A/N: I know it's been a long time, I just lost a lot of motivation :/ it really helps when you guys review, I'm serious. In fact, what got me motivated to finish up this chapter was an email notification telling me someone had asked for alerts! It made me happy :) Only two reviews for the last chapter also brought down my motivation, so I'd really appreciate more, please?
Anyway, I'm kinda disappointed in this chapter, it's more of a filler then anything, and not much happens, but it was kind of necessary, it's also a little shorter than usual, but it had to end where it did. Please review! It really will help me get new chapters out a lot faster! :)
Chapter 10: Coordination
"Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!" Saunders shouted as he watched Peter drive off. Sprinting a ways down the road, he stopped and aimed his gun at the tire. Pulling the trigger, he cursed when it only hit the glass, shattering it. He was about to fire off another shot when Peter swerved onto another road, out of sight.
Running back to his friend on the ground, Saunders let loose another curse when he realized he was dead. Standing, he saw the convenience store worker pressed up against the glass, a look of both awe and fear in his face. Muttering to himself, Saunders shoved the gun in his waist band as he approached the store.
The bell on the door clattered to the ground as he kicked it open. Terrified for his life, the worker ducked under the counter. "Get out of there," Saunders commanded, "I'm not gonna hurt you if you just help me out a bit."
Shaking, the man came up from the ground, hands up above his head, "Wha-What you need?" he asked in broken English, eyes darting all over the place as he tried to calm his heavy breathing.
"Your cell phone. And all your cash." Saunders replied coldly, his hand hovering over his gun menacingly.
Frozen in fear for a moment, the man started shaking again, "I-I no have cell phone. But money here!" distractedly, he opened the cash register and put all the money on the counter, silently praying it was enough.
Groaning at the lack of a phone, Saunders silently cursed himself for leaving his in the car, now he wouldn't be able to contact Faber. The more he thought about it however, the more it seemed okay. He was glad for any excuse to postpone telling Faber that he had lost Bishop too.
Nodding at the store clerk, Saunders pocketed all the cash and was turning to leave the store when he realized something else, "Oh yeah," he said, "I'm gonna need your car keys too."
The man's face blanked as Saunders' command fully registered. Stuttering, he brought his hands in a begging position, "Please, sir, I need car!"
Saunders was not in a very sympathetic mood, and whipping his gun out in one smooth motion, he pointed it at the man's head, "Like I said, keys. Now."
Shaking some more, the man gave in and dug into his pockets, taking out the keys and placing them on the counter. He had to force his trembling fingers to let go, and he immediately backed away from the counter, hands above his head.
Swiping the keys off the counter, Saunders slowly backed out of the store, keeping the gun trained at the man. When he reached the door, he lowered the gun and gave the man a look that guaranteed he wouldn't be followed. Once outside, he jogged over to the only car in the lot and opened it, hopping inside. Starting the car, he brought his head back to rest against the seat. This job was turning into a nightmare.
After regaining his composure, he backed out of the lot and started down the road Peter had just been on less than ten minutes ago. Turning right onto the road Peter had gone on, he knew that he didn't have much time to lose, but he would still try and find him, he told himself that after an hour or so, he would just go back and find the girl.
"Oh Olivia!' Walter exclaimed as Olivia entered the lab with a look of determination on her face, "Are you here to help?" Not waiting for a reply, he continued, "Of course you are, what am I saying. You know, Peter wouldn't approve of you leaving the hospital so soon." At that last statement, Walter stopped for a moment. A wave of emotion crossed his face, and he turned back to his work, unable to continue.
Nodding solemnly at Astrid, Olivia turned to Walter, "It's okay Walter, Peter will be fine." She only wished that what she was saying would turn out to be true.
Shaking his head, Walter started to ramble, "I'm sure he will be, I just need to finish this... It would be so much easier with Peter's help... Oh dear..."
"Walter, it'll be fine," Astrid said soothingly, "Now what do you need?"
Stopping in his tracks, Walter looked up, a distraught look on his face, "I-I seemed to have forgotten..." Pausing for a moment, he spoke up when he remembered, "Ah yes!" he shouted, causing both Olivia and Astrid to jump, " Astro, Agent Dunham told me to tell you to search for any more radiation signatures." Satisfied that he had remembered, Walter turned back to his previous work, mumbling to himself.
"Walter..." Olivia groaned, "I told you that a day ago! What have you been doing his whole time?"
"I've been working!" Walter defended, "Trying to understand why this girl is jumping around the face of the globe! If we can ascertain why, it will make finding her easier!"
"Okay Walter..." Olivia gave in, a headache starting to come on. Turning to Astrid, she asked, "You find anything yet?"
Astrid was focused on the computer screen, her brows knit in concentration, "Uh, yeah..." she mumbled, writing something down on a notepad, "The radiation signature shows up again in Peto, Mexico. It's a city in the middle of the Yucatan Peninsula." Picking up the notepad again, she placed it in front of Olivia, "These are the exact coordinates, but they probably won't matter since the city is so small."
Nodding, Olivia ripped the paper from the notepad and stuffed it in her pocket, "Thank you, Astrid."
"No problem." Astrid replied, still fixated on the computer. She was looking for any odd reports of anything in that area of Mexico. So far, she had nothing.
