A Harmless Little Plan (Harmless #3)(13)
“That’s right, Lindsay. Jane’s in on it. Everyone you know is. You really don’t understand how wide and how deep this goes.”
Stellan gives John a wicked look, then they both turn to me.
“Oh,” John says slowly, “you’re about to find out how deep.”
The world goes dark as I faint.
Drew
Finding Tiffany’s phone number is easy when you have security clearance and every personal database at your disposal. Too bad my clearance has been canceled and I have to use Silas’ logins for everything.
It’s even easier because when I type her name into Google, turns out she has a website. But that number requires a credit card and costs $4.99 per minute, so I call her private cell.
And hope she doesn’t tip off the assholes in my apartment.
“Hey,” says a soft, breathy feminine voice.
“Tiffany?”
“Who’s this?”
“Drew.”
Silence.
“Drew from next door. The personal trainer who lives next to you.”
“Oh, sexy Drew!” Her voice drops to a purr. “Is that gorgeous friend of yours coming over again? Mark?”
I have the phone on speaker. Silas gives me a raised-eyebrow look and mouths, Mark?
I close my eyes and shake my head.
He crosses his arms over his chest and stares intently at the phone.
“No, Tiffany. I’m calling about something even better.”
She lets out a low whistle of appreciation. “Better than a threesome with Mark? Do tell.”
If Silas’s eyes get any wider they’ll be planets.
“You do camera work, you said. Does that mean acting?”
“Sure! Sure it can,” she says, a weird affect in her tone. I am pretty sure “camera work” means porn, but at this point, I don’t care. I just need to be able to manipulate her into helping me.
“Interested in being part of a reality television show?”
Silas gives me a skeptical look. I explained the plan to him earlier, but he’s not sold. He doesn’t think anyone is gullible enough to fall for this.
“SQUEEEEE!” My eardrum shatters as Tiffany squeals. “Oh, my God, Drew! Yes!” She rushes through a series of pants and moans. “I have to call my agent! He’ll be thrilled. My big break! I knew this shit work I’ve been doing would come to an end soon. How much does it pay? When do we start?”
“Can you start right now?”
Silence.
“Now?” Her voice is girly. “Right now?”
“Right now. I can be there in five minutes.”
“You want to start shooting now?”
Yes. But not the way she thinks.
“Sure. But Tiffany, this is a complicated show. I really need your help. Don’t say a word to anyone.”
“Not even my agent?”
“Not until tomorrow. No.”
“Okay,” she says slowly. “What’s this reality show about, anyway?”
“It’s about people who spy on their neighbors.”
“Ooooo!”
Silas rolls his eyes again.
“So we’ll be filming constantly,” I explain, ignoring him. “Starting now. And you’ll help smuggle me into your apartment.”
“Smuggle?”
“Yeah, like someone who spies would do it.”
“Oh, right. We need to make this look very professional.”
“Exactly. I knew you were the perfect woman for this,” I answer, shining her on.
She makes an airy sound of glee.
“So what do I do?”
“A guy in a repair van is going to drive down the road in a minute. As soon as you see the van, open your garage. He’ll drive in, and you’ll shut the garage.”
She’s silent for a few beats. “That’s it?”
“To start.”
“I have dialogue, right? This isn’t some cheesy walk-on extra part.”
“Oh, no,” I reply. “You’re the lead actress.”
“The lead?” she gasps. “This is too good to be true!”
“Tell me about it,” Silas mutters.
“What do I do again?”
“You open the garage door when you see the van. We pull in. Close the garage door.” I grit my teeth. Hopefully I haven’t overestimated her ability to retain basic instructions.
“And cameras will be rolling?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“How much what?”
“How much does this pay? Union scale?”
“Sure. Yes. Right.”
“Okay, Drew!” Her voice is a little loud.
“One more thing – my name is Pete.”
“Pete?”
“Yeah. For the show. You know. Acting.”
Pete? Silas mouths.
“Can I use my regular name? Like on other reality television shows? I need the recognition. Why don’t you use Drew?”
“I’m incognito.”
“I thought you said you were Pete?”
I don’t even bother to look at Silas’ reaction.
“Watch out the window for a van. And whatever you do, don’t say my real name.”