Chapter Twenty-nine
“I can hear you thinking.” Lee’s voice was raspy with sleep when she woke to Willa’s fingertips tickling the back of her neck and through her short hair. The touch was mindless and distracting. Lee suspected Willa didn’t even know she was doing it, but it sent chills through her body—the good kind. “Please, tell me you were able to get some sleep.”
“Some.” Willa’s hand stilled, her palm resting on the back of Lee’s neck. “I am both amused and unsettled by the fact that after all these years, and all my work and research, you’ve had more experience in paranormal phenomenon than me.”
Lee raised her head propping it up against her arm. “You’ve been out looking, though, right?”
“Of course. In some of the most haunted or widely believed to be haunted places there are. I’ve had some remarkable and terrifying experiences but nothing like what you describe.”
“You sound like you’re even less of a believer now than when we were kids.”
Willa considered a moment. “I wouldn’t say that. But I know a lot more now and just like the existence of God, the existence of ghosts can never be proven or disproven. It’s just a matter of what you believe and how strongly you believe it.”
“So, what do you think everyone is hearing out there?”
“What is everyone hearing that I can’t?”
“You feel left out, don’t you?”
Willa scoffed. “Well, come on. Shouldn’t I, of all people, be receptive to this kind of phenomenon?”
Lee shrugged. “I don’t know. Is that how it works, or does a ghost go after a nonbeliever and try to annoy them? Like a cat that jumps into the lap of the one person who’s allergic.”
“You know for someone having had regular spectral encounters you’re pretty cavalier about the whole thing.”
Lee laughed. “Spectral encounters? Well, in all seriousness, I was pretty freaked out about it when it first started happening, or when I first became personally aware of the phenomena. Sleeping with the lights on and everything. It’s been years and nothing bad has ever happened, so I don’t really worry about it anymore.”
“I smell coffee,” Willa said.
“Maggie doesn’t drink coffee.”
“Maybe Nic made it.”
“Only one way to find out.”
Nicole was at the kitchen island with a cup of coffee and a plate of peanut butter toast. “Hi,” she mumbled, licking peanut butter from her lips.
“Hi.” Willa hopped onto the stool across from her. “Hope you made a full pot.”
“Only way I know how.”
“I got it.” Lee grabbed down two more mugs and poured for them. “Where’s Maggie?”
“Oh, um, Will, your phone was blowing up out here and we finally checked it. Maggie went to go meet with—”
“Oh, damn.” She sucked in a breath, looking around for her phone. “I totally forgot about Mary Beth.”
“It’s right here.” Nicole slid her phone across the bar.
Willa tapped out a quick text of apology.
The door banged open and Maggie wrestled in the large, black, plastic case. “I just met your editor, Willa. She’s so cool and stylish and did you know she’s the editor for other authors?”
“I did know that, yes,” Willa laughed. “Thank you for handling that for me, Maggie. I’m glad you got the chance to meet Mary Beth. I couldn’t do what I do without her.”
“What’s in the case?” Nicole asked when Maggie hefted it onto the kitchen island.
“This was a gift from the folks at Capitol Region ExtraEncounters and Paranormal Investigations.” She tapped the white logo on the front of the case. “They are the team I consult with for all my ghost hunting needs. They get a consultation fee and are generously acknowledged in my books.”
Nicole eyed the logo on the case for moment and coughed on her coffee. “CREEPI. That’s hilarious.”
“I thought so, too, which is more or less how I came to choose them out of nearly two hundred ghost hunting outfits in New York state back when I really had no idea what made one better than the others.”
“Wow,” Maggie whispered when Willa popped open the case.
Foam compartments were packed with several electronic instruments. Some were easily recognizable like an LED flashlight, camera, and voice recorder, but others had unfamiliar dials, meters and lights.
“What does all this do?” Maggie asked. “Does it work? Are you going to hunt the water walker? Can I come? Can you hear it? Nicole can hear it but she didn’t believe me, and Mom can hear it.”
“Maggie.” Lee shook her head. “Take a breath.”
“Not that again.” Nicole set her mug down on the counter hard and she looked between Lee and Maggie. “I suppose that’s what you’re going to tell me we heard last night?”
“Wait.” Maggie’s eyes widened. “You heard it last night? Where was I? Did you hear it Willa?”
“I’m afraid not,” Willa admitted. “I can’t hear it.”
“I can’t either,” Maggie whined.
“At least I’m in good company.” Willa winked at her, making her blush to the tips of her ears.
“Hold up. Hold up.” Nicole glowered at all of them. “Are you three crackpots actually going to try and tell me that the person I’ve…” she gestured to Lee, “…we’ve heard walking in the water is a ghost?”
Lee and Willa eyed each other as if waiting for the other to answer.
“Totally,” Maggie blurted before anyone else had a chance to speak. “And we’re going to hunt it. Right, Willa?”
Nicole pursed her lips. “And just to be clear, out of the four of us, only me and Lee can hear it?” She raised her brows at Willa and Maggie. “And the actual ghost story writer and her favorite fangirl cannot?”
Maggie scowled at her. “You don’t have to be so rude about it, Nicole.”
“I’m sorry,” Nicole snickered. “I don’t mean to be it’s just that—”
“Yeah, yeah.” Willa rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Irony is not dead.”
Maggie bounced up and down on her toes. “So, when? Tonight?”
