Chapter 13
Alex Frost far from stupid. She knew what everyone thought about her. She knew that even if she worked harder than her peers, stayed later than them, and scored better on her exams—all of which were generally true—everyone would assume that the only reason she got a shot at the FBI was because of her father.
That was what it meant to have a father who was a congressman for the State of New York.
The fact that she was a young, good-looking woman didn’t help, either.
However, none of this prevented Alex from pushing forward. They wanted her to stop, to give up, to fall into the background so that they could take her place.
She refused.
Which is why, even though it was past ten on a Tuesday, she was still in Quantico at the FBI Training Facility pouring over details of a cold case, when her phone rang.
Alex frowned as she stared at the screen.
Then she raised her eyes and glanced around. Alex was the only one left in the study hall, which, while it wasn’t expressly reserved for trainees, was almost exclusively used by them.
It reminded her of a college library, what with the oversized desks all separated by flimsy partitions and each equipped with identical minimalistic lamps.
Green shades, of course.
She was the only one left.
This wasn’t always the case. Typically, her fellow recruit and best friend Tori would be by her side, and they’d spend their evenings sucking down overly sweet lattes while bouncing wild theories off each other. But today was Tori’s boyfriend Ben’s birthday and they were out celebrating.
Alex had promised that she would meet up with them later, but that wasn’t until much later.
She’d specifically not mentioned a time.
When Alex was locked in, Alex was locked in.
What wasn’t regular was receiving a call from FBI Training Director Jeremy Stitts at any hour, let alone after ten.
Like her, Alex knew that Stitts, as he was affectionately referred to when not in the man’s presence, also liked to work late.
Alex answered the call on the second ring.
“Director Stitts.”
“Ms. Frost.”
Even though she’d been attending the training facility full-time for more than six months, Alex was still having a hard time getting used to being called Ms . Frost. Mostly because it reminded her of her mother, a B-list actress who had passed from a rare type of leukemia when Alex was only eleven.
It was part of the program, however. They didn’t call you Agent until you were assigned to your first case.
Which Alex hoped would be sooner rather than later.
She was itching to start her career and investigating cold cases—no, not cold, but frozen cases—wasn’t cutting it.
“I apologize for calling this late,” Stitts said.
Alex liked Director Stitts, liked him a lot.
Everyone knew the man’s history, how, when he’d been a Field Agent, he’d been an integral part of the team that brought down the sadistic couple responsible for the torture and murder of countless women in a trailer they’d dubbed the Devil’s Den.
He was tough on recruits, but he was also fair.
In addition to liking Stitts, Alex respected him, which was probably even more important.
“I’m still in the building studying,” Alex replied, then cringed a little, thinking about how this might come off. But if Stitts considered this anything other than a statement of fact, it didn’t leak into his voice.
“Good. Can you swing by my office? I would like to have a quick word.”
“Of course. I’ll be there in five.”
“See you soon.”
Alex hung up and quickly scribbled a note for Tori— Why did the agent keep his fridge full of cold cases? Because he couldn't let them go stale! Har, har— shoved it in the file and packed it up. A smile on her face, Alex replaced the file in the cabinet with the hundreds of other unsolved cases and then collected the rest of her things.
She left the building with three and a half minutes of the allotted five remaining. That wasn’t much time to make her way across campus and into the main building, up the stairs, and down the hall to Stitts’ office.
Alex cursed herself for saying that she’d be there in five.
Why didn’t I say ten? Ten would have been much more reasonable.
Alex didn’t like being late. Actually, it wasn’t being late that bothered her as much as it was being inaccurate .
She didn’t have OCD but what she did have was possibly worse.
A US Congressman for a father.
Brandon Frost had stressed to her even at a young age how important details were. This was especially true for a politician or a member of law enforcement.
Alex sprinted across campus, feeling the cool Virginia hair against her face, billowing in her chestnut brown hair.
She used her access card to enter the main building, then took the stairs two at a time.
Alex arrived outside Stitts’ door with just enough time to spare to wipe the sweat from her brow before knocking.
Not enough time to wonder what the hell this impromptu meeting might be about, however.
She knocked.
“Come in.”
Alex stepped into the office.
Jeremy Stitts was seated behind his desk. Alex suspected, but wasn’t exactly sure, that the man was in his early forties. He had perfect brown hair and Tori often joked that she thought it was a wig. Not because of the way it looked, but because it fell into place even if he ran his hand through it, if it was raining, or humid, or if a hurricane struck the area.
It was one of the great marvels of the world.
The cane that he used to help him walk—there was a rumor that the man had taken a bullet for his previous partner in that same Devil’s Den case—rested against the side of his desk.
“Please, take a seat,” the man said, gesturing toward the chair across from him.
During the short reprieve before Stitts addressed her again, Alex finally had a chance to consider why she’d been summoned.
It had to be their exam.
Their final exam.
Alex and Tori, as well as the other recruits, had written it two weeks ago. It was the final step to becoming an agent. Eight grueling hours covering everything from criminal psychology to FBI procedure.
Alex had been tired when she’d finally finished, but also confident. But she didn’t want to just ‘do well’. That wasn’t good enough for her. She had to ace it for her own benefit and also to proactively stem grumblings about her only getting the nod because of her dad.
But now… maybe she hadn’t done as well as she’d thought.
Alex’s eyes fell on the stack of papers in front of Stitts. She couldn’t make out any of the text, but it could be her test.
“Take a look,” Stitts said, pushing the stack of papers across to her.
Alex’s hand felt clammy as she reached for the pages.
It was her test.
But it was far from a poor mark.
In the upper right-hand corner, written in red pen and circled with the same ink, was ‘100%’.
Alex nodded to herself, feeling relief more than pride washing over her.
“Congratulations, Agent Frost.”
Alex’s eyes shot up.
Stitts was smiling, a rarity for the man. He’d also produced two more items while she’d been examining her test result.
A black plastic box about half the size of a laptop but considerably thicker, and a small leather billfold.
“… Agent?” Alex repeated, not quite believing what she’d just heard.
Stitts’ smile grew.
“Agent Frost,” the man confirmed. “A position has opened up at the Orange County Field Office. If you want it, it’s yours.”
Alex was stunned.
“Orange… County?” she said stupidly.
“California.”
Of course, I know where Orange County is, she thought.
“Agent Frost?”
Alex wasn’t a particularly emotional young woman. Like her attention to detail, her father had also drilled into her how important it was to keep your emotions in check. He didn’t go as far as to tell her to stem them completely but, rather, keep them close to your chest.
It would be too easy for someone to use these against you, weaponize your emotions.
This advice went out the window and Alex felt tears well in her eyes.
“Yes! Yes, I accept. Thank you! Thank you! ”
Luckily, Stitts remained seated otherwise she would have run to him and embraced him.
Probably knocked him over.
What a way to start your FBI career, breaking the director’s other leg.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you! ”