Sophia grumbled and struggled to refold the map that she'd been trying to decipher for the past few minutes. After a couple of more attempts to get the map to cooperate, she gave up the effort and crammed it into the glove compartment of the van.

"Was that necessary?" her best friend Victor asked. "If you had asked I would have folded it. Now you've ruined my California map. It's nothing but a crumpled wad of paper." His attempt to sound glum was ruined by the slight lift at the corners of his lips and the sparkle in his brown eyes. It let her know that he wasn't truly upset with her. They rarely got very angry with one another and when they did it never lasted long.

"I'll buy you a new one. You are the only person I know who prefers to navigate using a map rather than using the GPS on your phone. Chill a little, we'll get there." She yanked his phone from the holder on the dash and put her phone in it.

"Come on, there's no challenge in using a navigation app!"

She snorted and pulled a folder from her messenger bag that sat on the floor by her feet. After sorting through it to find the address for the B&B where they were meeting their new clients, she entered it into the navigation app. "There we go." She grinned at him. "We should be there in another hour."

He shook his head. "Are you sure it was a good idea to take on this job? California is a bit far for us."

Sophi eyed her bestie. They had known one another since their first year of college. She had sat down beside him in English class nd they became almost instant friends. Victor Chernov was bright and funny and she'd felt a kinship with him from the start.

Even if he was a skeptic about the world of the paranormal, it still fascinated him, and when she'd decided to begin the paranormal team he was on board immediately. "Come on, aren't you the least bit curious?" she asked as she dialed Vanessa's number on his phone. There was no answer so she left a message to let her know they were near the B&B.

He rolled his eyes. "Come on, am I ever curious?"

Her laughter filled the cab of the van. She stifled it quickly and glanced back to be certain she hadn't woken Dennis and Susie. They were both curled into sleeping bags on the floor and neither had even twitched when she laughed. She looked back at Vic. "No, you never have been. Not once in all of the years that we've been doing this. Tell me, why are you still such a skeptic after all that we've seen?"

He glanced sidelong at her and shrugged. "Hey, one of us has to be or we might be in trouble. Am I right?"

"Oh puh-lease, how many unexplained things have we seen, how many spirits has Dennis channeled? How many times has Susie known from the start whether we'd find ghosts inside a building or not? How many ghosts have I seen and spoken with?"

"None because they don't exist," he answered immediately.

She rolled her eyes. "You're such a pussy. Just admit that you're afraid of ghosts and get it over with."

"I am not afraid of your imaginary friends. I simply do not believe it's possible for them to exist. Let me and my skepticism be. And do not call me a pussy," he growled at her.

She giggled. "We will never get through a job without having this argument, will we?"

He chuckled and shook his head. There were no bad feelings between them, their arguments were all good-natured fun. "Nope, it wouldn't be the same if we didn't argue about it." He turned down a tree-lined street and after a minute the B&B came into sight.

"Thank goodness. I think my ass is permanently asleep."

Vic grinned at her statement and waggled his eyebrows at her. "Want me to wake it up for you?"

She eyed him skeptically. "No, I don't trust you."

His grin widened. "Good choice." He pulled into the parking lot in front of the B&B and parked the van. "Right, I guess it's time to wake up our pair of sleeping beauties." He shoved open his door, stepped out, moved around to the sliding door, and threw it open.

Sophi giggled as she opened her door and slid down from the seat. She and Vic teased one another often. Neither was ever embarrassed or uncomfortable about anything that was said. It was simply how their friendship worked. She turned to stare at the B&B. At one time it had been a house now it was a lovely little bed and breakfast. Maybe little wasn't an apt description, the house had been a decent-sized manor before it was turned into the B&B. With a little sigh, she turned away and grabbed her bag from the floor of the van.

Dennis Blake and Susie Everett rounded out their team. The four of them had been doing this since college. They had become a family over the years.

"Huh, are we there already?" Susie asked groggily as she rubbed at her eyes like a sleepy child. She blinked her crystal blue eyes and yawned, then attempted to fix her fluffy blond curls that were in disarray.

Sophi grinned as she watched Susie. The woman looked like a baby doll with her curls, big blue eyes, and her soft child-like voice. People often made the mistake of believing she was much younger than her twenty-six years. Though the moment men got a good look at her, they tended to fall all over themselves.

Vic smirked at her. "It's time to rise and shine, sleepyheads. We need to go and meet with the clients. We have just enough time to check in and shower."

Dennis rolled over, stretched, and sat up with a yawn. Sophi shook her head. They never could figure out how he managed to fall asleep anywhere, in any position, and still wake up looking perfectly put together. There was never a single hair out of place, his clothes looked fresh and there was never a bag underneath his eyes.

"You make me sick, Dennis. Couldn't you at least look a little bit mussed? I mean I was sitting up in my seat the entire ride and yet my hair still looks like a disaster," Sophi grumbled.

His shoulders slumped and he tried to give her a wounded look. It was ruined by the sparkle in his hazel eyes. "Come on, I can't help how I look or how I sleep."

She grinned and gave her head a shake. "Let's get inside." She turned and headed for the front of the B&B.

