Patrick and his crew arrived about thirty minutes later. By then, James and Bradley were back upstairs with a handful of readings they hadn’t shared with anyone else yet. There was also a clear tension between them that had to mean an argument had occurred downstairs. Though, Gabriella reasoned, that might be what they needed to set the tone for a normal workday. As the Hillsborough County team got out of their van, Gabriella braced herself for whatever was going to happen next.

The team was smaller than she’d expected. Patrick parked beside their own van and got out, already scowling. A woman about Gabriella’s age with short dark hair got out of the passenger seat, carrying a heavy bag of equipment. And then the back door opened and a second woman got out, the same blonde they’d met back at Hillsborough’s headquarters. They all walked purposefully toward the house as Gabriella stepped onto the porch to greet them.

“Sorry we’re late,” the blonde woman – Saskia – said with a hesitant smile. “We had a case go much longer than we anticipated and then the rest of our team had to go on another one right after.”

She sounded genuinely sorry and Gabriella felt her irritation fading. But then Patrick opened his mouth, and it flared back up.

“We’re here now though,” he said brusquely. “So let’s get inside and I’ll give you all your assignments.”

Graham was behind her in the hall and he turned to Gabriella with an amused look on his face as the team made their way into the house.

“I hate these kinds of houses,” the woman from the front seat muttered to Patrick as they came inside. “It’s so generic. Like suddenly everyone wants the farmhouse chic thing.”

He laughed, then turned and saw Gabriella standing there. His smile slowly faded as she just continued to look at him.

“Right,” he said. “Okay, the homeowner is here?”

“She’s in the kitchen,” Gabriella said, silently begging this guy to not get himself thrown out of her mom’s house.

He gave her a sharp nod, then went in. “Mrs. McManus,” he said, his voice carrying out into the wide entryway. “I’m Patrick Newton, it’s a pleasure.”

As Gabriella went into the kitchen again, she saw her mom stand up and give Patrick a quick handshake. “Come sit down,” Mom offered. “Coffee?”

“Yeah, black.”

He looked at Gabriella as he said this, and she raised her eyebrows at him. Then she shot a glance at James, wondering exactly how she was supposed to not deck this guy.

“Allow me,” Bradley said from beside James. “I’ll put another pot on.”

Ah, this was how it was going to go. Bradley’s coffee was nearly undrinkable to anybody else, and she’d never been sure if he actually knew it. But from the deliberate way he’d pulled the attention off of her and onto himself, it was confirmed.

“Let me show you where the coffee is stored,” her mom said, motioning him toward the countertop.

“This is going to be a standard investigation,” Patrick said, folding his hands on the table and looking across at James, who was sitting with his own coffee still in front of him. “I’ll give you your assignments and we’ll thoroughly examine the house. Since we don’t have the history yet, we’ll wait to check the land.”

James held up a hand. “You remember we’re consultants on this one, right?”

“Obviously,” Patrick said. “So consult on the house with me.”

“It’s an early nineteenth century building,” Gabriella cut in before things could get politely ugly between the captains. “At least, I think. I found references to it in a newspaper from 1920 and it seemed to be an older building then. I don’t have an exact building date or original owner yet, but I’m planning to bring what I have to the historical society to find out more.”

“It must be nice to have the time to have a designated researcher,” Patrick said. “We wouldn’t have even a moment to devote to that kind of thing.”

“Yeah, it’s nothing but slow moments over in North County,” James said. “Thanks, Gabs. Maybe you and Bradley can go over to the historical society later while we work here.”

Great, so she was on babysitting duty. Though she had to admit that if she was about to let this guy have it, she could only imagine how badly things would go when Bradley finally gave up and went from passive-aggressive to straight-on belligerent.

“James, no,” Patrick said. “I didn’t clear that yet. We don’t know exactly what kind of entity we’re working with, so there’s no need to get background information on it when we can probably just clear it out.”

James looked taken aback at this. “Again,” he said. “I am not part of your team. Neither are my people, we’re here as consultants. I’m not going to try to run this operation, but I’m also not your subordinate. Please remember that, Patrick.”

He spoke in a calm, measured way that only slightly betrayed the anger underneath. Patrick held up his hands. “Fine, fine,” he said. “James, bud, I’m just hoping we can work together here.”

What was this guy’s deal? Was he just afraid to have anyone mad at him? At least James was willing to take the heat when he was in charge. Not that he was immune to the bickering at headquarters, but Patrick’s flips between taking charge and his innocent act were already getting old and Gabriella had known the man for less than three hours.

