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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.”
