Page 60 of Out for Blood

The door to the clubhouse opened and I looked up to see Orla in a tiny midriff top and short denim jeans, her usual attire, but today it felt like she was really taking it up a notch.

“Whatever sexual positions you’ve been trying lately, Cooper Malone, I don’t give a shit. My best friend not texting me back all fucking day when I’m in the middle of a fucking crisis is just not fucking on.”

Orla was steamed, but my chest fell when I realised she was being serious. Hawk and Bear, done with their brawl, came over to us, realising something was up.

“What’s going on?” Bear asked, looking from Orla to me and back at Orla.

“I know it’s been like two decades since you kids never quite hooked up and you got a lot to catch up on, but a girl needs her bestie. Where is she?”

“Orla,” I said, carefully, fear driving me to grab onto the bar and squeeze with everything I had. “Are you telling me you haven’t seen Sheridan today?”

“Of course not, why else would I come in here shouting from the rooftops.”

Shona rounded the bar from the kitchen, followed by the nurse Morena who had been a constant around here, and I was pretty sure it was because of Hawk. He had that effect on people.

“Babe,” Shona came over to Orla. “She went to surprise you for lunch. Are you saying she didn’t come to the shop today?”

“She doesn’t surprise me for lunch…not anymore anyway.”

“I helped her pack a picnic with a bottle of Jack, cheese, crackers and candy. Not exactly my kind of picnic, but she giggled when she told me that’s all she needed.”

Orla smiled, but it didn’t help the panic rising in my chest right now.

I slammed my fist down on the bar. Everyone looked over at me. “Someone tell me they have eyes or even know where the fuck Sheridan is right now.”

The clubhouse fell silent.

“Fuck!”

Hawk jumped to action, ordering everyone to do whatever the hell he said. The blood was rushing through my ears so I couldn’t form any thoughts from the fear running through me. Bear grabbed Orla and Shona and marched them outside to the van to go look at places she usually goes. Hawk was talking to Morena who was nodding quickly before he came back to me.

He shoved me so I hit the back of the bar and suddenly I was mad.

“That’s better,” he said. “Wake up, Coop, I need you at 100% right now. Where do we go?”

“I don’t know, Casey, fuck!”

“She was going to see Orla, right?” Morena’s sweet voice piped up from the end of the bar.

I nodded.

“Check the CCTV at the mall. If she made it there, then you can see what happened next. The cameras around that mall are next level because they want evidence to tear it down.”

She was right.

Hawk thanked her and dragged me outside. Chains, Razor and Savage were waiting on their bikes when we got down to the gate and mounted up. We tore out of the compound and raced down the road to the old part of Kilkenny, to the mall where Orla still worked. The parking lot was near empty, but I saw her car parked at the far edge of the lot. We stopped at the car, got off our bikes and headed inside. Hawk and I headed into the security office, kicking down the door and startling the guys sitting at the monitors. We drew our guns and pointed them atthe officers. One of them shook with fear as they looked from me to Hawk and back at me.

“Pull up your cameras for the parking lot earlier today, around lunch time.”

He nodded, moving his hands over his keyboard and bringing up the grainy footage. I was losing my patience as he tried to rewind back to the lunch break.

“Do an hour before that too,” Hawk added, putting his hand on my shoulder to calm me down. “The far end of the lot.”

Soon, I saw the spot where her car is parked, but it’s empty up until 11.40am. Then she pulls in, and sits in her car for a few minutes. I realised as I waited that was when she texted me that she was thinking about coming back to the clubhouse for another round in bed. I’d told her to go and hang with Orla before that spicy bitch came for my balls.

Fuck. I should have tempted her back.

She was safe at this point.

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