As the kid left and the door automatically locked behind him, Macen tore into the top drawer of the filing cabinet and dragged his fingers over the dates labeled on the foam-lined containers holding the backup drives. November first, November second, November fifth.
Panic burst, surged through his veins. November third and fourth were missing.
Were those the videos Detective Perez had mentioned to Raine?
He forced himself to take a deep breath and checked the dates again, searching the other drawers in the cabinet in case the footage had been misfiled. He rifled around the security desk, checked the container of this week’s drives on the wall rack. Nothing.
“Fuck!”
November third held the footage of the public punishment he had orchestrated for Raine with Beck…which had become Liam offering her his training collar and claiming her virgin ass. November fourth, a handful of hours later, showed Hammer drunk and arguing with Raine in the bar—until he’d kissed her with six years of pent-up desperation, ripped off her robe, then tossed her down. Despite her saying no more than once, he’d devoured her pussy until she’d screamed and scratched out a cataclysmic orgasm. Afterward, he’d dragged her to his room and fucked her all night.
Though his grip had been rough and uncompromising, she’d been very willing…eventually. But the tape might look damning if they wanted to cry rape.
The shit had just gone from bad to really fucking terrible.
Hammer scrubbed a hand over his face and paced, his stomach pitching.
No other drives were missing, just the two most incriminating of his life. That was no accident. Bryn had been right. Someone had it in for him.
Who the hell could it be?
Swallowing down a black rage, he righted the room so no one would know what he’d sought, then looked up as Lewis walked back in.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
No.
Hammer would have suspected the guy of swiping backups, but he’d worked at Shadows for two weeks—not nearly long enough to incite the kid’s hate. Besides, Lewis had probably taken the job for the porn value of watching the footage before he filed it. Macen doubted he wanted to risk that so soon.
“Great.” He walked out, letting the door slam behind him.
River was the obvious choice as the thief, but how would he have gotten into the locked security room? He wouldn’t have had enough time to watch all the surveillance for the past six months. It would have taken him days to find the most damning footage. Had River planted a mole deep, or had he paid someone to dig for dirt?
Hammer needed to find out—fast.
Back in his office, he found Beck waiting, empty toy bag at his feet. The doctor gestured to Hammer’s cache of incriminating evidence. “You need me to store that?”
“I’m asking a lot of you.”
Beck shrugged and lifted the bag onto Macen’s desk. “I’ve got the perfect place to keep it. Don’t worry. I’ll help you protect Raine and keep your ass out of the pokey.”
Hammer dumped it all in the empty bag. “I owe you big.”
With a manly shoulder bump, Beck sent him a sly smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll find a way to collect. Is that everything?” When Hammer nodded, Beck took the bag in hand. “I’ll drop this off, then I have to find Heavenly. Otherwise, Seth will be all over her like flypaper.”
Clapping the doctor on the back, Hammer shook his head. “I’m telling you, save yourself the shit and put her between you.”
“You know I don’t share my toys well,” Beck quipped.
So true, but Hammer suspected he’d have to learn. “If you see Seth, can you also have him investigate Lewis, that new tech I hired? I need the kid’s background, habits, finances…”
Beck frowned. “Something up?
“I don’t know. Can’t be too careful.”
“I’m on it.” Beck nodded. “Call if you need anything else.”
The good doctor departed, then Hammer left the club, locking up behind him. In stark silence, he headed across town.
When he arrived at Sterling Barnes’s office, the men shook hands, then Hammer forced himself into a chair, ankle resting on his knee. “Before we start discussing these bullshit charges, thanks for taking care of Raine and Liam for me yesterday. As you probably guessed, we weren’t ready for what went down.”
“My pleasure. From what I hear, Raine was…feisty.”
“She usually is.” Hammer had to smile. “I need you to take care of something else for me.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Draw up full powers of attorney. Incorporate Liam and Raine into my trust.”
Sterling’s bushy silver brows rose. “You haven’t been proven guilty of anything yet. Do you really want to do that?”
“Yes. Give them access to everything. Immediately. My investment portfolio, deposit box, checking and savings, vehicles, taxes, my properties in London, San Juan, Tasmania, and anything else I left out. That includes Shadows.”
“All right, Macen. It’s admirable…if a bit premature.”
“Winslow and Cameron—hell, the rest of that precinct—won’t rest until I’m locked away. So I want Raine and Liam to have my entire estate at their disposal.”
