Tbag was equally shocked to see me standing there staring at him. I just kept standing there with my mouth open staring at him. I did see him earlier standing on the corner. Michael and Lincoln kept looking back and forth between the two of us waiting for one of us to make a move. My eyes moved up and down his body, and they rested on his hand, or should I say his former hand. I gasped at how… well dead it looked. It had this purplish tint to it and bandages were wrapped tightly around it. He must have found someone to stitch it back on. But hey at least he was alive. I immediately thought about Melanie and I clenched my fists at my sides.
I still don't completely understand why I did it, but I ran over to the car and wrapped my arms around Tbag. I felt a mixture of relief that he was neither dead or captured, and confused for why I cared so much. I mean this was Tbag we were talking about. He eagerly wrapped his good hand around my waist and put his face next to my hair and inhaled.
"Ah, that's my sweet Laneykins smelling like lilacs… a hit of vanilla, but lilacs nonetheless."
I pulled away from Tbag and just stared at him. He looked different, but he was still the same old Tbag. I looked over to Lincoln and Michael who were staring at us curiously. I looked to the ground embarrassed and put some distance between Tbag and myself.
"So as I was sayin, I went in to the get the map and somebody had already beat me to it," explained Tbag.
"Who was it?" growled Lincoln.
I looked up at Tbag waiting to hear his answer, and I saw his eyes flicker over to me briefly as if trying to decide what would be the best thing to say.
"It was our dark skinned friend," mocked Tbag.
He was lying. That much I could tell, but I had no idea why he would lie to Michael and Lincoln saying it was C-note that had the map. They both believed Tbag, and I decided not to call him out yet. I figured I would wait and see what his part in all of this was. One thing I remembered from Fox River was that Tbag always had an angle for the things he did. It was just a part of who he was. Michael and Lincoln ordered the both of us to get into the car. I raised my eyebrows at the both of them for ordering me around. With my arms folded across my chest, I slowly climbed into the backseat with Tbag. Lincoln quickly pulled away from the courthouse and stated heading out of town.
The car ride was absolutely silent. Tbag definitely brought down the mood a little for Michael and Lincoln. He was sitting smugly in the back seat with his hands resting on his lap. He was enjoying every moment of their discomfort. I was shaking my head looking at him and he only grinned at me. Then he did something that I didn't expect. He reached forward and squeezed my leg. I just stared at his hand afraid to look at his face. He took his thumb and stroked the area around my knee. I looked out the window and bit my lip. I couldn't let this continue so I cross the legs so Tbag couldn't touch me. I heard him chuckle and I let out a frustrated sigh.
Lincoln had turned off to some dirt road a ways out of town. He pulled off to the side of the road and shut off the engine. I looked over at Tbag confused, but he simply shrugged his shoulders. Lincoln and Michael got out of the car and I followed suit. They walked so they were standing behind the car leaning against the trunk. Tbag took his time strolling over to the rest of us. Lincoln smirked sarcastically and popped open the trunk gesturing to Tbag.
"Get in," he ordered.
I stood there looking shocked to see what Tbag was going to do. He started to open his mouth to protest, but Michael pushed forward into the trunk. Tbag put his hands up in surrender and climbed into the trunk. He looked over to me briefly and I looked at him with sympathy before Lincoln slammed the door shut. Michael turned to look at me.
"Let's go back into town to see if we can find C-note and the map," he suggested.
I bit the inside of my cheek and looked back at the trunk unsure of what to do. I didn't want to just leave Tbag here all alone in the hot car.
"You guys go ahead and I can stay here and keep an eye on the car.
Michael and Lincoln exchanged glances trying to decide if they could trust me to stay here alone with Tbag.
"Don't let him out of the trunk Laney," Michael warned.
I rolled my eyes. Of course I wasn't going to let him out of the trunk. Michael didn't stop staring at me.
"I mean it, do not let him out."
