside?”
“Sure.” Casper nodded. “Remodel’s on the second floor.”
“Thanks,” she said, not looking back.
He frowned after her. Casper knew something was wrong. He’d felt it the night before, and it seemed even more palpable now. Was it the fact that their time was running out? “She seems kinda mopey.”
“Go ahead and set up the time lapse in front of the stairs. Point it at the attic light. We’ll get some clouds and moonrise and stuff,” Ben said, setting up his weird equipment. “Yeah, I noticed she got all sad and weird when she came back with lunch yesterday. I don’t know why. Everything’s coming together.”
Casper thought back. That was the day after their first investigation in the woods.
Have mercy, you had sex with her.
Scarlet’s words recurred. He thought harder. How would she know, unless she was there? Of course she was there, even if he didn’t recognize her scent, he knew a wolf bitch was around, despite his orders than no one in the pack shift. In his hands, he turned the camera over, looking at the port, data card ensconced. We’ve already spoken, Scarlet had said with a smile—a genuine smile, full of glee.
Son of a bitch.
His thoughts were interrupted.
“When she gets back, we’ll need shots of her outside, a few takes with the EMF system, some spooky walking shots of the house.”
Camera in hand, he filmed walking shots. Ben told him to shoot some Dutch angles, slow pans, dollies and tilts. Casper half understood this; the underlying idea was making the house into a scary character. He did his best.
Returning to the front, he saw Trina with one of Ben’s gizmos. He set the camera on a tripod and did a slow zoom of her. He saw her start at the same time he heard the cry of a night bird. Trina pointed to a tree in the yard. “Get some B-roll of that owl.”
In the viewfinder, he shot her turning with Ben’s detector in hand. He panned over to the tree, finally finding the owl. He zoomed in. It perched on a low branch, sitting perfectly still, even when Trina approached.
A prickling sensation rolled up his spine. His hair stood on end. Ben made a face, running a hand through his hair. Warm night air suddenly felt chill.
“Hey, Mister Owl. What are you up to?” Trina moved closer. Not knowing why, Casper wanted to rush over and pull her away.
“Are you feeling that?” Casper nearly jumped out of his skin when Ben whispered in his ear.
Animal senses proved useless. “I am, but what the fuck is it?”
“Ghosts?” Ben shrugged.
“Why is that bird just sitting there staring? Trina’s like, two feet away.” Casper frowned. “You have any luck looking into the rabid animal thing?”
“A little. From the ads, it looks like a government URL. But it isn’t a forestry service thing, or even a government thing. The website is housed on the servers of a multinational energy conglomerate. Probably take a while to hack them.” Ben went rigid. “Do you see that, on the screen?”
Casper did. As before, a human figure formed from the dancing lines of magnetic force. It stood right under the owl. Trina finally took notice. “Holy shit!”
At her shout, the owl flew off, the image on the black screen becoming random lines again.
“Why does an energy company care about rabid animals?” Casper asked.
Ben shook his head. “No clue. But I know some people in Silicon Valley. I’ll send them a text.”
“Hackers?”
“Collection agency.”
“Ah.”
The big man looked at his phone. “It isn’t too late. I’d like to take a look at the evidence tonight.”
Trina wandered over. “Me, too.
“I’m out. Gotta work early.” Casper rolled the case toward Trina’s vehicle, with her in tow. She beeped open the trunk.
He loaded the heavy case and closed the hatch. With Trina so close, he was overwhelmed by the urge to take her in his arms and kiss her. He took a breath. They couldn’t keep doing this to each other. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Her eyes were lidded, full lips parted. Trina needed to be kissed. Instead, she nodded. “Goodnight.”
***
“Anything strange happening yet?” Casper arrived at the job site before noon.
“Other than expecting the sheriff to arrive any minute?” Cheyenne said. “No. We got other problems. The boom lift got dropped off at the apartments. Sheridan can’t install the outside rails by himself. We also got waterproofing to do here.”
“Fuck. Anything else?”
Laramie nodded. “Yeah. That crazy robot toilet’s on back order.”
Casper thought it over. It cost money to rent the lift, and the longer they had it, the more it would eat into their profits. Waterproofing would take at least a day to dry. “Get the waterproofing done now. Then head over to get those rails installed. We’ll start work here again tomorrow afternoon and work at night.”
