I've been suffering from writer's block for a long time, but Monday night as I lay in bed wide awake...thanks to restless legs...the next chapter appeared out of nowhere! So here ya go...our next leg of this journey. Happy summer everyone, and don't forget to comment :)

Chapter 37

Huddled around a coffee table, Haymitch, Johanna and I stare at the small device Haymitch presented from his pocket moments before. A tinny monotone voice fills the room, "Your name for the record please," she asks blandly.

"Adrianu Andreas"

"What district are you from, originally of course?"

"I was born here. My mom and pop were born here and their mom and pop too. My pop's three back came here when the waters rose and the fighting started," Adrianu says.

"During the dark days," she states, a starching sound indicating she's writing down this unimportant fact. "What do you do here?"

I look at Haymitch, a frown on my face. He holds up a hand, "Give it a minute," he requests.

Adrianu seems to move in his chair, as it squeaks loudly through the small metal tube in front of us. "I work in the hotel, at the desk. My whole family works here," he adds without prompting.

"Do you get a lot of travelers here since the war?" she asks.

"It's less, but still some regulars come to stay for a refresh from city life, or on their way to their properties," he replies.

"Properties in the wilds, correct?"

"Yes, in the out country."

The sound of shuffling papers, "Have you ever seen this man?" she asks. I imagine she's showing him a picture of Jasper Chilton the V.

It's quiet except for the squeaking of the interviewee's chair. "You need to answer aloud for the record," the interviewer states.

"No, I don't recognize him, but I don't work every day or all day, so maybe someone else may know him," Adrianu says in a rushed fashion. He seems to want to help but doesn't have any information.

"Okay, that will all for now Mr. Andreas," she says. The sounds of people moving about the room and quiet chatter fill the room.

I groan and fall back into the couch I'm perched on. "That it?" I grumble. "How about records of people who checked in, it's not like you're going to remember all the people who've stayed here in the past year. Why not tell the desk worker the guy's name and alias? Is there more than one picture or only the one where this guy changed his face and hair?" I rattle off.

Haymitch clears his throat and rubs his forehead. "I don't think this group has much experience as the team in the Capitol does with detective work," he says through an angry sigh.

"Well, isn't that just fuckin' fantastic?," Johanna grunts between her teeth. "Sending the B team doesn't inspire much confidence. And they won't let us help, or ask questions, this is bullshit," she yells staking around the room.

Rage is building in my stomach. "I told Paylor I would to stay out of the way, let the "professionals" do their work, but if this is the best they got…" I seethe.

A knock on the door startles Johanna and I but Haymitch looks as if he was expecting it. Lifting himself out of his chair, Johanna and I both lurch to grab the spy device. It may not be giving us much, but we don't want to lose it either. Johanna gets to it first and switches it off and hides it in the couch cushions.

Haymitch swings the door open and greets our visitor. "Carley?" he asks. The petite blonde at the door bobs her head and holds out a hand, "Mr. Abernathy, nice to put a face to the voice," she says. Her accent is much like that I hear in Adrianu's voice, so I assume she too is a local. Haymitch accepts her hand and gestures for her to enter our room. " Carley Enders, this is Peeta Mellark and Johanna Mason," he says waving toward the two of us. Carley's smile is gentle, "I'm so sorry about Ms. Everdeen," she says, the comment directed at me.

"Thank you. We are all very worried of course," I return.

She nods, "I can only imagine, and it's why I'm here. I'm hopeful that my company can be of some help in locating her," she says.

My eyes snap to Haymitch.

"You didn't really think I was going to completely play by Paylor's rules, did you?" he scoffs.

My eyes widen, and I turn them towards Carley. "What exactly does your company do?" I ask, trying to keep my hope in check.

"We're a small retailer that sources items for folks who live in this region," she explains.

"Hasn't our investigators already been to see you?" I ask, a bit confused.

She shakes her head, "No…well not yet at least. We're just a small family business, we don't even have a storefront, so I don't think they're considering us as a high priority for investigation. We have reached out to some friends at the two bigger logistics companies and agents have been to see them, but I think it's an oversite to exclude us from the investigation, we do a reasonable amount of business with people who prefer to be off the grid. I called HQ for the investigation yesterday morning and left a message, but when no one called back I reached out to Mr. Abernathy with the invite."

I suck in a deep breath, "When can we come to your business?" I ask standing up.

She smiles, warm and kind, "My husband is waiting for us outside right now Mr. Mellark."

I circle the coffee table, grabbing my coat off the back of a nearby chair. "Just Peeta, please," I request.

Johanna grabs the spy pen from where she's hidden it, and along with Haymitch joins Carley and I as we hustle out the door. As we make our way down the stairwell, I elbow Haymitch in the side, "Why didn't you say something?" I whisper.

He shrugs and holds open the fire door the women have just exited through, "Didn't know if I would find anything worth checkin' out and didn't think your mental state would appreciate a false start."

I take in my old mentor, hangered from lack of sleep and worry, and a feeling of gratitude and affection washes over me. As dysfunctional as our connection started, Haymitch has proved his commitment to me and Katniss over the years. He's stepped up into a familial role for both of us. He's not a father figure per se, we both had one of those we loved dearly, but he is like a really cranky lovable uncle.

"Thank you, Haymitch," I mutter.

