Tossing Tango's cap back to him, I trail behind the two men as we climb the stairs back to the main level. The sleeves of Steve's hoodie keep unrolling and falling down over my wrists. Finally I shove them up to my elbows, where they stay put.

Entering the nave, we almost bump into Dustin and Jason. Dustin smiles at my attire, but doesn't say anything. Jason's eyebrows fly up. "What's the matter, Summer? Got too cold?"

"Nope," I shake my head and gesture at Steve. "Lazybones here just decided he couldn't be bothered carrying his sweater around, so I got stuck with it."

Immediately I feel badly for my teasing. Not that Steve and Tango don't say much worse to me, but it's just not my style. "Actually, it was super cold in the basement," I admit. "Steve was nice enough to lend me his hoodie so I wouldn't freeze."

Steve scoffs and moves away. I'm pretty sure I've just succeeded in embarrassing him, but I don't have it in me to be mean, even if it's only a tiny bit and only in fun.

Leaning against a pew, I listen to Jason and Steve discussing where the teams are going to head next. Their voices bounce around in a myriad of tiny echoes, finally fading away to nothing in the enormity of this room.

I shine my flashlight straight up and tilt my head back to look at the ceiling. As powerful as my light is, the beam doesn't even reach the ceiling. Craning my neck, I peer towards the far wall, where I can dimly see the green glow of the laser projector illuminating an area near the altar.

Suddenly I stiffen.

The others are too busy talking to notice, except for Dustin. Seeing my fixed stare, he steps up next to me. "What do you see?" He questions under his breath.

Long seconds tick by before I answer him. "I'm not sure," I confess. "I thought... there! Did you see that?" My voice gets higher with excitement, which catches the attention of the others.

"What is it?" That's Jason.

I keep my eyes glued to the far wall. "I could have sworn I saw something move in front of that laser grid."

"Let's go take a look." Jason, always in charge, leads the way. When we reach the laser projector, there's no sign of any anomalies, but I know what I saw.

"Something moved," I insist. "I'm sure of it."

"How big was it?" Tango questions me.

"Not big... it's almost like something stepped partway into the grid, and then realized what it was and quickly stepped backwards again."

"Well, if something did move, we definitely caught it on the camcorder," Jason says, checking to make sure the camera is still running. "Steve, Dave, make sure you look extra closely at that in evidence review."

The two of them bob their heads.

"I guess Dustin and I will check out the basement now," Jason adds. "Sound good to you, Dustin? Why don't you three check out the choir loft area where we just were... then we can switch out and let the girls come up here."

"Sounds good to me, Jay," Steve agrees, and he and Tango and I head for the back stairs leading to the choir loft.

As Jason's and Dustin's footsteps die away in the distance, Steve pauses next to a small communion table. "This is really neat," he comments, picking up a small gold crucifix and turning it over curiously.

"You probably shouldn't be touching that," Tango warns him.

"I'm not hurting it, Tango," Steve counters. "I'm just looking."

He lays the crucifix down in its original position and picks up a golden candlestick.

"Steve!" There's exasperation in Tango's voice. "I swear, if you break something..." He leaves the threat unfinished.

Steve ignores him completely, lifting the candlestick up to examine it. There's a soft thud as the long white taper tumbles out of the candlestick and lands on the table. Fortunately, it doesn't break, and Steve quickly catches it before it can roll off the table and shatter on the stone floor.

"Steve!"

"It's not broken," Steve grumbles. He sets the white taper back in the candlestick and places the candlestick carefully back on the table. "See? Perfect."

Tango mutters something unintelligible under his breath, and it doesn't sound very nice. Steve throws a wink at me over his shoulder, and I bury my face in the crook of my elbow to smother a giggle. Jason was right... Steve really does like to poke into stuff that he shouldn't.

My mother would be horrified at what she'd term Steve's "lack of respect"... thankfully, she's not here, and I'm not about to tattle.

"Hey, Summer, want to carry the digital voice recorder for a while?" Tango asks me as we head up over the loft stairs.

"Sure, I can do that."

"You can go ahead and tag this location," Steve suggests from behind me.

I press the "record" button and speak softly into the machine. "This is Summer, Steve, and Dave in the choir loft of Our Blessed Lady Catholic Church, Columbus, Georgia."

"Very nice," Steve compliments in a whisper.

"Thanks," I whisper back.

