Mary Slade and James Swensen were strangers, recruited into the Central Intelligence Agency, created by the National Security Act of 1947--possibly in response to the nation being dragged into two world wars in thirty years. It eliminated many of the rules and procedures restricting the way the U.S clandestine services were able to combat enemies of the country; such as those imposed on the FBI. It also exempted the CIA from most of the usual limitations on the use of Federal funds. Working only outside of U.S. borders, there were few rules of engagement with foreign nationals and few restrictions on how they accomplished their objectives, which were primarily to gather intelligence on the country's enemies, and eliminate threats to the United States--that meant spies, top-secret missions, and, in some cases, assassinations. Most of the agents that originally made up their ranks were recruited from other agencies, such as the FBI, military intelligence, and the military's elite forces. Additional agents were recruited from security companies and University programs around the country, to fill their ranks. In the latter case, the Agency insisted on at least two years of higher education in a field related to political science, criminal justice, or something similar.
Losing her older sister to violence, she committed herself to defending herself and others, Atypical of college cheerleaders, she was modest and reserved, with strict personal standards, to the point of being shy. she was a college cheerleader when she attracted the attention of the CIA recruiter. Jim attracted the CIA because of his familiarity with and use of handguns and rifles. He postponed his ambition to get rich and live on a tropical island, to serve his country and use a sniper rifle.
Mary and Jim crossed paths for a few years during their CIA assignments, she as a courier and he as an undercover agent, and assisted one another as their experience increased and their attraction to each other grew. But the organization and training the government developed to protect their agents was challenged by other country's clandestine services, making it a hazardous profession when your opponents had similar tools, resources and freedom of action.
When the Agency got the idea to bring the two agents together for missions that required a couple, rather than a single agent, the attraction between them became a powerful connection and they accepted more challenging missions, to pit their skills against the most aggressive and violent agent in the KGB. Can Mary survive a close encounter with the evil Dmitri Pavlovich, or will it end her stellar career and maybe end her life? Their skills and commitment, to their country and to each other, were soon tested to the limit. Could Jim protect her from their worst enemy?
