Hello again! This chapter is a bit longer. But whatever. Oh and by the way, I do not speak Spanish, so the little Spanish bits that are in here, I apologize if they are spelt wrong, or not the right tense or whatever. I took French in high school, so I was completely lost. Anyway, read and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the show Graceland, nor do I own the characters, or the actors. Which is a shame really...
Mike walked along the boardwalk, nearing the small cafe, where he was told "she" would be. Jenny, he was told her name was. And apparently, she was a real sharp one, so Mike had to be careful how to approach this. Taking a deep sigh, and remembering what Johnny and Briggs had told him, he slipped into his character.
The cafe called the Sun's Basket, was mostly an outdoor restaurant. Tables with orange and yellow umbrellas hovering over them were lined on both sides of the boardwalk, and was already busy with tourists and surfers. Mike scanned the tables for Jenny, based on a description told by Briggs. Finally, he saw her.
Jenny was sitting in a table closest to the beach, and was reading a book. She was exactly how Briggs had described her. Her long dirty blonde hair was pulled over one shoulder and flowed past her shoulders and nearly touched the table she lent over. Her skin was just the slightest bit sun-kissed, but looked darker due to the bright yellow halter top she was wearing. She wore jean shorts with built in holes on the legs, and plain black flip flops on her feet.
Mike made a beeline towards her table, and as he did, the waiter brought her plate to her, giving him a better look at her face. She had delicate features, her blue eyes were wild and sparkling. As the waiter set down her plate, of what looked like a breakfast burrito, bacon and eggs, and a piece of toast, she smiled sweetly at him, flashing her all too perfect teeth.
"Muchos gracias, compadre," She thanked the waiter, then turned to her breakfast in front of her. It didn't appear that she noticed Mike's fast approach, for she was too busy admiring the large amounts in front of her. She picked up her breakfast burrito, and was about to take a bite, when Mike sat down casually in the chair across from her, trying to make it look like they had planned to meet.
Jenny eyed the strange guy, her mouth still open in anticipation for the burrito. Her perfect eyebrows knit together in perplexion.
"Hello, Jenny," Mike greeted with a smirk, acting like he oozed confidence.
Jenny closed her mouth, and lowered her burrito. "Hi," She greeted carefully. "Look, you're hot and all, but as you can see, I was just about to make out with this gorgeous burrito, so if you could be so kind as to vaminos in the opposite direction, that would be swell." Then Jenny went to take a big bite of the burrito, trying to give the hint that she was done talking.
Mike snickered. "Yeah, Mr. Paul said you liked your food." Briggs had told Mike to refer to him as Mr. Paul, being as that was his cover.
Jenny stopped mid-bite and stared at Mike. Slowly, she lowered the burrito and swallowed thickly. "Mr. Paul, huh?" She said. Mike could see the realization in her eyes. "You work for Paul, then?"
"Indeed, I am. I'm one of his newer recruits. As you can see, he wasn't able to make today, so..."
Then, Jenny tilted her head to the side. "Really?" She asked. "I just spoke with him yesterday and he told me that he would for sure be here, no matter what."
Inside, Mike felt cornered, and a bit panicked. But he remained calm, his smart brain working lightening quick. He glanced around to make sure no one was listening in, and leaned forward. Jenny did the same, eager to hear what this guy had to say. "Well, you know Mr. Paul, being head of the operations out here," Mike started to explain. "Someone tipped him off about a spy in the works, so he had to go and see to it that he was under the radar for a bit, you know."
"Oh, I see," Jenny leaned back in her chair, smiling, her right hand subconsciously reaching up for the charm necklace hanging from her neck. "That's very clever, well done." She muttered, looking the guy over one more time. He was a very handsome guy, his chiseled features made him look much older than what he probably was. But then her eyes fell to his neck, where a shark tooth hung on a chain. Gotcha! She thought. "So they start you early now, don't they? How old are you? 16?" Jenny smiled.
Mike chuckled slightly, "I'm old enough to get the job done. I'm Mike, by the way." He held out his hand for her to shake.
His hands were surprisingly soft, yet firm. Her hands felt smooth, and careful. "Nice to meet you." She said. "But I was under the assumption that this was an exchange. Meaning I give you something, you give me something back. Did you bring it?"
He nodded and kicked the backpack he had placed underneath the table over to her. She went to place it in her lap and opened the main pocket. "Oh, yes!" She squealed, reaching in and grabbing a package of Oreos. Mike tried his best to hide his surprise. Briggs had told him that there were cookies in the backpack, but he just assumed that it was code word for some drug. "Oh, he sure knows what I like." She remarked before putting the cookies back in the bag, and placing it underneath her chair. "So, what does Mr. Paul want to know?" She asked, saying "Mr. Paul" as if it was a new word she learned.
"Word is you've got some intel on the Heraldo business." He responded.
