Bruce and Peter walked into the restaurant while Tony parked the car. It was one of eight they found and were using from Mr. Bowman's garage. He had spotted the BMW and had always wanted to take it for a spin when the man was alive. Of course, he also had his eyes on the Porsche and the Mazeratti, but there were three riding, so they needed a little room for everyone.
As he pulled into the parking spot, put it in neutral and extracted the emergency brake, he looked over toward the building to see two well dressed men with slight bulges under their jackets. Conspicuously, he busied himself while he watched them for a moment, pretending to be putting things away, or getting them in the car. When he stepped out he straightened his jacket, buttoning it still scoping out the couple with nonchalance. Slipping on his shades, he meandered toward them for a better look.
"Hi." He spoke with an almost outlandishly silly grin. "Nice evenin', don'tchya thank?" a thick southern drawl poured from him as well as some overly accentuated southern mannerisms.
One of them answered with an even thicker Russian accent alerting him to the fact. "Hello, yes, very nice night."
Tony smiled continuing back around the front hearing them follow close behind. His keen ears could hear their steps that weren't as trained as Peter's were, silent, patient, and furtive. Their conversation was in jest of his cowboy like manners and such. It didn't bother him until one of them called him a pimp because of the jewelry he was wearing. But, he let is slide for the time being, seeming to know they would tango soon enough. When they reached the front corner, they stopped, but Tony kept going, stepping in through the door.
The valet nodded, as he passed, a bit disgruntled that Tony had chosen to park the car himself.
"Watch those two. Let me know if they leave." He muttered to the teen briefly.
"Why? What's goin' on?" the youth asked who must have barely been eighteen. He seemed to perk as if he was about to learn some juicy news about a conflict.
"It's a matter of national security, kid." Tony quipped. "And you shouldn't be so nosey. It might get you killed one day."
The teen smirked, not believing him, but glanced over at the two men outside. They stood at the corner of the building seeming to be waiting for someone. Both were wearing nice suites, dark shades and appeared to be identical twins. Their hair color was of a milky blonde; long, straight and worn free. Their lips were a pinkish tan that appeared to have been surgically over defined. Yet they both had had no such thing done to them. As one of them removed his shades, he could see that their eyes were an eerie bluish-silver color that the teen had never seen before.
It made him shudder as he glanced over at him giving him an evil grin. When the man replaced his shades once more, the teen couldn't tell if the man was looking at him anymore or not. It unnerved him so, that he stepped in through the foyer doorway to get out of his sight for a moment.
Inside, Tony meandered to the table where Peter and Bruce had joined David. He took note of the room and everyone there as he went. Everyone appeared normal to him, yet he couldn't help but think a third man was lurking about nearby. His trained eyes and quick mind memorized everyone there, just in case. They fell on a certain man with that sparked his suspicions instantly. Anyway, he knew he had to keep his skills sharp and this was one way of tackling that problem. So, he focussed on his surroundings as he went.
"'Bout time, Tony." Bruce teased as he approached pulling a chair out from under the table to sit in.
"I had to park the car, Bruce." He chuckled as he spoke now parking in the chair with a little grace.
"Yeah, but you had time to wash, wax and buff the thing too." He was pouring it on; knowing Tony really liked the car to begin with.
Tony grinned leaning on his arms on the table. "Peter, two o'clock, white button-up, blue slacks, Swiss watch, newspaper and shades." He muttered so low that Bruce and David missed most of it.
"What'd you say?" David leaned in closer in case he did it again.
But Tony only sat back watching as Peter expertly made a move to look under the table briefly. In doing so, his hair slid down concealing his momentary study of the man Tony had described. He was used to him practicing such observations in the event some real danger posed itself. And as he looked he recognized the man from his own organization.
It almost made him laugh that they would send someone he knew. Obviously the higher ups were making a statement to him. He understood that to be that they were not willing to just let him go. His desire to naturalize, becoming an U.S. citizen, was openly rejected.
*****
Jonathan sat at the desk his uncle once used, going over some files from his contacts. He wanted to get a feel for what other businesses Mr. Bowman was working in that he didn't divulge to him so readily. His eyes narrowed as some encrypted fonts flashed across the screen angering him a little. What was his uncle hiding anyway? What need did he have to encrypt anything? If it were legal, he wouldn't have to worry about it, would he?
Greg meandered toward him seeing the consternation on his face. Setting the tray on the desk, he moved around to look at the screen with him.
"That looks like gibberish." Greg commented playfully.
"It is. It's encrypted." He answered with a chuckle.
"Hmm." The man leaned closer, the warmth of his breath washing over Jonathan's ear.
A slow grin played across his lips as he then felt the moisture of his tongue sneak out to tease the outer shell.