"Walter?' Olivia asked, watching the man write viciously on a piece of paper, "I'm going to go and see if we can find Peter or the girl in Mexico, you just keep working on this, okay?" She waited for a reply, but Walter was too engrossed in what he was doing to hear her. Deciding to let it slide, she just headed towards the door, ready to ask Broyles for permission to head down to Mexico. She wasn't particularly thrilled that the girl had ended up out of the country, international cases always got so much more complicated than they had to be, but she was glad that they at least found her. Now she could only hope that Peter and Saunders would be there as well.
"Astrid?" Olivia called, just as she was about to leave the lab. The FBI agent looked up in response, "Call me if either you or Walter come up with anything, okay?"
"Sure thing." Astrid replied, leaving the computer to check on what Walter was up to. He had now left the paper and was messing around with a variety of chemicals.
Leaving the lab, Olivia took out the paper with the coordinates. She could only hope that they would lead her to the girl, as well as Peter.
Peter had his head resting against the wheel, eyes shut, trying to think with the massive headache he had. The throbbing had only gotten worse with time, much to his chagrin, but he still had to keep moving.
He had gone down a remote road for a few miles, and had ended up at an even more remote town. He had parked the car behind a large shop, and was now trying to get his bearings.
Lifting his head from the wheel, Peter grabbed at the rope around his wrists with his teeth, pulling the hardest he could. After a bit of tugging, the knot started to loosen, and within a few more pulls, his hands were free.
Rubbing his wrists gingerly, Peter noticed a cell phone on the floor below the passenger seat. Grabbing it, he realized that it had been left behind by Saunders. "Looks like my lucks turned around..." Peter muttered to himself, grinning, as he dialed Olivia's number, praying that she was okay and would pick up.
After a few rings, she finally answered, allowing Peter to let out a sigh of relief, "Dunham."
"Olivia!" he said, thrilled that she was okay, "You're okay! Where are you?"
"Peter?" she asked incredulously, not believing her ears, "Peter! I'm so sorry! I tried to help you but I got caught by the river current! Are you okay? What happened to-"
"Olivia!" Peter interrupted, stifling a laugh, he had never seen her this distressed before, "Calm down, I'm fine, I managed to get away from Saunders, but I'm pretty sure he's looking for me. I think I'm in Mexico, but exactly where, I have no idea."
"That makes sense..." Olivia said to herself, only confusing Peter.
"What makes sense?"
"Well the girl," she answered, "we tracked her down again, this time in Peto, Mexico, it's in the Yucatan Peninsula. You said that Saunders might still be after you?"
"Yeah, but he has no need for me so he'll probably give up soon, you think he's gonna head over to Peto?"
"I do, in fact, I just got Broyles' permission to go down there to find Brianna." Olivia replied tersely, knowing what Peter's reply would be.
Peter couldn't believe his ears, Olivia had just barely recovered from a kidnapping and near-drowning, and now she wanted to come down to Mexico to face the very guy who took her? "Olivia," he said in a low voice, "You'd better be kidding."
"You know me well enough to know that I'm not, Peter." Olivia said stubbornly.
"Olivia," Peter almost growled, "Saunders is after you, and you just got out of the hospital, and now you want to come down here? What the hell are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking," Olivia said sharply, "That I need to do my job and find Brianna before Saunders does, and also get you the hell out of Mexico." Not wanting to argue with him any further, she changed the subject, "Where do you want me to find you?"
Pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, Peter let out a big sigh. He knew that Olivia would never listen to him, no matter what he said, so he just let it go, "Well, how about Peto? I can start looking for the girl before you get here."
"Peter, Saunders is going to be looking for her too, what if he finds you?" Olivia asked, worried.
Well that was a little hypocritical of her. "Look, your coming down here," he said in an exasperated tone, "so I'm going to look for the girl whether you like it or not, just call me on this number when you get down here," realizing that he had been parked in this spot for a while, he quickly continued, "Look, I gotta go, bye." Snapping the phone shut, he put it in his pocket as he cautiously exited the car. He had every intention of finding out where Peto was, and going there to find the girl before Saunders.
Listening to the monotonous buzz on the other end of the phone, Olivia didn't know what to think. On one hand, Peter was alive and well. On the other, he was out looking for the girl, most likely about to get in trouble again in the process.
She was glad he was okay, but he had a knack for getting himself into trouble.
Olivia now had a reason to leave earlier than initially planned, for which she was glad for. Now all she needed to do was confirm a few last-minute things with Astrid and Walter.
Making a U-turn, she headed back to the lab, ignoring the slew of car horns behind her.
"Peto. Donde esta Peto?" Peter asked the man in front of him, who seemed to be more intrigued by the broken watch Peter was wearing than the words he was saying, "Perdon?"
The man averted his gaze back up to Peter, "Peto?"
"Si."
"Peto esta a pocos kilometros por la carretera." The man replied in a bored tone, then, he held up a delicately painted figurine, "Quieres?"
Exasperated, Peter turned from the market stall after muttering a quick, "No, gracias." He had to get to Peto soon, and decided the best way to do it would be by car.
Entering the car, Peter immediately started it up and turned onto the main road, heading in the direction the man told him to, he just hoped that the girl would still be there.
A/N: How was it? Please please please review, I've been slowly losing motivation for this story, it will help a lot if I know if you like it or not...