Free The Unseen by Hines Page A

the Dark Vibration starting in his gut. But it wasn’t overwhelming at all, or painful, or consuming. It was warm, comfortable. Pleasant.
    The cat wandered past him, pawed open a door down the hallway, and slipped through. Lucas followed and saw the cat curled up under a desk. It was a home office. A computer and telephone sat on the desk against the wall. Next to the desk, a black file cabinet and a bookcase. More file cases on the opposite wall.
    Above the computer, framed on the wall, was a news article from the business section of the local paper. PARTNERS FORM NEW ATM VENTURE. The accompanying photo showed three people: the married couple and the blond-haired man Lucas had seen last night. The caption below the photo said: “L to R: Viktor Abkin, Anita Abkin, and Ted Hagen want to see more ATMs in restaurants, convenience stores, and other businesses.”
    Lucas scanned the story; their company, ATM2GO, licensed ATM machines to other businesses, giving them a split of the usage fees. According to the date on the paper, the article was just over three years old.
    Lucas memorized the article, then began replaying bits and pieces of the previous night’s overheard conversation.
    Now he had to make a decision. Someone had invaded his space, and the most likely suspects were the Creep Club; Donavan could have been a diversion while other members of the club found his space. The easy way to solve that was to keep moving, drop everything, leave everything behind; he’d done it so many times before.
    The only complication was, he knew someone was planning a murder, and that, in no small part, was also tied to the Creep Club. He couldn’t just walk away and leave this guy to be murdered by his wife and partner. He had to help. And by helping, he could infiltrate the club, get more information, find out how they operated, so he could stay better hidden in the future.
    The cat came from its hiding spot beneath the desk and began entwining itself around his feet again.
    â€œKitty,” Lucas said, still looking at the article, “you’ve been very helpful.”
    HE WAS WAITING ON THE COUCH WHEN DONAVAN RETURNED HOME FROM work that evening.
    Donavan only paused for a moment this time before taking out the earbuds and heading for the refrigerator.
    â€œI’d offer to make you a key,” Donavan said, “but I guess you don’t need one.”
    Lucas grinned. “Nah, I’d just lose it.”
    Donavan rummaged around in the refrigerator, pulled out some cold cuts, stuffed one in his face. “Want a beer while I’m here?”
    â€œSure.”
    Donavan took his place in the chair, pitched a bottle to Lucas, crammed another piece of ham into his mouth. He chewed a few times. “So, am I gonna find you on my couch every night from now on? Roommate from hell?”
    Lucas ignored the question. “When’s the next Creep Club meeting?” He already knew the answer—he’d logged in to the site from Donavan’s computer—but there was no need for Donavan to know this.
    â€œDay after tomorrow.”
    â€œDay after tomorrow? That might be too late.”
    â€œWell, a member can call a special meeting any time. I could do one for tomorrow, post it on the Web site. Probably can’t get to the blackboard, though.”
    Lucas had no idea what the blackboard was, but filed it away for future research. “Yeah,” he said. “Call a special meeting.”
    They had to, after all; there was no telling when Ted and Anita were going to kill Viktor. They had to get to Viktor and warn him before something happened.
    A knowing light spread across Donavan’s face. “You interested? Like I said, I think I can get you in.”
    â€œYeah,” Lucas said. “I’m interested.”
    â€œCool, too cool.”
    â€œI wanna help.”
    Donavan considered. “Well, I guess I owe you for the steam tunnel. And, I don’t know, it