A sight like that would set her back, no doubt. Hammer grimaced.
“That’s what I thought.” Seth sent them a faint smile as his phone dinged. He pulled it from his pocket and scanned the screen. “Vivian just texted. She got off the phone with Gwyneth’s sister a few minutes ago. Kitty and her husband are boarding a flight to L.A. as we speak. They’ll be picking up Kyle as soon as they hit town this afternoon. Naturally, they’re frantic. And shocked.”
More remnants of Typhoon Gwyneth. Hammer couldn’t be more thrilled that selfish, psycho hag was out of their lives forever.
“At least the boy will be back with his parents soon,” Liam murmured.
Seth pocketed his phone. “And until then, Vivian is having a ball.”
Dean cleared his throat. “I hope you guys have a damn good explanation for why you reached the warehouse before the police.”
“I’ll tell you what I told the other detective: Talk to my lawyer.”
Gorman sighed, clearly realizing he’d hit a brick wall. “Fine. Then I need to prepare you for a few other things before you’re called back to see Raine.”
A terrible thought occurred to Hammer. “Does the DA want to charge her for Bill’s murder? She acted purely in self-defense. Any fucking idiot—”
“Can see that? Yes,” Dean cut in, his voice soothing and low, and Hammer realized he’d been shouting.
“Sorry.”
Gorman just shook his head. “No apology necessary. It’s been a terrible fucking morning for you guys. But you’re right. I doubt the DA will file charges against Raine. It’s obvious she did what she had to in order to fight for her life. Rest easy on that.”
Hammer let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. Beside him, Liam did the same.
“Thank God our lass will be coming home,” he murmured.
Yes. But would she be the same lass who’d left their arms mere hours ago?
Hammer shoved the thought away. They had to get through today before they could worry about tomorrow.
“I need to fill you in on what will happen next,” Dean went on, then dragged in a breath. “In cases like this, the victim will always be interviewed by a female detective. Seth provided me copies of the pictures you took of Raine after her father’s beating, just before she first came to live with you. So Detective Bates, who will be questioning her, has already seen the images and knows the history.”
That was a relief, but how had Seth known?
“I told him where to find the pictures, mate,” Liam muttered. “After the police read Gwyneth her rights and cuffed her, I called Seth to update him and told him to find the pictures.”
Again, Hammer felt blessed to have his best friend at his side. “Smart thinking. Hopefully, it will make her interrogation a bit smoother.”
Dean hesitated. “I wish that were true. You need to be ready for the fact that, as a woman living and working in what some people see as a pornographic or abusive environment, Raine will be grilled.” When Macen would have objected, Gorman cut in. “It’s an uneducated perspective, and Bates is a bit of a hard ass. She’ll want to be one hundred percent sure Raine isn’t afraid of or being abused by anyone at home. Independent of the criminal investigation, which won’t be easy, Bates will ask tough questions. They might rattle Raine.”
Hammer gritted his teeth. Goddamn it, it was his job to protect her, and he felt so fucking helpless. Liam had to be fighting the same struggle. “Why the hell can’t they wait until she’s calmer?”
Dean shook his head. “As a Dom, I totally understand why you’d want that and why it’s chafing you not to be there, holding her hand. As a cop, they need her unfiltered story as soon as possible, before the details go cold.”
“We don’t like it,” Liam said, looking grim and exhausted. “But we understand.”
“Mr. Hammerman? Mr. O’Neill?” a soft, female voice called from an open door that led to the depths of the ER.
Hammer turned to a painfully young blonde with her flaxen curls tucked into some wispy, complicated cross between a braid and a bun. When he and Liam both charged at her and pinned her with their attention, she bowed her head, her cheeks flushing.
“Yes,” Macen barked when they stopped in front of her.
“Do you have news?” Liam asked.
She raised big blue eyes to them, full of gentle intelligence. “Dr. Beckman sent me to tell you that Ms. Kendall doesn’t have any major injuries. She’s alert and talking. He’s been with her since she arrived. He’s personally ensuring she’s comfortable.”
Liam let out a huge sigh of relief. “Our girl is okay?”
The nurse nodded. “She’ll be fine.”
“When can we see her?” Hammer demanded.
“Neither of you are family?” the little blonde asked.
“Technically, no but…” He gritted his teeth and looked at Liam. “Why hasn’t one of us married her yet? That would have solved this.”