salute [h.s]

chapter 31 - airport antics & grisly gunfights

Piper was out of the restaurant quick as a flash, searching the streets in both directions for something — anything — that would give them a clue as to where those documents had gone. The postman was no where in sight and neither was Petrucelli. The street on either side of the restaurant was quiet and quaint, with no sign of anything at all amiss. If the street looked anything like how Piper was feeling right then, it would have been ripped up all down the middle, cars flung about and buildings crumbling to the ground. Turmoil and utter chaos.

She had to stop in the middle of the road and hunch over because suddenly she could barely catch her breath with the huge pressure pushing down on her chest. She propped her hands on her knees and dropped her head, her hair falling in a tumble down over her shoulders to block her view. With her eyes pressed tightly shut, she tried her best to get a grip on this overwhelming dread that was filling her entire body.

They'd failed and now there was a good chance that a whole shipment of illegal weapons was going to find its way into the UK with no way of stopping it. One thing — they'd only had one thing to do. And they'd failed. She failed.

She couldn't help but think that this was all her fault. She should have been watching closer and paying attention to what Petrucelli was doing. Maybe if she hadn't been drinking her wine and laughing with her boyfriend, she would have seen him getting to his feet sooner and she could have jumped into action and grabbed those documents. It was her responsibility to watch him. Harry had been counting on her to do her best.

She'd fucked it up so badly.

"Piper!"

She craned around at the sound of Harry's voice. He was standing in the doorway of the restaurant and he waved her over when he caught sight of her. She lumbered upright, trying to make it seem like she wasn't struggling to keep breathing or like she wasn't on the verge of messy tears.

"I've spoken with Louis," Harry explained as she stopped by his side. He took her by the elbow and led her away from the restaurant and toward the main road. "The postman's name is Gary Holt and he's booked on a flight back to London at 11:00. We have to assume that the person who took the documents is going to try to get them to Holt."

"What if he's not involved any longer?"

Harry's lips pursed and she felt bad for bringing it up. Obviously he'd had the same thought and he wasn't pleased with being reminded of how completely off the rails this mission had become. "There's a possibility that someone new is involved but we don't have time to figure out who. Holt is our best lead right now so we'll follow it."

He fell silent after that and Piper did the same, not wanting to make Harry angry. He was frustrated with the entire situation — that was clear in the way he set his shoulders and tensed his jaw. It just made that sinking feeling in Piper's stomach even worse.

Once they were on the main road, Harry stuck two fingers in his mouth, letting out a high shrill whistle. Within ten seconds, a taxi was pulling up to where they were standing and Harry held the door open for Piper as he ushered her in. He simply said "airport" to the driver before he was on his transmitter, typing frantically as he exchanged information with Louis.

The silence between them gave her time with her thoughts which was never a good thing. Her thoughts were a scary place. She found herself reviewing the scene at the restaurant over and over again, wondering where they had gone wrong. Every single time, the blame fell onto her.

She had no doubt in her mind that if Harry was there alone, if she hadn't been there distracting him, then none of this would have happened. He would have been vigilant, he would have noticed Petrucelli acting out of character, and he would have swooped in and grabbed those documents the second they were unattended. She was a burden to him and she should never have agreed to come.