Darkness Exposed by Terri Reid

least an hour,” he said. “Stanley, can you do me a favor and cover that camera with a paper sack. I’ll turn down the sound and send a message out that we’ve encountered a slight problem with the living room camera, but we’ll have it fixed in a trice.”
    A few minutes later, the camera was covered and Ian had set up another one to record the session.
    “Why didn’t you have that set up when Jeannine was being hypnotized?” Rosie asked.
    “Because I couldn’t capture Jeannine’s voice or form on the camera,” Ian explained. “And now I’ll be able to do both.”
    “And I don’t think I’ll be available to take notes,” Mary added, and then turned to Ian. “What will I be feeling?”
    He shrugged. “I have no idea,” he said. “You might just take a nap while Jeannine uses your body to communicate with us, or you might be along for the ride.”
    Jeannine hovered near Mary. “Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked. “We can try something else if you think it’s too dangerous.”
    Mary shook her head. “I’m sure,” she said. “Just don’t make me do a chicken dance, okay?”
    Jeannine chuckled. “I promise.”

Chapter Sixteen

    Bradley’s cruiser rumbled down the snow-covered gravel road. The county plows had been through to push the snow into the ditches and sprinkle sand on the road for traction, but the roads were still slick.
    “I’d always worry about losing an engine in one of the ditches in this kind of weather,” Mike admitted. “Those big girls aren’t made for slick narrow lanes.”
    “Yeah, during the last fire we had to call a couple snow plows and pull one of the hook and ladders out,” Bradley replied. “Luckily it was after the fire was out, not before.”
    Mike looked out the window and sighed. “I miss working fires,” he said. “It was such an adrenalin rush. From the moment that alarm sounded to the minute you finally put out the last flame, it was you against the fire. And you hoped you won that day.”
    “I heard you were one of the best they had,” Bradley said.
    “You were asking about me?”
    Bradley shrugged. “Yeah, well, I had to know a little bit about the guy who could pop into Mary’s life any time he wanted.”
    Mike laughed. “Yeah, anything you learned about me at the firehouse couldn’t have eased your mind too much.”
    “Actually, other than being a lady killer, they all had great things to say about you,” Bradley said.
    Mike turned back to Bradley. “How are the guys doing?” he asked.
    “Good,” he said, nodding. “They’re doing well. If you’d like, I could drive over there so you could check it out.”
    “Yeah, maybe after we check out the barn,” he said. “That’d be nice. Thanks.”
    Bradley shrugged. “Just being nice so you keep your hands off my girl,” he said.
    Mike laughed. “I’d take her in a minute,” he said. “But even though you act like an idiot, for some reason she’s still in love with you.”
    Sighing deeply, he shook his head. “I know I don’t deserve her and I don’t know how I got so lucky,” he said. “But I really do love her.”
    “Yeah, I know,” he said. “I can tell.”
    The ruins of the barn came into view. “Whew, that used to be a great old barn,” Mike said. “One of the few round barns left in the area.”
    “Yeah,” Bradley said. “Once the hay caught on fire, there was nothing they could do to save it. The fire department had no idea anyone was inside. The owner had already cleared out the livestock before they got there.”
    “So, the body that you found,” Mike said. “The person wasn’t a family member?”
    “No and there was no i.d. on the guy,” he said. “So we’re checking dental records. Hopefully that will give us something. Or…”
    “Or his ghost is still here and willing to talk to us,” Mike added.
    “Yeah,” Bradley said. “Exactly.”
    They pulled up in front of the barn, Bradley got out of his car and walked to the barn. Mike