It was a slow Thursday. Painfully slow. Nothing but paperwork and killing seconds until they turned to minutes and then to hours and eventually to quitting time. The entire Lexington Marshals office was cloaked in a dank sense of boredom and restlessness. Rachel was the first to notice her when she walked in, though Raylan was quicker than usual to look up from his desk, glad for any distraction from the monotony of case reports and background checks.
She was petite, with an auburn bob and a hard set face. Rachel noticed her lack of makeup first because of the dark circles under her eyes, and while she couldn't be totally sure, Rachel was pretty sure she'd given herself that haircut. Raylan appraised her attire; a faded Charlie Daniels Band t-shirt tucked into a high-waisted pair of jeans, but with a blazer and heels. It was an interesting interpretation of business casual, and he thought she looked out of place in the office. They both noticed the thick manila envelope in her hands as she scanned the room.
The woman caught Raylan's eyes first. "Mullen?"
Raylan pointed and she strode off toward his office without so much as a nod of thanks.
Art didn't notice her until she was in the doorway, and she didn't hesitate before striding directly over to him and holding the envelope out to him. "Chief Deputy Mullens." It was neither question, nor an introduction; just a statement that she knew who he was and the envelope was for him.
She glanced over to her right and her eyes landed on Tim, who had been briefing Art on an ongoing court case. "You must be Deputy Marshal Gutterson," she said, matter-of-fact.
Tim squinted, curious, "And what makes you say that?"
She pointed to her forearm and Tim looked at his own, rolled up sleeves revealing his sniper rifle tattoo. "Fair enough," he said, "And you are...?"
"I'm parked in the visitors' lot. You'll need your car, but meet me over there when you're ready." The woman nodded at Art as he looked up from the documents in his hands. "It's been a pleasure." And then she was gone as abruptly as she'd entered.
Tim looked at Art incredulously, "What the hell was that?"
"That," Art said, "was way above my pay grade." He handed Tim a sheet of paper from the file. "Looks like you're being lent out to another agency. Needs a sniper. And you're leaving now."
Tim read over the sheet in his hands and was keen to notice the lack of details. The secrecy of it all certainly piqued his interest, though it also set his teeth on edge not knowing exactly what he was walking into.
"Do I have a choice?" he asked.
"Not as far as I can tell," said Art, "You better get going, she didn't seem very patient."
Tim smirked and headed to his desk to grab his jacket. On his way past, Raylan and Rachel both looked up inquisitively. "What's going on?" Raylan asked, hating as always to be kept out of the loop.
"Hell if I know," Tim said and he was out the door, wondering what waited for him down in the visitors' parking area.