Tundra grunted. “Yeah, there are. Was it an asshole like us? Someone like the Sixers? Or a run of the mill asshole who spotted her leaving the gym, liked what they saw, and thought she owed them the time of day or some shit?”
Realization crept over Brantley’s expression. “Probably like the last. This guy looked like a mechanic, but it was dim in the parking lot.”
Beast crossed his arms. “Did you ask her if she knew him?”
Brantley closed his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t remember. The only thing I remember is that I didn’t think I’d be able to get him to leave.”
Tundra shook his head. “So when he finally left, did you bother to ask Ines what he wanted?”
For a long moment, Brantley stared at the floor. “I’m pretty sure she told me he wanted money.”
Beast’s eyes brows went up. “But he didn’t askyoufor money?”
“No,” Brantley said slowly.
Tundra nodded once. “You ever see him again?”
Brantley shook his head.
“She ever mention having a run-in like that again?” Beast asked.
Another head shake.
Beast shoved his hands in his pockets. “Your buddy Tobias mentioned getting paid every two weeks. How’d you convert your crypto to actual cash? Not that many places let you pay with that shit.”
Brantley rolled his eyes. “It isn’t shit, and there’s ATMs that let you access your crypto currency. You make a withdrawal like anyone else.”
The room went silent.
I stared at Brantley. Something in his posture told me he was keeping something from us. “You want to tell us what you’re hiding,” I prompted.
He turned his head to me. I could practically see him arguing with himself. “Ines told me she wasn’t taking that card with her. Said she’d left it in her underwear drawer. When I went looking for the drugs, I searched for that card too, so I could get Tobias and myself paid for the month.”
“And the card wasn’t there?” I asked.
“No.”
“Maybe she forgot to take it out of her wallet,” Tundra suggested.
“Yeah, my woman does that all the time,” Beast said.
“Ines wasn’t like that.”
“They were running late coming to get you, that’s what Lex told me,” I said.
Brantley shook his head. “She wouldn’t have forgotten.”
I pressed my lips together.
“What are you thinking, prospect?” Beast asked.
I shrugged a shoulder. “He could ask her parents. Maybe it’s still in her wallet, and at this point, they’ve probably received her purse and other effects from the hospital or the police. Assuming the purse wasn’t thrown out of the car during the accident.”
“Oh yeah, they’re gonna tell me if her ATM card is in her wallet. Hell, they probably won’t even talk to me.”
Beast rolled his eyes. “No joke, you and your buddy aren’t cut out for drug dealing. Be more creative. Tell them that you and Ines opened an account together. She said she’d left the card in her dresser, you can’t find it. You don’t want someone to make a withdrawal.”
Brantley nodded. “That might work.”