“Tomorrow’s Saturday,” Laramie whined. “The alpha bitches are gonna bitch.”
“Let ’em bitch.” Casper shrugged. “Paranormal stuff happens at night.”
“Paranormal stuff doesn’t happen at all,” Cheyenne said.
“Paranormal stuff better happen or we’re all screwed.”
None of them spoke for a while. Finally, Laramie gestured with his hammer. “There is one weird thing. It’s in the spare bedroom downstairs.”
“What is it?”
Cheyenne shrugged. “We don’t know.”
The three brothers tromped downstairs, Laramie leading the way. The room was occupied by a desk with a laptop on it, and something else. Casper stared. It was about the size of an outside AC unit, but maybe twice as tall. He walked over and ran his hands over the seamless surface. Fat conduit ran from the bottom into a framed socket below the window. A line of USBs ran over the rounded top. It was a deep sapphire blue, warm beneath his palm. Casper saw no buttons or switches for controls, no LEDs or meters, no badges or stickers to identify a manufacturer.
“What the hell is this?”
“No idea,” Cheyenne said. “It seems to be on, but it doesn’t seem to do anything.”
“Well, it’s weird enough, I guess. But it ain’t a ghost. Leave it alone.” He took a breath. “Can we get this done without going to the alpha wives?”
“You’re the boss, Cass,” Cheyenne said. Laramie sighed, but nodded in agreement.
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Chapter Thirty-Four
Trina rubbed her eyes and downed the last of her cold coffee. She and Ben had been up all night. For a while, they reviewed the new evidence. Not knowing what to make of it, Ben loaded the footage and cut it together.
“Why does it hang out under the owl?” Trina asked. “The other one, it appears beneath a squirrel, right?”
Ben moved back and forth on the editing program, finding the right clip. “Yep. You notice how still the animals are? The squirrel doesn’t even wave its tail.”
“It is strange, but is it paranormal?”
“Para: above, beyond, or beside; normal: typical or expected. Passes the litmus test. This is paranormal,” Ben said.
“Do you think the clearing in the woods is connected to the farm house?”
He closed down the editing software and brought up Google Maps. “Despite the winding roads we have to take to get to the clearing, it’s really less than five miles from Ripple, as the crow flies. Look here. The way the road twists and turns, the Carstairs place is less than a mile from the clearing.”
Trina squinted. “I don’t see the clearing.”
“For some reason, it’s blurred out.” He pointed. “This is it, here.”
“That’s pretty close.”
Both of them jumped at a knock on the door. Trina got up and let Casper in. He eyed the two of them. “You been at this all night?”
/>
Ben nodded.
“Let me show you what we’ve got,” Trina said, leading him to Ben’s laptop. “Show him, Ben.”
Ben brought the editing software back up, moved the play head all the way right and pressed play. Trina watched Casper’s reactions. She appeared on the screen with a flashlight and a camera, walking through the woods. The voice over started. “My name is Trina Adams. I investigate the paranormal. In the past, I have been fooled into believing ghosts were real. This time, I’m out to prove it for myself.”
Shots of her reaching out for a camera, seriously studying a computer monitor, and turning quickly, flashlight aimed, went by.
“Where’d you get the music?” Casper asked.
“It’s canned. We’ll have original music once we have a budget again,” Ben said.
The opening sequence reached its climax. Or, rather, its anticlimax as the wiggly words “Working Title” appeared.
“Still no name?”
“Something will come up,” Trina grumbled.
Casper watched the rest, not commenting until the partial credits ran.
“Wow. It looks like a real TV show. Graphics and everything.”
“There are a few more clips to put in, but not enough. We’re still twenty-two minutes short of a full hour show,” Ben said. “With commercials.”
“That’s not long,” Casper said. “I guess you’re almost done.”
Trina glanced away. “If we capture anything at the farm house, we could wrap.”
“Monday,” Casper said. “We’ll go Monday night. I gotta go. Lotsa work.”
She walked out with him, and they paused before the back porch steps. Casper took her arms and moved closer, but she turned her face.
“It’s finally real. Can’t you feel it? We’re at the end, Casper. Let’s not make it any more difficult.” She looked away. “I don’t even know why I made love to you.”
“I do.”
She took him in, his words lacking the braggadocio she would have expected. Instead, his eyes had a faraway look. He seemed smaller, shoulders sagging as if deflated.
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