Read Online Splinter (The Machinists Book 2) by Craig Andrews - Free Book Online Page B

halt as he approached. At eye level, against the wall at the base of the stairs was a red stain. Allyn thoughtfully rubbed the back of his head. His memories were so strong. Lukas, a human pit bull, stalking him. Blasting him into the wall. Terror. Darkness.
    The same Lukas who had died by his hand. The same Lukas who—
    Nyla gently laid a hand on his arm. “It’s over now.”
    She was right. Lukas was dead. He couldn’t hurt Allyn, or anyone else, ever again. What Allyn had done to stop him was justified. Then why does it make me sick?
    The third level of the condo hadn’t been damaged during the battle, but there were signs other people had been inside. Dirty footsteps soiled the light carpet, tracking to and from his bedroom, where the police had likely searched for evidence. Did they take anything? Entering the spare room that he’d used as a home office, Allyn got his answer. He stopped in the center of the room, focused on the desk in front of the small window.
    “What is it?” Jaxon asked.
    “It’s gone.” Allyn walked around the desk. The monitor, the tower, even the paperwork he’d had on the desk—it was all missing. “The police took it.”
    “Then how…?” Nyla’s question hung in the air ominously.
    Allyn met Jaxon’s eye. Liam is never wrong, Jaxon seemed to say.
    How could the video have originated here if the computer is gone? The video couldn’t have been uploaded before the computer was taken.It hadn’t been online for more than a few hours. Allyn pinched his forehead. What the hell is going on?
    “Jaxon,” Leira called from another room. “In here.”
    Jaxon’s eyes widened in alarm, and he rushed out of the room. Allyn followed, finding Jaxon and Leira in his bedroom. In front of them, on the foot of his bed, was a laptop. It was open, displaying the video from the ambush.
    Allyn felt three sets of eyes on him. “That’s not mine.”
    The video began again.
    Allyn sat down and pulled the computer onto his lap. He stopped the video and minimized the screen. The desktop was empty, save for a single unnamed folder, which opened into two or three dozen subfolders. The top one was titled “Moscow, Russia . ” Dresden, Germany. Nuremberg, Germany. Bucharest, Romania. Lisbon, Portugal. Macau, China. He read through each of them until he came across one that piqued his interest. Portland, Oregon .
    “What are they?” Leira asked.
    Allyn opened the folder and took in a sharp breath.
    “What is it?” Jaxon asked.
    Allyn shook his head, staring on in horror.
    “Allyn?” Nyla asked.
    This isn’t real . He scanned the subfolder’s contents. This can’t be real .
    Nyla dropped onto the bed beside him. She ignored the computer, looking at him.
    “It’s me.” Allyn pointed at the contents within the Portland subfolder. “It’s all me.”
    He double-clicked on the first item. It was a newspaper article taken from the Oregonian —the same one Graeme had shown him during his first days at the McCollum Manor. It described the strange circumstances of Kendyl’s disappearance and named him as a person of interest. The second item was another newspaper article, this one taken from the Columbian. The writer of this article had a police statement regarding the condition of Allyn’s condo. It, too, was considered a crime scene. It still hadn’t named Allyn as a suspect. There were other newspaper articles, photographs, and work and college records, some dating back to his childhood. Whoever was behind the video was building a timeline of his life. A biography.
    “I don’t like this,” Jaxon said.
    Allyn clicked on another subfolder. Though it had fewer contents than the previous one, this folder also tracked a single person—a raven-haired girl. He clicked on another subfolder. Then another. Each contained files regarding a different person.
    “Destroy it,” Jaxon said.
    Allyn looked up with a start. “What? No!”
    “If we destroy it, we’ll lose our only lead,” Leira