Sifters (Sifters Series Book 1)

by Shane Scollins

  He nodded. “She mentioned you broke into our apartment and beat her up.”

  Dia pursed her lips. “She left out a few details there, but whatever.”

  “How’d you find me?”

  “My father told me, and I have a good memory.”

  “Why’re you here?”

  “What, no conversations? No how’ve you been? No I’m sorry I had your parents killed?”

  James’ face drained of color.

  “Yeah, it was a real bummer for me too.”

  “Dia, I know it looks bad, but I—”

  “Do you think there’s a viable excuse for this?” She leaned a hip on his desk. “Here’s how it’s going to play out. You’re going to tell me everything, and I mean everything. For every detail you leave out, I have that large man behind you flex a muscle and break one of your limbs.”

  “Please, Dia, you don’t understand.”

  “Help me understand.”

  James’ plump lips quivered, his eyes grew glassy. “I didn’t want it like this. It wasn’t my idea.”

  “Tell me the story, James. You’ll feel better to let go of the guilt.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t know the pressure I was under.”

  Dia laughed. “Really? That’s your angle?”

  He looked down. “Kate, she’s not an easy person to disappoint, you don’t know.”

  “Seriously? You’re going with the nagging wife made me kill two innocent people routine?”

  “I didn’t know she was doing it, I swear. I found out about it later.” He looked at her. “But there’s something you don’t know.”

  “Oh, yeah—what’s that?”

  James met her eyes. “Your mother isn’t dead.”

  Dia narrowed her gaze and stood upright. “You’re lying.”

  He shook his head adamantly. “No, I swear to God, it’s true.”

  “You’re just saying that so I won’t kill you.”

  James shrugged. “You can kill me, it won’t matter. I’m not the one who knows where she is anyway.”

  Dia didn’t know what to think or feel. It all seemed too unreal to imagine her mother might be alive. She moved in closer to him, bent to get in his face. “James, if you’re lying to me, I swear to God I will gut you alive. And don’t think for a second that you can hide from me. I’m not some little girl on a quest here, not anymore.” She looked up to Tallon. “I have powerful friends who’ve always got my back.”

  Tallon put his hands on James’ shoulders and bent to whisper in his ear. “You mess with her, you mess with me. And you don’t want to mess with me. Ask the mayor what happens when you mess with me.”

  James’ eyes grew wide until it looked like they were going to burst. He looked at Dia, but couldn’t find his words.

  “Pretty crazy, huh?” She leaned close to him. “So as you could imagine, wrecking your life would be no big deal. We could be done with that by lunch.”

  James swallowed hard. “Dia, I swear, she was alive. I don’t know where she is now, but I know she was alive.”

  “Why, James? Tell me everything, right now, from the beginning.”

  James nodded. “Okay—okay. It was your father. He got in touch with us. He called us. He said he wanted Ray back. You didn’t know this, but it was part of our agreement, he wanted us to just keep Ray for a while until he could figure out what was going on. When he found out about the settlements in the south, he wanted to take you and Ray down there. But there was a problem. The government checks were coming in to keep Ray in that school, and then we found out if he didn’t get on a path by his birthday he was going to the other school. That meant big—big money, and I had some of the finances tied up in long-term investments. Kate, let me tell you, she’s not about to give up a lifestyle. You saw our apartment. That’s well above my pay grade, and without those checks for Ray we’d have to move.”

  Dia narrowed her eyes. “So big deal, James, you move. You’re not poor. You weren’t going to be homeless.”

  “I know, I agree, but she took matters into her own hands. I let it stew, I told Tony to give me some time, just give me a few months, and he did. But when the time came, Kate wouldn’t give him up. Ray was getting into trouble, and she didn’t make his life easier, he got farther and farther from the path. She agreed to move Ray to that path school full time. But she knew your father wouldn’t stand for that, so she hired the men to kill your parents, thinking that would end the threat.”

  “But?”

  “But they took your mother for some reason, and I don’t know why.”

  “Then how do you know they didn’t kill her?”

  “Kate let it slip. She was on the phone with them and got all upset because they hadn’t killed her. Instead, they were using her for something. Something big.”

  “For what?”

  “I have no idea, Dia, I swear.”

  “Who were these people?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  “No, I swear I don’t. I just know she said they were some Sifters or something.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “That’s all I know. If you want more answers, ask Kate. Maybe she knows more. She never tells me anything anyway.”

  Dia looked up to Tallon and then back to James. “Fine, we’ll go home with you and talk to her, because I won’t get into the building without you.”

  James nodded. “Fine.”

  * * *

  James led them out of the elevator and down the swanky halls toward his place. He was cooperating with great ease, and part of that bothered Dia. At the same time, he believed they were dangerous and that he wasn’t guilty of anything other than being an accessory to his wife’s insanity.

  They entered and James called, “Kate, I’m home.” But when they got past the kitchen island between the living room, Kate was on the floor, dead.

  Dia felt her heart sink, not for Kate, but for the fact that she might’ve been the only person alive who might know where her mother was.

  James went to his wife’s side and sank to one knee. A punch of glass exploded, and James slumped down on top of his wife, a bullet to the head.

  “Back!” Tallon yelled as they took cover, but no other shots came through the window. “To the roof!”

