La Sangre Tira Mucho: Secrets of PEACE, #0.5

By T. A. Hernandez

In a future America run by the authoritarian PEACE Project, Alma Rosales enjoys a fairly comfortable life as a detective with her city's local police department. That is until her younger brother Javier gets into trouble and finds himself facing a lengthy prison sentence, or worse. Determined to protect him, Alma follows a trail that leads her closer and closer to the radicals she's been tasked with hunting down and reporting to the Project her entire career...and a decision that will change the course of her life forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: T. A. Hernandez
• Release date: Jan 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386341413

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LA SANGRE TIRA MUCHO

Copyright © 2018 by T. A. Hernandez

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express written consent of the copyright holder, except in the case of brief quotations for the purpose of reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

Cover art by T. A. Hernandez

Title Page

Copyright

Part I

Part II

Part III

Dear Reader

About the Author

Part I

Her Brother’s Keeper

Tuesday, September 15, 2116

According to his identification, the boy sitting in the chair in front of Alma had turned eighteen two months ago, but his petulant scowl and round, childish face made him seem much younger. Whatever you think I did, it wasn’t me, he insisted.

Did he actually think that line was going to work? Alma didn’t respond right away. Let him sweat it out a little, contemplate the seriousness of his position and the actions that had landed him in a police station bright and early on a Tuesday morning. She glanced over the rest of his information, which she’d pulled up on the CyberLink around her wrist. Cedric Davis, enrolled at Springfield’s northside public education center, though he hadn’t shown up for classes or turned in any of his Net-based assignments for the past two months. The kid was on the fast-track to a lifetime of struggle. If he didn’t complete his education requirements before the academic year ended, he’d be lucky to get even a low-end, part-time job—barely enough to qualify for standard monthly rations.

She scrolled through the rest of his history. Prior to his recent truancy, he’d been on a five-year streak of perfect grades and nearly-perfect attendance. No previous arrests, not even a citation for staying out past curfew. A good kid, then. A good kid who’d gotten himself into trouble he probably wasn’t even expecting.

Alma had a soft spot for good kids in trouble, but she wasn’t about to let him see that. Right now, Cedric needed a wake-up call more than he needed sympathy.

He continued to scowl at her from the chair with his hands thrust into the pockets of his jacket. I’m already late for school. Just let me out of here already.

Alma held back a snide remark about the convenience of his sudden concern for his education. I’d love to, she said instead. "Then we’d both be doing something more productive with our time. But I have video footage that shows you burning a PEACE Project flag and making some pretty interesting statements. You want to tell me more about that?"

I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Really? Alma used her CL to quickly pull up the video, which Cedric had been careless enough to post on the Net with only an amateur’s attempt to cover his tracks. He’d also neglected to cover his face.

Cedric watched the video for a few seconds, listening to himself spout off complaints about the PEACE Project’s strict control over the lives of America’s citizens. He was, at least in the video, surprisingly articulate for someone his age. The complaints weren’t anything Alma hadn’t heard before. She was more concerned by the young man’s implied support for radical groups who rebelled against the Project’s authority and sought to dismantle the government. She watched to see how he would react to the irrefutable evidence against him.

He slumped down in his chair and took his hands out of his pockets to cross his arms. You can’t prove that was me. Maybe I have a doppelgänger.

Alma pointed at his jacket, then at his sneakers. Both matched those he’d worn in the video. Does your doppelgänger also dress exactly like you?

Maybe. How should I know?

Alma shrugged. "Have it