called as she slammed out the front door and climbed on her bike. She had every intention of letting Ethan get a shot at any and all of the club members, and she was anxious to see what he found.
“I’m starting to wonder if this wasn’t an internal issue.”
Ethan stared at her from where he sat on the couch in his makeshift apartment while Brett paced back and forth. She’d asked him to meet her here first, since she needed a place she knew was safe from prying eyes and ears. Sure, someone could have followed her here, but none of the Suns seemed to give a shit about what she did, as long as she was out of the way. And they had no idea where Ethan stayed in town.
When he didn’t say anything, she went on, “I started thinking about all the things that have led to this point. The Ravens, the drug runs. The double crossing. None of that is in character for Martin. And I’m not excusing him. It’s entirely possible it was his idea, and I just hadn’t seen that side of him. But there had to be beef within the club about some of those choices.”
Ethan nodded. “That makes sense. So, what are you thinking? Maybe someone threatened him, and he left town? Or are you thinking someone did some real damage?”
Running her hands through her hair, Brett shook her head. “I don’t know. Martin’s never been a coward. I don’t know if he’d run, especially without telling me first. You know, we’re all each other has, outside of that club. The rest of the family is gone.” It really bothered her, too, and she was starting to fear the worst. “If the others were already trying to push him out, either because he made these decisions without consulting him or because he tried to stop them in pursuing the business, I wouldn’t put it past some of them to want to take care of business and make sure he was out of the way permanently.”
She hated the way her voice trembled. She never got this emotional, but it had just hit her all at once. For the last couple of weeks, she’d taken everything in stride, gone into crisis mode and held it together. Never once had she truly considered the fact that Martin might not be coming back. It had hung over her, like a dark cloud, but it had only now burst and started to flood her with doubt.
“Hey, calm down. We don’t know anything yet. The private investigator is meeting with us tomorrow, and he’s going to get on the ball with finding Martin, okay?” Ethan’s voice was soothing, light and reassuring. For a moment, Brett wished he would get up and pull her to his chest, hold her so she could let it all out. Cry the tears that she wouldn’t let fall where anyone could see.
But she was stronger than that, and she had a reputation to uphold. She’d already crossed one line with Ethan. The hell if she was going to cross another. “I know that. But little things are starting to add up. Like Dennis, knowing I was in the office with thin walls, talking to the others about the fact that he should be president. Saying that I was an idiot for thinking I could hold Martin’s place and that he didn’t think my brother was ever coming back.”
“Shit,” Ethan breathed, scrubbing his face with both hands. “He sounded pretty confident about that?”
Brett thought back and could hear Dennis’s voice in her head. “Yeah, he sounded at least convinced, if not absolutely sure about it.” She threw her hands in the air. “I’m not trying to implicate him in anything, I’ve known him longer than anyone else in the club, and this extremely uncharacteristic of him. He’s always been close to Martin and me, treating and respecting us like family. But I have this gut feeling that Dennis has been plotting something, whether it’s related to Martin’s disappearance or not.”
With a nod and a scratch of his chin, Ethan muttered, “I think it’s called women’s intuition.” Brett smirked, but he continued in a voice almost as quiet and pensive, “I never gave Dennis a second thought because I don’t think he’s got the brains to scheme without help. But if there are multiple players involved, or if he had outside influence from somewhere else, anything is possible.”
She stopped moving and faced him. “So, you agree