Fallout ▷ Stilinski

Chapter 13. Aptitude Testing

Scott, Stiles and myself were all seated around the wads of cash on the floor. Inside the bag we had found a cassette tape that had the words Play Me written on it. After Scott dug out his old radio from his closet, which was no easy task due to the clutter, we contemplated on playing the tape.

"You think it's from the Benefactor?" my brother asked as he glanced between Stiles and myself.

I rolled my eyes, "I know it's from the Benefactor. Why else would it be with the money from the Benefactor if it wasn't?"

"She's right," Stiles agreed, "that's definitely from the Benefactor."

Scott swallowed thickly as he popped the cassette into place and hit the play button. The sound of the rain hitting the window was the only thing apparent before the tape began to reveal what was on it. There was a crackling sound and a little bit of static before a male voice came over the speakers, "After entering the IP address, you will be connected through a Darknet portal to an untraceable bank. Once logged in, enter your account numbers to receive wire transfers. The IP address will deactivate with each transfer. You will be assigned a new IP address if you choose to continue down the list. Remember, visual confirmation is always required for payment."

The room fell silent as we took in in the new information. Somehow these assassins get a number and use it as a sort of username and password in order to get the money. They have to take a photo of the creature they killed and send it with the information in order to get paid. Whomever the Benefactor is, they're definitely up to speed with modern technology if they are able to create this many new IP addresses and and deactivate the old ones.

"You ever made a wire transfer?" Stiles asked the two of us in confusion.

My brother shook his head from side to side, "Never had enough money."

"So you didn't understand a word of that either?" he continued, making sure we were on the same page in regards to the whole money situation.

I'm not exactly sure what a wire transfer is or how it works, but I know that it's for large amounts of money and usually the bad guys use it in movies when they rob people. Normally, things are wired to offshore accounts so they can't be traced, but apparently here it's being wired somewhere else.

"I don't understand any of this. Why would someone use all of this money just to kill us?" Scott inquired as he gestured to the cash.

I groaned, "Exactly. Most of the people on this list lay low and don't hurt people."

"Somebody wants you two dead. Badly." Stiles stated evenly.

He was right. Somebody does want the two of us dead. I mean, they're willing to pay someone 35 million dollars for me alone. Scott's worth 25 million. Together, we are worth 60 million dollars. That's enough for 100 people to live the rest of their lives on without a care in the world.

As if the words sent a panic through Scott, he snatched up the money and began shoving it back into the duffle bag. Stiles held his hands up to stop him, "Whoa whoa, what are you doing?"

"It's late. We've got the PSAT's in the morning." he responded as he continued to shove the money in the bag.

Stiles shook his head from side to side, "No, I meant the money. $500,000. You know how much money that is?"

My brother glanced at his best friend as if he was asking him a trick question, "It's 500--"

"It's half a million dollars, Scott. What are you going to do with it? Are you just gonna slide it under your mattress?" Stiles asked as he gave my brother a dumbfounded look.