Free The Unearthed: Book One, The Eddie McCloskey Series by Evan Ronan

“Yeah, it felt good, too.”
    “Billy …” Talia said with obvious disapproval.
    “Sorry, Mom. But he had it coming.”
    Billy sounded like he was trying to act tough.
    “William Rosselli,” Talia said. “That’s enough. You’d better behave, young man. I don’t want to hear any more of that talk.”
    “Sorry.” He put his head down. He plopped down on the floor of the living room and played with his toy.
    “Honey, why don’t you go upstairs and play your video games? I’ve got to talk to these men, okay?”
    Billy looked up. “Okay. See ya,” he said to Eddie, waving before he ran off.
    “How old is he?” Eddie asked.
    “He’s just turned thirteen.”
    “The dreaded teens,” he said. But when Eddie thought about it, he realized he’d misbehaved more after his teens.
    Tim stepped back into the room. “Okay. Is there anything else you want to tell us?”
    Talia sat back, leveled her eyes on Tim. “This is going to sound crazy. But I get this feeling of dread when I’m alone.”
    “Dread?” Eddie asked.
    “It’s a feeling, Like I’m not alone and …”
    “And what?”
    Her eyes darted. “I’ve heard noises from the bedroom. And I think … I think I’ve seen something. Someone.”
    “You think?” Tim asked.
    “It’s happened two or three times. But definitely someone. A woman in the living room … in there.”
    She pointed.
    “I try not to go in there anymore.”
    “What does she look like?” Tim asked.
    “I never get a good look and she vanishes quickly.”
    “How do you know it’s a she?”
    “She has long black hair. And the body of a woman.”
    “When did this last happen?” Tim said.
    “A month or two ago. It’s … it’s terrifying.” Her voice cracked. “I haven’t told anybody …”
    “I can only imagine,” Eddie said.
    Talia looked at Eddie gratefully.
    “Is anyone else with you when you see this woman?” Tim asked.
    She shook her head. “Do you think I’m imagining it?”
    “Just a routine question we always ask.”
    “I saw it with my own eyes.”
    Eddie leaned forward. Damage control, as always. “We like to ask to see if people have different perceptions of the same event. That’s all.”
    “I mean, here we are, asking for help and paying you this money … and then you call us liars?” Talia asked.
    Tim sure did have a way with people.
    “That is not our intention, Mrs. Rosselli,” Tim said. “We just have to be scientific about this. For your sake.”
    Eddie asked, “What about the noises from the bedroom?”
    Talia looked around, like she was checking for Billy. “Like someone having sex.”

Twelve
     
    Eddi e took a long drag on his cigarette, savoring the smoke. It settled him. He stared down the Rossellis’ driveway. Night had begun to fall. He watched as a breeze rustled the trees. In the distance he heard a dog bark.
    The air around him changed. The hackles on his neck came to attention.
    A cold sweat broke out on his back. Just the night air, he told himself.
    He worked on the cigarette.
    The air moved again. It smelled like a thunderstorm was lurking, the air charged. But there was not a cloud in the sky.
    He figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask, so he did. “Is there anyone there?”
    Nothing.
    He finished his cigarette but remained where he was.
    “Hello?”
    Nothing.
    He walked up the porch steps to the front door and opened it. He hesitated in the doorway, still feeling that tingling along the back of his neck. He looked out at the yard again.
    He couldn’t see anything.
    But he knew something was there.
    * * * *
    “We have good acoustics,” Stan explained to Tim. He’d found good vantage points for the cameras and digital recorders. “They’ve kept the hardwood in most places. That helps us. Carpet eats up sound.”
    He and Tim stood on the back deck, looking out into the woods beyond. The sun had disappeared behind the tree line, leaving the backyard in twilight. Stan was smoking a cigarette. He’d quit a few times,