Score to Settle

I’ve always been the quiet one until you fuck with me. Martin Davis and his wife Hallie Vector-Davis picked the wrong one to fuck with. Sending those guys after me was the dumbest thing the two of them ever did.

The light goes on in the foyer, but Noah and I don’t move. We wait in the silence of the living room. Voices carry our way as the owners of the home argue.

“I don’t know why you always get so mad. He was just complimenting my hair,” the woman’s voice whines.

I never did like the sound of Hallie’s voice. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. It’s all so clear to me now. Every time I think back on my interactions with Vector’s only daughter, I can see the jumpiness, the lack of eye contact, and the pitchiness of her voice.

At first, I passed her voice off as annoying. Now, I can hear past that initial annoying ass voice to what was really going on back then. Hallie was playing everyone. Snitching on her husband was a part of some dumb ass plan.

If I weren’t spreading myself so thin, I would have seen it sooner. A mistake I’ve only made once and will never make again. I’m no one’s fool and I don’t like the fact that these two tried to make me one.

“He wouldn’t have said shit to you if you weren’t staring in his fucking face. I swear, I don’t know why I brought you with me. I should have left your spoiled, slutty ass right with your father,” Martin barks at her.

“Slut, who are you calling a slut?” She hisses at him.

“Trouble in paradise? Awful lot of trouble to go through to end up broke on an island bickering,” I speak up, as they cross the threshold into the room.

Martin flips the light switch. Both of their faces drain of blood. It’s priceless. A look I’ll remember for years to come.

“Listen, this was all her idea. I had nothing to do with it,” Martin says, holding up his hands as if he can ward this off.

“Bitch,” Noah snorts.

“I’d shut up if I were you,” I grit out.

“How did you get in here?” Hallie asks shakily.

I tilt my head at her. My lip curls back. There are a few things I’d like to say to her but my mother raised me better.

“Who helps their husband robs their father blind only to lose it all? You know you can never go back, don’t you?” I say to her.

“Did he se…send you?” She stammers.

“No, one sent me anywhere. I’m not a pet,” I reply.

“I want to get the fuck out of here. I have better things to do,” Noah grumbles.

“Patience. First, I have a question,” I say to Noah before turning back to the dumb ass couple in front of me. “Why call attention to the missing money if you were in on it?”

“Oh, I can answer this one,” Martin snorts in disgust. “It’s because she’s a stupid jealous cunt. She thought I was cheating. To get back at me she took her name off of everything and ratted me out.”

“I’m jealous? You fucking prick. You just choked a guy at a restaurant. You weren’t calling me a stupid cunt then, were you?” She hollers at him.

I roll my eyes at them. I feel like I’m watching a bad movie. They’re both idiots. Blowing through five million when you know you can’t get your hands on the rest of the money you stashed.

Oh, yeah. When you send guys for me, I’m going to fuck your shit up. The only reason I didn’t get to that last five million was because they’d just withdrawn it seconds before I ruined their lives.

“You are stupid. You left your name on one of the accounts. I had to try to clean that shit up. I don’t know why I give a fuck. I should have let the old man find out the truth. No, I’m always thinking with my dick. Now look at this shit,” Martin barks.

“I told you to send them with guns. You said they didn’t need them for the nerd,” Hallie huffs.

Noah bursts into laughter. These two are pretty sad. I agree with his earlier statement. It’s time to go.

“Wait, wait,” Noah says through his laughter. “You sent those guys after my brother to cover your tracks because you didn’t remove your name from all of the accounts. So you two could have gotten away if you didn’t come for the one person that might or might not have outed you, but without doubt has the power to end you.”

“We can work something out,” Martin tries to talk his way out of this.

“Yeah, fuck that, you sent goons for my life,” I say between my teeth. “At best, I’m going to watch you bleed out.”

“Wh…what,” Hallie breathes.

I give a laugh. “Nah, I’m joking, dude. Come on, I have something for you,” I say, waving them to follow me.

I don’t look behind me to see if they are following. I walk out the back sliding doors whistling. It feels good to be on this side. Watching from my mentors can get boring at times.

I hear Noah growl behind me, the shoveling of feet following. I grin. I’m sure the look my brother just gave them killed any thought of running or putting up a fight.

I stop beside the infinity pool. Their flashiness appalls me, but I’m applauding it tonight as it works in my favor. They’re neighbors are over a mile away. The sound of the ocean and the distance will be enough to muffle their screams.

I squat next to the pool running the tip of the muzzle of my gun across the surface. We cut the lights out here. The gorgeous lighting that showcases the pool is no longer shining. Looking up, I smile with all my teeth showing.

“Strip,” I bark the command.

Hallie takes a step back bumping into Noah’s chest. She nearly jumps out of her skin whirling in a circle before turning back to me with wide eyes. She looks at Martin pleadingly.

“I don’t like repeating myself. Do it now or you’ll be doing it with holes in your knees,” I hiss.

They both spring into action, stripping out of their clothes. Hallie does so while trembling. Martin curses the entire time under his breath. I stand, crossing my arms over my chest.

Placing the gun in my waistband, I pull my knife. Some might think this is cold. Me, not so much. These guys were not there to play with me. They were there to take my life.

I hold the handle of the knife out to Hallie. She looks at it, then back at me. I see her mind working. She quickly makes up her mind that trying anything stupid with me is useless.

She wraps a shaky hand around the knife. Her eyes look at me with a mix of pleading and confusion. I take a step back.

“Cut him and I’ll think about letting you go,” I say.

Her mouth falls open. She looks at Martin, contemplation clear in her eyes. She turns to him with her brows drawn.

“You’d really do it, you stupid bitch,” Martin snarls before lunging at Hallie and the knife.

I watch in amazement as she stumbles back. Martin manages to get the knife from her, slicing her hand in the process. I can’t describe the feeling of anticipation that fills me when he pushes her into the water.

Wait for it.

I don’t miss a beat as I halt a charging Martin, placing him in a headlock and retrieving my blade. He struggles against my hold just as Hallie’s high-pitched screams fill the air. On queue, the lights come up.

“Thanks, Bro,” I say into my earpiece to a listening Wyatt on the other end.

“No problem,” he says back.

“What the fuck?” Martins gasps as he looks at the pool before us.

Hallie tries to swim to the edge as she continues to scream. She can give it up. She’s not making it out of that pool. Edging closer with Martin in my hold, I slash across the front of his chest.

Releasing him, I quickly slash the back of his knees before taking a step back. Planting my foot in his back, I send him over into the pool. His screams begin to fill the night air.

Piranhas. Nasty little fuckers, but they’ll get the job done. Maybe this is why my brothers make me stay behind the computer screens.

“You know your mind is twisted,” Noah says as he steps up beside me, speaking to my own thoughts.

“Takes one, to know one,” I say with a shrug.

“Truth,” Noah chuckles. “I’m going to see what’s in the fridge. The cleaners are on the way.”

I nod, my eyes remaining on the pool before me. The screams are dying down. When I hear the sound of movement to my right, I cut the audio between myself and my brothers.

I turn to see Norman Vector staring into the pool. He’s wearing a look of pure disgust. He was the one to tip me off to where his daughter had been hiding. He didn’t want to send his man for this.

“She wasn’t my child,” he says tightly. “My stepdaughter didn’t know any other father but me from the time she was a baby. Yet, she still betrayed me in the end. This doesn’t get back to my wife.”

“You’re not even here,” I reply.

He doesn’t reply. He returns to the shadows I mapped out for him to follow. This part is between us. Never know when I’ll need to call in a favor.