“Uh, I’m not sure, actually,” Willa considered. “I need to get back to the cabin. Mary Beth did me a huge favor. I should really get some work done for her and I don’t want to leave the cabin empty with all our things in it and the break-ins going on.”
“I’m sorry, Will,” Lee said. “I didn’t mean to hold you hostage here.”
“No, you didn’t. I wanted to be here and I’m not sure how I would have fared on my own last night anyway.”
Nicole stared into her coffee. “You’re not on your own, Will.”
Willa’s gaze flicked quickly to Lee, who grinned behind her coffee. “Hey, Nic, I know. Thank you. I may need a hand for a few days and I’m glad I can count on you.”
Nicole looked up, a crooked smile on her lips. “You’re on your own in the bathroom, though.”
“Yes, thank you. Pretty sure we wouldn’t both fit in there if we tried.”
“Speaking of bathrooms…” Nicole looked hopefully to Lee. “Is it okay if I shower here? You have better water pressure.”
Lee arched a brow at her. “And more hot water?”
“Uh, I’ll be quick.”
“I’m kidding.” She grinned, gesturing toward the bathroom. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Thanks.” Nicole skipped off down the hall.
“Looks like you still have some time. Can I make you breakfast?” Lee offered.
Willa smiled. “I would like that.”
“Will you show me how this stuff works?” Maggie asked excitedly, pulling up a stool.
“Yes, I will.” Willa pulled out the instruments one at a time. “Flashlight, needs no explanation. The camera is a normal, albeit expensive, digital SLR but this…” She held up an additional lens, “…is a low-light or night vision adapter.”
“Cool.” Maggie’s eyes were big as saucers.
“Of course you have to be in position, waiting and ready to take your photo.” Willa held up three round cameras about the size of a tennis ball. “These little guys are remote HD, motion-activated recording cameras with infrared capability up to thirty-three feet. They are waterproof but have limited battery life.”
“Motion-activated.” Maggie considered one of the cameras, rolling it around in her hand. “But what if what you want to record isn’t corporeal? Will it still pick that up?”
“Corporeal?” Lee snorted from the stove where she was scrambling eggs. “Listen to you, you big nerd.”
“Don’t pretend you didn’t do your own ghost research,” Maggie challenged.
“Busted.” Lee smiled at her daughter. “Willa, this is what reading your books has done to my daughter—turned her into a big ghost geek.”
“You give me far too much credit.” Willa laughed before turning her attention back to Maggie. “Okay, I’ll let you in on the secret. Motion detectors don’t detect motion but heat changes when someone moves in front of the infrared sensors.”
Maggie considered the new information. “So…the ghost has a heat signature?”
“Well, that’s a very good question. And the answer is I really have no idea. It’s entirely possible it’s different for every paranormal event, but what else is there?”
“But, theoretically, if the spirit pulls energy from our plane and the ambient temperature drops, we could see a temperature increase when the spirit manifests, right?”
Willa beamed at her. “Very good.”
Lee slid a plate of eggs and toast in front of her daughter and another in front of Willa before sitting down with her own. “Who are you people?”
“Which brings me to this.” Willa pulled out another small device. “Digital thermometer. Pretty self-explanatory.”
“What’s that one?” Lee asked, pointing to a device with her fork.
“Sound-activated digital recorder.” Willa held it up. “Not really anything special about it, but given what we know about this particular spirit, it may be our most critical piece of equipment.”
Maggie pulled out the last device, the size of a television remote control with colored lights at one end. “Oh, is this an EMF meter?”
“You got it. It’s to measure electromagnetic energy fluctuations when a spirit manifests. We’ll be outside so that will eliminate some ambient EM noise, but with the other equipment operating there will be activity. Also, nature does have EM fields and the weather is a big contributor. It’s necessary to get a baseline reading of your environment so you can identify any change.”
“I get it.” Maggie scanned the devices again. “I can’t wait.”
“I’m ready to go, Will.” Nicole appeared, raking her fingers through her damp hair to untangle it.
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to, Mags.” Lee stood and cleared their plates. “Willa and Nicole need to get home.”
Maggie’s face fell and she put the equipment back and closed the lid. “Okay.”
Willa put her hand on top of the case. “Listen, I’m not going to lug all this back to the cabin when we need to set it up here, so why don’t you hang on to it?”
“Really?” Maggie’s eyes lit up.
“Absolutely. In fact, you now know as much about all this as I do. There’s a manual and there should be a link to their website with training videos. As long as it’s okay with your mom, you’re welcome to try it out.”
Maggie squeaked and bit down on her lip, practically vibrating with excitement as she turned huge, pleading eyes to Lee. “Mom?”
Lee crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, glaring playfully at Willa. “Who am I to stand in the way of pseudoscientific discovery?”
“Cute.” Willa smirked at her. “Come on, Nic. Give me a hand?”
Lee helped herself to Willa’s phone, still sitting on the counter. “Before you go, though, I know the service out here can be spotty but my plan is pretty good. If you need anything, you may need to walk down to the water but it should go through.”
“Or we could just yell and wave a rainbow flag,” Nicole quipped.
Lee eyed her suspiciously. “That was a joke, right?”
“Yes, Lee, that was a joke.” Nicole grinned and helped Willa to her feet, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Is that okay?”
Willa shifted her balance and draped an arm across Nicole’s shoulders, adjusting to her greater height. “Thanks.”
Lee held the door for them, offering Nicole a nod of approval and winking at Willa. “I’ll walk you to the car.”