Sifters (Sifters Series Book 1)

by Shane Scollins

  Dia nodded. “She tried to scare me off. It didn’t work.”

  “I don’t doubt that for a moment.”

  Jocelyn came outside and motioned to Tallon. He followed her inside, and as he crossed the threshold of the door she said, “You were right. Schumer bit the red meat appetizer. It was too juicy for him to pass up.”

  “He called?”

  “I just got word from one of my girls down on Amsterdam. He’ll be right where we want him. And your boy Frank and about five others deployed to the building on Eight Ave.”

  Tallon smiled. “Where the transmission came from.”

  “Or so they think.”

  “Rope-a-dope.”

  Jocelyn nodded. “That means—”

  “The mayor only has his usual security detail.”

  “We can get by easily.”

  He turned to Dia. “Are you ready for this?” She nodded. He turned back toward Jocelyn. “You stay here with Chloe and keep me posted on what your girls are doing. We have to make sure the timing is perfect. That element of surprise is our real strategic advantage.”

  Jocelyn nodded. “You got it, man. The girls have never let me down before, and I don’t expect them to start now.”

  * * *

  Tallon pushed the earpiece in place, keeping the line open to Jocelyn so she could warn him if anything went wrong. She had spies all over the city. The moment Dia tightened her arms around his waist he blasted the throttle of the Suzuki and tore off down the street toward the hotel district.

  Assassinating the Mayor might seem like an impossible task, but that’s what made it the perfect plan. It was reckless and daring and exactly what he needed to shock the city. Of course there was a plan, a very shrewd and calculated one. These sorts of things just didn’t happen in the new world; people relied on and trusted authority for too many things. The uprisings have been few, far between, and easily squashed. Only the Sifters would dare try something like this, or so the people would think. If the politicians needed a scapegoat for anything, the Sifters took the fall even if they weren’t involved.

  Tallon stopped at the end of the quiet block. He glanced down both long avenues and waited for the signal from Jocelyn. Having all the working girls on his side was an invaluable asset in this case. They were literally the eyes and ears of this city. They knew everything about everyone, especially the politicians. And the mayor had one specific weakness whenever he was stressed out. Seeing his brother murdered on video should have sent him running into the arms of his favorite stress reliever, and it had.

  The crackle in his earpiece was followed by Jocelyn’s voice. “Are you on?”

  “Yeah, go ahead.”

  “I just heard from Millie and Jojo. The mayor just confirmed his order. He’s at Golden Towers, twentieth floor, room two-three-one-one… security is two-one-two-two in the lobby—one on the elevator and two at his door.”

  “What about the stairs?”

  “Jojo said the stairs are clean.”

  “Copy that.”

  “You’ll have to get past the two guards in the lobby first. Make sure Dia plays it like I told her, word-for-word.”

  “Copy that, we’re out.”

  Tallon cracked the throttle open and turned right down the avenue, keeping the speed within reason so as not to attract any attention. When he got a block from Golden Towers, he pulled to the side and killed the engine.

  They strapped their helmets to the bike and walked down the sidewalk until they got to the front corner of the building. He nodded to Dia and said, “Just like you practiced.” She nodded back and headed toward the front entrance. He circled around and made his way toward the rear.

  * * *

  Dia wasn’t nervous at all like she thought she’d be. She definitely didn’t want to like the clothes she was wearing; they were really trampy. But if she were to be honest with herself, she did kind of enjoy playing dress up. As she passed by her reflection in the glass of the buildings, she almost couldn’t believe it was her. This was the first time she actually felt girly and sexy in just about her entire life. Stockings, tight mini skirt, and boob-hugging shirt, yeah, she didn’t hate it at all. The platinum blonde wig was a bit much, but as Chloe said, she worked it well.

  Even carrying a purse seemed weird. She’d never carried one as an adult. When she was a little girl, she’d had one of her mother’s old ones. She used to keep useless things in there for the most part. The one over her shoulder right now was heavy with a .40 caliber pistol.

