Splinter (The Machinists Book 2) (18 page)

Chapter 21

T
hree hours after leaving the cabin, Allyn walked into the diner. It had a retro feel, with black-and-white-tiled floors and red leather booths that circled a kitchen at the center of the restaurant. A jukebox played an oldies station across the PA, and it smelled of chocolate shakes and freshly cooked fries.

Allyn picked a booth at the back of the restaurant, near the emergency exit that overlooked the empty parking lot. His waitress, a bubbly high school girl with a blond ponytail wrapped with a red ribbon, came to take his order. Early for the meeting, Allyn stalled by asking for a few more minutes to go over the menu.

He breathed a sigh of relief when she smiled and bobbed away without seeming to recognize him. It was one of the reasons he’d chosen this particular restaurant—its workforce was made up almost entirely of high school kids. Allyn doubted they would make the connection between the man coming in for a late bite and the fugitive he really was.

Allyn, along with Jaxon, Leira, Nyla, Rory, and Ren had arrived early enough to patrol the surrounding area. Finding nothing amiss, Jaxon positioned Leira and Rory near the front of the restaurant—far enough away not to be conspicuous, but close enough to quickly respond—and Nyla at the back, where she stalked the shadows between the emergency exit and the kitchen entrance. If anyone entered the restaurant, the McCollums would know. Ren remained in the car, listening to an online police scanner.

Jaxon entered after Allyn and chose a booth a few tables behind him, with a clear view of him and the front door. He gave Allyn a slight nod then looked down at the menu.

The minutes crawled by, and Allyn had difficulty watching anything but the front door. He’d finally had to order the third time the waitress came to the table, lest he look like a transient seeking the warm, dry confines of the building. He wasn’t hungry, but the menu made him salivate. His diet since joining the McCollum Family had been far different than he was accustomed to. High in protein with plenty of greens, it lacked the grease, salt, and saturated fat he craved. Looking at the menu was like coming across a picture of his old college friends. He missed the reckless good times they’d had together.

Allyn’s phone vibrated, announcing the meeting time.
He straightened in the booth, eyes fixated on the entrance, and waited.

Five minutes past the set meeting time, Allyn tore his eyes away from the entrance. The street and parking lot were quiet, not another car or pedestrian.
Where is he?

His food arrived—a bacon cheeseburger on a toasted bun, all the fixings except mayonnaise, and a plate of hand-cut fries. It glistened under the florescent light. Jaxon gave him a crooked smile and shook his head.

The bell above the door jingled.

Allyn stood abruptly. The man who entered the diner was roughly his age, though taller by at least a few inches, with broad shoulders and a square face. His blond hair was cut short and styled meticulously, matching the sharp lines of his dark suit. He was a man among boys and walked with a swagger that knew it. Confident. Assertive. Authoritative. It was the walk of a cop.

Special Agent Gary Nolan.

Agent Nolan saw Allyn from across the diner and stopped short, as if surprised to see him. Was this J.P. Niall, or was it an unlucky coincidence?

Allyn turned to Jaxon. He remained seated, though his eyes were wide with surprise. He recognized the man, too.

Allyn didn’t move. He wasn’t sure why. Everything in him told him to run.

Agent Nolan glanced behind him—he was alone—and made for Allyn, holding his hands in front of him submissively. “It’s me,” he said. “Please don’t run.” Nolan glanced at Jaxon as he approached, assessing the threat. “I’m here to talk. Nothing more.”

“You?” Allyn asked.

The blond waitress emerged from the server station, her warm smile at odds with the tense situation, and arrived as Nolan slipped into Allyn’s booth.

“Sit,” Nolan said. “Please.” The sincerity in his voice did little to ease Allyn’s nerves.

Allyn sat reluctantly, his sweaty palms on top of the table.

“Hi there,” the waitress said, placing a napkin and a glass of water in front of Agent Nolan. “Can I get something for you, too?”

Agent Nolan undid the top button of his jacket and placed an arm across the back of the booth, feigning nonchalance. “I’ll take a coffee,” he said. “Black. And… that actually looks pretty good, too. I’ll have what he’s having.”

The waitress flashed a perfect smile and left to fill the order.

Nolan leaned over the table and clasped his hands together. He spoke in a quiet tone as if he were sharing secrets among adversaries. “I apologize for being late. Getting away from the office was… difficult.”

“I’m confused,” Allyn said. “Are you here to arrest me?”

“Arrest you?” Nolan asked. “Allyn, it’s
me
. You have my computer. We’ve been in communication for the past twenty-four hours.”

