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If not, he and Hammer would lose another woman they shared, only this one had been a blissful surprise who’d stolen his heart as well. The sick irony was, they’d be sharing the debilitating pain of losing Raine together, as they should have after Juliet’s death. Jesus, how had Macen lived through this devastation alone?
Damn Bill Kendall to hell and back. The bastard had forced him and Hammer to play by another set of rules, and having the control ripped from his hands filled Liam with a sense of despair. Still, he’d do, give, or say anything to have Raine back.
Dawn broke over the San Gabriel Mountains in the distance as Hammer pulled into Shadows’ parking lot, now choked with police cars. Plainclothes officers gathered evidence. The camera’s constant flash reflected off Raine’s little compact like strobes. The driver’s side door still hung open—a stark reminder that he’d failed to protect her from Bill after all these years.
Hammer remembered the day he’d given her the keys. He could still hear her squeal of excitement, see delight twinkle in her blue eyes. The memory only deepened his guilt. Desperation tore his heart from his chest. Fear made every anxious second feel like a century because he knew if Bill wasn’t waiting around for his money, he’d chosen to end their cat-and-mouse game. He’d want maximum pleasure out of the pain he inflicted—on both Hammer and Raine.
Bill would probably torture her unspeakably and kill her.
Hammer dragged in a shuddering breath, trying to hold himself together and hang on to hope that somehow, some way he’d find Raine alive.
“Bloody hell,” Liam complained. “The car park is a circus. We don’t have time for this.”
Beck snorted. “Just wait until the reporters show up.”
With a curse, Hammer stopped the car and killed the engine. “Reporters don’t give a shit about anonymity. If you need to get out of here, go.”
Beck shrugged. “I’m done caring about being outed. If my vanilla patients don’t want a kink doctor, fuck them. I’m not leaving until we find Raine.”
“I thought you were supposed to be in surgery. Isn’t that why we left the lodge?” Liam asked with a puzzled expression.
Hammer hadn’t thought to ask. He’d been too busy worrying about Raine.
“After I left you at the emergency room, I got a call from the head of the harvesting team. The donor died, but when they retrieved the heart, it was wasted. So my patient is back on the waiting list again,” Beck explained. “I sure as fuck wasn’t staying in my condo with your ex. Shadows was closer than my house, so I crashed here.”
A hard tap at the window made Hammer jerk in his seat. An officer wearing a scowl bent to peer into the car. “You’ll have to leave. This is a crime scene.”
Hammer wasn’t in the mood to deal with bureaucracy. Opening the door, he stepped out. Instinctively, the cop snapped back and put a palm on his revolver.
“Easy,” Hammer soothed. “I’m the owner of this club. These men are with me.”
Liam and Beck climbed out of the car and flanked him.
As they stood shoulder to shoulder, the officer eyed them. “I need to see some ID from all of you. Where have you been?”
I can’t afford to placate you, fucker.
“Breakfast meeting,” he replied curtly, digging into his wallet.
“Mr. Hammerman,” a familiar voice in a uniform called out as he approached the group. Macen bit back a smile when he spotted Dean Gorman, a fellow Dom and member of Shadows. “Hey, I haven’t seen you since the Policeman’s Ball.”
Dean extended his hand, and Hammer shook it, feeling a bit of relief. “Glad you’re here, Sergeant. I was just explaining to your cohort that I own this club.”
“I’ve got this,” Dean dismissed the other officer, who grunted and walked away.
The sergeant turned to make sure his fellow cop was out of earshot. “I’m sorry to hear about Raine. Bill Kendall is her dad?”
“’Fraid so,” Hammer answered. “Do you have any leads on him?”
“No.” Dean sighed. “A couple of units left Kendall’s house a few minutes ago. They said the place was a pigsty and should be condemned.”
He knew that but played dumb so he didn’t put Dean in the awkward position of keeping his B and E a secret. “And they didn’t find anyone?”
“Kendall’s clothes are gone, so the assumption is he’s skipped town and taken Raine with him.”
“Maybe, but that monster has been itching to get his hands on her for years. I don’t think he’d put off whatever he had planned to flee the city. My guess is, he’ll stash her somewhere close but isolated where he can hurt her or…” Fuck. Saying the words stabbed Hammer with terror. “Maybe even kill her. Then he’ll leave.”
Dean winced. “I told the detectives that Raine is a family friend. They issued a BOLO for Kendall, his truck, the van, and Raine. Since everyone in my precinct now knows this is personal for me, they’re not wasting a moment.”