  Turning the corner into the front door of the fancy building, she took a deep breath to solidify her confidence. This plan wasn’t foolproof, everything hinged on her being able to pull it off. She was going to play it just like Jocelyn advised. Dia might not be an actor, but she could play the part.

  She raised her chin and put on the sexiest swagger she had as she approached the two men in the lobby. “Hi there, boys.”

  The man to her left with the wide nose stepped in her path. “Hold it there, the hotel is temporarily closed for a special event. What business do you have?”

  Dia turned a coy smile and playfully touched his chest. “My business is whatever you want it to be, big boy.”

  The man raised his chin. “Who sent you?”

  “Millie, of course. What is this, your first time on the job?”

  “What’s today’s password?”

  Dia smiled and whispered near his ear. “Orange blossom.”

  The man nodded to the other heavyset man and took her by the arm, pulling her toward the elevator. Dia had all she could do not to kill the bastard right now. But she knew it was about to get worse.

  The sleek elevator doors dinged open, and he pushed her inside where another man in the same black suit and black tie waited for her. When the doors closed, he pressed the emergency stop button and eyed her up and down. His wide mouth turned an icky smile. Dia just smiled back.

  He winked one blue eye and held out his hand. “Purse.”

  She handed it over. He rifled through it and removed the pistol. He didn’t even balk, like Jocelyn said he wouldn’t. Many working girls packed guns, and right now, some crazy serial killer was stalking them. Jocelyn said it would be more suspicious if she didn’t have it. He put the gun in his pocket and continued going through the purse. He found a phone, and also confiscated that. Finally, after exhausting every nook and pocket, he handed her the small pink bag.

  “Turn around.” He circled a finger.

  She complied as he ran his hands over her entire body. It took every ounce of self-control she had not to kick him in the face and break his neck. He spun her around and felt around her breasts, lingering too long, as she resisted the urge to punch his pointy nose and smiled. When he put his hand up her skirt and ran his fingers over her crotch, she clenched her teeth so tight it hurt her jaw, fighting the urge to lash out. She was doing good, keeping it together. Be strong for Ray, she told herself. But what he did next, reaching into her panties, was one step too far.

  She pitched her head forward into his face, smashing his nose. When he staggered back she kicked him in the crotch, drove her elbow into his mouth, and chopped him in the neck so hard she crushed his windpipe. He dropped to the floor clutching his throat, unable to make a sound or draw a breath.

  After pressing the button on the elevator to get it started again, she retrieved her gun from the goon’s pocket and kicked him one last time for good measure. Tallon probably wouldn’t like this, but oh well. It was too late now.

  The elevator stopped at the twentieth floor suite. When the doors opened, with her adrenaline still spiking, she just shot both men standing guard at the door. She quickly kicked off the stupid heels, took three running steps and blasted her foot into the room door, sending it flying open. A stunned man in a white bathrobe stood there looking at her.

  Tallon entered the room behind her. “Couldn’t wait for me?”

  “Sorry.”

  “Mayor Schumer.” Tallon moved past her. />
  Gabe’s wide gray eyes grew to epic widths. “Tallon Washburn.”

  Tallon looked at Dia. “What happened to the plan?”

  She shrugged. “I changed it.”

  “Apparently.”

  She lowered her gun and looked out to the hallway.

  Schumer said, “You’ll never get away with this.”

  Tallon smiled. “It looks like we just did.”

  “You can’t just kill the mayor of a united city, that doesn’t happen.”

  Tallon put his gun to Schumer’s head. “It hasn’t happened yet, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. There’s always a first time for everything.”

  “You kill me and you’re a dead man. People in this town love me. You’ll be the most hated man in this city.”

  Dia took a few steps toward Schumer. “Are you sure about that, Mayor Schumer? Do you think everyone will love you when they learn about the undiagnosed kids being used to incubate antidotes for the pathogen you cooked up with Cortech?”

  Schumer’s face went slack.