“You know, you could also put a little faith in me as your lawyer. Start at the beginning. Tell me how you got on the police’s radar in the first place.”
“Got a few hours?” Hammer joked darkly.
Then he detailed the events of the past six years.
“What kind of paper trail did you leave with your bank?”
“None. I bought the money orders for Kendall out of a cash withdrawal of ten grand I took every month. I kept the receipts in my safe. That’s where I also stashed the contract he signed.”
Sterling hesitated. “What contract?”
“It detailed our agreement. I paid him two grand a month; he stayed the fuck away.”
“Did Kendall have a copy of this contract?”
“God, no. I didn’t trust that cocksucker. No way would I have given him the means to blackmail me. I was reckless at times but never stupid.”
“Where are the receipts and the contract now?”
“They grew legs and walked away, along with two sets of photos taken of Raine when she first came to the club, beaten and bruised. One set is the originals. The other magically appeared recently. Ironically, you may hear that a copy of these photos somehow disappeared from the police evidence room. I have no idea how.”
“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. H
ad 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.”
Hammer wasn’t amused.
“Stop worrying. Until they file formal charges, there’s nothing to do but be patient.”
Hammer scoffed. “You didn’t just tell me to be patient, did you?”
Sterling grinned. “Indeed, I did, my boy. Which, of course, is like telling you to become a submissive. But I’m afraid until they tip their hand, all we can do is wait.”
Chapter 9
After a restless night, Raine woke with Liam’s heated flesh pressed against her back. She rose with a soft sigh.
Last night before dinner, he and Liam had made love to her. Then Hammer had finally told them about his police interview. After holding her and reassuring her as much as he could without making promises he couldn’t keep, Macen had disappeared downstairs, taking Liam with him.
Then she’d heard the knock late last night, eavesdropped on the guys’ conversation with Dean. Then Liam had disappeared for a bit during the wee hours. Hammer had rolled away from her a few hours later and left the house.
Raine sucked in a breath to hold herself together. Though both men tried to soften the truth, they were worried. It was indulgent and protective, and she loved them for it. But she was part of the problem since her brother had stirred the proverbial shit pot. So she had to be part of the solution.
Hammer and Liam might feel betrayed by her decision, but Raine intended to do whatever it took to explain to her brother all the ways he was ruining her life, then make him fix it.
After the spa incident, she obviously couldn’t see him alone. Hammer had enough on his plate, and Liam might kill her brother.
Those two had to stay behind.
Darting another glance Liam’s way to ensure he still slept, she bent beside the bed and retrieved the sweat pants Hammer had worn last night. She stuck her hand in the pockets, relieved when her fingers wrapped around a scrap of paper. Raine yanked it out. The address and room number of River’s motel.
Tiptoeing past her sleeping Irishman, she threw herself together, then grabbed her phone from the nightstand. Two phone calls, and she’d be out the door.
Raine left the bedroom and smelled something delicious. Her stomach rumbled. Thank goodness Liam’s mother had made herself at home in her kitchen.
As Raine entered the breakfast nook, she found Beck and Seth, devouring golden pancakes and bacon.
She couldn’t hide her surprise. “Good morning. What are you doing here?”
Seth shrugged. “Liam’s mom called and said you needed us.”
Zipping a gaze over to Bryn, she blinked at the woman. “You know what I have planned?”
“Of course I do, lass. And you’re right to think that Liam and Hammer will only hinder you. Go see River and reason with him. Seth and Kenneth will go along, keep you safe.”
Raine smiled gratefully. “My thinking, too. Thanks.”
Bryn bustled her into a hug. “I want to see you all happy, and I think you’re on the right track.”
Beck frowned. “I don’t like the idea of going behind your Doms’ backs, princess. They’ll be plenty pissed off at us.”
“Your brother is a dangerous guy. He’s shown us he can be ruthless.” Seth shook his head. “I’d feel better if Liam and Hammer knew where you were going and why.”
“I’m the only one who can set River straight.” Raine accepted the plate Bryn handed her with a silent thanks. “My brother will find out just how stubborn I can be.”
“It will be good to have your last bit of family in your life,” Bryn added.
Right now, Raine didn’t care about that. Though her brother had once given her piggyback rides and swiped a candy bar from the corner store to see her smile, she’d lived this long without him.
“I’m not counting on that.” She addressed Seth and Beck. “If you’re not comfortable going with me, I’ll go alone. But I’m definitely going.”
The two men were hardly besties, and she definitely sensed