“Don’t start with more guilt,” Liam growled.
Fuck that. “How much guiltier will you feel if she’s packed up and left?”
Hammer turned on his heel, Liam stomping close behind, and stormed down the stairs. His cries for Raine echoed through the cavernous dungeon. She didn’t answer.
Pounding on her bedroom door, Hammer screamed her name. Terrible silence followed. Breaking out in a cold sweat, he dug the key to her room from his pocket and shoved it in the lock.
“Why are you carrying a key to my sub’s room?” Liam challenged.
“I always have, and by your own admission, she’s not your sub anymore.”
With a curse, Liam shoved him aside. Hammer pushed back.
As the door swung open, their gazes ricocheted around the room. The closet gaped wide. Only a row of empty hangers remained. The dresser drawers staggered open like a mocking smile of crooked teeth. Hammer dashed into the room and looked inside each. He didn’t find much…except that old T-shirt of his she used to sleep in. The sight was a fucking stab in the heart.
“Shit! Where the hell has she gone?” Hammer couldn’t breathe. His heart stuttered in his chest.
“I don’t know.” Liam sounded stunned. Lost.
Rage railed through Hammer. He staggered against the dresser. When metal rattled, he looked down to find two keys on a ring. As he picked them up, he recognized both instantly.
“What are those?” Liam demanded.
“This one is to her car.” Hammer held up the oblong bit of black plastic, its silver saw-toothed blade sticking out.
Liam gave a visible sigh of relief. “Then she can’t have gone far.”
“Don’t kid yourself. This key…” He struggled to keep it together. “This is to the club.”
Liam braced himself against her dresser. He looked as if a wrecking ball had hit him squarely in the chest. “Oh god, she’s really gone.”
“No shit.”
“And she doesn’t mean to come back.”
Hammer slashed Liam with a seething glare. “Are you happy, genius? Where do you suggest we start looking?”
“I’ve no clue,” Liam muttered. “I didn’t think she’d leave before I even had the chance to talk to her.”
“What the fuck did you think she’d do, Liam? Sit in her room and ponder all the ways she could change to make you happy?”
“I thought we were important enough to her that she’d want to do the work, that we’d do it together. I told her not to bloody leave.” Liam sounded somewhere between bewildered and pissed off.
“Like she ever listens? Fuck.” Fear filled Hammer’s veins. “We’ve got to find her, but it’s going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Wait.” He plucked his phone from his pocket. “I have an idea.”
He launched the app to search for her phone and quickly tapped out the password. An agonizing thirty seconds passed. The system wasn’t finding her phone. Why wasn’t he able to locate her, goddamn it? A moment later, the display indicated she was offline. Did he want to be notified next time she came online? You’re damn right, I do. He tapped the screen to check “yes,” gritting his teeth. All he could do was wait.
“The brat turned off her phone. She knows I can’t track her unless it’s on.”
“She thought of everything, didn’t she?” Liam shook his head. “What about her bank account?”
Hammer lit up with a smile. “I have access to that.” He pulled his phone out again, input her password, and put in a request to alert him as soon as she used her ATM or credit cards. He logged out, then turned to Liam. “There. She may not want to be found, but it shouldn’t take long. She’ll trip up. And we’ll bring her home.”
Then I’ll straighten her out.
Liam nodded, but anguish tightened his face. “Hell, I can’t just stand here and wait.”
“Until one of those clues pans out, we need a starting point for our search. I’ll check the cameras.”
Liam nodded. “I’ll help.”
In the operations room, Hammer dropped into the chair, sending it spinning across the hardwoods. It rolled to a stop in front of the complex security board. His fingers flew over the keys in a blur. His heart lurched. He prayed he would find what he needed.
Because he couldn’t let her go. He wouldn’t rest until he found her.
He began rewinding the footage captured by the camera perched above Shadow’s back door. Liam peered over his shoulder.
Hammer paused the tape when a taxi appeared. He zoomed in as Raine stepped into view. Fear wrapped its icy hands around his throat and squeezed. All he could do was watch as the woman he loved opened the cab door. Dread that he’d never get the chance to tell her what was in his heart seized him.
Riveted by the images on the monitor, Hammer could only see Raine’s back. He studied her body language, as he’d done a million times. Her subtle nuances spoke louder than words. She was decimated.