  “Yeah,” Tallon said. “I bet you didn’t think anyone knew about that. Well, they will soon. That and the fact that your brother has been running the biggest illegal drug ring in the city, all with your help. In fact, they’ll learn you used that to get elected.”

  Schumer looked defeated. “What can I say?”

  “You can tell me about the pathogen, the plan, and what’s to become of the kids on the island.”

  Schumer shrugged. “I don’t know. You’ll have to talk to your old boss about that. I left it all in the capable hands of Cortech.” Schumer smiled. “You see, Tallon, you think you’ve got me, but I’ve got one thing on my side.”

  “Is that right?”

  Schumer stood defiantly. “That’s right. I’ve got plausible deniability.”

  Tallon laughed, long and hard, more than Dia had ever seen him laugh. It was so infectious that the mayor started laughing too. Then Tallon stopped laughing and said, “That’s my line.” He took hold of the mayor by the back of the robe, ran him across the room and slammed him through the tall glass windows, sending him plummeting twenty stories into the middle of Madison Avenue.

  He looked to Dia and shrugged.

  She asked, “What happened to the plan?”

  “I changed it.”

  “Apparently.”

  They hurried to the roof where rappelling gear waited for them to swing out of there and back to the bike.

  Chapter 32

  After laying low for a couple days, Dia was growing antsy just waiting around. But Tallon insisted it was the best thing to do. Everyone was on high alert since the mayor’s death, and it wasn’t the right time to hit the building. The police were looking for a hooker with long blonde hair, big sunglasses, and fishnet stockings, which described about half the hookers in the city. Of course, they wouldn’t find anyone who knew anything.

  The truth about the mayor was starting to leak out all over the place. Well, some of the truth anyway. It was mostly his proclivity to hire hookers. What was going on with the pathogen and the undiagnosed was a different level of corruption that was not leaking out, and it probably never would.

  Chloe emerged from the bathroom, kicking the flimsy door unintentionally. She was just about back to her old self. She was a bit sore and tired, but at least back in her normal clothes of denim shorts and T-shirts. “I hate that door. I hate that bathroom, and that shower sucks.”

  Dia nodded. “I know—no water pressure.”

  “It’s like showering under a stream of piss.”

  “Yuck.” Dia made a face. “I don’t want to know how you know that.”

  Chloe sat down on the dilapidated couch next to her. “It’s just an expression. I’m not that kinky.”

  “I don’t know if that’s kinky or just disgusting.”

  “Some people don’t differentiate.”

  Dia tossed a few peanuts into her mouth and held the bag over to Chloe. “Want some?”

  Chloe eyed the bag. “No raisins left?”

  “Nope.”

  Chloe reached into the bag, took a handful of peanuts, and tossed them into her mouth. “I love peanuts.”

  Dia swallowed. “I’m glad your appetite is back.”

  “You know what I could go for?”

  “Free pizza?”

  Chloe shook her head. “No, but that sounds good too. I want ice cream.”

  “I haven’t had ice cream in forever.”

  “I imagine there’s not much of that stuff out there.”

  Dia shrugged. “There’s not much of anything that requires refrigeration.” She glanced around the tiny cabin. “A girl could get used to living like this.”

  Chloe laughed. “It gets a lot better than this, babe. Just wait until we get back to real life.”

  “Yeah, except my real life is out there. Remember, I’m a…” she flashed air-quotes, “Sifter.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “I can’t stay here. I don’t have a resident card, I’m not legal, and I never will be. If I get caught in here, I’m going to jail.”

  “None of that matters now. You helped take care of me, and I’m going to take care of you. We’ll do what we have to do. I know everyone in this city, and I can get you a resident card. I take care of my friends.”

  Dia looked around the shoddy cabin, then shook her head. “I don’t belong here.”

  “Of course you do.”

  “But—”

  “No buts, Dia. We’re all the same, this is our world. No government has the right to say some of us belong and some of us don’t.”

  “But they do, they do say just that.”

