Page 2 of The Penitentiary (Ghost Seekers Inc. #1)

Sunny – Sunday evening.

“C allie!” I yelled. My boots hit the ground hard as I raced down the narrow walkway. “I hope the fuck you’re getting this!”

Levi stomped behind me with Phil chasing him. Fear coursed through me in no small amount as we headed for the stairs. My boots pounded the metal under them as the doors of the cellblock we’d been setting up in slammed shut one after another.

I grabbed the edge of the wall at the top and, gripping it, swung around and jumped down several steps. I landed securely as ghostly laughter cackled in the distance and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

Levi shrieked—no other word for the noise he emitted and landed beside me. For a moment, we swapped terrified glances and moved as Phil caught us up.

“Fuck this!” Levi muttered clearly and raced down the stairs. Behind me, Phil squeaked as a loud bang came from the upper level we’d just left. The three of us were running from whatever had awakened. And we seriously had no intention of hanging around.

“Here,” Callie’s voice said calmly over the radio. Blasted woman, did anything bother my old lady?

Rushing, I raced towards the central hub, where Callie had set up protection. As we entered, I felt a cold hand grab my neck, and I yelped. I stumbled as something grabbed my cut and I was violently shoved, straight over the salt circle that Callie insisted would protect us.

“Damn, that’s some activity!” Phil crowed, rubbing his hands together.

“No shit,” I retorted as I struggled to get my breath.

“This is fuckin’ insane!” Levi gasped.

“It’ll make for some brilliant footage,” Phil added as he patted his camera.

Unamused, I rolled my eyes. Yeah, six-foot-six and a six-foot-four biker racing through a prison being chased by a ghost would certainly create great viewing. I shook my head in despair. Typical Phil. Actually, scratch that. The entire team was batshit crazy. I think I was the only sane one on it.

A low moan sounded from close by, and Levi jumped. “Callie said the salt circle would protect us,” he muttered.

“Probably would have if Sunny hadn’t completely wrecked it!” Phil yelled, pointed, and raced off.

“Aw, shit!” I cursed as I saw where my boot had broken the line.

Two red eyes appeared in front of me, and without a second thought, I followed Phil, and Levi shoved me out of the way as he burst past me.

We were on Phil’s heels as he ran outside and bent over, wheezing. There was a cackle of laughter in my ear before it abruptly switched off.

I glowered at Levi. “Ghosts don’t exist! Talk about waving a red flag at a bull, asshole!”

Levi glared before chuckling. “Madi is going to love this!”

“Your woman is as insane as mine!” I retorted.

“Heard that. Get your ass back to the Warden’s office,” Callie growled down my earpiece.

“Affirmative,” I replied and shook my head. Christ, this was the crazy shit I’d signed on for. And the fuck if I regretted it, I was living the best life possible!

Callie – twenty-four hours earlier – Saturday afternoon.

I was unsure whether I should be excited about seeing Levi and Madi.

In the year since we’d left Hellfire MC and Sunny had gone nomad, they’d stayed in touch, but we hadn’t been back.

Now, the brother that Sunny had kidnapped and basically beaten the shit out of was coming for a visit.

Sunny appeared to be okay, although on edge.

Nobody would see it but me, and only because I understood him so well.

All week, I’d been nervous and worried that Levi would arrive and cause trouble.

A vehicle entered the grounds and headed towards the bus.

We were parked up in the Penitentiary’s parking area.

There were several vehicles here. We had a tour bus, which slept ten, where the team rested, and we used it as our base away from home.

We also owned a tricked-out RV, which was Sunny’s and mine.

It conveniently had a space to load his hog on the back.

Then there was the command centre in a truck and two SUVs.

All our equipment was stored in the truck, and any excess was in the tour bus compartments.

Our roles hadn’t changed at all. Phil remained in charge of editing the footage we took.

That was a thankless task as far as I was concerned, and I admired his tenacity.

Freddie handled the gear, and Harry adored his research job and helped with monitoring the cameras with Freddie.

Jack continued as the second lead investigator, although we now allowed Sunny time in the spotlight, too.

That hadn’t been my choice, but on a special we’d done, Sunny had taken charge when Jack sprained his ankle and the GSI fans had gone crazy.

Sunny thought it was insane, but they loved him.

The others and I were amused at how popular Sunny had become.

Sunny was the guy who was bulked out, tattooed the fuck to hell, and who freaked out the most. It seemed the viewers agreed with us and enjoyed Sunny’s reactions on the few episodes he’d appeared on.

