Wood View Private

Chapter 1 // Coffee and Boxing Gloves

Chapter 1 // "Coffee and Boxing Gloves"

"You really want me to do this?" I question, slightly scoffing at the absurd idea.

"Yes, agent, I believe I do," the burly man sitting in front of me barked. My eyes narrow at the formal term. "Besides, this should be quite easy for you, really. Not at all like Puerto Rico." He says.

I must have visibly tensed because his eyes flashed with a gaze of sympathy. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to-" he started.

"No," I answer, holding up a hand to signal for him to stop talking. "It's been four years; I have gotten over it. I, however, would like to know why I need to do this?"

He looked at me, face full of unease and disbelief, but after a few seconds he spoke, accepting the change of topic. "You do realize you have no say in the matter? I am your boss after all."

"Don't remind me, Zac, I can't believe they gave me to you." I sneer, only half meaning it.

He must have not picked up that I was joking because his eyes immediately hardened. "You act like I am able to do something about that, agent. Have I done anything to make you question my level of authority?"

This could go one of two ways.

The good way.

Or the bad way.

I know which one I want.

"Zac, you know I was kidding, right?" As soon as the words leave my mouth, I see him relax. Good, this is going how I wanted it to.

"Sorry, Jade, I just have a lot on my plate right now," he sighs. "Between Anderson and Harding being away and not knowing about them, things are just tense around here." I nod, agreeing with him.

Anderson and Harding are two of the FBI's best undercover agents. They were intelligent, and quick witted, while able to slip into a role without needing to practice. Coupled with the fact that they had been with the bureau for over 10 years, these traits made them unique, as the bureau hadn't seen anything like it before.

Much like me, they were taken into the FBI at a young age. They had been known to impersonate others to sneak into places they shouldn't have been. For them, they were 16 when they were caught using fake identities to sneak into a building, they did not know it was FBI at the time, but they were in for a rude awakening. They agreed to stay with the bureau until they were 18, instead of serving a jail sentence.

They were naturals. They had risen in the ranks so fast, that they decided to stay with the FBI, continuing as undercover officers.

We happened to get along because our stories were similar and they treated me like I was their little sister.

I was an orphan. My parents left me on the stairs of the police station when I was 8 months old. I have done so much digging but was never able to figure out who they really were. I was taken in by one of the police officers who had recently lost his wife to leukemia, Nico. He was like the father I never had, and I refused to call him anything other than dad.

I grew up running training courses, throwing punches, and learning about what the law enforcement world had to offer, all the while attending school and getting good grades. Because of this lifestyle, I never really had the time to make friends my age, most of my friends were people I knew from the station. One might call my life dangerous or obscure, but I did not mind. I quite liked being alone and all the training kept me fit.

That all changed when I was 14.

Dad had gotten a job opportunity with the FBI a year and a half earlier. He decided to take it and he uprooted our little family and we moved to Quantico. I trained at the bureau so often, that his coworkers became my family.