Chapter 27 Whispers and warnings
Sage's POV
The clubhouse felt different after the threat to Dr. Martinez.
Every brother who walked through the door looked tense and suspicious. Conversations stopped when people entered rooms and the air was thick with paranoia and questions nobody wanted to ask out loud.
Jaxon called an emergency meeting within an hour of the vandalism. I sat in the back corner and watched everyone file in. Dr. Martinez arrived last, his face was pale and his usual calm completely shattered.
"Alright," Jaxon said once everyone was seated. "We all know why we're here. Someone threatened one of our own again and we need to figure out who and why."
"Could be anyone," Snake said. "We've got enemies. Always have."
"But this one feels personal," Diesel added. "The message wasn't general. It was specific. Liars die too. Someone's accusing Martinez of something."
All eyes turned to the doctor. He shifted in his seat and pulled out a cigarette with shaking hands.
"I don't know why anyone would threaten me," he said. His voice was steady but his hands betrayed him. He had to try twice to get the lighter to work. "I patch people up and keep my mouth shut. That's my job."
"You keep records too," Tommy pointed out. "Medical files on everyone in this club. Maybe someone's worried about what's in those files."
"My records are confidential. Always have been."
"Unless someone asks the right questions," Jaxon said quietly.
Martinez finally got his cigarette lit and took a long drag. I watched him carefully. He wouldn't look at Jaxon. His eyes kept darting to the door like he wanted to run.
"Has anyone been asking you questions?" Jaxon pressed. "About old injuries, old cases, anything that might make someone nervous?"
"No. Nobody's asked me anything."
But the way he said it made me think he was lying.
The meeting broke up without any real answers. Brothers filed out in small groups, muttering to each other about who might have done it and what it meant. I waited until most of them were gone before making my move.
Diesel stood by the bar pouring himself a whiskey. He'd been with the club longer than almost anyone except Dad. If there were secrets worth knowing, Diesel probably knew them.
I walked over and leaned against the bar next to him. "Can I ask you something?"
"Depends on what you're asking."
"I found some old photos in the basement. From before I left for New York." I kept my voice casual, like this was just idle curiosity. "There was this guy in a lot of them. Robert Cordova. I barely remember him but he seemed close to my dad."
Diesel's expression shifted. He looked as if he was sad to hear the name.
"Good man," he said after a moment. "Shame about the accident."
"What accident?"
"Motorcycle crash about seven years ago. Went off the road during a night run. Died instantly."
I nodded like this was news to me. "That's awful. Were they close? Him and my dad?"
"Vincent trusted him with everything. Business, territory negotiations, all of it." Diesel took a drink and then lowered his voice. "Though some of us wondered if it was really an accident."
My pulse jumped but I kept my face neutral. "Why would you wonder that?"
"Because Robert and Vincent had a bad fight the week before he died. About money, we heard. Vincent was pissed about something and Robert wouldn't back down." Diesel looked at me. "Then Robert's dead and Vincent never talked about him again. Made everyone promise not to mention his name in front of Robert's wife and kids."
"That seems..."
"Suspicious? Yeah." Diesel finished his drink and set the glass down hard. "But we don't ask questions about dead brothers. Bad for morale."
He walked away before I could ask anything else. I stood there at the bar trying to process what he'd just told me.
My dad and Robert fought about money. A week later Robert was dead in what might not have been an accident. And then payments under Robert's name continued for two more years.
Someone was using a dead man's identity to hide transactions. Someone who had access to club records and knew Robert wouldn't be able to deny it.
I waited until late that night to tell Ryder. He spent the night at my house under the guise of security and after everyone else was asleep, I pulled him into my room.
"I talked to Diesel," I said quietly. "About Robert Cordova."
Ryder sat on the edge of my bed. "What did he say?"
"That Robert and my dad had a bad fight about money the week before Robert died. That some people in the club wondered if the accident was really an accident."
"Shit."
"We're putting pieces together, Ryder. Dad and Robert fought about money. Robert died under suspicious circumstances. The payments under Robert's name continued after his death. And the doctor who certified Robert's death as accidental is the same doctor whose initials are all over Dad's secret ledger."
"Dr. Martinez," Ryder said.
"It all comes back to him. He's connected to everything." I sat down next to Ryder. "We need to talk to him. Find out what he knows."
"That's dangerous. If he's involved in whatever got your father and Robert killed, confronting him could get us both hurt."
"Then what do we do? Just sit here while someone threatens him and threatens us and we pretend we don't know anything?"
Ryder opened his mouth to answer but his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and his whole body went rigid when he saw the screen.
"What is it?" I asked.
He turned the phone so I could see.
Unknown number. One simple message that made my blood run cold.
Tell Sage to stop asking questions or she is next.