[b][center][h2]Paige Kennedy[/h2][/center][/b]

In spite of what she told Milo, Paige went in to work. On a best estimate of three hours of decent sleep, she staggered in to a standing ovation from her office. Overnight the news of the Sunday’s actions by the Marshal Service had spread all over the local media like wildfire. The capture of Bob and the gangster, Jackie Costa, were headlines at 5am and continued throughout the morning across TV and radio. Though her name was not mentioned publicly, the whole office was buzzing, particularly about the discovery of the Costa Operation and its multi-tiered connections. For the moment, the Marshal Service was at the top of the game amongst the task force brought in by the mayor. Paige perked up instantly in the praise and the hangover headache from the sake hurt a little less. She chatted with her Chief Deputy for a while and started some of the paperwork until he not so subtly recommended that she take a day, two if she wanted, and get some rest. The US Attorney wouldn’t be in until Wednesday. She could get her next case file then and get back in the hunt. They could hold the fort down for two days. She didn’t protest.

With her little M3 in hand again she headed back south to meet Sio. She didn’t have a clue where or what the, “Old Starboard” was, but some of the locals in the office assured her it was legit. She pulled up and as she got out, looked back at the scar the scorned cripple had left on her borrowed little piece of German engineering. Since the damage was down to the metal, the estimate from Sol City BMW had been considerably more than she wanted to spend and Uncle Sam didn’t pay for cosmetic damage on seized vehicles. She ran her finger over the mark again and sighed weighing whether or not to live with it or dip from the reward money she split with the bounty hunter to fix it. If she did fork over the cash, she resolved that second to hang on to the car tooth and nail no matter what. She glanced over her shoulder as the wind off the river ruffled her standard pony tail and looked at the boat traffic moving leisurely up and down the river. It was a little like home in a way, but she turned and went inside before her thoughts could get carried away again.

Walking in the doors, her polished silver star and the gun on her hip drew a few glances from the lunch time crowd and she never stopped loving the Old West feeling of it, but instead of boots and riding gear, she wore Converse and jeans with a similar white hooded sweater that she had on the last time she’d gone out with Sio. A waitress, looking at her slightly unnervingly, began to offer her a table, but Paige found Sio as she flipped her sunglasses back and headed over to the booth. She was still noticeably tired and walked with her customary stoic glance down the aisles mentally cataloguing the layout of the place as she went. She ordered a black cup of coffee and sat down across from Sio. “Sorry I’m late,” She said, honestly not sure if she really was. 

[@Almalthia]