Diana

2

It was announced to be a sunny day like all the others. Nothing new for the small town near the border of Arizona with New Mexico.

Jenny was getting ready to open her little bar like in any other morning. She had inherited it from her parents and made improvements to it. She added the restaurant part during the day. She had a passion for cooking and wanted to pursue it. So, during the day, she was the chef of the restaurant's kitchen and once the evening came, she was the manager and even the bartender of the bar, when needed.

The night before, she had to close the bar almost by morning. Jason and his men found themselves having an important meeting right in her bar. She did not want to leave it to any employee to take care of closing the bar, so she was left to do it herself. That was why she didn't hear her phone this morning, when the alarm started and slept longer than she should have.

She wasn't very late, but she did not have the time she liked to give herself before opening the restaurant, where she prepared the dough for the pies and the rest of the ingredients that they needed during the day.

She was just parking her car in front of the restaurant and making the plan for this morning. She was so focused on her thoughts that she didn't pay much attention to what was going on around her. So, she didn't notice or feel the approach of the tall figure coming from the corner of the restaurant building towards her.

"Rather late this morning."

Jenny yelped and dropped her keys. The man bent down, grabbed the keys and handed them back to Jenny dangling the key chain by his index finger.

Jenny snatched them away and frowned at him. "Stop sneaking around people like that. I almost had a heart attack." She said nervously.

"We have to talk."

Looking at the serious expression on Jason's face, Jenny realized it was something important. So, she hurried to unlock the restaurant door and invited him inside. She locked the door back up so that none of the loyal breakfast customers of this restaurant could enter.

She set her bag and keys on one of the tables in front of the bar and invited Jason to take a seat. No one from the outside could seen them here if they weren't looking closely inside.

"Your face tells me a lot but not what this could be about. So, tell me. Imagination doesn't help me this morning either."

Jason joined his hands together on the table and leaned forward.

"In three weeks from now, Smith and his pack will open a company's headquarters in the city's old cinema building. They will bring a manager from another country and I need you to accommodate him in one of the rooms above your restaurant."

"I don't understand why you want to help Smith, of all people."

"This whole town is in the neutral territory between my lands and Smith's. So, he won't suspect anything. Or if he guesses, he won't be able to prove anything. You're just another city dweller trying to make extra money from rent. As much as some of the members of his pack rant their mouths, it won't be hard for him to believe that you've heard some conversations about it. In addition, I need to know what his plans are."

"You mean, you want me to befriend this mysterious manager and grill him for information, right?"

"You're wrong here," Jason said, adopting a relaxed position in his chair and putting a smile on his face. Something rarely seen on his face, "I'm not asking you to be his friend, but to listen to the conversations he has. That's all I ask of you. Let me find a few more details about this mysterious manager and I'll give you all the information you need. In the meantime, you prepare a room." He stood up from the table with the obvious intention of leaving the restaurant and Jenny followed suit. She took the keys from the table so she could unlock the door, but Jason stopped in front of her and said, "I don't think I need to mention that this stays between us."