Chapter 1

Cammie POV

I sat in my office and yawned for what had to have been the third time in the past five minutes. I gulped down another coffee. It has been almost two months since I've been on a mission. And as much as I enjoyed having some time to relax, my exceedingly boring desk job was just not cutting it in the action department. Unfortunately, to maintain a believable cover, I actually had to do work. This means, that for the third night in a row, I have to stay until eight o'clock at night in my large law firm doing paralegal work on a case. I was hardly the last person there, all the starting lawyers stayed until at least nine every night. How they did it, I will never know.

Finally satisfied with the memo I had just finished writing; I packed my things into my messenger bag and headed out the door as many of the other employees shot me looks of jealousy. Working in New York City had its perks, one of them being the fact that I did not need to own a car. I whistled for a taxi and sat wearily down on the seat as he asked me where I wanted to go.

"8th Avenue please," I stated and looked out my window to zone out until we had reached my apartment. Somehow, even on a Wednesday, the Manhattan streets were as busy as ever. I walked up to my apartment building and took out my key from the pocket of my bag. In my half-unconscious state, I managed to drop it, which turned out to be quite lucky.

As I bent down to get the key, I noticed the mat on the floor outside my door. My mind immediately flashed back to that first Coveops class that Mr. Solomon had ever taught us. Notice things… His voice said in the back of my mind. Right now, I was noticing the fact that my welcome mat had tilted to a completely different angle than I had left it at this morning. Being the last apartment at the end of the hall, no one could have moved it accidently unless they were coming specifically to my apartment. I immediately became paranoid.

I bent down, picked up my key and put a hand to my forehead as I made a face as though I had forgotten something. "Damnit…" I whispered under my breath, just loudly enough to put on a show for anyone that might be watching, hoping to fool them. I took the stairs back down with a plan forming in the back of my mind. Instead of exiting through the front of the building, I took the back door out.

The cold air burst through the door as I warily climbed the fire escape, careful not to make any noise. I suddenly wished that I hadn't chosen this day to wear my new pencil skirt. It was the middle of October and freezing outside, and I was wide awake now. I almost hoped there was a bad guy in my apartment, just so that I didn't go through all this extra effort for nothing.

As I approached my window, it occurred to me that I had no weapons on me, and although the chances of meeting a terrorist were slim, I didn't want to go into a fight unarmed. I rustled through the items in my bag and found nothing but papers and folders. That's just great Cammie. I thought to myself. You can paper cut him to death. I reluctantly pulled the metal chopstick out of my hair that I had used to carelessly put it up this morning, making a mental note to start carrying around concealed weapons.

I took a big breath as I opened my window slowly and stepped in, closing it behind me. I clutched my chopstick as I stepped softly around my apartment in the dark. Sure enough, as I silently approached my hallway leading out of the apartment, I saw a big dark figure lounging in my chair. I resisted the urge to gasp. Whoever it was did not appear to have realized my presence as of yet. I still had the element of surprise.

I adjusted myself to a fighting stance and crept up on the figure from behind. A head snapped around as whoever it was finally heard me, and I went for a roundhouse kick to the head. (Which, let me tell you, not the easiest thing to do in a pencil skirt...) I grinned as it made contact. I must have caught the person off guard, as they were clearly expecting me to come through the door, not from behind. I kneed the person in the stomach as they tried to grab my wrist. They fell to the ground and I pounced on top of them, pressing my chopstick to the base of their throat. If I pushed hard enough, I would be able to stab my chopstick through their throat and cut off air supply, killing them quickly. However, I would never do that, and would be much more likely to just press their pressure points, making them pass out, then throw them on some street corner. I was hoping that whoever I had pressed under me wouldn't try to call my bluff.

I pulled off my attackers mask to reveal a boy about my age, no more than 21 or 22. Did I mention that he was one of the most attractive boys I've seen in my 21 years of life? He looked photoshopped, and had the most striking green eyes I've ever seen. This I tried to ignore.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you right now." I growled, trying to sound intimidating.

The boy smirked. "Well for one, I'm CIA. Though I doubt that you would care, seeing as your plan of tackling me and pressing your very scary knitting needle to my trachea worked." He mocked.

I smirked back. Clearly he had forgotten that I still held the position of power. "And I should believe you when you say that you're CIA because…?" I said as I increased the pressure on the chopstick.

"If you would maybe get off of me for a second, I could get out my badge. Or you know…. you could always reach into my pocket and get it for me…" He trailed off and smirked again. It was really starting to piss me off.

I glared at him and let him up, one hand around the pressure points on the back of his neck, my other hand still on the chopstick threatening his throat. I glared at him in his mirth filled eyes, careful not to get lost in them. "Try anything and I'll shove this thing straight in your throat."

"Oh," He raised an eyebrow at me. "I believe you." He said as he got up with both of his hands raised in the air as if he was being arrested. He slowly lowered his hand into his pocket, brining out an id. I snatched it from him as I scrutinized it.

Agent Zachery A. Goode

I looked from him to the card several times, before finally lowering my chopstick and taking my hand off his pressure point. "Why are you here?" I asked suspiciously.

"Well, if you had waited about ten seconds before jumping me, I would have told you that you have a mission. We have a mission, actually." He put his hand out in front of him. "Zach Goode."

I shook it hesitantly. "Cammie Morgan."

"I know." He smirked, which just made me roll her eyes. "So Cammie, any reason in particular you chose a knitting needle? I mean a knife, I can understand, bu-"

"Actually, it's a chopstick, and it was the only thing I had. By the way, I still managed to beat you, so don't even pretend you aren't impressed." I said as I twirled it back through my hair. "What is this mission that you're talking about now?"

He grabbed a bag off her chair, which he was sitting on before I attacked him. He pulled out a blue folder and tossed it to me. "This is your cover- learn it. I'll be here at 8 tomorrow morning. Don't worry about your job, the director has it covered. Pack for warm weather. See you tomorrow." He winked as he left the room, leaving me speechlessly staring at the blue folder that held my new identity.