Page 51 of Alibi for Murder

“Come on,” she muttered, her nerves jumping.

Then it started.

Holding her breath, she watched as folders loaded onto the screen. None were labeled beyond the basic numbers 1, 2, et cetera.

She clicked on the first folder and, sluggishly, it opened. Dozens of documents populated the screen. She clicked on the first one, and it opened. The title on the page was Test Subject One. The accompanying image had her jaw dropping.

The detailed description of the head…the shoulders and torso…arms…legs…was that of a man except it wasn’t…human.

But it looked human.

She read through the notes quickly. Daily reports…monthly progress.

Heart pounding, she closed that one and opened the next. Another of the same, only this one was a woman.

“Holy…”

Glass shattering downstairs made her jump.

Allie stilled. Listened.

There was a sound…

She strained to hear…too terrified to move. There was a crackling noise.

What the hell?

More shattering glass.

She yanked the flash drive from the port and started to shove it into her pocket but decided to put it in her bra. Moving soundlessly, she eased to the door. No one in the upstairs hall. She crept along toward the staircase, listening and watching.

What was that smell? Gasoline.

She paused at the top of the stairs.

The distinct sound of a whoosh filled the air.

Fear rammed into her chest.

Fire.

She had to get out of here. Couldn’t go downstairs…whoever had started the fire was down there somewhere…maybe waiting outside the door.

Slowly, she backed away from the staircase. She could go out a window.

But she was on the second floor.

Allie hesitated, then she smiled. Didn’t matter. Her grandparents had put in an emergency ladder. Her grandmother said Allie’s father had insisted.

“Thank you, Daddy,” she murmured as she rushed to her grandparents’ room. There were three windows…which one was it?

All the windows had blinds and curtains.

She went to the middle one. Not that one. Not the one on the left.

At the final window, the ladder was attached to the wall behind a small table her grandmother had used to camouflage it.

Allie unlocked the window and pushed upward on the sash. It didn’t budge. Fear throttled through her veins. She pushed again, using every ounce of strength she possessed. It didn’t give.