A cheer went up as Tina pressed a couple of last buttons, and the screen in front of us lit up with my message. I high-fived Mike as he passed, heading for his girlfriend. Tina jumped up happily and threw herself at him, earning wolf whistles and a couple of catcalls from the rest of us. 

“Get a room you two!”

“Chang-Chang! Privately please!”

The pair just ignored us, showing no signs of breaking apart. After a few moments, Santana decided to have a little fun another way.

“Jeffy, honey...?” she sang, smiling serenely at him.

Jeff looked like a rabbit caught in headlights.“Y-yes?”

“It’s your turn to do the Walk of Fame.”

“Oh, right, sure! I-I’ll just go now!” he squeaked, his voice much higher than usual. He was terrified of Santana. We all knew it, and she used it to her advantage whenever she could. Which was basically all the time.

Jeff ran out the room as quickly as he could, and we all laughed.

“Poor boy,” I chuckled. “Is there any point in asking you to be nicer, Satan?”

A sly glance was all the reply I needed. It was one of her infamous No chance in hell! looks.

The Walk of Fame, as we like to call it is, when we pull one of our frequent pranks, where we send someone off to the scene with a camera to take a couple of photos to add to the scrapbook.

Yeah, we have a scrapbook. We’re just that cool.  

When I first joined the Warblers, (in those days it was just Tina, Wes, Mike, David and Thad) I didn’t see the point in sending someone out to risk getting picked up by the cops. Now I understand; We send someone out to take photos because it’s fun, and because the authorities are looking for the culprit. Then we lead them on a wild goose chase through the busier parts of town before finally losing them, picking the person up and bringing them back. Wes and Nick are usually in charge of all those plans, as they're the sensible ones, and they haven’t failed us yet.

I’d just finished teasing Tina and Mike when Thad let out an excited laugh, pointing to the screen. We all moved towards it for a closer look.

“Aha!” David’s eyes lit up as he stared at the screen. “Jeff’s got himself a shadow!”

It was true. There, at the edge of the crowd, was a very tall guy wearing the typical I’m-an-undercover-cop-trying-to-blend-in dark sunglasses, sitting on a bench. Jeff must have known he was there, but did a surprisingly good job of ignoring him. I made a mental note to congratulate him later. 

“Hang on... What do we have here?” Thad asked, pointing to another side of the screen. We all followed his gaze like robots. Another figure was standing by a low wall, reading a newspaper. But I couldn’t see what was so important about her.

“What about her?” 

“The newspaper’s upside-down.” He said bluntly, smirking. “Rookie error!”

Sure enough, when I looked closer, I could see the title of the New York Post at the bottom of the page, and definitely the wrong way up.

“Poor Jeff, he’s practically shitting himself!” Mike snorted.

“Yeah, but it’s understandable. He’s never had to deal with two shadows before.” David replied.

“Do you think he’s realised?”

“Without a doubt.” Nick replied instantly. “He’s more observant than we give him credit for, you know.”

“Should we send someone out to help him?” Tina piped up. 

“Might be an idea. We don’t want him to freak or anything.” I said thoughtfully. “Wes? What do you think?”

Wes paused for a moment before nodding.

“Anyone want to volunteer?” 

“Oooh, let’s send Blaine out!” Thad sniggered. “And see if he can refrain from tripping over any bushes this time!”

I rolled my eyes and smacked him playfully.

“Are you ever going to let that go? It happened once!”

“But it was bloody funny, Blainers.” Santana smirked. “And then you nearly got your ass hauled in by the Popo... I think that made my year!”

“Love you too, Satan.”

“I know you do. It’s thanks to me that you didn’t end up in a cell for the night..!”

“...Because your quick thinking and wit came to save the day.” I finished, sighing. “Fine, I’ll go.”

The trip to the Square took barely five minutes, as I didn’t need to go the long way round. Instead, I offered to hold the bags for a cute girl who was heading that way, and who gladly accepted. A perfect disguise.

When I arrived, I caught sight of Jeff, standing alone by the fountain, and began wandering towards him. I plastered a look of surprise and amusement on my face, and acted like a normal citizen who was enjoying the whole mess. My earpiece crackled into life as I walked.

"Blaine? Can you hear me?" Nick asked, slightly louder than I would have liked.

"Loud and clear. Very loud. Do you think you could turn it down slightly?"

"Sure thing."

There was another crackle, and then Nick's voice came back, this time at normal level.
"Better?"

"Much."

"Good. Now, you've seen Jeff already, haven't you?"

Blaine hummed in response.

"Okay. So the guy with the glasses is about twenty metres from him. It might be an idea to get him off Jeff's tail."

"Righto."

Dropping my previous facade and glancing around very obviously, I sidled up to Jeff and poked him in the ribs. He turned, and relief spread over his face.

"Blaine, thank Merlin. Navy jacket and sunglasses is foll---"

"Already updated, mon ami. I'll lose him for you. Head to the station, okay? If you don't lose the sunglasses twins immediately, get ready for a mini stampede."

"Like in that shopping mall?" he asked, cringing at the memory.

"Exactly. Now, point behind me as if you're giving me directions."

Jeff did as he was told, even throwing in a frown as he appeared to ponder over my nonexistent question. I nodded in a businesslike way, then strode off  the way Jeff had indicated.

"He's moving." Nick informed me, but I didn't respond. Now that I had sunglass guy's attention, I didn't want to give anything away. "And... Yep, the girl's following him."

I stared straight ahead of me. Most times I was out on the street, I also only had one shadow. Two were going to be a lot more tricky.

Okay, I'd have to do the old go-into-the-men's-loo trick. That would get rid of the girl. Then I'd just have to slip out into a crowd. Ugh. This was going to take longer than I thought. Not exactly the way I pictured spending my Saturday afternoon...

"Hey, Blaine?"

Nick again.

"Hm?"

"Tina says there's another person hacking into the security cameras as well as her. Just give us a signal, and we'll jam them."

"Will do. Jeff?" I asked quietly, confident the sunglasses pair wouldn't see.

"He's fi--- Hang on. Hold on, Blaine." Nick said, quickly muttering to someone next to him.

"Right, new plan. It seems the two following you were supposed to get our attention, because we think someone else is tailing Jeff. He's much better; we nearly didn't notice!"

I groaned inwardly, swearing mentally. Damn, it seemed like the cops had finally got their act together.

Avoiding a man on a bicycle, I darted across the road. Nick began describing Jeff's new buddy, not that I was actually listening, while I scanned the area for a quick escape. Nothing.

"Jeff, I can't lose them quickly. Tina? You there?"

"I am now." she replied.

"We may need free coffee..."

She sighed, then I heard keys being stabbed on a keyboard.

"Find something to hide behind." was Nick's final advice.