Page 25 of Into the Fire

Simon smiled as a spirit caught his attention. “Tell Mikki that his grandmother is still watching over him—over both of you.”

Pete’s eyes misted. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

Simon checked the time and realized that he might beat Vic home. That would give him a chance to start dinner and clear his mind with a cup of coffee so he would be in a better mood to greet his partner.

If the entity has been around for a century, it can wait one more night.

5

Vic

“You look like something the cat dragged in,” Vic observed when he saw Ross the next morning. His partner looked haggard, something that no amount of caffeine could completely erase. That made Vic doubly glad he had stopped to get large coffees for both of them on his way to the station.

“I couldn’t sleep last night, but I might have found a lead for you.” Ross accepted the coffee with a moan of gratitude.

Vic sat down and savored his first sips, needing the java to jump-start his brain. “On the late show?”

“Sorta, I was channel surfing because I didn’t want to keep Sheila awake, and once I skipped over all the infomercials and talking heads, I found reruns of a local series about locations with hidden pasts. And guess what was one of them?”

“Ocean Visions Hotel?” Vic ventured.

“Bingo. I don’t know if you can find copies of the show elsewhere, so I watched the whole thing. The narrator mentioned a lot of the stuff you’ve talked about, except for the fire ghost. But there was a big section about how during the 1970s, the hotel was used for military occult studies that were hush-hush at the time but were recently declassified.”

“Military occult studies?” Vic echoed. “Like what?”

“They called it Operation Specter Cipher. They recruited mediums to see if they could get ghosts to spy on the North Vietnamese, and psychics to try to foresee outcomes for missions or crack codes by reading them out of someone’s mind,” Ross replied. “I wondered if the stuff they did weakened the magic that was binding your fire spirit, which let it escape. Might have riled up the salamander and the dark ghosts too.”

“Sketchy ethics, but potentially useful in a war,” Vic said.

“The host gave the efforts a lot of hype and build-up, but it didn’t sound like most of the things they tried worked, which might be why they declassified most of the information,” Ross went on. “The project brought in a bunch of people who had supernatural abilities to work all kinds of rituals and spells and then just packed up and went home.”

“Which likely means they didn’t properly cleanse the area or dispel the energies,” Vic said. “That might have also attracted the secondary spirits like the fire salamander and the dark ghosts Simon was talking about.”

“Something I didn’t know anything about until you and Simon,” Ross agreed. “But you’re probably right.”

“That wouldn’t be good if the binding spell was already broken or fraying at the seams,” Vic said. “I wonder if you’re right that the military project weakened the restraints on the fire spirit even if they didn’t break until later,” Vic mused. “How long ago was the show made?”

“Only a few years; had to wait for the good stuff to get declassified. They interviewed a guy who had been in the military with that unit and had clearance to talk about it,” Ross told him. “I thought he looked familiar. Turns out that he’s related to my next-door neighbor. I made sure I ran into my neighbor in the driveway and told him that I saw the show. His relative is still alive, although he’s up in years. So I found out how to get in touch.”

Ross passed Vic a note with a man’s name and number. “Give him a call. According to my neighbor, the old guy is pretty friendly and might be willing to tell you what he remembers if you buy him lunch.”

“That sounds…really good. Do you remember the name of the show? I might be able to find it somewhere to watch so I know what questions to ask.”

“I’m way ahead of you.” Ross laughed. “I found it online this morning and sent a link to your email. If they didn’t make up everything, there might be some nuggets for you.”

“Thanks. You never know when you’re gonna catch a break.” Vic saluted Ross with his coffee cup.

Once Vic got through his daily reports, paperwork, and emails, he opened the link to the documentary and watched while he ate lunch.

Ross stopped by toward the end of the show. “What do you think?”

“Did you ever see that movie about the men who stare at goats? It was all about military psychic experiments.”

“I didn’t watch the movie, but I heard plenty of off-color jokes about the goats,” Ross replied.

“I saw it on cable, before I knew Simon,” Vic said. “At the time, I thought it was one of those boondoggles. But knowing what I know now, I realize that some of what they wanted to do might be possible; they just didn’t have the right people.”

“That’s not a comforting thought at all.” Ross brightened. “Finish the episode and then get together with the old guy. It won’t be the weirdest lunch conversation you’ve ever had. No goats. Although ‘Operation Specter Cipher’ definitely sounds like something involving ghosts.”