Chapter 81 Martinez's alibi
Sage's POV
"Where were you the night he was killed?" Ryder asked Dr. Martinez, keeping his voice casual, even though his eyes were sharp and focused. All three of us were watching for any signs that he was deceiving us or lying to us.
The doctor's expression suddenly changed and he looked nervous in a way that made my instincts scream that he was definitely lying or hiding something important, something that could lead us closer to knowing who killed my father.
Martinez shifted in his chair and wouldn't meet our eyes directly. "I was at home that night, alone, watching television and trying to unwind from what had been a very long day at the clinic."
"Can anyone verify that?" Jaxon's voice was sharp.
"No, my wife was visiting her sister with the kids in Phoenix that week and I was by myself." Martinez's hands gripped the armrests of his chair so tightly as if he was trying to stabilize himself. "But I didn't kill Vincent and I had no reason to want him dead. He was my friend and my patient for over thirty years."
"Except he knew you refused to help him when he needed it most." I leaned forward in my chair. "Maybe he threatened to tell people you weren't cooperating with him, that you'd turned him down when he was desperate for answers. Maybe he said he'd ruin your practice or your reputation in the community."
"He didn't threaten me with anything because I was trying to protect him from himself and from making terrible decisions he couldn't take back." Martinez's face flushed red with what looked like anger or embarrassment. "Vincent was spiraling out of control in those last weeks and I was trying to help before he did something he'd regret. That's what doctors do for their patients when they see them heading down a dark path. Jaxon you know this."
I turned and looked at my brother and he looked away. I studied Dr. Martinez's face carefully, looking for any sign he was lying to us about that night or about his relationship with my father. The sweat on his forehead could be guilt or it could be fear of being accused of something he didn't do. The way he kept glancing at the door could mean he was hiding something important or it could just mean he wanted us gone so he could process this uncomfortable conversation.
"You said Vincent seemed paranoid in those last weeks." Ryder crossed his arms. "Paranoid about what specifically?"
Martinez hesitated and his tongue darted out to wet his lips nervously. "He kept talking about someone following his family around town and watching the house. Said they knew things they shouldn't know, private things that only close family or club members would be aware of." He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead. "He was convinced someone inside the club was feeding information to enemies, that the threat was coming from within the Steel Wolves rather than from outside."
"Did he say who he suspected of betraying him?"
"No, he wouldn't tell me names even when I pushed him for details because he said he wasn't sure yet and didn't want to accuse innocent people." Martinez's voice dropped lower. "But he stopped trusting people he'd known for years and had considered his closest friends and brothers. The Vincent I saw in those last weeks wasn't the man I had known for thirty years. Something had broken inside him and I could see it in his eyes when he came in for appointments, this haunted look like he was being hunted."
I grabbed Ryder's arm because I needed something solid to hold onto. "What else? What aren't you telling us about those visits?"
"Nothing, that's everything I know about what was happening with him in those final weeks." But Martinez's eyes shifted away when he said it and I knew he was holding something back from us.
Ryder moved faster than I expected and was across the room before Martinez could react, gripping the armrests of the doctor's chair and leaning in close. "You're lying to us and we both know it. Tell us what you're hiding or this is going to get a lot more uncomfortable for you, just like last time."
"Ryder," Jaxon warned, but he didn't move to stop him.
Martinez's face went pale and his breathing became shallow and rapid. "There were prescriptions that Vincent asked for in those last few weeks, medications that didn't match any diagnosis I'd given him or any condition he'd told me about." The words came out in a rush like he was desperate to get them out before he changed his mind. "Anti-anxiety pills, sleep aids, things he shouldn't have needed in those quantities unless something was seriously wrong with his mental or physical health that he wasn't telling me about."
"What kind of wrong?" My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.
"I don't know because he wouldn't tell me the truth about why he needed them when I asked." Martinez looked at me with something like pity in his eyes. "But the amounts he wanted suggested he wasn't just taking them himself. He was either giving them to someone else or stockpiling them for some reason I couldn't figure out no matter how many times I pressed him for answers."
Ryder stepped back but his expression was still dangerous. "Who else knows about these prescriptions?"
"No one. I kept them off the books like Vincent asked me to because he said it was important that nobody knew he was getting these medications and that my discretion was essential." Martinez straightened his jacket with shaking hands. "But someone must have known anyway because those medications could have been used for all kinds of things, including making someone vulnerable enough to kill without them being able to fight back effectively."
The implication hung in the air between us and I felt like I couldn't breathe properly.
"You think someone drugged my father before shooting him?" The words came out barely above a whisper.