  They took off out of the apartment, running down the hallway until they came to an access staircase that led to the rooftop. But by the time they got there, there was no sign of the shooter from the adjacent rooftop.

  Dia scanned the scene, but nothing moved out of place.

  Tallon said, “Someone is cleaning up their mess.”

  “Yeah, someone who doesn’t want me to find my mother.”

  Tallon made a fist. “I’m sorry, Dia.”

  Dia felt defeated. She wanted it to be real, but inside she knew it was too good to be true.

  Chapter 39

  Chloe handed Dia and Ray their official resident cards. “Here, these are legit. You won’t have any problems. Memorize those pin numbers. Of course, if you want to still head south, that’s up to you.”

  Dia smiled. “I think we’ll stay.”

  Ray nodded. “Cool, can I use my real name again?”

  “Sure can, little brother.”

  Ray looked at the card. “Sweet.” He looked around the old firehouse. “This looks like a cool enough place to stay.”

  “Yeah, we have our own place right next door.”

  “As long as I get my own room.”

  Chloe pointed. “There’s a door down that hallway that connects the two apartments. Usually we lock it, but we could leave it open.”

  “Yeah, that’s fine with me.” Dia smiled. “I’ll probably be spending most of my time here anyway.”

  Ray looked at Chloe and then back at Dia. “Is she your girlfriend?”

  Dia shrugged. “Maybe. Does that bother you?”

  He shrugged and gave her a look. “Why would it bother me? I know you like girls.”

  “Oh ye
ah?” Dia asked. “How do you know?”

  Ray shrugged. “Duh, I knew that when I was like five. I’m perceptive like that.”

  Chloe put her arm around Dia’s waist as Tallon walked into the room.

  Ray hurried over to him. “Hey, Tallon!” He held out his fist and waited for the bump.

  Tallon touched his knuckles. “What’s up, big guy?”

  Ray shrugged, trying to be cool. “Nothing, just chillin’ with my new resident card.”

  “Don’t lose it.”

  “No way, man.”

  There was a knock on the door, and Chloe went to get it. Dia followed just in case. She didn’t trust that everything was resolved enough to have nothing to worry about. It was Patkris.

  Chloe opened the door. “Hey, girl, you got something for me?”

  Patkris waved his hand. “Well, are you going to invite me in?”

  Chloe turned and allowed Patkris to enter.

  “On your request, I did some digging. And here’s what I found. It seems like your friends, the DeRomeos, were hit by this man.” She showed Chloe a picture. “His name is Borton, that’s all I know.”

  “Wait,” Dia interrupted. “You were looking into this for me?”

  Chloe touched her arm. “I saw how disappointed you were, and if your mother is out there, we have to find her.”

  Dia had all but given up hope.

  There was another knock on the door. Tallon walked past them and let Jocelyn in. She walked up to Dia. “Hey, I’ve got something. Turns out Kate spoke with someone at a place called TRG Consulting just before she was killed. And these guys are big time.” She looked at Tallon. “They’ve been tied to the uprising.”

  Tallon moved his head back. “Rebels?”

  Jocelyn nodded. “It’s getting real.”

  Dia stepped back. “Wait, what do you mean, rebels? What’re you guys talking about?”

  Chloe faced her. “There’re a few good people from inside who know about the Project Pathogenesis and the planned war. We’ve been trying to get the word out to the Sifter population to tell them. Alex has been working on it.”

  Dia shook her head. “What does this have to do with my mother?”

  “We don’t know,” Tallon offered. “But we’re trying to find out.”

  Dia huffed. “I can’t believe it.”

  Tallon stepped to her. “We got your back.”

  Chloe faced her. “We’re family now. You saved my life, and none of these people will forget that. You’re part of this now, and we want you to be.”

  Tallon said, “If your mother is out there, we’re going to find her.”

  “Dia,” Chloe offered. “You might be the key to all of this.”

  “Why me?”

  “Because they took your mother for a reason. And you might be the only person on Earth who can find out why.”

  “How can I find out anything?”

  Chloe pointed to her chest. “The answers to the next question could be on the chain around your neck.”

  “The key?” Dia pulled the key out of her shirt and dropped it to her chest.

  “Yes,” Tallon said. “That key was important to your father, and we need to find out why. If the rebels really took your mother, they had a very good reason.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  Chloe touched her arm. “Well, get it. Because you have what it takes.”

  “What do you mean? What do I have?”

  Tallon stood next to them. “You have the ability to turn the uprising into a revolution.”

  Dia looked at her brother.

  TO BE CONTINUED…

  About the Author

  Shane Scollins is a freelance writer and author. From New Jersey, he now resides in Upstate New York with his wife, Heather.

  He has worked as an automotive service manager, a website developer and a computer network engineer.

  Primarily a science fiction and paranormal novelist, Shane enjoys taking readers on surprising and unexpected journeys that twist reality. He is currently working on his next book.

  Facebook:

  www.facebook.com/pages/Shane-Scollins-Author/208046712568634

  Twitter:

  https://twitter.com/shanescollins

  Goodreads:

  www.goodreads.com/author/show/4893553.Shane_Scollins

  Website:

  www.shanescollins.com/