They voice of Chief Givens continued over a speaker and he was very brief.  “[i][b]I am not going to be in today, another staff meeting out of state.  You know the drill.  Granderson is in charge in my absence.  I should be back tomorrow and be in the office the following morning.[/b][/i]”

There was no sound after that to indicate that he was done, or that he had disconnected, just the absence of his voice.  At that point, Ken stood up and looked around, then realized someone, besides the new agent, was missing.  “[color=f26522]Where the hell i[/color]--.“

As soon as he spoke, the door opened and in stepped Darrius.  “[b]Sorry, sorry.  I got stuck in traffic[/b].”  The group wasn’t one to beat individuals up about tardiness, as there were many days agents didn’t come in because of their current investigations keeping them elsewhere.  But that didn’t mean they couldn’t ride one another when it happened.

“[color=00a651]Yeah, your uh, traffic jam left some of its red make-up on your collar there boss[/color],” Tom rubbed his finger along his own collar as a few others laughed.  

Then, Christy sniffed loudly, smirked and said “[color=f6989d]man, it sure reeks of traffic in here.  Like someone spend all night and most of the morning in...traffic.[/color]”

“[b]You know what, haha fuck you guys.  You’re just jealous.  Laugh all you want.  I may be a few minutes late tomorrow too.[/b]”  He held up a middle finger on each hand and waved it to everyone.  “[b]But hey, that the new guy out there waiting?[/b]”

“[color=f26522]It is indeed.  His name is Stanley Humes.  He comes to us by way of the Detroit Metro PD.  Clean record, outstanding physical and mental assessments.  I’ve asked around and generally people have good to say or won’t say anything.  So I’m not sure what to make of it.  Even those with the good comments don’t seem to want to say too much too loudly.  That could mean he was into some bad shit, or simply he doesn’t rub his commanding officers the right way.  That’ll be Givens’ problem, not ours though.  Skye, you’re going to be his primary partner.  I’ll be rotating with you two for a few weeks to evaluate things and give my reports to Givens.[/color]”

He looked around at those in the room, waiting for any responses or questions before calling in the agent waiting outside.