Behind her, she could hear Bradley and her mother talking softly. Just when the day felt like it couldn’t get anymore surreal. Gabriella’s big worry had been Bradley saying something, anything, about her mom or her house. But apparently they were best friends now. She’d take the favor for what it was, but that didn’t make it any less weird.

“You’ll have me and Graham here for a little while,” James said. “Bradley and Gabriella are going to be taking our vehicle to the Greenville Historical Society to see what they can get for background. We have a small history of readings from the basement-” He held up a hand before Patrick could say anything. “-Use them or don’t, but the resources are there. Some from this morning, some from October. Mrs. McManus also has a background in the paranormal from our family’s history. So you don’t have to keep her in the dark about everything you’re doing, she’ll get it.”

Patrick had opened his mouth to say something, but then he just nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “Alright.”

“And can you and I step outside and talk? Captain to captain.”

Patrick nodded again, seeming to have his feet back under him. The two of them stood up and James led the way out to the front porch.

“Coffee will just be another minute,” Gabriella’s mom said as the front door closed behind them. “Do you girls want any?”

Saskia nodded. “Yes, please,” she said as the other woman shook her head. “Here, let me help.”

Before Gabriella’s mother could refuse, Saskia and Gabriella both stood and started toward the counter, where Bradley was wiping up some coffee grounds that had tipped.

“I’m sorry about Patrick,” Saskia said, her voice low. “He’s not actually a bad guy, he’s just overwhelmed. Apparently the person who was supposed to take over as captain pulled out, so he’s stuck.”

“She never accepted the job in the first place,” Bradley said, his tone frosty enough to bring a chill into the room. “Hell, they didn’t finish the interview process before she chose to back out. None of this is her fault.”

Saskia faltered. “Seriously?”

Gabriella shot Bradley a look, but he was already knocking the coffee grounds into the small trash can beside the shelf. So she turned back to Saskia. “Yeah,” Gabriella said. “She didn’t ditch anybody, she decided not to finish the interview process. Probably like several other people in the running.”

“There was nobody else in the running,” Saskia said. “I didn’t know she hadn’t taken the job. Our captain told us she was going to after she came up to visit our headquarters. She left so quickly though, I don’t know what was up with that.”

“What was up with that was more people had just died in a case we were working on and she needed to hurry back to her real job,” Bradley snapped.

Saskia’s face fell and Gabriella considered if she could get away with kicking Bradley. Probably not, so she tried to look kind as she smiled at Saskia. “You couldn’t have known,” she said. “I don’t know if Patrick knew. Maybe your captain just jumped the gun quitting.”

“Maybe,” Saskia said, looking a little hesitant as she glanced at Bradley, then back at Gabriella. “But everything’s a mess here right now. Patrick’s trying, he really is. But it’s so much and I think that’s why he’s had such a short temper lately.”

“He needs to be careful,” Gabriella said.

She glanced around, but her mom had ducked out of the room and Gabriella could hear her showing Graham something in the hallway. “My mom’s already not happy with him. And she said if he’s treating her family badly, she doesn’t want him in her home. I got her to relent for now, but James is family as much as I am. So if he doesn’t stop being rude to James, he’s going to have even more of a mess to deal with. Do you think he’d listen to you if you told him that?”

“Or is he just going to Poor Me all over the case?” Bradley added.

“I don’t know,” Saskia admitted. “But I can try.”

“Please,” Gabriella said.

The coffee was ready, and Bradley picked up the carafe to pour it. “Add milk,” Gabriella warned Saskia.

“I don’t really like milk,” she said. “I take mine black.”

“Okay, but I’m warning you.”

Bradley glanced over at her and her face heated up a little. “You just make it strong, that’s all,” she tried to smooth over.

“It’s coffee. It’s supposed to wake you up.”

“It’s jet fuel.”

Screw the plan, nothing was ever smoothed over. Bradley shrugged and poured everybody fresh cups of coffee. As he finished, James and Patrick walked back into the room. Patrick went straight for the coffee.

“Perfect, thank you,” he said as he picked up a mug and took a sip.

Gabriella watched as his face went still. He swallowed the sip he had, then cleared his throat. Without a word, he sat back down at the table. Meanwhile, Saskia was sipping her coffee with no trouble, because apparently this day could get a little weirder.

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CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 8