"So, what do you think about Yumi?" Scott asked as he took a sip of his coffee.

"More like yummy," Vanessa said with a devilish smirk.

"You pick that up from Bricks?” Scott put his coffee cup down and kept his eyes glued across the street.

"That was a little cheesy but not on Bricks level, and it is hard to say. Either she is an employee of theirs, or they are holding something over her just like us. If it's the latter, then only time will tell if we can truly trust her. If it's the former, then we can never trust her. Either way, I'm going get with that girl." Vanessa smiled at Scott.

"How do you know that she plays for your team?" Scott asked

"I have no clue, but I figure that even if she isn't on my team, it is just a matter of time before Bricks hitting on her nonstop will force her over to my team. " Vanessa replied.

"I see your point, but.." Before Scott could finish his sentence, a black SUV pulled into the town hall's parking lot.

The pair in the coffee shop honed in on it with laser vision. The front doors swung open, and two men in matching black suits, white shirts, and red ties stepped out. The men wore dark sunglasses, and as they stepped out of the SUV, they looked around before heading towards the hall's entrance.

"You two see anything of interest over there?" A deep voice boomed from beside Scott and Vanessa. It startled the pair, and Vanessa jumped a little in her chair. Scott was taken aback but composed himself to project a calm, collected man enjoying his coffee.

They looked up and saw the voice coming from a large man, both in height and weight. He had a shaved bald head and a full dark red beard. He wore a gray suit with a light blue shirt with no tie. He had two men flanking him, wearing identical black suits as the men who had just stepped out of the SUV were wearing. They had stern, emotionless faces with aviator sunglasses covering their eyes.

"From the looks of it, we may be witnessing a ‘men that love basic suits’ convention." Vanessa quipped.

"Hilarious, Ms. Carlton." The big burly man said. With those few words, the shock that Vanessa has just managed to shake off returned in full force. She knew that this man knowing her name was a bad sign and a strong indicator that nothing positive would likely come from this encounter.

Scott acting if he was scratching the side of his head and casually tapped his earpiece and brought it to life.

“I’m here Scott, what’s up?” Yumi spoke into Scott’s ear.

“Sorry I missed your name?” Scott questioned the big burly man standing next to their table.

“That is probably because I never gave it, Mr. Carr. You must excuse my manners. I am Ewan Buckner, and I have to ask what exactly the two of you are scoping out across that street?” The large man pulled out one of the empty chairs at the table and sat down. “Gentleman, give us a minute. I’ll meet you outside.” With that, the two men in suits walked out of the coffeehouse without a word.

“Scott, I searched the name. Is he a large bald man with a big red beard?” Yumi spoke into Scott’s earpiece.

“YES. Please join us, Ewan. Can I call you Ewan?” Scott felt a quick jolt of pride for working that in for Yumi so smoothly, but that was sure to be short-lived.

“Uh… Scott, Ewan is the head of security and intelligence for the Midwest territory. Where he is, Siren is sure not to be far.” Yumi’s voice contained the slightest bit of nervousness.

“Scope out is such a strange way to say that two friends are having coffee and enjoying the only view this window offers,” Scott said to Ewan. His brain began to turn a million miles an hour. This guy is in intelligence and knows who we are; chances are he sees them as common criminals looking for a score. He hoped that was the case, that would make everything much more manageable. If Ewan had the slightest clue that they were working for the Overseer, he probably wouldn’t let them leave alive.

“Mr. Carr…” Ewan had begun before Scott interrupted him.

“Let’s dispatch the formality, Ewan; I’m Scott, this is Vanessa and your Ewan. There, now we can talk like the friends that I am sure we will quickly become.” Scott thought the best action plan was to keep Ewan slightly defensive in conversation without pushing it too much.

“Alright, Scott and Vanessa, it seems strange to me that a group of known thieves find themselves on a camping trip right outside of Rocky Mount with a visit from Siren coming. Then you pair that up with two of said thieves sitting inside a coffee house and watching the town hall as my men are setting up the security. I don’t believe in that much of a coincidence.” Ewan said as he began cracking the knuckles on his bear paw-sized hands.

“Ewan, first, if you knew that much about Vanessa and me, then you would know we are often described as world-class coffee coinsures. We had heard this place was to die for, so we just had to check it out—secondly, thieves we are not. Sure, I served a sentence, but it is just that, served. So, I have to ask, what exactly are you doing here with a large pouch of assumptions, Ewan?”

"I do not care for you or your banter. I don't give a crap what you were planning here. Just know that it ends now. I will give you until tomorrow morning to be gone, and if you aren't gone, then I promise you the coffee won’t be the only thing to die for. Head out of town, go pack up your little camper, and hit the road." Ewan stood up from the table

"For your sake, this had better be the last time we talk or see each other." Ewan pushed in his chair and began to walk towards the door.

"This is not good, Scott." Yumi chimed into Scott's earpiece.

Scott's mind was racing. He needed something quick, being forced out of town and the area would be a death blow to the operation and put Jeanie and Walker in danger, and he couldn't have that. He couldn't let the whole crew down; they were all depending on him. Sometimes you have to throw a Hail Mary to the end zone; sometimes the Hail Mary is even caught. He really didn't want to play this card, but a little bit of hope is always better than none.

"Ewan," Scott called out.

The large man stopped and turned around with a look of annoyance on his face.

"I don't think you want us to leave quite yet, Ewan. I mean, I know you wouldn't ask us to leave if you knew the information that we have."

Ewan's face swirled a tiny hint of curiosity that mixed in with his annoyance. He stood and thought about his following action for a solid 7 seconds. He returned to the table and sat back down in the chair he had occupied just moments earlier. Everything in his posture and body language said he was very thin on patience.

"I hope you are not wasting my time because that timeline that I gave you of tomorrow can be moved to right now. I was trying to be courteous, but my hospitality is suddenly missing in action."

"I think you may want to reconsider rolling back out that famous Midwest Territory Hospitality. " Scott flashed a sudden look of confidence to the Ewan.

"We are what you might call refugees. But we don't come empty-handed. We just so happen to have information on what the Overseer knows about this upcoming meeting with your boss and a certain Luchador masked strongman. We also know just how he plans on addressing this issue, and we came here to find Siren and trade this information." Scott said.

"What the heck are you talking about?!" Yumi yelled into Scott’s ear.

The table sat silent, and it was like one of those scenes from a movie where everything around the group freezes in time. Ewan's face shifted from annoyance as he tried to process what he was hearing. He fixed in on Scott's blue eyes, almost looking through them.

"Trade?" Ewan questioned, his annoyance returning in full force.

"Yes, trade. This sort of information doesn't come free." Scott slowly sipped his coffee.

"What exactly are you asking for in exchange?" Ewan probed

"I think that is best if we left that discussion for Siren herself." Scott tapped his foot on Vanessa's leg to ensure she was entirely focused and not still in shock.

"Meet her? That is never going to happen. You tell me the information, and I take it to her, but there will be no meeting." Ewan had begun before Scott cut him off.

"How about you relay this information to her. We have intimate knowledge of what the Overseer knows of her meeting with Senior Strong and how he plans to react. I am sure she will be interested in meeting. We will meet you right here tomorrow at Noon, and you will give me a time and a place for the meeting. Thanks for your time Ewan and don’t think that we don’t appreciate this. You are really coming through for us."

With that, Scott stood up, and Vanessa quickly mimicked him, and the two strode confidently out of the coffee house and back towards Main Street.