A tiny part of Audrey, but a part nonetheless, was relieved that he had taken her digression so well. That he ignored it, rather than sighed or openly disapproved was a refreshing change. People could say what they wanted about Audrey, but one thing she knew for sure—she wasn’t a fool, and she knew what people were saying about her both behind closed doors and her back. She tried to ignore it, sure, but sometimes it was hard when she tried to speak up in the group of agents she worked with. No names mentioned, but she knew that certain people had a tendency to roll their eyes and dismiss whatever she said. 

Well, Audrey always thought, there was a reason she was there. They had accepted her and she was still on the team. Technically, she had proven more successful than certain other agents who had left the team as soon as they realised that the job wasn’t at all as action-packed or interesting as it seemed. Sure, there were days when Audrey felt that the work was not stimulating enough, but everyone who ever worked anywhere probably felt that from time to time. All professions were bound to have good and bad days. Luckily for Audrey, the good at the ASA often outweighed the bad.  

Besides, the other agents on the team could snicker or talk how much shit they wanted. Audrey was there to stay.

The young woman was quite happy to hear Granderson say that she’d get to take the lead inside the police office. Not only because that meant that she would get to decide and delegate tasks, which in itself was rewarding, but also because it showed that he trusted her abilities enough to give her the opportunity. Despite that he seemed unwilling to talk about anything else except for their case, Audrey actually appreciated Granderson and his professionalism—at least when it came to matters like herself where people’s insensitive preconceptions only impaired Audrey and her career development. ”[color=plum]Sure thing, [i]boss[/i].[/color]”

Noticing that he looked at her from the corner of his eye, she smiled at him and retreated into a, for Audrey, rare silence. Well, her lack of words might have appeared silent to Granderson, but inside her head, thoughts of what she was gonna say during the briefing ran through her mind. Yes, she knew the drill, get the police, tactical, SWAT… and yet, she had to run things through properly to make sure she wouldn’t mix things up while on the spot.

The car neared the police headquarters, and as soon as they’d parked outside the building, Audrey got out and hurried inside.

Once inside the headquarters, she went up to the desk to check them in. The security guard behind the desk looked as though he had been sleeping, but as soon as they walked through the doors her perked up and sat straight in his chair. Pulling out her ID and throwing her bag up on the counter, Audrey smiled at him. The man had seemed rather grumpy, but he returned her smile with a grin as she folded her arms under her chest and leaned over the counter with an excited greeting. 

”[color=plum]Agent James and Agent Granderson from ASA. We’ve got an arrest warrant and are here to get a team with us. I’m sure you knew we’d come.[/color]”

The man nodded slightly and looked through a couple of papers before gesturing to the agents to go inside.