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“Face it, fucker. Your life has been bleak since Juliet killed herself.” And looking back, too many of his darkest days had been self-imposed. He’d hurt the people around him too much.
It was entirely possible he was paying for it now.
Hammer heard voices and footsteps coming down the hall. Stepping toward the bars, he craned his neck. The sight of a uniformed officer escorting Sterling Barnes sent a blast of relief through him.
“Sterling,” Hammer exhaled. “Thank christ.”
“Don’t be too happy to see me, Macen,” his lawyer replied grimly. “This shit has gotten far deeper than you or I imagined.”
“What?” Hammer’s stomach rolled up to his throat. “River didn’t recant, did he?”
Sterling darted a perturbed glance over his shoulder until the officer stepped back.
“He did, but I’m afraid it was too little, too late. As far as they’re concerned, you committed a crime, and River’s opinion is irrelevant. They also have the two missing surveillance videos from Shadows.”
Dread gripped Hammer’s gut. “I wish I knew how the hell they got their hands on those.”
“Once you’re arraigned and we start preparing for trial, the prosecution will have to tell us the name of their witness, as well as how they obtained the footage during discovery. I don’t know if that information will help anything, but…”
Yeah, Hammer doubted it, too.
“The state is also reserving the right to file its own charges and is only deferring to the feds for now because their sentence will be longer. But if the federal charges don’t stick, the state will probably try you for rape. From what I heard, November fourth is…damning.”
Hammer bit back a curse. To someone only watching, it probably looked brutal. He’d been drunk and in no way gentle when he’d heaped six years of pent-up passion on Raine.
“I swear it was consensual,” he argued—like it would do any good.
“The audio is fuzzy, so that’s not clear…except the part where you’re yelling and she says no. I’m not doubting you. But your number one problem right now is the photos they’re using to corroborate this federal charge. Raine is so bloody and bruised. They think you beat her for fun, snapped pictures as trophies, and shared them with your kinky friends.”
“Oh, hell no! I have never lifted a hand to her in anger. I never would.”
“The beating isn’t the worst part of those snapshots legally. Because a bit of pubic hair and the crest of a nipple are visible, the feds are using the photos and the money orders to substantiate their charge of purchasing a child for sexual exploitation. They’ll probably admit River’s original statement, too. Even though he recanted, an experienced prosecutor can plant the seed that you coerced him to retract his statement by threatening his sister.”
Hammer’s knees buckled. He gripped the bars and swallowed the bile rising in his throat. All the blood in his body plummeted to his feet.
“How many years if I’m convicted?” he managed to choke out.
“Thirty…in a federal prison,” Sterling murmured bleakly.
Fear, stark and merciless, gnawed at Hammer. His heart smacked against his chest. “No! No fucking way. I can’t go to prison for a crime I didn’t commit. Someone is setting me up. I need to find whoever it is and end this goddamn charade.”
“I’ve already talked to Liam a couple of times. He has a PI on it. They’re looking into it now.”
“Seth? Yeah. He’s the best. Hopefully, he’ll be able to dig up evidence to save me.”
“Even if he can’t, when Raine testifies, she should be able to shed positive light on the case.”
He hated to heap more stress on her. “Will the prosecution try to discredit her?”
But he already knew the answer. The feds would do their best to chew her up and spit her out. They would slap him behind bars without an ounce of regard for the truth. The injustice made Hammer want to howl.
“You can guarantee it.”
“She’s fucking pregnant!”
“Calm down. They’re not going to beat her, Macen. I’ll do my best to protect her on the stand.”
“No. If they’re going to take her apart, she’s not testifying. She’s already under too much stress. I won’t let her do anything else to risk this baby.”
“One step at a time. Now that you’ve been indicted, come Monday, you and I, along with some of my colleagues who specialize in federal criminal cases, will go before the judge for your arraignment.”
“Monday? Monday!” Hammer roared. “I can’t sit in this fucking cell until then. Can’t you post my bond now?”
“It’s the damn weekend. The wheels of justice won’t turn again until that’s over. So keep it together and let me do my job. I’ll have you out of here as soon as I can.”
Clawing for control, he clenched his teeth. “How is Raine holding up? Do you know?”
“I’ll find out for you.”
Sterling would, but Hammer knew Raine. She was probably devastated. He hoped like hell she wasn’t crawling inside her shell, where Liam would be hard-pressed to reach her. “Tell her not to worry about me. Tell her”—his voice cracked—“tell her I love her.”
