full throttle || h.s. ||

forty-eight || squirrels in the attic

   "Okay, I understand, sorry. I just fucking woke up. What do you want me to do about it?" I sighed, leaning my back against the cool countertop. 

   "I want you to keep an eye out. I want you to take note of anyone who just so happens so have a nicer watch on than usual. Anyone whose shoes look a little too new. They have to be an idiot in the first place to steal from me, so I wouldn't be surprised if they were an idiot with how they used the money as well. I am going to gather a list of suspects, and I want you to interrogate them...your way, got it?" he snapped.

   "Got it, got it. I'll keep an eye out, alright? So the transfer wasn't traceable? Usually, you can at least get an IP address or something on this sort of thing," I sighed, running a hand through my tangled head of hair. 

   "Since when were you a tech nerd, Styles? And no, not traceable at all. At least from what the and tech guys and I have been able to see" Leonardo laughed, a little bit of the tension disappearing in his voice as he mocked me. 

   "What can I say, Leonardo? I'm a man of many talents, maybe you should start appreciating me more," I laughed.

   "Mhmm, sure, kid. Well, computer genius, any suggestions you might have?" he challenged, and I bit on the inside of my cheek as I debated whether or not to say the smart-ass thing I had in mind. 

   I nearly burst into laughter just trying to get the words out of my mouth.

   "Did you...did you try restarting your computer?"

   "If I could shoot you through the phone right now, I would," he replied, causing my hand to fly up and cover my mouth in order to suppress some of my laughter.

   "Okay, okay. In all seriousness, no. If the tech guys haven't found anything, then I probably couldn't either. Best case scenario, it's just a flaw in the system, worst-case scenario, we're short 3.5 million dollars," I shrugged. 

   "Harry, it's not about the-"

   "I know, I know. It's not about the money, it's that someone took it. We will do everything we can to get to the bottom of this, okay? I promise," I assured him, using a more serious tone as I spoke. 

   The line was quiet for a few seconds before he spoke again.

   "Do you...do you think it's the new girl?" He asked hesitantly.

   My eyes widened at the suggestion alone. "Finley? No fucking way, don't worry about her, she'd be the absolute last person on my list of suspects," I expressed.

   "Because she's a girl?" Leonardo challenged.

   "No. Not because she's a girl. The suspect very well could be a girl, but I'm telling you, it's not this girl," I replied, pinching the bridge of my nose again as my still sleepy and clouded mine struggled to maintain focus. 

   "Okay, fine. Well, be on the lookout. I'm going to have some more of our other members in attendance at the race tomorrow, see if anyone...out of character decides to show up," he spoke decisively. 

   "Alright, if I see anyone looking suspicious, I'll just run them over with my car," I joked, back, chuckling as I heard Leonardo release a deep sigh through the line. 

   "Goodbye, Styles," he laughed dismissively.

   "Aurevoir, Leo," I called back, rolling my eyes as I ended the call. 

   I opened the bathroom door, stopping in my tracks as soon as my eyes landed on Finley.

   In the ten minutes that I had been in there, she had managed to grab all of the covers and steamroll over to my side of the bed, half of the covers off of the bed, half of them dragging on the floor.