Jack watched the shine in Megan Trent’s blue eyes as Rob and Liam told her all about EVP’s and a residual haunting versus an actual haunting. Most clients loved learning all the jargon. Her smile lit up a face already model beautiful. She was like a child in a candy store with all the gadgets the team brought into the house. His jaw dropped when Donna let her look through the lens of her thermal imaging camera. The camera tech didn’t let Jack touch her cameras without a damage clause waiver. The woman treated them like they were her babies.
His face heated and his hands clenched into fists when Rob held Megan’s hand to turn the camera to focus on Andrea and Luke. Her giggle skittered up his spine in a caress as the colorful blobs showed up on the computer screen he watched. He was a healthy adult male, but his libido was misplaced at best. He was on the job. A few deep breaths and he got himself under control.
Jack smiled when Megan’s head bobbed, alternating looking at the camera’s screen and at Andrea and Luke across the room. Most civilians didn’t understand what they were looking at when the thermal imaging was on. Almost like science fiction and thanks to the military, the technology was available for non-military use.
“Wait. Everybody freeze.” Jack’s voice reverberated across the room. He marched to the camera and squeezed in between Megan and Donna.
“Donna, go back half a minute, maybe 45 seconds.”
Luke began to walk over. Jack held up his hand. “You guys, stay right where you were for a reference point.”
Jack stared at the screen as it ran in reverse, the cold blue mass moving in and out of the camera’s point of view.
“Right there. Go forward. On slow-mo.”
Jack watched as Luke and Andrea’s thermal signatures stood in the middle of the viewer, their arms moving as they talked. Suddenly, a blue blob moved between them. He watched as the figure on the left, Andrea, raised her hands and rubbed her arms. Her thermal signature dropped ten degrees. Luke’s stayed the same. The apparition had no effect on him. He’d seen the phenomena before. The spirits chose who to interact with.
Like a puff of smoke, the apparition disappeared. Jack blinked, but it was gone. Megan’s gasp filled the silent room.
“Aaron.”
Everyone’s gaze locked onto Megan at her hushed tone. He handed the camera back to Donna and moved closer to the woman whose face held the grace of a saint with an epiphany. Her eyes were lighted as if from within and they glazed over.
“We can’t verify that what we saw was Aaron for sure or anything else for that matter. EMF can interfere with the readings.”
“EMF? I don’t understand.” Her brow furrowed, and her blue eyes grew wary.
“EMF is for Electric Magnetic Fields. Appliances and lighting and electric equipment can cause them. We’re not sure whether high EMF is caused by the paranormal or they are attracted to high output and draw on its power.”
“Is that why the ghost programs always show turning the lights out and stuff off?”
He smiled at her understanding and excitement. “Yes, exactly. Since all yours is still on, we can’t be one hundred percent sure that we saw anything.”
“But I smelled his cologne. Didn’t you?” Her gaze swept the room to be met with shaking heads and whispered no’s.
He placed his hand on her arm, squeezing slightly. “Olfactory memories are the strongest senses we have. A scent of cinnamon and you are back in your grandma’s kitchen even if you haven’t been there in years. The smell of a specific aftershave and you can picture your dad right in front of you, teaching you to shave for the first time. Our memories of those scents can trick us. Sometimes they are there and sometimes they are just memories of those smells.”
“But I could smell it. He was here. He wore Cowboy Blues. They don’t even make it anymore.”
Her sister came over and wrapped Megan in her arms. “Megan, no one else here smelled it. You’re only tricking yourself.”
Megan pushed her sister away. “I am not making this up. I am not going crazy.”
Jack crossed his arms and got Megan’s attention. “No one is saying you’re crazy. Least of all me. You might even be what we call a sensitive. That is a person who is more aware of the paranormal world around them. They hear things, feel things, and even see things the rest of us don’t. Doesn’t mean it isn’t there.”
He was glad to see a happier look on her face and for some color to return to her cheeks. The situation was taking a toll on Megan Trent. Even he could see it and he had just met her. The circles under her eyes had deepened in the few days since he’d met her in the office. Her fingers twitched and rubbed against each other.
The sister, Andrea, continued to hover over her, her fingers twisting the rings on her hands. The sister treated her like a porcelain doll and from what he’d seen, Megan Trent was a whole hell lot tougher than that. Some people didn’t get through a momentary haunting. Megan had been dealing with all of this for months.
With a slight nod to Luke, his producer and partner came over and led Andrea to the other side of the room. The woman still glanced over her shoulder to her sister, but seemed willing to at least give her some space. He counted it as a small victory. The woman was like a sheepdog with one small lamb to protect.
Inhaling deeply, Jack caught a trace of a deep musk scent. He shook his head. Great, now the woman had him imagining things as well. Slapping his hands together, the crew looked up and headed his way. Time to get down to business. Ghost Releasers business.