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swung my legs out of the car, the frigid air attacked them, and a<br />

fierce chill rushed up my body. “Brrr.”<br />

We made our way up the driveway and along the little path<br />

that had been shoveled in the s<strong>no</strong>w up to the front steps. Taking care<br />

to check for ice first, I grabbed the railing and hopped up to the door.<br />

<strong>The</strong> man who pulled open the heavy interior door was thin,<br />

balding, and wearing some wicked 70s-style glasses. He didn’t<br />

smile as he peered out the glass pane on the outer door. “Can I help<br />

you?”<br />

I glanced over my shoulder at my partner, whose eyebrows<br />

were raised. Usually the clients were expecting us. “Er, yes, Mr.<br />

Johansson? I’m Chelsea Keller from Lark Hollow Para<strong>no</strong>rmal<br />

Research. This is Susannah Reid. We’re here for the preliminary<br />

visit? You spoke with Daisy?” My sentences began to curve up into<br />

question marks at the end as my confidence faltered.<br />

Still his face didn’t register any recognition — or any<br />

emotion at all, really — but he reached out to push open the door for<br />

us. “Oh. Okay. Come in.” We stepped onto a little brown-carpeted<br />

landing with two sets of stairs, one leading up and the other diving<br />

down. <strong>The</strong> house smelled softly like something pleasantly spicy and<br />

sweet, almost like the Chai teas I always grabbed from Joe Bean’s.<br />

Mr. Johansson was already disappearing up the set of stairs to the<br />

left.<br />

I stepped a little closer to Susannah as I shrugged off my<br />

hood. “Weird.”<br />

“Do you think we should follow him?” she whispered.<br />

Her question was answered momentarily in the form of a boy<br />

about Gunner’s age appearing at the top of the stairs. His face was<br />

drawn and pale. Now that was the sort of look I had grown to expect<br />

on a client. Maybe Daddy just hadn’t had much to do with contacting<br />

the para<strong>no</strong>rmal investigators.<br />

“Hi,” he said hesitantly, like he wasn’t sure what to do <strong>no</strong>w<br />

that we were there.<br />

“Hi, sweetie,” Susannah greeted him warmly with a vibrant<br />

smile. “I’m Susannah, and this is Chelsea. You must be Timmy. Is<br />

there somewhere we can sit down together so we can talk?”<br />

109

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