We spend almost an hour in the choir loft, hoping to see the famous white mist that several people have claimed to see, or even the apparition of Father O'Reilley himself that's said to walk back and forth in front of the altar. We do some EVP work and spend some time just listening.

It seems Father O'Reilley isn't interested in communicating with us tonight, however, and after a while Steve suggests that we move on.

"Where does that doorway lead?" Tango wonders, shining his light towards a small door at one end of the choir loft.

"Let's check it out before we head back downstairs," Steve suggests.

Opening the door, we find yet another stairway leading even higher. "How many stairways does this place have?" Tango asks in amazement.

"Shall we see where it goes?" Steve pauses in the doorway and glances back at us.

"I'm game," I pipe up.

Tango shrugs. "Same here."

It's clear that the wooden stairway, which must have been constructed at the same time as the rest of the church almost 200 years ago, wasn't built to accommodate someone Steve's size. It takes an abrupt turn to the right near the top, and he has to turn sideways to fit his broad shoulders through the narrow space.

Tango, an inch or two shorter than Steve and of slighter build, has considerably less trouble. Of course, I don't have any problems at all.

When we reach the top of the stairway, we find ourselves in some sort of attic space. It's hot and stuffy up here, and there's an unpleasant smell. I wrinkle my nose in distaste.

"I think you might need to take your hoodie back," I tell Steve, shrugging out of it. "It's way too hot up here to be wearing this."

"Uh-uh," he replies, shaking his head. "You said you're carrying it, so you're carrying it."

I sigh in irritation, then decide to just knot the sleeves around my waist. That seems to work, except that now the hem hovers near my ankles. I just hope I don't trip over it.

Yeah, Summer, fall down the stairs and break your ankle... wouldn't that just be the perfect end to this investigation.

"Should we do an EVP session up here?" Tango questions, shining his light around the cramped space. "There doesn't seem to be much point in... what's that?"

Steve and I both whirl towards him, startled.

"What's what?" Steve asks. "What's wrong, Tango?"

"Something flew past my face," Tango says, trying to look in all directions at once.

"I don't see anything," Steve comments, directing his flashlight beam around the attic. He takes a step towards the opposite side of the room, and I turn to ask Tango what it was he thought he saw or felt.

I'm just opening my mouth when Steve lets out a yell and scrambles backwards. That scares me, and I jump sideways and almost trip over what looks like a pile of lumber.

"I saw it!" Steve exclaims, his flashlight beam bouncing wildly off the walls as he gesticulates.

"What was it?" I gasp.

"I don't know. Something... there!" All three of us duck, and I catch the silhouette of wings fluttering into a corner.

"Guys, it's just a bat!"

"Just a bat?!" Tango sputters, almost diving to the floor as the bat makes another pass at him.

"Stand still!" I yelp. "If you keep moving, you'll confuse it."

The poor bat, alarmed by our yells and sudden movements, makes a swoop at Steve, who hollers and throws his arms up over his head to ward it off. "I don't want it landing on me!"

"It's not going to land on you if you stand still," I try to reason with him. "They use echolocation, so they can sense exactly where you are. But if you move quickly, it confuses them, and..."

"I'm out," Steve interrupts, heading for the stairway. "You can stay here and go batty if you want!"

"I'm right behind you," Tango agrees.

I stand with my hands on my hips and watch the two of them beat a hasty retreat. "I cannot believe my eyes," I mutter out loud. "Two grown men, afraid of a little bat."

I stand perfectly still and switch off my flashlight, letting my eyes adjust to the dark. In the absence of any more light or noise, the bat scuttles back to wherever it came from after a few more swoops.

Slowly, I back up and sit down on the pile of lumber I almost tripped over earlier. I'll show those guys... I'll do an EVP session all on my own.

I clear my throat and check to make sure that the recorder is working. "Ahem... This is Summer Lafrenière, in the attic of Our Blessed Lady Catholic Church, Columbus, Georgia."

Taking a deep breath, I begin.

"Hello? My name is Summer. Could you please tell me your name?" I wait for several seconds to pass before continuing. "I'm here as a friend, not to hurt you or make you leave. I'd simply like to talk with you."

Again, a long silence. "My friends and I are looking for Father O'Reilley. If Father O'Reilley is here, can you please come forward and speak into the device I have in my hand? It will allow me to hear your voice."

