“Of course I did. Did you think I’d fail? It wasn’t even a hard job,” Tavish responds as he notices a vase of flowers that he starts fiddling with. “Now that I see this rather nice island with your private plane and your luxurious mansion, I’m starting to wonder if I got ripped off a bit.”
“Ha, of course not,” the man says. “I’ll tip you generously.”
Tavish seems pleased about that. “Has to be nice finally facing your daughter’s killer, right?”
“You have the wrong person,” I say. “I didn’t kill your daughter. He grabbed the wrong person. I promise.”
“No, he grabbed the right person,” he assures me. “My name is Arthur Wilson.”
He says it like it’s this big reveal, and maybe if I really did kill his daughter, it would be one.
“O-Okay?” I reply. “I’m really sorry your daughter was killed, but I didn’t kill her. I’m just a regular guy. I’ve never done anything like that and I’m so sorry you went through all of that. And I’m sure it would be a huge relief to have your daughter’s killer in your hands, but I’m not him.”
“Ellis… or should I say, Shawn?”
I freeze at that name. Fuck… oh fuck.
I glance at the Scottish man who is over there pocketing something he snatched off the table. “I told you I wasn’t a fucking killer! Please, get me out of here.”
Tavish nonchalantly looks up. “Huh? Did I miss something? I feel like I missed something rather important. Would you guys mind rolling the conversation back to the big reveal? I was uhh… busy,” he says, pockets bulging.
“Shawn, where’s your father?” Arthur asks. “Where is Zachary?”
“I… don’t know. I’m pretty sure he’s dead. I’m really sorry that I can’t tell you more. Can I go? It kind of seems like you know more about him than I do, really. I know nothing about the whole thing. I just would really like to go home. You have a nice house. Really nice house. Bet it’d be even nicer without me in it.”
“I’m still lost. Is anyone else lost?” Tavish asks.
“I’m a little confused too,” the taller of the men near Arthur admits.
“Kill Tavish and shut him up,” Arthur orders.
“Now that, that I understood,” Tavish says as Arthur’s four guards all whip out a weapon at the same time. A shot goes offand Tavish pulls back as a man near the door lunges at him. He slams a knife right into his shoulder before Tavish throws the man to the ground. Panic hits me; I’ve never even been to a gun range before, and now there’s suddenly bullets whipping past my face. I can’t move, I can’t do anything with my ankles and wrists still taped. The only thing I can do is flop onto the floor, which seems like a really fucking good idea.
Tavish is quick; instead of running for the door, he slips behind me as he tears out his gun and shoots one of the men. Like fuckingshootshim. Like… blood spraying, bullet in the head, man dropping to the ground, shoots him.
I’m in so much shock that I can’t even comprehend what is happening as Tavish grabs me by the throat and presses the gun againstmy head.
Why the fuck does it always come back tomebeing held at gunpoint? What if we… I don’t know,shoot someone else,and then like… the police come cruising in and are like “You poor thing, how did you get wrapped up in this, let’s take you home” and they put me in a luxury jet that delivers me to my front door!
“Clearly, you need him for something and have put quite a lot of time and resources into me finding him, so if you attack me again, I’m going to fucking blow a hole right in his head,” Tavish growls as he starts dragging me back.
I’m… I’m going to be real honest, going out the door with this man is weirdly starting to turn into a good idea.
“You’re making a big fucking mistake, Tavish,” Arthur yells.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Was I supposed to just stand there while you killed me? Is that what I was supposed to do?”
He pulls me through the door, but as soon as we’re through, he drops me with a pained “Fuck.”
Tavish reaches down and yanks at the binds around my ankles, but when it becomes clear it won’t be easy to free me, he jumps up and bolts, leaving me behind.
“No, no, no! You were going to save me! Hey! Come on!” I cry as I flop around like a fish out of water.
The door swings open as Tavish disappears, and I’m left lying on the ground questioning every moment of my life.
“What a mess,” Arthur says as he looks down at me. “But at least I guess I still have you. Why don’t we talk while my men go deal with that asshole, eh?”
“I’d really prefer we didn’t,” I grumble as he gives me a wave.
