Free UNSEEN by John Michael Hileman Page A

down."
    He leaned in close. "Jake. A lot has changed since the eighth grade."
    " Look. I'm not thinking straight, okay? I lost my job, my nephew has been taken by a serial killer—I’m seeing ghosts. I’m a little messed up right now, just trying to play damage control. If that freak kills Gabe, he'll be killing Holly too. She needs someone stable, someone strong."
    " No offense man, but I don't think I have what it takes to put a reign on your sister. She’s about as wild as they come."
    " You could use some excitement in your life."
    " My life has plenty of excitement thank you very much."
    " You work at the bank all day, and you sit in your living room all night, every night, like you've given up on life."
    Dan folded his arms. "I like my life."
    " You need to get out of virtual reality and step into the real world, and Holly, my friend, is as real as it gets."
    " I'm not gonna lie, Jake, I think she’s beautiful, I mean really beautiful, but I can't be with someone who does drugs. And she has a kid." He brought his hands up apologetically. "A great kid I’m sure, but he doesn't even know me."
    Jake looked at his sister curled up on the couch, and his heart ached for her. "This isn't my sister, Dan. This is not the life she wants, but she feels trapped. She needs someone strong who can show her the way out."
    Dan’s eyebrows rose. "There’s only one problem with your plan, Jake. She...” he gestured dramatically toward the living room, "hates my...” he pointed at himself, "guts.”
    " Never-mind. Forget I said anything." Jake went over to the kitchen table, slid a chair out, and slumped down into it. His sister wasn't the only one struggling with the stress of the day, but he couldn't afford to take it out on Dan.
    Dan took a seat across from him, and they quietly waited for the heaviness to leave. Dan was the first to speak. "So, what do we do now? Just wait?"
    " Well, Holly is no condition to brainstorm with us, so I guess waiting is all we can do. The FBI has a list of leads. Maybe something will pan out."
    " What about the ghost kids?"
    " I don't know if I even want to think about that. If they are ghosts—and I don’t think I’m ready to believe that yet. But if they are, and if they were sent to help, why didn’t they help? And where are they now?"
    " Why don't you go look for them?"
    " How am I going to do that?"
    " Well, you know what they look like, right? The girl at your place, the two boys, and the girl here.
    Jake looked up. "You’re right. There were four of them, the same as the number of victims. The girl here looked like the two-and-a-half-year-old Agent Grant talked about. Do you remember what she said about the others, what they looked like?"
    Dan rubbed his thick neck. "I don't remember. She didn't give much of a description. Just ages and hair color." His hand fell to his side. "But I could look online."
    " Holly doesn't have a computer."
    " We could go to my place."
    Jake looked into the living room again. "No, I don’t want to leave Holly alone. And there’s no way I am ever bringing her up to your place."
    Dan frowned. "Yeah, it is kind of a mess.”
    " Ya think?”
    " Hey, how about you go get my laptop. I’ll plug it into my cellphone and run off the cell signal."
    " That's actually a good idea."
    Dan scowled. "What? I don't have good ideas?"
    Jake ignored his wounded look. "I'll go grab your laptop and then stop by my apartment building to see if I can find that first little girl. You watch over Holly and call me if you hear from the FBI, or if there is a news update."
    It wasn't much of a plan, but it was something.

Chapter 11

    Angela Grant and Agent Perez pulled up in front of a commercial construction site on the eastern edge of Sunbury in a black sedan. Agent Grant shifted into park and surveyed the possible exit points. "How sure are we on this intel?" she said.
    " He's in there," said Perez in his hoarse Mexican accent. "He's been working on this job for the last two