I pause for almost a minute this time, before I speak up again. "Is there anyone else here, other than Father O'Reilley?"

I shift my position. This stack of lumber isn't what I'd call a comfortable place to sit.

"If you can hear me, can you please make some kind of loud noise? You can knock or bang on something, or knock something over. That way, I'll know it's you."

I continue asking questions for several more minutes. I haven't heard any direct responses, but I know the audio recorder might have picked something up. I guess I'll have to wait until Steve and Tango get around to listening to the audio during their evidence review.

"Ending session, attic, Our Blessed Lady Catholic Church."

Speaking of those two scaredy-cats... where did they go, anyway?

I switch my flashlight back on to take one more look around the attic before I head downstairs. As I sweep the beam slowly around the room, I notice something that escaped my attention before... a little, low doorway at one end of the attic, near the stairway.

That looks almost like the entrance to a crawlspace under the roof, or something. I should check that out before I go.

Cautiously, I crouch and peer through the low opening, shining my flashlight beam ahead of me.

My blood curdles as I see a man's face, staring back at me.

A strangled scream escapes me, before I realize that it's not a man's face at all and choke it off into a gasp of relief. At least, it's not a real man... it's an old statue. Who would stash such a thing up here in the crawl space, I have no idea.

My knees are wobbly from my fright, and I have to sit on the floor for a second to recover myself.

Suddenly, I hear the door at the bottom of the stairway crash open, and Tango's worried voice floats up to me. "Was that Summer? Did she scream?"

"Something must have happened." That's Steve's voice. "I'm going up there, Dave."

I'm about to call out and reassure them that I'm fine, when a devilish idea pops into my mind. I quickly get to my feet and duck inside the crawl space, making sure to switch off my light.

Two sets of footsteps pound up the creaking stairs.

"Puck?" That's Tango again. "Steve? Where'd she go?"

"How do I know? There's only one stairway... she must be up here. Summer!"

I'm practically turning purple from trying not to laugh. Deciding to add a bit of drama, I let out a soft moan... which, combined with my repressed mirth, comes out sounding quavery and not one bit human.

It's not very loud, but it's certainly loud enough to catch the attention of two experienced Ghost Hunters.

"What in the hell..." Tango swears, and I clamp my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming with laughter and giving myself away. I've never heard Tango do that before.

"Summer!" Steve roars, and I decide I better end the gag now before I get in real trouble.

"Hi!" I pop my head out of the crawl space, and instantly two flashlights are trained on me.

"Summer! What the... what are you doing?!"

I grin mischievously and wave a hand towards the statue. "Come and say hello to St. Anthony."

"You little sneak! Of all the rotten... I ought to shake the teeth out of your head." Steve sounds disgusted and looks like he's actually contemplating carrying out his threat.

"I didn't mean to scream, honest," I hastily reassure him. "I saw this little cubbyhole and decided to peek inside before I went back downstairs to meet you guys... then I looked in here and saw St. Anthony staring back at me, and he just about gave me a heart attack!"

"So then you decided it would be funny to give us a heart attack?" Steve grumbles.

"Well... yeah."

Tango, meanwhile, is examining the statue. "How do you know this is St. Anthony? Looks kind of like St. Francis, to me."

I shake my head. "I was raised Catholic, remember?" I point out with a grin. "St. Anthony is nearly always portrayed holding the Holy Infant and either a book or a lily, sometimes both. If it was St. Francis he'd be surrounded by animals and birds."

"Oh, that's true. I guess that's why you see so many statues of St. Francis in gardening centers."

"Exactly."

"Uh, guys?" Tango and I glance up at Steve. He's facing away from us, pointing his flashlight beam up towards the ceiling. "I'm pretty sure I just saw that bat again."

I giggle. "Okay, okay, let's get out of here and leave the poor bat alone."

"Poor bat? Poor us, you mean," Tango corrects me as we head down over the stairs.

As we head back to Command Central, I notice that Steve maintains an air of injured silence. Suddenly I start wondering if maybe that prank was such a good idea after all... maybe Steve thinks I shouldn't be clowning around on TAPS time.

I slow down a little, and wait until Steve is several strides ahead of me. Then I hiss at Tango, who looks at me in surprise and drops back to walk beside me. "What's wrong?"