Allyn couldn’t help it—he glanced around the diner and strained to get a better view of the parking lot, which was still quiet.

“I assure you, nobody but me knows you’re here.”

“But…why?”

“For the same reason you’re here, I assume.” Nolan leaned in a little closer. “For answers.”

“But you’re a cop.”

“A federal agent, actually,” Nolan corrected. “But that doesn’t mean I have all the answers, especially for what I’m looking for.”

Allyn shifted in his seat.

“If it makes you more comfortable,” Nolan said, “your friend over there is welcome to join us.”

Allyn glanced at Jaxon. He remained in his seat but had given up all pretense of being a casual observer. He stared at Allyn and Nolan, appearing not to have heard Nolan’s invitation.

“It’s okay,” Allyn said, steeling himself. “I’m good.”

Though Jaxon’s presence would have calmed Allyn’s anxiety, Jaxon would have dictated the direction of the conversation, and Allyn wasn’t ready to give up control. They were here because of his curiosity. For better or worse, this was Allyn’s play, and it was his responsibility to see it through.

“What are you looking for?” Allyn asked.

“For you, of course,” Nolan said. “Haven’t I made that clear?”

“But
why
?”

“You intrigue me, Allyn,” Nolan said. “What makes a man who has it all suddenly throw it all away?”

This is it,
Allyn realized.
This is
my opportunity to clear my name.

“Whatever you think I did, I’m innocent.” Allyn winced at the words. He remembered saying something similar to Michael Clarke, the partner at his old law firm. They had sounded like a cliché then, and they still did.

“I have no doubt,” Nolan said. “So why don’t you tell me what really happened?”

Allyn licked his lips.
Could it really be so simple?
Allyn paused. He didn’t have anything to lose, but something didn’t feel right. This conversation wasn’t supposed to be about him.

“What do you really want to know?” Allyn asked.

“The truth, Allyn.”

“The truth about what?” Allyn asked. “You’re not here for me. Your computer was filled with dozens of folders about other people. What are you really searching for?”

Agent Nolan transformed
in front of Allyn. It was a subtle thing, but Allyn spotted it. Nolan’s posture slumped; the air of confidence, bravado, and superiority wilted. Nolan was no longer a federal agent. He was a man who was as lost and confused as any other.

“I’m not lying when I say that I’ve been looking for you, Allyn,” Nolan said. Even his voice sounded different. “I’ve been searching for you long before you were on the FBI’s radar. Maybe not you specifically, but someone
like
you. Someone like me.”

My God,
Allyn thought.
It’s true.
“You can wield.”

Nolan met his eye and set his jaw. “Is that what you call it?”

“It’s what
they
call it,” Allyn said, nodding toward Jaxon.

“They?” Nolan asked. “There are more?”

Allyn nodded.

“How many?”

Allyn opened his mouth to speak but hesitated. The conversation felt too much like an interrogation for his liking. He needed to be the one asking the questions.

The waitress returned with Nolan’s coffee.

“How long have you been able to wield?” Allyn asked, as the waitress disappeared into the kitchen.

“Since I was a teenager,” Nolan said.

“What happened?”

“My older brother,” Nolan said. “He was a real piece of shit. He used to beat me up for fun. Out of boredom. One day, things got a little too heated, and he had me pinned to the ground with a knee in my chest. I couldn’t breathe. He was going to kill me—I knew it—and I
snapped.
One moment, he was on top of me. The next… he wasn’t.”

“You killed him?”

“No. But he never messed with me again.” Nolan took a sip of coffee. “What about you? When did you start… wielding?” The word sounded awkward coming out of his mouth.

Allyn shrugged. “I don’t know. A month, maybe?”

“A month?” Nolan repeated, arching an eyebrow. “That’s after your sister disappeared.”

Allyn nodded. “You said you wanted to know why someone who had it all was willing to give it all up. Well, there you go.”

“What happened?”

Allyn took a sip of water, deciding how much he was willing to divulge. Whether Nolan was a magi or not, he was still one of the men charged with bringing him into custody.

He confided in
you.

Allyn began telling his story. It was rough, and he often had to backtrack to fill Nolan in on a detail he’d forgotten, but he got it out. He began with the attack at his condo and ended with the manor burning to the ground. Allyn wasn’t about to give him their current whereabouts.

“That explains why you didn’t go to the police,” Nolan said.

“They wouldn’t have done any good. I knew who had Kendyl, and I knew who’d help me get her back.”

“She’s well then, I take it?” Nolan asked.

