Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 28

"Hurry up Taiya," Gale pleaded. It was a hard lock to pick, the tar had settled over the lock, so she had to force her hairpin in.

"I know! I know!" she snapped back at him. Then there was a resounding click. "Got it!" Taiya breathed out in relief, throwing the door open and sprinting inside. She wasn't waiting for anyone, she was sprinting towards the second floor. The door to Lucius' apartment opened much easier to open. "I'll check the rooms are clear!" Taiya called back at the squad as she sprinted down the hallway of the apartment.

"Woah, Taiya, Tay!" Finnick called after her, not liking her running off on her own. "Look after him please," Finnick passed Peeta's arm over to Homes, he couldn't leave the boy unsupervised before he ran after Taiya. "Tay!"

He found her in the main bedroom, checking underneath the bed before she jumped up and ran into the ensuite bathroom, not even acknowledging Finnick's presence.

"Are you okay, honey?" he asked nervously. Her frantic searching was putting him on edge.

"Dammit!" she yelled from the bathroom.

"Tay?"

"He's not here!" she snapped as she stormed back into the main bedroom, in her frustration, she slapped out at a photo frame that was sitting on a bookshelf, which landed by Finnick's feet. Finnick leant down to pick it up, and as he went to put it back in its place, he froze. He recognised the man in the picture.

He let out a sigh before slowly turning to face her. He immediately knew from the look on her face that her choice of apartment was no coincidence. She had a guilty smile on her face. Finnick just smirked as he pointed to Lucius in the photo.

"Yeah, um, about that..." Taiya chuckled.

Finnick just rolled his eyes in amusement as he laid the photo frame face down. He wasn't going to tell her off. He wanted Lucius gone as well. That man was a prime purchaser of Cashmere, and Finnick had no problem with people who prayed on victors being punished. But it was probably best the rest of the squad didn't find out. As true as it may be, he didn't want Taiya to be accused of having ulterior motives for choosing this apartment to seek refuge in. Tensions were high enough as it was.

"All clear!" Finnick called out to the rest of the squad, letting them know no Capitol citizens were hiding out.

"Thank you," Taiya squeezed his arm.

"We should probably make sure there are no other photos on display. We don't want any of the camera crew members ratting you out," he quickly kissed her head.

"Soldiers! Living room!" Jackson's voice urgently summoned them.

They turned to walk out and they both tensed up as they heard the noise. They could hear trucks. The Peacekeepers had arrived in the courtyard. Taiya sucked in a breath and grabbed onto Finnick's arm. They'd made it inside Lucius' apartment just in time. Another minute outside and they would've been spotted.

Finnick grabbed onto her hand and the couple hurried out to the living room where the rest of the squad was gathered. Everyone was peering out the edge of the silky curtains so as not to be spotted.

The two of them went to a free spot and looked out. The Peacekeepers and their armoured trucks were swarming the courtyard, heading right to the building they'd just been in. Taiya could feel her heart rate rise. The Peacekeepers would go in and only find the Leegs woman. Their next call of action was sure to be to search all the remaining buildings to find them. They weren't out of the woods yet. She immediately grabbed onto his hand with her spare one, so that her two hands were holding onto his one. Seemingly on instinct, he rubbed his thumb up and down on her hand, trying to provide her some comfort.