“I’m sure you don’t,” Sterling drawled. “And all this stuff walked to someplace safe?”
“Absolutely.” Beck was too clever to fuck it up, Hammer knew.
“I’m glad you covered your ass, because if you’re arrested, they’ll search your house and your club simultaneously, probably as they’re dragging you out in cuffs.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” Dread snaked through Hammer’s stomach. “One thing I’m worried about…I’m missing two days of video surveillance.” He went on to describe the footage and how he discovered it was gone. “They brought it up to Raine during her questioning.”
Sterling didn’t look pleased. “Damn. Let’s see what develops. Maybe it won’t be an issue.”
“I didn’t think any of this would be once Raine turned eighteen. I honestly thought I was in the clear.”
The lawyer sent him a grave stare. “If they’d brought these charges against you three or four years ago, you’d be going to prison for a lifetime. They probably could have sent you away for statutory rape, kidnapping, oral copulation and sodomy with a minor—and more not-so-fun felonies.”
“I didn’t do any of those things,” Hammer protested.
“Your word against theirs.” Sterling shrugged. “Their circumstantial evidence looks damning enough. But you’ll be happy to know the statute of limitations on all of those charges has expired. You’re one lucky son of a bitch.”
Hammer’s jaw fell open. He sat forward in his chair. Had he heard that right? “You’re fucking kidding me. So they can’t try me for any of that?”
“No. The onus is on the defense to point that out, but I’ll take care of it.”
“So…I’m free?” He held his breath.
“Not exactly. You were paying Kendall as little as three months ago, so that’s a potential problem. They may try to pin you with something related to bribery or extortion. Human trafficking is another possibility. But without a copy of your contract with Kendall, that would be tough to prove. After all, the purpose of the money changing hands would be your word against Raine’s brother. And he wasn’t around, so I’m hoping you’re in the clear on that, too. The DA will go for the easier case, which probably leaves us with the three P’s: prostitution, pimping, and pandering. But the minute we put Raine on the stand, I suspect she’ll blow the prosecution’s case to hell. And they know it.
“The other thing we have to consider is, if they’ve truly got a witness, we don’t know what that person will say under oath and how compelling their testimony will be. Or…if the witness will be more reliable than Raine.”
And Hammer wished to fuck he could think of who might testify against him. “If those charges stick, what kind of time am I looking at?”
“I’d tell you not to think about it, but you’ll just Google it when you get home.” Sterling sighed. “If they can convince a jury of it all—especially that Raine was a minor when it began—well, your kid could be driving a car by then. You might be able to plea down, maybe be out in half the time.”
“No.” Macen would never admit to brutalizing Raine for profit. He couldn’t live with that.
Sterling’s expression said he thought Hammer was being hasty. “We need to prepare for a potential trial. The prosecution will try to assassinate your character for the jury, especially since they don’t have a tight case. Do you know anyone who can corroborate your claim that you didn’t have sex with Raine as a minor?”
Zak, Raine’s first. Fuck me.
“Yeah. There was a tape,” he said, teeth gritted. “She was eighteen when she lost her virginity and…she was with someone else. I grabbed the tape as soon as I became aware of the situation.”
“Great! We can—”
“I destroyed it.” He certainly hadn’t been able to watch Raine give her innocence to another man. Hammer already knew seeing that would have wrecked him. He would have likely murdered Zak.
Sterling shook his head. “And by the look on your face, no possibility of a backup.”
“No.”
“Know where we can find this guy in case he has to testify?”
Hammer closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. The thought of asking that pile of dog shit for anything scalded Hammer’s pride. Even if he somehow managed to get the prick-assed son of a bitch on the stand, would he do more harm than good?
“I’ll get someone working on that if the case goes forward.” Hammer bit out the words.
“Good. Because if you can’t prove you weren’t exploiting her as a minor, you’ll have to register as a sex offender, too.”
He froze. Why didn’t they just cut off his dick? “I’ll lose Shadows. Hell, I won’t even be allowed to go near it again for the rest of my life.”
“Remember, what they can charge you with and what they can prove are two different things. They’re on a fishing expedition, Macen, because you run a ‘sex club.’ They think you’re one of society’s bottom-feeders.” The older man chuckled softly. “Funny, I thought we lawyers held that title.”