"We called Uncle Marcus," Marley said. "The crazy thing is, he told us that he does not have any kids."
How was that even possible?
"Really?" I said.
"Yeah. It leaves the question as to why Dad would even lie about Kayla being our cousin?" Naomi said. "I mean, who really was that girl in our house?"
"This doesn't make any sense," Marley shook her head.
"So if your Uncle Marcus never had a daughter, where did your dad leave to drop off whoever that was that night? Why would he bring a random girl into your home?" I said.
They both agreed.
"We have a big hole now," Marley said.
"I know," I said.
The three of us heard a car honk.
"Hey! You guys need a ride?" It was Mom. She had pulled up close to the curb. The three of us had been walking home back from school.
"Sure. You guys need a ride home?" I said.
Marley and Naomi looked at each other.
"Uh no we're..." Naomi said but Marley interrupted.
"Yes Please! It's hot out here!"
"That's true," Naomi responded.
"Okay hop in!" Mom said.
Mom looked at me with wide eyes; I knew what she was thinking.
"They're gorgeous," Mom whispered.
"Mom please..."
"I know. I know," she said, raising her hands.
I could feel my cheeks turning red from her comment. Though I was sure I looked nervous around Marley, I was determined for Mom to not find out I had a thing for her.
The three of them were all chatting about the town. Mom offered them to come over to have dinner with us, and they gladly accepted. Later, after dropping off Marley and Naomi, James called to tell me about some good news; Space Tiers to be exact.
"The conference is going to be held there in Arizona this summer!" James said excitedly.
"John Rudy....? Put on a conference?"
"I was surprised too when I heard the news. The invitation just showed up out of nowhere! Did you get one?" he asked.
"No. Don't you think it's a bit odd, they would send an invitation to your house? How do they know where you live?"
"True, I don't know. Maybe the conference is some kind of private meeting, where the fans meet the author."
The odd thing was, both James and I knew it wasn't like John Rudy to put on a conference.
John Rudy was the author of the novel "Space Tiers" and known to be a very shy individual. He also had been James's and I favorite writer of all time. We both had read "Space Tiers" when we were younger.
It was a book about a foreign species named "The Tier Travelers", who traveled from planet to planet and universe to universe collecting rocks and materials. In the book they were captured and imprisoned to be tortured. Yeah, the story didn't have a happy ending but overall the novel was a 10/10.
Marley and Naomi arrived for dinner later that afternoon.
I decided to check the mail before heading back inside and I found an invitation to the Space Tiers conference just like James.
"You're invited to meet the author John Rudy, July 28! Don't be late. Address 8820, Search Dr, Phoenix, AZ 85005." Next to the announcement, was the picture of John. The scrawny white man was holding a copy of the book and smiling for the picture. Below it was a little note. "Bring your book!".
How did they get my address? I thought.
When I walked back into the house, I saw Mom and Dad were chatting with Marley and Naomi.
"I can't get over how much you two look familiar?" Dad said.
"They're Mrs. Susan's granddaughters," Mom responded.
"That explains it! I grew up with your father and your mother."
"Really?" Naomi said. "That's cool, you must be Nathan Harris?"
"No, Ivan. Nathan is my brother."
"Our parents always mentioned how you guys grew up together and used to play basketball."
"They did? Really?"
The two of them nodded.
"I'm so sorry about what happened to your parents. Your father was a good guy. You're mother too, she was great."
Time came around for dinner. Mom had made spaghetti with a side salad.
Everyone started to dig in, Marley was the only one to pray before eating.
"So how does it feel to be back in Desertville, Mr. Harris?" Marley said.
"I hate it and I love it. I love it because of all the memories I have growing up here, and I hate it because of the heat!"
Everyone chuckled.
After dinner Marley, Naomi and I went to hang out in my room.
"I definitely need another slice of your Mom's Strawberry Cassava cake. It's so good!" Naomi said.
"If she would add that to the menu at the diner, everyone would love it!" Marley said.
"Yeah, but I don't think she's going to want to change jobs anytime soon." I said. "My parents work for the T.S.I."
"Really?"
"Yeah. That's why I'm also very curious to know about the T.S.I." I got up and shut the door. "I was researching and I found that lady Dr. Maddison, the one who sent the letter to your father. She is one of the leads at T.S.I. Her full name is Rebecca Maddison."
I pulled up a picture of her and other T.S.I employees on my computer.
"The other two people are Dr. Henry Collins and Dr. Michael Richardson. These three are the heads of the T.S.I."
"What's with all these Doctors?" Marley said.
"They're probably scientists. I don't know. This whole organization is weird. Really makes me think of what my parents are up to."
"Same with our dad. But our dad never really mentioned work, like ever. If he was just mining what was the big deal?" Naomi said.
"The question is, what was he mining?" I said.
"Our uncle also mentioned something about our mom," Marley said. "When I asked him about the call they had the night our dad disappeared, he said that never happened. Then he shared the reason he thought that our mom had been admitted to the mental ward was probably due to the T.S.I.
"We did not believe him at first until I remembered that after our dad had disappeared we were on the run, with our mom." Naomi said. "We slept in motels. One day we went to a water park. Marley and I were playing, and our mom told us she'd be right back. When she came back, she looked like she was out of it. She wasn't the same, she seemed dazed. I just remember calling her name so many times but she didn't respond," a tear fell out of her eye and she wiped it quickly. "Then I saw in the distance some guys in black suits getting into a black SUV. It was weird. But now that I think about it, it looked like they were FBI or something. Obviously, those guys weren't there with their families. We had to call for an ambulance to take her to the hospital. That's when they admitted her and sent us to live with our grandparents."
"I bet they were T.S.I." I said.
"Yeah, probably." Naomi said. "I think they were watching us. It all makes sense now. If Dr. Maddison was the one who sent the threat letter to our father, then it makes sense as to why our father disappeared. Maybe it really wasn't Uncle Marcus that mom had talked to over the phone that night. Maybe it was really the T.S.I pretending to be Uncle Marcus. Uncle Marcus told us that the T.S.I has tech like that to hack into phones, listen in on conversations, and even mimic voices."
"How would he know that?" I asked.
"He works for them too."
"Seems like everyone does."
"Maybe Mom knew something was wrong and that we were in danger. Maybe she knew we were being watched. They must of found us that day at the waterpark and did something to scramble her brain because she knew too much," Marley said.
The T.S.I had now become villains in our eyes. Murderers even. What were they hiding that they didn't want people to find out? What did Joseph take that belonged to them? What was so 'Top Secret' that they would go as far as to kill or to even put someone in a psych ward to keep their secrets from being uncovered?
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