Page 82 of Shattered Union

"A Guinness please," I ask her. Danny and Malcolm get lager, Dante and Romero whiskey, Holly a glass of wine, and the girls get a Coke.

"Sure, I'll be back in a minute. Do you want food? The kitchen closes at nine."

I shake my head. "I'm grand, thanks," I tell her. My gaze is firmly locked on the door that leads to the back where I'm guessing Callie's office is.

"She's fine," Ava says. "She'll be out soon." She gives me a reassuring smile and moves away from the table and toward the bar.

My gaze remains glued to the door which leads to the office as everyone talks around me. I'm not in the mood to listen to it, not until I see Callie for myself and know she's okay.

It's at least twenty minutes later when the door opens and two male Gardaí walk out, followed by a pissed off looking Callie.

Just what the fuck has happened?

24

Callie

I'm fuming. Fucking raging right now.

"Who the hell reported this bullshit?" I demand to know. It's been almost five hours and I'm still none the wiser.

"Ms. O'Hara, that's confidential."

As soon as Denis and the kids left my house, I got a phone call from Preston. The Garda had turned up at the pub and had a warrant to search it. I arrived to see the place completely ransacked, and the Gards searching through every nook and cranny they could find.

Once the search was over they wanted to talk to me and that's why we're holed up in my office talking, while my staff clean up the mess the Gardaí made.

I take a deep breath. "Why is it that someone who obviously has a grudge against me can make up an accusation? One that has you coming into my business and ransacking it—destroying my property in the process—but you can't divulge who made the claim against me?"

The taller of the Gards gives me a tight smile. His eyes filled with apologies. "Unfortunately, that's the way it goes."

Bull-fucking-shit. Some bastard is trying to ruin my business and I'll not let it slide. I've worked my arse off to get to where I am today. I won't allow someone to tear it down.

"So what happens now?" I can't help the anger that's in my voice. I'm so mad right now.

"Your premises are clean, we could not find what we were looking for."

"And, just what were you looking for?" I ask, still so confused by this process.

"Ms. O'Hara," the other gobshite says as he gets to his feet. "Thank you for your time." He reaches for his hat and puts it on his head. "Have a good evening."

I bite back the retort, knowing it'll only end badly for me. I keep my head and follow them both out of my office and into the bar. As soon as I step foot onto the bar floor, I feel everyone's gaze come to me. I clench my jaw tight. God, I so want to lash out right now.

"Everything okay?" Ava asks me as she comes to stand beside me.

"Not in the slightest," I reply, barely able to keep the bite out of my tone.

"Shit, what's going to happen now?"

I sigh. "I need to make a few phone calls. You good here?"

She nods. "Of course. Go, do whatever you need. It's not that busy yet."

I glance around the pub and see Denis is here, as is the rest of his family. "Did Preston and the others manage to get everything cleaned up?"

"Gail and Andi are cleaning up the back room as we speak. We cleaned everywhere else up. God, they made such a fucking mess," she mutters.

"You didn't even see the worst of it. My heart dropped when I walked in. It was like a bomb went off." Closing my eyes I sigh heavily. "I'd better get these phone calls done. I need to find out who the fuck called the Gards and what they reported."

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