Page 23 of Hell's Claim

“Nope. But this way, you know nobody is hiding away and playing tricks. Whatever happens is genuine. You can’t accuse us of bullshiting you.”

Polly’s mouth opened and then closed. “Fair enough.”

We wandered around, taking base readings and checking for cold spots. There were several worthy of note, and they corresponded with the reports of the hauntings. Three hours later, Polly seemed overwhelmed, but she couldn’t explain the cold spots or EMF readings. Such a shame… not!

“Okay. Let’s log these down. Then, Polly, you’re with Harry for the afternoon while we do research. Dinner is at four. We meet back here at ten tonight,” I said.

“What?” Polly gasped.

“We’re investigating once we’ve eaten dinner, we get our heads down for a few hours before starting our evening shift,” I stated.

Polly looked horrified. “Until what time?”

“Depends on the activity. If there is none, then we’ll finish about two. Should we pick up anything, it will be around four,” I replied.

“You’re kidding me?” Polly exclaimed.

“Welcome to Ghost Seekers. We work hard here.”

Polly sent me a long look, and I smiled sweetly at her. “You do this on every investigation?” she challenged.

“No, and yes. It depends on the time we have. We never do less than a minimum three-day investigation. And we’ve done up to two weeks. Usually, on shorter jobs, we do not stick together, we each do our own thing. But because of your scepticism, we’re sticking together, so you can’t accuse us of fooling anyone or faking footage. It limits us but doesn’t stop us,” I replied.

“Callie, I—”

“Please don’t, Polly. Since I’ve started this, you’ve ridiculed my beliefs and ethics. At the end of these two weeks, you will either believe ghosts exist, or you’ll respect the fact we work hard. You’ll understand that even if you don’t believe, we don’t fake anything,” I said confidently.

Polly held my gaze. “So be it.”

“Indeed. So, when I say rest, get your head down. Or you’re going to be sleep-deprived very quickly. And nobody slacks off on an investigation.”

Polly nodded. There was a flicker of respect in her eyes. Yeah, she was starting to realise just how seriously we took this. It was about time.

Chapter Six.

Sunny

“Truly. I couldn’t believe how much work went into their investigations. Callie was like a machine. They had interrupted sleep, worked hours on research, and sat for hours, sometimes in a room just waiting for a response. It was interesting and tedious, but I was wrong. They’re not faking anything. I’ve never been so scared in my life when that spirit box spoke my name,” Polly exclaimed to Thalia, Clio, and Rain. Maylene sat close to them with Rose, Shotgun’s grandmother.

“So, you’re more appreciative of what Callie does now?” Maylene asked.

“Honestly, Gran, I have to say yes. They work hard. The first three days, they got nothing except temperature and EMF fluctuations. They managed to debunk some of those, but at least half could not be explained. I really didn’t think they were going to get anything until the fourth night, when it all kicked off. I’d been pretty smug until then.

“But those doors opening and shutting couldn’t be faked. And we were all together when it happened. And the female figure caught on camera! I can’t say I believe in ghosts, but there iscertainly something out there I can’t explain. And I’ll not ridicule Callie again,” Polly admitted. “They work damn hard.”

“Did you make up?” Rain asked.

Polly scowled. “We’re not in the playground now.”

“But you were acting like it,” Rain stated calmly, not backing down.

“I’m a lot more tolerant of Callie’s beliefs, and I’ve a shitload of respect for her team. I never imagined it would be such hard work. And Harry. Damn, that guy is a powerhouse for research. His mind made connections I’d never have dreamed of,” Polly said.

Sunny grinned. Seemed someone had gotten a good dose of Callie’s reality and had changed her tune exponentially. His word of the day, and he had used it in the right context.

He turned on his heel from where he’d been lingering and caught Chance watching him. Despite Chance’s open acceptance of him, Sunny knew Chance and Bear were suspicious as fuck of him. They knew Sunny was holding back, and that Sunny wasn’t one hundred per cent with the club. The fact Sunny’s Olivia hadn’t been around spoke to that fact.

Sunny headed towards the garage where Fanatic was no doubt working. It was hard to get the prospect out, and Jinx had taken to ensuring Fanatic ate.

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