He nods but shrugs. "We haven't found anything yet," he warns sliding into the back of the black sedan parked on the curb.

I follow him in and close the door. "I know, but thanks all the same."

A short 5 mins later we arrive at a small warehouse of crumbling red brick covered in ivy, but despite the old patina on the outside, we find a pristinely kept interior. Gleaming concrete floors, rows and rows of ceiling-high shelving, a few bustling workers. Carley leads us across the floor and towards the back of the building where an office that looks a large shed has been built. She shuffles us all in and shuts the door, which surprisingly blocks the noise from the warehouse pretty well. She gestures towards a grouping of chairs as she rounds her desk to grab a tablet.

She settles across from us, the tablet on her knees. She glances at each of us but lingers on me. "I know you are all counting on me, and I hope I don't disappoint you," she starts. "And I wouldn't have bother you at all if it wasn't for what I found when I heard why you all came to town. In the seven or so months we started a relationship with 12 to start receiving medical supplies from the new factory there, but as the months passed, more and more we started getting requests for hardline items, not just medical. So when I heard that you all were led up here to investigate I pulled records for all the hardlines we've started carrying," she explains. This may be nothing, of course, 12 has really upped its exports in the past year, but I thought, maybe you might recognize some of them…maybe make a connection," she offers.

"Anything is better than this," Johanna says waving the spy devices she's been quietly monitoring since we left.

Carley looks relieved and begins tapping away on her handheld. After a moment or two, she looks up, "Albert, my floor manager, will pull the items so you can look at them," she explains.

"We're happy to just look over a roaster of items," Johanna offers, "We did that in 7."

Carley shakes her head, "We use a numerical system, so there aren't any descriptions."

The door opens and a tall dark skinned man enters, "We're ready for you," he says.

"Thanks, Albert," she says standing and holding the door open.

We all file out of the room and around the end of the nearest shelf where a long stainless-steel table stretches out along an outer wall. About 30 items are scattered across the tabletop. I'm surprised by the number of things actually; I had no idea people were producing so many wares for greater Panem.

We all hurry over and being inspecting the eclectic collection. My eyes instantly go to a small hand-sized wooden box stamped, "SG's Tea of the Mountains". I pick it up and feel the tingle of excitement building along my spine. "This tea, we drink this tea," I state, showing the box to the people gather around. "A lady in town makes it and sells it at her restaurant," I explain to the non-12 citizens in the group. "How many of these items have you sold?" I ask.

Carley taps a code into her pad and looks up, "We bought a crate of 24 and we've sold 15 boxes to 6 different customer numbers," she says. "Is there anything else that stands out? I think if we find an invoice where there are a few of these items going to one place, it might narrow down the search," she suggests.

Haymitch picks up an amber-colored glass bottle that I recognize immediately. "This is the kind of shampoo she likes, right?" He asks me. I nod and take it from him. Screwing off the cap, I take a deep breath. It's heady, having the smell of her linger in my sinuses. "This is her scent too," I add.

Carley nobs and taps way.

Johanna fingers the end of a handmade broom handle. "Does this come in another color, like dark brown, with a longer set of bristles?" she asks.

Albert speaks up, "It use to, they changed the design about six weeks ago."

Johanna picks it up and weights the item in her hand, "Katniss sent a broom kind of like this to Annie for a housewarming gift a few months back. If the older version looks how I described it could be the one she sent," she says.

Albert and Carley confer as we scour the rest of the items. There are skeins of homemade yarn, cast iron pans, some packaged sweets, and dried flowers pressed into frames for decoration, but nothing that screams Katniss to me.

Haymitch picks up a small bag and tosses it to me, "Isn't this the spice mixture you used in that squirrel stew?" he asks.

I look it over, and it is. "I didn't consider myself in this equation, but if this dude wants to be me…"I trail off, looking at the table again with new eyes. I quickly locate a satchel that I've been buying since moving home. It's a bag of dried flowers and cedar that I hang in my closets to stave off moths. "I buy these," I state, moving down the table until I spot a small box of natural food dyes I started purchasing for a lady who moved to the district from 11. I like them over the chemical stuff. "And these," I state, putting the box in front of Carley. Haymitch calls my name and I find him holding up a pair of hand-crafted gray socks, these were the only ones we could buy in 12 for the longest time. "Me and the rest of 12's male population bought these too for a while."

Carley looks up and types the item code in. After a second, she gasps. "All of these items are listed under one customer number!" The three of us immediately surround her and look over her shoulder. "Do you have a name?" Haymitch demands. She clicks around for a second and sighs, "No, this person only uses a customer code. Some of our Capitolites don't like giving out private data," she explains, as she navigates around to different screens. After a second a huge smile spits her face nearly in two, "We have delivery coordinates, this customer use drones for delivery!" she shouts excitedly.

Instantly Haymitch has the woman by the arm and is leading her towards the door. "We have to get this to the investigators," he states, nearly dragging Carley along behind him.

"What, we aren't going to storm the castle alone," Johanna grumbles.

"I don't fancy a stay in a cell at the moment, so we'll give them chance to send in troops," he states climbing into the front seat next as Carley settles next to him behind the wheel.

"But…" Johanna ply's knowingly.

"BUT if they ignore a solid lead, I'll steal a damn tank drive out there myself," he grumbles.