Page 5 of Dark Shadows

Word spread about what Savanah could do. The teasing started the very next day.

This time, they didn’t move to another town. Her parents made her face the consequences, a reminder to keep the ghosts secret.

That was her last visit to Daddy’s work, but it wasn’t the last time his boss asked for her help, and it definitely wasn’t the last time a ghost got her in trouble.

1

Present Day – 20 years later

FBI Special Agent Mason Spencer knew a thing or two about working with weirdos.

His best friend, Cree Blue, was one of them.

That was probably why he’d been assigned the liaison job, bridging the gap between those who could see ghosts and those who couldn’t.

He landed squarely in the can’t-see-a-damn-thing group.

So, why him?

Because he believed.

He’d witnessed a few haunting cases firsthand and knew some questions were never meant to have answers.

Like why he was sitting in a dimly lit bar that smelled like citrus and whiskey, watching Savanah Miles sling beers and mixed drinks from muscle memory.

She looked like a bartender but moved like a predator, calm and graceful. Her gaze swept the room as if she were checking for empty glasses, though she was probably scanning for trouble.

Anytime the door opened, her gaze went to the newcomers, aware of everyone who entered.

It wasn’t unheard of for a cop’s kid to be prepared for all kinds of trouble, and judging by how observant and vigilant she was, her daddy had taught her well before he died.

Mason had caught her looking at him more than once. She probably thought he was a stalker.

Probably thought she should kick him out.

She would have been right on both counts.

He’d been watching her for hours now, stalking from a distance while one guy after another tried their luck. She batted them away like she was in a batting cage and the machine was set to slow and straight.

There was an art to how she handled herself.

Cree’s letter and warning were all starting to make sense.

Mason was always looking for an angle. Strategy and reason were his weapons of choice, and Cree, his psychic best friend, gave him an added edge.

That was why the other agents on his team at the bureau had a bet going.

The odds weren’t in his favor.

Most of them figured he’d never be able to bring her in.

He might have agreed with them, at least before Cree had told him otherwise.

He’d added a hundred to the pot that he’d get her to agree.

The extra money would just be a bonus he’d donate to charity.

No sense inviting bad juju into his life.