Jack appreciated Sunny taking his lead because it gave him time to help Phil.

Jack also liked the editing side, and Phil was grateful for any aid.

We had four drivers who accompanied us, serving as security at the same time.

Because our investigations were so long, word often got around about where we were, and we needed security.

Diaz, Solace, and Ashford had joined us.

Ackers, now known as Sailor, had stayed with Hellfire MC and was working through prospecting.

Diaz had mentioned to Sunny that another old teammate was looking for a job, and we’d hired him.

Merrick was a grim-faced man, but that hid a personality that loved dishing out shit and playing pranks. The GSI, Ghost Seekers Inc. was now composed of ten people. A hell of a large team when you consider it, but only six of us investigated things.

I smiled weakly as Madi and Levi climbed out of an SUV, and Madi squealed when she saw me!

“I’m so excited!” Madi cried as she flew over and squeezed me tightly.

“Me too,” I muttered.

Madi stepped back and glowered at Sunny. Oh hell, she still held a grudge. I was prepared to support my husband, but then Madi grinned and hugged him.

“Hey, Brute!” she said.

“Hey, girl,” Sunny replied.

Madi had every right to hate Sunny. A year ago, he’d kidnapped, beaten, and threatened to kill Levi.

Sunny’s now-deceased sperm donor had returned with information on what had happened to Sunny.

Only Primal had been injured and had spoken Levi’s name.

Sunny assumed this was an accusation and acted wrongly.

Primal had meant that Levi’s Aunt Livvy’s man, Carnage, had been behind Sunny being left for dead.

Levi was a clue, not an implication. Hellfire had found Levi before Sunny had killed him and then locked Sunny up.

Levi had proved his innocence by helping me rescue Sunny, and together we all solved the crime.

Madi had held a grudge until Levi had healed. Sunny had done a number on him. Sunny had broken his back to make things right between them, but I still worried. Hell, I wouldn’t have been as forgiving as Madi.

Levi stepped forward, hugged me, and studied the vehicles. “Didn’t anticipate such a setup,” he said.

Sunny explained what each vehicle was for and then mentioned that Diaz had gone to pick up an RV for them to stay in for the week.

“Wow, that’s kind of you. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to sleep at The Penn, considering the reputation it has,” Madi responded.

“What a great idea…” Sunny replied, sending Levi a sideways glance.

“Dude, forget it.” He shook his head. “So, what do we do?” Levi asked.

“Well, we’ve only just arrived an hour ago. We’re going to have lunch and then check that all the equipment works and is charged up. Once we’ve done that, we’ll rest up for tomorrow. Then we’ll talk about plans and strategy. Because we’ve got you and Madi on board, we can form two teams.”

“Okay,” Levi drawled, sounding unsure.

“Usually, Freddie watches our cameras, as Phil films everything. Harry sometimes joins us, although he prefers being locked away doing research. Harry will also help Freddie out with monitoring our footage. Jack and I take turns being behind or in front of the camera, and Callie is the lead investigator,” Sunny explained.

“Okay,” Madi said as her brow furrowed. She clearly was assigning the roles.

“But with you guys here, we thought two teams would give us more ground coverage. Jack will accompany you, Madi, and Freddie, and Phil will come with me and Callie. Harry will watch the screens. We have security on site because we receive visitors, and we’ve also had several attempted thefts.

Make sure you lock your RV when you leave,” I said.

“Not surprised you get thieves. There’s a lot of expensive equipment present,” Levi said.

“The insurance makes my eyes water,” Sunny admitted, and I laughed.

“And he isn’t the one paying it!” I teased. Sunny grinned.

“I love the logo on the bus. Green for Slimer, right?” Madi asked, and I beamed.

“It was geeky, but I liked it. I think it pings,” I agreed.

“Yeah, it’s cool. And I’ve seen the merchandise you’re doing. It’s fantastic,” Madisen said.

The logo was on every vehicle, proclaiming them as belonging to us, which was probably why we needed security.

We didn’t fly under the radar. Anyway, I loved the design; therefore, I didn’t care.

However, when dealing with private clients, we informed them about the logo so that a circus wouldn’t land on their doorstep.

Somewhere like this was fine, as we used the car park. But with a private client, we’d find an RV park and use the SUVs to drive around. We did have some black magnetic plates we could use to cover the logo on them if we needed to. Although nobody had requested it, we had the option.