  “And they’re wrong!” Chloe shifted her posture. “Dia, you were born with certain unalienable rights, and in America they stand for something. I don’t give a crap what this pseudo-shadow government is saying. I’m fighting for everyone out there. And you’re my friend, and you’re in here, and you’re in this fight. Don’t you want to be part of the solution? Of course you do. If I’ve learned only one thing about you, it’s that you don’t take shit. You kick ass first and ask names later, and I love that about you. Whatever you need, I’m right here for you.”

  Dia nodded. “Thank you. But right now all I want to do is get my brother away from that place.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll get him. If there’s one thing you need to know about my brother, it’s that he’s loyal to a fault. Like I said, you helped save me. I won’t forget that and neither will he.”

  Dia heard a noise outside in the darkness. She jumped up and quickly extinguished the oil lamp that burned on the small table. She headed to one of the tiny front windows to peek out. The moonlight obscured by cloud cover made it impossible to see anything outside until her eyes adjusted.

  A figure moved slowly along the sidewalk and stopped in front. The glow of some electrical device in their hands drew her attention.

  Chloe had eased up behind her and whispered, “Who is it?”

  Dia shook her head and slid the pistol from the pocket of her pants. “It’s not Tallon or Alex.”

  The person on the sidewalk started flashing a light several times.

  Chloe laughed a little. “Oh, geez, I know who that is.” She turned away.

  Dia wanted to stop her, but it was too late. She was pulling open the door. “Patkris?”

  The person turned, and Dia shined the light into the face of an androgynous young person with short black hair, cherry red lips with two pierced bottom corners. “Well, hello ladies, your knight in shining glamour has arrived.”

  He or she sauntered up the sidewalk. Dia was sure it was a she, but now it looked like a he trying to be a she, and the voice seemed to confirm that suspicion. Chloe stepped down the few steps to embrace Patkris. They all entered the house, and Dia reignited the oil lamps to bring light back to the small one-room cabin.

  Patkris looked around. “What a horrible place you have here, girl. If this is what a fugitive l
ife looks like, count me uber-out.”

  “How’d you find me?”

  Patkris made a funny face. “C’mon, you know me, I know everything. One of Millie’s girls told me.”

  Chloe sat next to Dia. “Patkris, this is Dia.”

  Patkris waved his – her? – hand in a circle, “Hey, love your look. Chloe, your friend is one tasty bon-bon.”

  Dia glanced at Chloe who looked away with a smile. “Thanks? I think?” Dia wasn’t sure what a bon-bon was but she assumed it was a compliment.

  Patkris reached into his bag and pulled out a long piece of red licorice. He boisterously bit off a piece. “So, Chloe, are you happy to see me?”

  “Of course, Patkris, you know I’m always happy to see you. Especially when you bring me good bits of juicy information, which I figure you will.”

  “Well, I’ve got something for you.” He bit off another piece of licorice. “As you may have heard, the mayor took a swan dive into the street from about twenty floors above the pavement.”

  Chloe glanced at Dia and turned a knowing smile. “Yeah, we’ve heard.”

  Patkris continued. “Well, then I don’t need to tell you that they are scrambling to cover their tracks.”

  “I imagine.”

  “The committee is getting ready to appoint the new mayor, another puppet, I assume.”

  “Probably.”

  “The bad news is that Cortech wants to clean up the mess before their dirty little fingers get pulled off at the knuckle. And by clean up, I mean starting with those undiagnosed kiddies on the island.”

  Dia felt her heart drop. “We have to do something now! I knew we shouldn’t’ve waited.”

  Chloe put her hand on Dia’s back. “Hey, it’s okay, we’ll get him.” She looked to Patkris, “Dia’s brother is one of the undiagnosed kids.”

  Patkris made a lemon sucking face. “Oh, that’s not pleasant to the ears. My, what can we do about this?” She – He? Oh, whatever – reached into her bag and pulled out a tablet computer. “Here’s some goodies that might help.” She handed the tablet to Dia.