“Ciara told me to turn it on,” she sounds anxious.
“What is it, Katie?”
“Those pricks from the Orion, they’re missing.”
They’re not missing; they’re part of a pig’s colon right now—several pigs.
“Oh really?” I start moving again, making it to the top of the staircase. “Are you sure it’s them?”
“I’m sure. Aiden—”
“AJ!” Keith, one of the security guards, beckons me over.
“Can you hold on a second, bug?” I mumble into the phone. “What is it?”
“The guards were here wanting to speak to you earlier,” his eyes quickly shift to the staircase. “Two of them are waiting in your office.”
“Katie, I’m going to have to call you back.”
Sure enough, two gardaí are in my office when I step in through the doors. “Make yourselves at home,” I grumbleas I close the door behind me. “What can I do for you?”
The two gardaí exchange glances before one of them speaks up, “What’s in the bag, AJ?”
“My gym gear.” I toss the bag into the adjoining room before taking a seat at my desk. “But you didn’t just come here to discuss the latest fitness trends, did you?”
The gardaí exchange another glance before the other one clears his throat and says, “Actually, we were hoping you could provide us with some information on a missing persons case.”
“Looked at the news lately?” the first garda asks.
“Can’t say I have. What information do you think I have that could be relevant to a missing persons case?” I take a seat behind my desk and lean back in the chair.
The second garda hesitates for a moment before replying, “They were last seen in this club on Saturday, the 13th of January.”
“So, what?” I make a point of thinking to myself. “About two weeks now?”
They nod, and I press. “Do you have a time frame in mind?”
“It’s said that they got here around 11:30 PM and were last seen leaving around 12.30 AM,” the second garda responds.
“Have you got a picture or description to go off?”
The first garda pulls out their pictures and slides them across the table.
“Ok, let’s see.” I crack my knuckles and start clicking away at the security footage, unsure of what is going to come up. I’m good. I made sure of that, but Katie…
Shit.
“Ah,” I mutter under my breath as I spot Katie’s hunched figure on the screen; she’s clearly uncomfortable, andthankfully, you cannot make out her face on the footage. “That looks like them.” I turn the screen towards the two gardaí. “This is the best shot I could find of them together. They’re lost in the crowd leading to the coat room after that.”
The gardaí take note of the information. The second garda asks, “Can you see if there is any footage of them leaving?”
“Let me see what I can do.” I click away at the footage and say, “I think.” Thanks be to Lucifer for the grainy footage. “That might be them there.” I turn the screen back to the gardaí and play the clip, showing the lads leaving with two unidentifiable women.
“Do you have any cameras outside that might have captured their faces better?” the first garda asks.
“We do; they’re old, though, so I’m not sure how much use they’ll be.” I click away, pulling up the footage from the external cameras. “Here we go,” I say, pointing to the screen. “Unfortunately, the quality isn’t great, but it’s worth a shot.”
The gardaí lean in closer, studying the footage. “That looks like them, but it’s hard to tell,” the first garda remarks. “Can you enhance the image or zoom in on their faces?”