“Yes.”

“And she’d be willing to corroborate your story?”

“Of course.”

“I’m not sure how much I can help you,” Nolan said. “My partner isn’t one who cares about guilt or innocence. That’s not our job, he says. Our superiors put a name in front of him, and he finds them—it’s as simple as that.”

A sinking feeling crept into Allyn’s gut—no matter what he did, no matter where he went, someone like Agent Maddox would always be searching for him.
Impossible as it may be, disappearing may be our only option.

“I’ll do what the magi have always done then,” Allyn said. “I’ll hide.”

Nolan stirred anxiously. His eyes flicked away from Allyn’s.

“What?” Allyn asked. “Do you know something?”

Nolan gave him a sidelong glance, his face troubled.

“Tell me.”

“Maddox knows about the cabin.”

The sinking feeling in Allyn’s stomach became full-blown terror. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, mixing with the panic, making him feel light and unsteady. “The cabin?” he asked, doing his best to feign confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The Kaplan family cabin,” Nolan said. “Surely you knew you couldn’t hide there forever.”

I’ve been trying to convince Jaxon of that since the moment we arrived
.
It was only supposed to be temporary.

“I’ve tried to stall him,” Nolan continued. “Hiding information, sabotaging leads—I had to be sure about you. But I can only stall him for so long. He’s coming, Allyn, and there’s nothing I can do to stop him.”

“How long do we have?”

“Not long,” Nolan said. “He’s assembling a team as we speak. I don’t think I can hold him back beyond tomorrow.”

Allyn pinched his forehead. He’d known this moment would come ever since he’d suggested hiding in the cabin, but he’d hoped they would have other possibilities before that time came. Instead, it was just like that night in the woods. They were alone with nowhere to go and no one to turn to.

“There’s nothing you can do?” Allyn asked.

“I’ve already done all I can,” Nolan said. “Warning you is the best I can do at this point.”

“Then come with us.” The words slipped out of Allyn’s mouth before he knew what he was saying.

“What?”

“You’re one of us,” Allyn said. “You belong with the magi.”

“Allyn—”

“No,” Allyn continued. He was finally putting words to the feeling that had been building inside him since the first time he realized he could wield. “I know it’s terrifying, but this
thing
that separates us makes us special. It doesn’t set us apart—it brings us together. You’re already breaking the law by just meeting with me. What do you have to lose?”

“You think you have a lot of heat on you now, Allyn?” Nolan asked. “You think you have nowhere to hide? Well, imagine the attention I’d receive if I fled with a wanted man. It would blow into a nationwide manhunt. Every agent, every bureau, every state and local cop would be searching for the two of us. As tempting as the offer is, it’s just not possible.”

“You know how the system works,” Allyn said, refusing to give up. “You could anticipate their moves. With your help, we could lay low until it blew over.”

Nolan shook his head. “It would never blow over. The search never stops, Allyn. The case never closes. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing more I can do. Get yourself to safety.” Nolan stood from the table, his eyes darting around the room. “I’ve already been here for too long. Thank you for the offer, Allyn. It means more than you will ever know. I’ll be in touch when I can.”

With that, Nolan gave him a curt nod and rushed for the door, nearly crashing into the waitress, who was just appearing out of the kitchen with his food.

Jaxon approached. “He left in a hurry.”

“He took a great risk by coming here,” Allyn said.

“What did you learn?’

“He said they know about the cabin. They’re coming for us.”

“Can we trust him?”

“I think so,” Allyn said. “He’s one of us, Jaxon. He doesn’t know it yet, but he is.”

“Then we need to go,” Jaxon said. “We don’t have much time.”

Allyn left his half-eaten dinner behind. It had sounded better than it tasted, and the meal had settled like a brick in his stomach. The waitress called for them to have a good evening as they exited the restaurant.

Their car was parked under a burnt-out street lamp in the far corner of the parking lot, Ren’s silhouette barely visible inside.

Jaxon stopped.

Allyn noticed too late and bounced off Jaxon’s powerful frame with a grunt. The blow knocked the wind out of him—it was like running into a boulder. Collecting himself, Allyn followed Jaxon’s gaze.

Nolan was standing outside the window of a new Chevy Impala, talking to the driver. The car was running. Nolan’s nervous body language made Allyn uncomfortable. He tapped his fingers against the roof of the car, making as little eye contact with the driver as possible. He glanced over his shoulder, noticing Allyn and Jaxon, his eyes growing wide. The driver peered around Nolan, following his gaze.