Page 15 of Tusk's Fury

“Do an internet search for Brittany Rainard.”

“I did that when she first came, like I do for every new person. I didn’t get any hits. She told me that she led a low-key life in a small town before hitting the road. To be honest, I didn’t follow up because she seemed like just another corn-fed girl from the Midwest at the time. Granted, she blossomed into a sexy, vivacious troublemaker that all the brothers loved. But when she first came, she was extremely modest, wasn’t wearing makeup, and she seemed sweet.”

I give him a disbelieving look. “I literally can’t imagine my Brittany as modest and sweet.” To me, she’s just the opposite of everything he just said.

Zen glances over at me. “I’m sorry that we didn’t find anything useful on her SIM card. Where does this leave us in finding her?”

“I honestly don’t know. Maybe we could check around at other apartment complexes and see if she moved. I can’t imagine where her furniture went unless it was to another apartment.”

“Give me a second,” he says. He makes a few quick calls and hits paydirt with the last one. “Her furniture is all at a local thrift store. She called them to pick it all up, and they sent a truck out and got it all in one fell swoop.”

I run my hand through my hair in exasperation. “She wouldn’t just leave me. She loves me. I know she does.”

Before Zen can answer, there is a knock at the door. Tex’s old lady sticks her head in the door. “Tex said you wanted to talk to me about Brittany.” She looks hesitant.

I hop up and push the stool I’m sitting on towards her for her to sit on. “Yes, thanks for coming so quickly, Clara,” I tell her.

She moves the chair as far away from me as possible and sits on the edge, uncomfortably. I’m confused because she’s always been nice to me before. We share a bond, Gina’s her sister. We were both betrayed and got really close after that. Now, she’s suddenly acting weird around me, though maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones?

I squat down about ten feet away and ask, “What’s eatin’ you, Clara? You’re acting like I wronged you somehow.”

She sighs, “You got back with my sister and didn’t even tell me. How am I supposed to feel about that? She exploded my marriage and had designs on taking my house when she thought it was in my ex-husband’s name. I thought we were on the same page. You and I decided to cut our losses and move on. I get that Brittany was a club girl, but you gave her hope that she could find happiness with you and then snatched it all away without even telling her.”

“That’s not what happened, Clara. You know me. I’d never fucking do something like that, especially without telling you both first.”

“I hate to call a brother a liar, but we were both sitting in the back of the clubhouse bar when you brought her and your kids for that birthday celebration.”

“Fucking hell, I feel like I’m having to explain this to every damn person I meet. The only reason I took them to the clubhouse was to keep Gina away from Britt. I didn’t want them to have a falling out in front of my kids. It was just supposed to be a family party for our youngest boy. Sure, she tried to get back with me, but I told her no, like I always do.”

“Again, that’s not true. We had to listen to the club girls tell us all about how you’re getting back together and won’t have to beg for sex anymore.”

I start to get angry. “I feel like it’s fucking Groundhog Day, having the same conversation over and over again. The club girls were mistaken or lying. I did not get back together with her, and I have no intention of getting back together with her. After the clubhouse, I took the kids back to my place and spent the weekend with them.”

“Brittany is missing. Do you know where she is?”

Clara gives one short nod.

“Would you please tell me?”

Folding her arms in front of her, she states firmly, “I don’t want to get involved. She made me promise I wouldn’t say anything, most especially to you.”

I stand up. “What the fuck, Clara? I thought you were my friend.”

She scrambles to her feet. “I thought I was too. But then you started running around with my sister, inviting her to the clubhouse. Did you even stop to think about how running into her at what I consider my safe space would affect me?”

I stretch my neck to get rid of the tension building there. “Bringing her here was a mistake. I can see how badly I fucked up now. In retrospect, it was a stupid idea to let her anywhere near my new life, our new life.”

She gives me a suspicious look. “Are you being honest about not taking her back?”

Lifting my right hand into the air in front of my body, I tell her, “Hand to God, I swear I didn’t entertain that idea for a second. I need to find Brittany and make things up to her. I need to know someone didn’t abduct her.”

Clara finally tells me, “Brittany is fine. She told me that she’s going to visit her family for two or three weeks.”

Taking a step closer to her, I ask, “Are you aware that she cleaned out her apartment, smashed her phone, and deactivated all her social media?”

Clara’s mouth falls open in shock. “What? No, that’s not what she told me! She said she needed two or three weeks to clear her head and she’d be back.”

“Try her number.”

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