Coalescence (Camden Investigations Book 1) Read Free Page A

point of allowing
it to be taken, especially after behaving so badly?
    Iris allowed the team no time to ponder, practically
shoving each woman out the door. They contained the dial in the trunk where
they waited for several minutes in observation. They had no means to record
electromagnetic activity. Iris cautioned it could be emitting radiation and
they should resist any further urges to inspect it. That was easier said than
done. There were so many questions. They entered the car without further incident
from their trunk’s cargo. Pulling away, Iris’s mind ever occupied in thought,
she and her team failed to notice yet another anomaly. An orange-white light
danced directly above the client’s home.

 
 
    T O QUIET the voices in their heads, the team pursued less
otherworldly undertakings, namely alcoholic drinks at their favorite tavern.
    Rachel frowned after downing a shot.
    “Ah, a little too much whiskey for you, Rache?” Kassidy
teased.
    “It’s my watch. It’s not synched with the bar clock.”
    “So,” Kassidy said, “we all know bar time is fast. They
want to get the patrons out before the actual closing time.”
    “No,” Iris said. “It’s not that. My watch is off too.
Wait a minute.” Iris asked a patron what time was on his Smartphone. When he
flashed it to her, she grimaced. “We’ve lost time.”
    Kassidy grunted. “You mean like in those alien shows?”
    Iris didn’t answer. She couldn’t. She didn’t believe in
beings that could change the reality of her world. Science was science. There
was no time bending. No time halting.
    Yet the other unexplained events of the night competed
against her obstinacy.
    Most haunts left a house chilled. Yet the team sweated as
if it weren’t early spring but summer. Objects levitated through walls. A
complete breach of gravity, or whatever, kept walls from dematerializing.
Clocks had somehow stopped and restarted, despite being dropped to the floor.
And what about that damned dial? It appeared so alien. Iris flashed back to
Kassidy’s face, which had reflected on the dial as they bagged it. It remained
obsidian despite its reflecting capability. What need would a ghost have for
such an object? And it did seem, without too much conjecture from her team, the
entire haunting generated from its existence. Drinks quieted Iris’s mind a bit,
until the ever-inquisitive Kassidy began demanding an explanation.
    Kassidy probed Iris, perhaps a little too
doggedly—thanks to two mixed drinks—for answers to this unexplained
phenomena.
    “Guys, I really don’t know what we just dealt with. I
think we have to consider this might not be a haunting in the strict sense of
the word.”
    “What does that exactly mean?” Kassidy said. An
alcohol-induced smile plastered on her lips.
    “It means we still have a ghost in a home who can explain
the purpose of this dial. What is it for? How did a child come to find it? The
mechanical breakdowns, the heated temperature inside the
home . . . I hate to say it, but our artifact appears to have
come from outer space.”
    Kassidy poked her arm. “You never believed in the little
green men theory.” Kassidy broke her gaze with Iris after a staring contest.
“You’re not kidding are you?”
    “You’re sloshed, Kassidy,” Rachel reprimanded. “And Iris
quit shitting us. I know we’ve had a few, but it’s no time to be playing with
us.”
    “No, Rachel, I’m not playing. I’m just realizing this
investigation is beyond our capabilities. Maybe this thing is just space
debris, maybe it isn’t. But either way we’re going to need to consult someone
who is familiar with UFOs.”
    The slim bartender, who earlier had been towel-drying glasses
behind the bar, startled them as he suddenly appeared at the women’s table.
    “Talk about unidentified,” Kassidy squawked.
    Rachel tugged Kassidy’s sleeve and mouthed, “Be quiet.”
    “It’s okay, guys,” Iris said. “We have nothing to hide.”
    “Hey, I’m