Tim Hall is an agent with the CIA.
He is retired when we first meet him but apparently he comes back because he certainly does not act retired.
His girlfriend, or the woman who will become his girlfriend, Mary Ann Wilson, is an FBI agent. The two government agencies do not get along. Hall and Wilson do. Usually.
We are told from the first page a good amount about Hall.
"Tim Hall was a former spy for the Central Intelligence Agency. As a matter of fact, his official title was 'Case Officer' and he spent much of his career in Central America. In 1981, Tim participated in the training of a paramilitary group known as the Contras and participated in the fighting of the Nicaragua civil war. Although this was a very controversial time in the United States, Tim was proud of his contribution and had no problem telling his friends at The Blue Goose about his exploits. The problem was that no one believed that Tim had ever been out of the City of Baltimore Maryland, much less a spy and Tim really had no way to prove that he did what he claimed. Unlike the local Police Departments, The Central Intelligent Agency did not issue 'Retired Spy Identifications'. As a matter of fact, the Agency was more than happy if their former employees did not brag about their exploits. The only thing Tim could prove related to his United States government employment was the two years spent working as a clerk for the Social Security Administration. He had been assigned to work there after he had recovered from the accident. The accident that took the life of his wife Pam and about four years of his memories."
There are a couple of other things we learn quite early. One is that Tim had a Ph.D. in Chemistry which is what got him noticed by the CIA in the first place but in typical government thinking, instead of working him in that field, they sent him down to Central America as mentioned. Two is that Hall is in his late 50's as he tells us and as his body is telling him: "Tim could feel age creeping up on him. His eyesight was going, his hair was thinning, and he tired more easily. Getting old just sucked." Three, the accident changed him: "Before the accident, Tim had always prided himself on being clear-headed. For instance, he always knew what to do. He never overreacted, and most of all, he never panicked. Now, he seemed to do all three on a regular basis."
Then there is Mary Ann Wilson. When we meet her initially she is Mary Ann Layback, is "a 40-year-old ex-biker chick (her own description) who wore black t-shirts and tight jeans with a motorcycle chain belt. She had long brown hair with a reddish tint, which she pulled back in a ponytail most of the time. Although Tim found Mary Ann attractive, he'd never dated anyone like her before and thought she was also a little scary. Tim wondered if he was even capable of handling a woman like Mary Ann."
Mary Ann did have a jealous streak and resented any woman who took an interest in her boyfriend. She owns the bar that Tim frequents called the Blue Goose Bar and Grill, aka 'The Goose'. She tells Tim that she used to own a dental lab and then she lets on to Tim that she knows a whole lot more about him than he remembers himself.
And then things with Mary Ann start to get interesting. Largely because like just about everyone we meet in this series, she is not what she seems to be and absolutely not what she says she is.
In this series, it is important to keep in mind that everyone is pretty much a spy. And all spies lie.