Chapter 79 Investigating the inner circle
Sage's POV
I spread the piece of paper across Jaxon's desk and stared at the five names written on it until my vision started to blur from exhaustion and frustration. Jaxon, Ryder, Diesel, Snake, and Dr. Martinez's names stared back at me like accusations I didn't want to make.
One of these men killed my father, and the thought made my stomach turn because these were people I'd known my entire life, people who had been at family barbecues and club parties and Christmas celebrations. One of them looked my dad in the eye and pulled the trigger, then went home that night and slept like nothing happened while my world shattered into pieces I'd never be able to put back together.
It was very unlikely that Jaxon killed his own father, or that Ryder killed his own president and the father of the woman he claimed to love, but I wasn't willing to leave any stone unturned or make assumptions based on emotion rather than evidence.
"We need a systematic approach to this." Ryder stood behind me with his hands resting on my shoulders in a way that was meant to be comforting but only reminded me how deep the possible betrayal went. "We can't just start accusing people without solid evidence or we'll tip off the killer and lose any chance we have of catching them before they can cover their tracks or disappear."
"I know that, but we only have forty-seven hours left before Dante's deadline expires and I have to make a choice I'm not prepared to make." I pointed at Dr. Martinez's name on the list with a trembling finger. "We start with him because Dad trusted him with medical secrets and personal health information that nobody else would have access to, which means he might know things about what Dad was going through before he died."
Jaxon leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and that look on his face that meant he was thinking through all the angles and possible outcomes. "Tommy told me earlier that Martinez didn't actually disappear like we thought he had. He just took his family on a road trip to help them recover from the trauma of being held captive by Ryder when we were trying to find answers about who RC was."
"So he's back in town?" I looked up at Ryder with surprise. "When did he get back?"
"Two days ago according to Tommy, but he's been keeping a low profile and only seeing patients by appointment instead of walk-ins." Ryder's hands tightened slightly on my shoulders. "Which means we can visit his clinic and ask him some questions about your dad's last days without making it seem like we're investigating him specifically as a murder suspect."
"What kind of questions are we supposed to ask without making him suspicious that we think he might be involved in Dad's murder?" I stood up and started pacing because sitting still made me feel like the walls were closing in and I couldn't breathe properly. "We can't just walk in there and demand to know where he was the night Dad died and expect him to answer honestly if he's the one who pulled the trigger."
"We ask him about Vincent's state of mind in the weeks leading up to his death and frame it as wanting closure." Jaxon pushed off from the wall. "We tell him we're struggling to understand what Dad was going through so we can process our grief and move forward. Martinez won't think twice about answering questions like that because it's the kind of thing a grieving family would naturally want to know."
I stopped pacing and looked at my brother with new appreciation for how well he understood the psychology of interrogation and manipulation. "That's actually a good approach because it gives us information about what Dad was dealing with while also letting us observe Martinez's reactions when we bring up specific topics that might make a guilty person nervous."
"Exactly, and if he gets nervous or defensive about certain questions, that tells us something important even if he doesn't realize he's giving anything away with his body language or tone of voice." Jaxon pulled out his phone. "I'll text him right now and tell him you're struggling with grief and need to talk to someone who knew your father well. We'll pay him a visit this afternoon and see what we can learn."
Ryder moved closer to me and lowered his voice so only I could hear him even though Jaxon was standing right there. "Are you sure you're ready for this? Hearing details about what your father was going through before he died might be harder than you think, especially if Martinez tells us things we didn't know about Dad's state of mind."
"I'm ready because finding his killer is more important than protecting myself from painful information that might make me uncomfortable." I looked up at him and saw the concern in his gray eyes. "Besides, I need to know the truth about what was happening with him even if it hurts to hear it, because living with unanswered questions is worse than facing difficult truths."
My phone buzzed with another text from Dante, and I pulled it out to see his latest attempt at psychological warfare. "Forty-six hours left, princess. Have you decided which nightmare you're choosing yet? Me or Diego? Or are you still holding out hope that you'll magically find your father's killer and escape from both of us?"
I showed the text to Ryder and watched his jaw clench with barely controlled rage that made the muscles in his neck stand out. "He's trying to rattle you and make you feel like you're running out of options so you'll panic and make a mistake."
"He's succeeding because I am running out of options and time is slipping away faster than I can process what's happening." I shoved my phone back in my pocket with more force than necessary. "If we don't find Dad's killer in the next two days, I'm going to have to choose between marrying Dante or letting him expose Dad's federal cooperation to the entire world and destroying everything Dad worked to protect."