Vic grinned and gestured for Dennis to go first.

Susie had already stepped from the van and made her way over to stand near the front door. The smile faded slightly and her head tipped to one side as she stared intently at the building.

As Dennis climbed from the van he released a sigh of despair. "I don't understand what she's so upset about. I mean look at my clothes. There's a wrinkle right there." He pointed to the bottom of his shirt. "See, not perfect!"

Vic burst out laughing. "That is the crease where the hem of your shirt is!"

"Damn, I was hoping you wouldn't notice." Dennis grinned at him.

"Is that because you believe I have no fashion sense? I do know a few things. I'm not clueless."

Dennis shrugged one shoulder and moved over to stand beside Susie. "I suppose it might be that. I mean you are male."

Vic rolled his eyes. "In case you forgot, you are male as well."

"Indeed but I am a very special sort of male."

Vic arched a brow at him. "And what makes you any more special than me?" He grinned. "That you're an Aries and I'm a Sagittarius?"

Dennis burst out laughing. "No that isn't it but nice try. I am gay my friend and you are not. I was blessed with the fashion gene and you were not."

Vic shot him a disgusted look. "That's a little sexist don't you think? I think you should get your prissy ass inside before I call Nick and let him know how you're treating me."

With a roar of laughter, Dennis went to follow after Sophi who had already stepped inside the building.

Susie was fighting back laughter as she shook her head at them. "Can the two of you ever act like grownups?"

"Nope, never." Dennis hurried past her up the porch steps.

Susie sighed and watched Dennis step inside. She glanced at Vic. "You know that Nick will never involve himself in anything having to do with us. He has never expressed any interest in involving himself with Dennis' friends in the three years they've been together."

Vic nodded. Nick Weldon had made zero effort to get to know any of them beyond their initial meeting. They all knew it upset Dennis but he never spoke about it and he certainly wasn't about to bring it up to Nick. There was little they could do if the man didn't want to get to know them. They had tried to include him in things but gave up after the first year.

"I know but I think he needs to talk about it, at least to Nick."

"He won't and we all know that. He loves him and I think he's afraid Nick will bolt if he brings it up."

He sighed and they followed the others inside.

***

Patrick and Vanessa McNeal were already checked in and waiting for their guests to arrive or rather waiting for their newly hired team of paranormal investigators to arrive. Vanessa jumped up to answer her phone when it rang. Sophi had called already to let them know they were close to arriving. She hoped they hadn't gotten lost.

She frowned when she saw the number being displayed belonged to their son Ranger. She didn't want to speak with him right now, not because she didn't love him but because she knew how he'd feel about what they were up to. If she didn't answer though he'd pull some tech wizardry and track them down. "Hello?"

"Hello, Mom. I'm in the bay and I'll be at the house in a bit. I want to take the two of you out to dinner, where would you like to go?"

She tried to keep her panic at bay when he announced that he was in town. "Oh, Ranger dear, I'm sorry to disappoint you but your father and I are away. We won't be back until later this weekend. Why don't you turn your lovely little boat around and head back home? We can see you another time. I know how busy you are, dear."

On the other end of the line Ranger frowned. Lovely little boat? His mother had never referred to his yacht as a little boat and she had called him dear twice, that was overkill for her. Something was up and he intended to discover what it was. He turned to his computer and tapped at the keys until he brought up the correct program. In a few keystrokes, he brought up his mother's cell phone location.

"Mom, if you're out of town then please explain to me why your cell phone shows that you're at the Tin Pig B&B which is a ten-minute drive from your house?"

"We do know what a stay-cation is, dear. We needed to get away from the house for a bit."

There was the dear endearment again. Something was certainly going on with her. "Mom ..."

She sighed heavily. "Fine. To tell the truth, there are roaches, Ranger. Hoards of them. The entire house is infested. It's a truly horrible sight to behold. I'm so sorry, you'll have to come back after the exterminators are through!"

He'd had enough of this. His mother was up to something, he could feel it. A roach wouldn't dare get anywhere near her pristine house. She'd annihilate it before it got within a hundred yards of the house. "I'm still coming, Mother. When I get there you can explain to me exactly what in the hell is going on." He hung up before she could make further excuses.

Vanessa stared at her phone for a minute before she turned to her husband. "Oh dear, Patrick we are in big trouble. Ranger is going to hit the roof when he meets Sophia and her team."

Patrick smirked at her. "Come on, you've seen the woman's picture on their website. She's very pretty. I'd say our son will be too busy staring at her to say a damn thing."

"That is insane. You know how he is, he will rant and rave and carry on. Poor Sophia won't know what hit her!"

"I don't see any sense in buying us any trouble. I'd rather sit back and wait to see how it plays out." He checked his watch. "I'd say they are going to arrive here at roughly the same time. That should be very interesting to watch. I think I need a better seat for the main event." He grabbed his newspaper with a grin. "I think the porch sounds like a lovely place to sit and read my paper. The rockers are very inviting."

She grunted andwatched him go. "Damn Ranger. Why does he need to come to visit this week?"