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“Stooping to psych warfare seems beneath even you, Winslow,” Hammer sneered. “What makes it worse is that you suck at it.”
“Oh, you’re familiar with the tactic? Guess you’ve been in trouble far more than your records show.” Winslow turned to Sterling. “Did you get him cleared of other crimes, too?”
Sterling branded the man with a scathing glare. “As my client has stated, if you’re going to arrest him, do it. Otherwise, I’m taking Mr. Hammerman home.”
Macen didn’t wait for either detective to reply, he simply stood and headed toward the door with Sterling on his heels.
“Don’t leave town, Mr. Hammerman,” Winslow called out as Macen stormed from the room.
“Come on. I’ll drive you home,” Sterling offered. “We can discuss the particulars in the car.”
Hammer was about to take the man up on his offer when Dean Gorman passed by and caught his eye, pulling out his cell phone. Striding closer to Hammer, Dean pressed it to his ear and pretended to speak into the device. “Don’t look at me. We need to talk. Be in touch soon.”
Following Dean’s directive, Hammer kept his eyes pinned on the wall at the end of the corridor. He gave no hint of acknowledgment.
Inside, his ragged nerves twitched. What would happen next? How the hell would he stop it?
As he and Sterling rounded the corner, heading toward the front door, Beck and Seth jumped from their seats, both wearing identical looks of concern.
“How’s Raine?” Hammer asked anxiously. “Is she all right?”
“Relax,” Beck soothed. “She’s fine. Pregnant women faint. It’s nothing to worry about. How are you, man?”
“You free to go?” Seth asked, arching his brows.
“For now.” Turning toward Sterling, he shook the man’s hand. “Thanks for coming down. I’ll swing by your office in the morning and fill you in on all the details.”
“Please do. I don’t much like trying to represent clients when I’m in the dark.”
“Understood.”
As Sterling walked away, Hammer exhaled, wishing he could blow out all his exhaustion and fear with it. “Come on, guys. We’ll talk in the car. I want to get the hell out of here and back home to my girl.”
For as long he could.
Raine wrung her hands as she sat in an ancient chair surrounded by ugly yellow walls and dirty, speckled linoleum, finding it hard to breathe. Beside her sat an attorney she’d met all of five minutes ago. Hammer was, even now, being questioned for crimes he hadn’t committed. And they wanted to drag her in, too?
“Don’t be nervous,” the distinguished man nearing forty leaned over and whispered.
Calvin something. She was too rattled to recall what. He’d introduced himself with piercing eyes and the smile of a shark.
“Sterling filled me in on what he knows and—”
“I’m not a victim,” she cut in. “Hammer did nothing wrong.”
“Sterling indicated that you probably wouldn’t give the police much to support their investigation.”
“I won’t help them send someone innocent—whom I love dearly—to prison.”
Minutes after Macen had been taken away, more police officers had shown up and asked to question her and Liam. She was thankful that with one phone call, Sterling had arranged attorneys from another reputable law firm to meet them at the station. Because money talked, the lawyers had come running.
“You don’t have to say a word, Ms. Kendall. They can’t force you to answer questions.”
“But I have to make them realize Hammer has never harmed me in any way.”
“It’s unlikely they’ll drop their investigation simply because the ‘victim’ doesn’t want to cooperate. For all we know, they have other evidence, and they’re running with it. If you want to help Mr. Hammerman, then your job isn’t to tell them everything. It’s to not give them any information that might dig him a deeper hole.”
“But he helped me, he rescued—”
“They don’t care. As far as the detectives are concerned, he’s a sex club owner in an alternative lifestyle who’s behaved inappropriately with a minor in some form or fashion. They’d like to see him behind bars.”
“No. That’s not Macen at all. He’s—”
“It doesn’t matter what I think. Don’t lose your cool and don’t lie. If any question strays too deep into territory you think paints Mr. Hammerman in a criminal light, refuse to answer. And you don’t have to say anything that incriminates yourself. If you’re even remotely unsure about a question, look at me. I’ll guide you.”
Raine nodded. She hated being jittery. After all, she had the truth. But that didn’t stop her nerves from jangling.
A female detective summoned her a few minutes later. Raine’s stomach tightened as she followed the woman into a small gray interview room. Calvin trailed behind, pulling out the chair for her when the cop bade her to sit.
“Raine Kendall?” the female asked.
She looked no-nonsense, maybe around thirty. Her long, dark hair bisected her back in a severe ponytail. She wore almost no makeup and a button-down shirt that looked just this side of masculine. With both a badge and gun strapped to her belt, she gave off an impatient, don’t-fuck-with-me vibe.