"Ha, Monterro," She glanced down, smiling. "He's still worried about that useless son of a fleabag?"
"He's interested."
"Well, I haven't heard much on the Heraldo front. Mostly because I've had my hands in other people's pockets lately. I'm surprised that he didn't ask you about Fernandez, or Viktor, as they are planning on shutting down his operation." Jenny locked eye contact with Mike, studying every twitch, also making Mike feel even more cornered. Briggs had never mentioned any of those guys in his briefing. Be cool, Mike, just go with it.
"Those guys?" He scoffed. "Please, he's not worried about them. Fernandez is too unorganzied, and Viktor just doesn't know how to lead anything, much less an attack on Mr. Paul's guys."
He had barely even flinched. Jenny was very impressed. "But what about that one hit man in Pedro's outfit? He's a pretty fair threat." She just had to keep testing him. The guy was so smart, it was just impossible to resist.
"Yeah, but come on, the guy's not conspicuous at all. It's not that hard to track him down. In fact, we've got a couple guys hot on his trail right now."
There was a moment of silence. Jenny still studied Mike with her cold blue eyes. He did his best to keep his cover, even though, he was pretty sure she could see right through him. Suddenly, she broke into a huge smile and laughed. Mike didn't even try to hide his confusion. "I gotta hand it to you, man," She said. "You are really good under pressure. I mean, really good."
"I'm sorry?" He asked, momentarily forgetting about his cover.
"Let me guess, Paulie breifed you just over your breakfast table, huh? Not a lot of information, but you had to hold your own. I tell ya, not many of your guys can do that. You ought to be congratulated." For once, Mike was at a loss for words. What was she talking about? "Paulie, where did you find this guy?" She asked, loudly, as if speaking into a microphone. "And can I borrow him for the weekend?"
"Look, I'm not sure-"
"Oh, come on," Jenny reached across the table and cupped his shark tooth necklace in her hand. "A necklace transmitter? I taught him that." She yanked on the chain, and it snapped off of his neck before he could even blink. Jenny held the tooth up close to her mouth and spoke into it. "Paulie, come on out. You don't want me to come in there after you. Again. Remember what happened last time? Don't think I won't, Paulie."
"How many times have I asked you to stop calling me that?" A voice from behind her said. She turned and saw Briggs standing there with his arms crossed.
Jenny smiled. "And how many times have I asked you to stop sending me newbies? Come here." She flung herself into his arms, and embraced him into a back breaking hug. Mike just sat there, his jaw hanging open and his eyebrows arched in confusion. Jenny placed a kiss on Briggs' cheek and then, broke off the embrace. "I've missed you."
"Not as much as I have missed you, Jennster." He smiled, playfully ruffling her hair.
Johnny appeared from behind Briggs. "Hey, there, chica," He greeted, in his usual suave manner.
"Hey, Johnny."
"Don't suppose I get a hug, too?"
"Not on your life, kid." She rolled her eyes.
"Oh, come on, girl, what's wrong with a hug?" He pouted, holding out his hands.
"I know better. Two words: Wandering hands."
"Yeah, even after I threatened to shoot him between the eyes." Briggs chuckled.
"Hey, when there's an ass that needs grabbing, I just gotta go for it, ya know?" Johnny defended, which made him receive a punch in the chest from Briggs.
Rolling her eyes again, Jenny turned back to the confused Mike, who was just silently watching everything. "And then, there's you, Mike." She said, smiling sweetly. "Now, honestly, I don't get impressed very often, but you really impressed me. Not to mention, you are easy on the eyes. How about I buy you a drink sometime?"
"Um, maybe later," Mike said, finally snapping out of his confusion. He stood up to join the rest of the group.
"Is that a promise?" Jenny asked, winking.
Briggs came up behind her, and placed his arm around her shoulders. "Down girl. Sorry, Mikey, but the thing about Jenny is she is relentless. Once she likes something, there's no pulling her back."
"You jealous, Paulie?" She looked up at him innocently.
"Oh, not even a little." He answered, placing a kiss on her forehead.
"Yeah, who are you?" Mike finally asked.
Jenny slapped Briggs in the stomach, making him grunt in the process. "You didn't tell him?"
"Tell me what?" Mike was getting very frustrated. Briggs kept a lot of things to himself, but when he was practically dangling it in front of Mike's face, it was just annoying.
"Well, if I told him, then it wouldn't have been a surprise."
"Surprise?"
"Now, don't be mean, Paulie. Can't you see your freaking him out?" Jenny held out her hand. "The name is Jenny Briggs."
Mike took her hand and nodded slightly, still slightly confused. "Briggs? So, what? You're his wife or something?"
Both Briggs and Jenny laughed. "Being married to that guy?" Jenny snickered. "Oh, I do dearly pity the fool."
"Well, then, what?" Mike asked, tired of the games.
"I'm not his wife." Jenny said plainly. "I'm his sister."