"Um... " I try to think of a way to word my query. "Is Steve... um... do you think he's seriously mad about how I fooled you guys? Because I didn't mean to cause any harm, I just... I thought it would be funny, and I..." I'm speaking in a hurried whisper, but I stop when I see Tango shake his head with a grin.

"Steve's just annoyed because he's usually the one who plays pranks... usually on me. It does him good to be taken down a peg or two."

I look at Tango uncertainly. "But I wasn't trying to take anybody down a peg or two. I thought you guys would find it funny."

"It was funny. Stop overthinking it, Puck."

He's hit the nail right on the head... I really do overthink everything. But before I have a chance to reply, Steve turns around to look back at us. "What are you two slowpokes discussing?"

"Summer thinks you're mad at her," Tango calls, before I have a chance to shush him.

"Tango!" I yelp.

He gives me a lopsided grin that says he's not one bit sorry.

I brush past Steve, who stares after me with a dumbfounded expression, and practically race the last few steps to the door of the office where we've set up Command Central.

Jason and Dustin have already returned from the basement, and Kris and Amy are getting ready to head out. Everyone looks up at me in surprise as I barge into the room.

"What's up?" Jason queries with an eyebrow raised.

"Save me," I grumble, throwing myself into a chair next to Dustin.

Amy trades an amused glance with Kris. "Which one this time? Steve or Dave?"

"Both of them." I cross my arms and sulk.

By this time, of course, the aforementioned two have appeared in the doorway. Tango, apparently deciding that he needs to redeem himself, immediately starts telling everyone about my willingness to stay in the attic and do an EVP session while getting attacked by a bat.

By the time the story is finished, the bat sounds like a dragon and I sound like St. George. I feel my face heat up, and sink lower into my chair. I hate being the center of attention.

"Maybe we should change the name of the show from Ghost Hunters to Bat Hunters," Jason jokes.

Kris shudders. "I do not want to go up there."

Amy looks at me admiringly. "Didn't that bother you? Knowing that thing was flying around above you?"

"It's just a cute little bat," I protest, making everyone laugh. "I like bats. My granddad taught me how useful they are on a farm. I remember, when I was small, I'd go outside and lie in the grass just after sunset, and watch them all come flying out of the barn. I thought they were beautiful."

"I've always thought they were neat critters, myself," Dustin comments, and I look at him gratefully.

Tango sings under his breath, "Nah-nah nah-nah nah-nah nah-nah Batman!" Then he pauses and raises an eyebrow at me. "Bat girl? Bat woman? Bat lady?"

"Just plain batty, if you ask me," Steve speaks up.

I smother a giggle. It's impossible to stay mad at Tango for very long.

"Pay no mind to those two," Jason says to me. "They'll get tired of picking on you... eventually."

"Oh, I got them back," I brag to Jason in a stage whisper.

He leans back in his chair, looking amused. "Oh? Do tell."

Kris, on her way out the door, stops and pulls Amy back inside. "I have to hear this," she announces.

I can't help but boast just a little. By the time I imitate Tango's reaction to my moaning sound, the rest of the crew is roaring with laughter. And Tango, despite his embarrassment, is laughing just as hard.

"So!" Kris exclaims triumphantly, poking Steve. "The master of pranks, got pranked himself... and by a girl!"

Steve tilts his chin up and catches my eye across the room. "Not bad," he admits grudgingly. Then he adds, "...for a rookie, that is."

Kris and Amy finally head out the door for their turn at investigating. Dustin excuses himself to go to the men's room, and Tango takes a seat beside Jason at the monitor.

Steve folds his broad frame into Dustin's chair. I turn my head towards Jason and Tango, studiously ignoring the way Steve's shoulder brushes mine. That is, until he mutters, "Grape, or orange?"

I look at him in surprise until I realize he's offering me a wrapped hard candy. "Oh. Grape. Thanks."

"You're welcome." He looks at me impishly. "I didn't have anything else to offer you as proof that I'm not mad."

"Oh." I unwrap the candy, pop it into my mouth, and give him a cheeky grin. "I'll take your word for it."

The words come out slurred because of the candy in my mouth. Steve shakes his head at me. "You're a riot, Lafrenière. By the way..." he drops his voice to a whisper. "You know I'm gonna get you back for that, right?"

I shrug. "Wouldn't expect anything less, Gonsalves."

He nudges me with the toe of his sneaker, and I nudge him back with mine.

Oh, it's on.