I nodded my head and promised that I would not let Tbag out of the trunk under any circumstances. They seemed satisfied and started heading down the dirt road. I watched them go and moved to the side of the car. I squatted down so I was sitting on the ground with my back to the car. I heard Tbag shuffle around in the trunk a bit.
"What's worse, T, the trunk or the cells at Fox River?" I teased.
I just heard some shuffling around and I think that he was surprised to hear me still here. He expected to be alone.
"T?" I said.
"What do you want?" he snapped.
I stared wide eyed at the trunk. Woah there big personality change. One minute he was hugging me and squeezing my leg, and the next he was ignoring and yelling at me. suddenly, I was thankful that he was in the trunk and couldn't get to me if I made him mad.
"Don't be upset that they put you in the trunk."
"I'm upset that I have to sit here with you," he growled.
"Why me?" I asked shocked.
"It is because of you that we almost didn't make it out of Fox River, and it is because of you that I lost my hand."
What the hell was he saying? In the span of ten minutes he had become a completely different person. I ran my fingers through my hair trying to figure out why it was my fault that he lost his hand. I thought about telling him off saying that if he hadn't handcuffed himself to me in the first place then John wouldn't have cut his hand off, but I held my tongue and made an unintentional noise.
"Why are you here Laneykins?" he asked.
I didn't answer right away. This was not the right time for this conversation, but when else might I get the chance to explain things to Tbag. I had a feeling that Michael and Lincoln weren't just going to let him accompany us clear across the country for the rest of our lives.
"I think that Lincoln may have been set up and I want to find out who and why," I explained.
Tbag cleared his throat, and I raised my eyebrows even though he couldn't see me. Was he really going to judge me for wanting to help Lincoln?
"This wouldn't be a ploy now to bust all of us later would it Agent Collins?"
"No."
"Sorry if I don't trust you sweetness. You were going to let us keep rotting in Fox River."
"Wrong I was just going to let you rot," I let slip out before I could catch myself.
We were both just sitting there in silence. I imagined it must have been hot in the trunk, but the sun was beating down on me. I rested my head back against the car and I could feel the beads of sweat on the ends of my hair. I looked quickly to my left and right to make sure that I was really alone. It was completely deserted. I stood up and unbuttoned my jeans. I slid them down past my thighs and kicked them off. I was left standing in my white tank top and black, silky shorts. I let out a sigh of ecstasy as I took my seat back on the ground. I instantly felt cooler. I crossed my legs so I was sitting Indian style and I looked back over to Tbag.
"So where did you go after we left?" I asked quietly not really expecting an answer.
"You mean when you left me to die?"
He couldn't see me, but I guiltily dropped my eyes to the ground. It wasn't my choice to just leave him there bleeding out.
"I ran. I just kept running and I didn't stop until I came across this pathetic excuse for a town."
I sat silently waiting for him to continue.
"There was this small medical clinic where I met Dr. Gudat. He so kindly offered to lend me a hand, or at least put mine back on."
Somehow I had a feeling that Gudat didn't offer to help and Tbag probably had to threaten him or his family for him to help.
"I found out later that he was a veterinarian and did a hack job with my hand," Tbag spat. "When he was done he was no longer of use to me."
At first I smiled at Tbag's luck to only be able to find a vet to help him out. The end of the story made me a little nervous though. What did it mean that Gudat was no longer of use to him? I swallowed a dry lump in my throat.
"Did you kill him T?"
He didn't answer. I don't think he was ever going to answer that question out loud to my face. I looked over at the trunk and noticed that a light was on inside. How could there be a light on when the car was off? I stood up and stormed over to the trunk. I banged my hands on the top.
"Hey what are you doing?" I shouted.
He didn't answer and I hit the top of the car again. He was definitely up to something. I ran my fingers through my hair and someone called out my name. I recognized it as Michael's voice so they must have found the map and C-note. I turned around to greet them, and there was definitely somebody else with Michael and Lincoln.
But it wasn't C-note.