Protecting His Windflower (A Spirit Hunters Series Novel Book 1) by Temperance Dawn (best ereader for epub TXT) 📗

move to the Bay Area. Liam turned to his friends, but before he could say anything, Luke answered for him. “Trey and I will go to the hardware store and grab the equipment we may need. When we get back, we’ll start right away.”

Liam walked his friends to the front door. “Make sure to grab something to bust that lock downstairs.”

“Will do,” Trey said.

“Hey, Luke. You’re cousin still an engineer for the city?”

Luke turned and caught Liam’s eye. He nodded. “Yeah, he is. Why?”

“I need someone to come look at the house. I want to do a lot of renovating. I need to know what I need to do to accomplish it.”

“What kind of renovating you looking to do?” Trey stopped and turned to face Luke and Liam.

“For starters, I want to make this our headquarters.”

“No shit? Really?” Both men seemed excited at the idea.

Liam continued, “Yes. And I want to expand the upstairs. Emily and I have talked, and she’s moving in with me.”

Trey and Luke congratulated their friend on his statement. “Happy for you, man,” Luke said.

“Thanks. How do you guys really feel about her?”

“Dude, she’s awesome. Really. Why?” Trey asked.

“She wants to come on board, help us manage the office. She even wants to travel to locations with us when she has downtime with her photography business. She said she needs a change. She wants to help people. Wants to travel. She’s serious and wants to learn more about doing paranormal investigations and help us.”

“Tell her we are stoked to have her on board,” Trey said.

As they walked out of the building, Luke turned to Liam. “I’ll contact my cousin. Ask him to help or maybe recommend someone. This place is gonna be awesome. Let’s clean house so we can get started.”

A few hours later, after Luke and Trey had returned with a couple of sledgehammers, shovels, and a wheelbarrow, and got started right away with setting up all of their equipment. Knowing that it would take them at least half a day to break up the concrete slab in the basement, Liam, Trey, and Luke decided it would be best to get into the locked apartment and work on digging the next day. Gathering as much evidence as possible was a top priority for everyone. Luke was in the van parked in front, checking the monitors and ensuring all of the cameras were positioned at the right angles. Trey and Lexi were in Liam’s apartment, setting up some cameras while Liam and Emily were in her flat setting up.

Liam had finished setting up a few cameras in the back of the apartment when he walked into the living room. Emily was taping down cords that were running from cameras that she had just set up. She hadn’t noticed him watching her.

“How are you doing, baby?”

Emily jumped. “Oh my god!” she yelled, her hands pressed to her heart, “You scared me.”

Liam hurried to her and pulled her up and embraced her. “I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m okay. I feel a little on edge. Obviously, a little jumpy. But I’m okay.”

“If things get really intense, I want you to leave the building and go sit in the van. I don’t want anything to happen to you. You’re new at this and have a lot to learn still.”

“I want to be here. I need to be here.”

“I know you do. You know we will share everything with you. Being in the van still makes you a hundred percent a part of this team. Like I said, there is still so much for you to learn. Whatever this thing is seems to be hell-bent on destroying us. You’ve gotten this far without being physically harmed by it, and I want to keep it that way. Lexi already told Trey that she doesn’t mind being in the van and keeping an eye on all the cameras. If things get intense, you’ll be with her. You’ll be able to keep an eye on us from the van. Just like last time. Okay?”

“Guys?” Luke called from the outside hallway. Liam and Emily made their way to the front door and looked around the corner. Trey looked down from the top landing.

“Yeah?” Both Liam and Trey said in unison.

“I’m getting ready to break this lock,” Luke called from the end of the hall.

Liam glanced at Emily. She gave him a subtle nod. He took her hand and walked toward Luke. Lexi followed Trey down the stairs from the upper level of the building. “We’re right behind you.”

Twenty-Five

Trey and Luke stood on either side of Liam while Emily and Lexi hung back. He held a pair of bolt clippers in his hand, with the cutting end around the shackle of the large, heavy-duty lock. It took a bit of muscle, but the cutters broke through the steel, and the lock fell to the basement floor with a loud clunk. Trey took the tool and rested it to the side, against the wall. Liam reached for Emily’s hand, and with his other, he turned the doorknob, revealing the mysterious room.

A lone lightbulb with a string hung a few feet past the threshold. Liam stumbled as he stepped to it. “Be careful,” he told everyone. “There’s a small drop.” He pulled the thin string, and the room was basked in an eerie, dim light. The sight before him was unexpected. The room wasn’t an apartment as he initially believed. It was a barren room filled with boxes, dozens of them stacked to one side. It was cold and more like a cellar with cinderblock walls. Aside from the boxes stacked to the side, the room was empty.

The concrete slab of the basement stopped a few inches past the doorway, and that was what caused Liam to trip as he entered. They were now standing on a dirt floor, the building's original foundation, with the boxes sitting on wooden pallets.

“I thought this was an apartment,” Emily said from beside Liam.

“So did