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Hammer knew with every second that ticked by, the odds of finding a kidnap victim alive dropped exponentially. A thick lump of panic lodged in his throat. He couldn’t speak. All he could do was nod in appreciation for Dean’s help.
“Thank you.” Liam gripped the officer’s shoulder with a grateful squeeze.
“No worries.” Dean glanced between Hammer and Liam as if he wondered which one of them she belonged to now. “She’s irreplaceable to a lot of us. Shadows isn’t our kinky home without her. Hang in there. We’re doing all we can.”
Please let her be alive. I can’t lose her now.
Struggling to maintain his composure, Hammer stared at the cops still examining the crime scene. He wanted to rail at them to find Raine faster.
Then Macen saw two big television vans pull to the curb and clenched his jaw. “The vultures have landed. Let’s get inside.”
When they entered the club, the few members who’d been sleeping in the new rooms on the other side of the club were awake and looking shell-shocked as they gave statements to a pair of detectives. Hammer made a mental note to stress the importance of guarding his members’ identities.
Scrubbing a hand through his hair, he spotted Seth at the bar, nursing a bottle of water and looking desolate. Before Hammer headed over, Dean and one of the detectives intercepted him.
Hammer directed them to his office, then spent the next thirty minutes answering questions about Raine and Bill. He tiptoed around the fact that he’d bribed Kendall to stay away from her. To prove the urgency of the case, Hammer showed the man pictures of a beaten and bruised Raine as a teenager. After that, the detective radiated fury.
Then Hammer joined Liam, Beck, and Seth at the bar, hoping to God something broke soon.
“How did the inquisition go?” Liam asked, nervously tapping his fingers.
“It was tedious but necessary.” Hammer took a seat next to him.
Liam gave him a sympathetic stare. “What did you tell him?”
“Everything I could without explaining the ‘contact’ Bill and I have had over the years,” Hammer replied bitterly. “I didn’t want to give them any reason to look at me as a suspect. It would only waste time.”
On his right, a couple who had joined the club after moving to Los Angeles a few months ago stepped up beside him. Submissive Vivian placed several steaming mugs of coffee on the bar under her Dominant’s watchful eye.
“Our hearts are breaking for what’s happened to Raine, Sirs,” Vivian offered. “If there’s anything Master Donald and I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
Hammer forced a tender smile for the older couple. They were a genuinely warm-hearted pair whose children were grown and gone. Donald often took on the role of DM when Hammer found himself shorthanded, and Vivian watched over the unattached subs like a mother hen.
“Thank you. We appreciate that,” Liam replied.
“If you guys want to look for Raine, I can hold down the fort here,” Donald offered.
“Thanks, man.” Hammer slapped the older Dom on the shoulder. “Honestly, if I had a fucking clue where to look, I’d take you up on that.”
Hammer sucked in a deep breath, then took a sip of coffee. It tasted good…but it definitely wasn’t Raine’s. At the thought, he fought another wave of hopelessness that threatened to swallow him whole.
Suddenly, Dean poked his head around the corner. “O’Neill, your wife is here?”
Hammer heard more than a little steel in that question, as if the Dom wondered how Liam could be married but pursuing Raine.
Beside him, Liam groaned at Dean. “Ex-wife. I don’t want her here.”
But it was too late. Gwyneth struggled through the portal, rolling her suitcase and balancing the playpen on top with one hand. She schlepped Kyle awkwardly in the car seat with the other. A diaper bag weighed down her left shoulder, her purse the right. Hammer was fairly certain the bitch had never carried her own luggage in her life.
“Bloody fucking hell,” Liam groused as he stood.
Hammer also stood, narrowing his eyes on the viper as Liam took the car seat from her and made his way toward his stool, propping the baby up beside him. Gwyneth scurried over, looking flushed and anxious.
Instantly, Vivian smiled and began cooing at Kyle. The little tyke responded, kicking his feet as a wide, drooling grin spread across his cherubic face.
Gwyneth dropped the playpen, purse, and diaper bag on the floor, then leaned over her suitcase with a weary sigh. Liam gripped her elbow and hauled her to a quiet corner at the back of the bar. Hammer followed, his temper rising with each step.
“I don’t have time for you, Gwyneth,” Liam insisted. “As you can see, we’ve got a situation here…”
“I-I need to talk to you.” She darted a nervous glance at Hammer, then focused on Liam again. “It’s urgent. About Raine.”
