Warranted

Prologue

There are days, they are harsh, facing fugitives and facing warfare everyday. Some of the crew would be shot, but sometimes the war would be over when the suspect is shot or arrested. Deputy U.S. Marshal Melody King witnessed this everyday, heading into the office, five minutes early just to brew her special dark coffee before work. It took a lot of patience to do her job. She would sit at the desk for hours after a case, doing paperwork. If so, she would be out in the field, wandering around undercover.

Orange rays of sunshine reflected through the glass windows of her sister's home. Yet, the poor marshal was living with her sister. It wasn't a bad thing since Mel appreciated the social interaction of her nieces. Often on her days off, she would lounge around in the living room watching the news.

Mel was laid back, looking up at the ceiling thinking of what must possibly be coming today. The clock next to her beeped, telling her it was 6:45AM. Perfect timing as usual as she should be at work at 8:00AM. She sat up, running her fingers through her long golden hair. She flipped her legs over the side of the bed and balanced herself as she stood on the carpet, facing the mirror across from her. Her reflection was cast upon her, showing the small dark bags underneath her eyes, dried up lips and her hair in a mess. This happened every morning, and Mel always hoped for something better.

She sighed, walking into the bathroom and turning the faucet on in the shower. She removed her clothing and stepped into the shower to sit underneath the faucet to think. Her mind usually ran with ideas of projects to do. Maybe write a book, sew a dress or just go eat when she gets home from work. Nothing crossed her mind. She began to wash herself. When she was finished, she hopped out to get dressed in her nice dress clothes. She then put on a little bit of concealer to hide the bags underneath her eyes. It was time to drive into work. Mel grabbed her belt, her red bandana and was set out of her sister's home.

When she arrived at the office, it was normal. Her colleagues sat at their desks, focusing on their work and the Chief was in the office. The first thing Mel did was make her usual brew of coffee. She stood at the counter waiting for her coffee, when the Chief of the Marshal Service came out of his office to call Mel in for a chat. To Mel, it would be more like a chat about cases or the Chief's idea of making a move on her. It drove Melody nuts, seeing that smirk cross his face whenever she is called to the office, but for some reason, this was different. His face held more of a serious look as Mel grabbed her coffee and followed him in.

Mel stepped into the office and watched Chief Marshal Aaron Barton shut the blinds to the office. She sat down in the leather chairs across from his desk. Aaron sat down, folding his hands on his desk and leaned forward, his eyes beaming with delight. "I was called about you from another office, and I believe they will be ready to recruit you." He said.

"Planning on getting rid of me, huh?" Mel asked, interested on this subject.

"Chief Deputy Art Mullen actually likes your ideas of manipulative skills when I mentioned you. He would like you to come into Kentucky in three days, plus he booked a flight for you. He has been looking for a good marshal to replace the one who had resigned." Aaron continued, his face held a sad but content look as he ignored her question.

"Well, tell him I'll be there." Mel smiled, blinking her eyes in excitement. This thrilled her. She knew something like this would happen at some point.

"I'll file my paper work in and clean up my desk." She stood up and spun on her heel to head out of Barton's office. She sat down at her desk and pulled her folded box out to set a bunch of her items in. The guy at the desk next to her was quite a bundle of joy, a good friend of hers. He leaned over.