Sing For Me

Chapter Twenty: Double, Double

I feel my eyebrows practically merge together in confusion. "What the crap is going on here, Tim?" I ask.

Tim just grins. "There's no time to explain - get back in the car," he says.

"And quickly! If we're gonna pull this off, time is of the essence," adds Wayne, his hand over the receiver of his phone. He strides up to the limo driver's door and raps on the window. The window rolls down slowly. "Change of plans - we're headed to the underground car park on the corner of East Street and September Boulevard."

The driver turns and sticks his head out the window, looking between the three of us suspiciously. Then he rolls his eyes. "Ahh, screw it. Whatever you say, boss."

"Good man," Wayne slaps the top of the car and the driver's window rolls back up as Wayne strides back towards us.

"Seriously, Meg. There's no time to explain. But just..." Tim waves a hand around, obviously trying to explain without explaining. "Just trust me, okay?"

I bite down on my bottom lip.

What kind of crazy person would trust someone who had just explicitly asked them to trust them?

I sigh and take Tim's hand in my own, unable to resist him.

Looks like this crazy person, apparently.

As soon as we're in the car, it launches back into the street, and a lot more hastily than it had arrived.

"Are you going to explain to me what this is all about, or are you just going to kidnap me, mutter something about boobs and worry about the rest later?"

"Boobs?" he enquires, cocking his head to the side.

Tim's leg is jiggling with nerves. He seems... excited. His eyes are kind of sparky, and his expression seems more animated than it had mere moments before.

"Yeah. Plan Double D? You better not be taking me to a strip club, or so help me Gloria Steinem–"

He grins. "Plan Double D has nothing to do with breasts, I promise."

I look from Tim to Wayne, trying to figure out what on earth is going on. I feel like a flustered chicken. Although trussed up in this damned red dress I can hardly move in, I probably look more like an angry red lobster. No matter how flustered I look, however, neither Wayne's nor Tim's expression cracks.

I sigh. "You're not going to tell me anything, are you?"

Tim cocks an eyebrow in my direction. "And spoil the surprise? Wouldn't that ruin half the fun?"

My stomach bottoms out - it feels stunningly similar to the time Trix's douchebag boss took the three of us for a ride in his brand-new Model 3 Tesla - the same one he'd totaled about three days later.

Wowza, that dimple in Tim's cheek is back with a vengeance...

"And what surprise is this? The surprise of being held against my will, or...?" I trail off, losing all motivation to sass him. Seeing Tim like this - alive, free - it kinda makes me feel... happy.

Even so, I'm not going to let him get away with not telling me what's going on entirely. I may be able to keep it at bay most of the time, but my inner control freak is absolutely not going to let this one slide.

I look from Wayne to Tim. When it becomes clear that neither of them are going to answer me, I clear my throat. "Someone better fill me in right now, or I swear, I'm jumping out of this limo right here-"

Tim rubs the back of his neck.

Wayne grumbles something about plausible deniability, but my shoulders start to relax a little as I can tell from Tim's expression that he is about to tell me, anyway.