The FBI Bride: Prequel to The Undercover Bridesmaid (An Undercover Bridesmaid Romance) Read online

  The attraction between them must have been her imagination. Her overactive imagination.

  But Chloe couldn’t help feeling an extraordinary sense of disappointment. She would never see the man again. And she had no idea who he was.

  Chapter 2

  Except, Chloe did know his name from the luggage tags. Sort of. L. Esposito. A distinctive name she wouldn’t forget very easily.

  “I’m shocked he didn’t ask for your phone number,” Jenna said. “The way you two were flirting and carrying on over a silly suitcase.”

  “We weren’t flirting,” Chloe protested. She stared at Jenna and widened her eyes. “We weren’t.”

  “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

  “Oh, stop it. But he must not have been that impressed. He didn’t even give me a single backward glance, or a final, flirtatious wink.”

  “Maybe he isn’t a winking kind of guy.”

  “Every guy winks. At least sometimes,” Chloe added lamely. “Don’t they?”

  “The bigger question is, are you going to try to find him?”

  “No! Am I supposed to look him up on Google, and then when he answers pretend I got a wrong number?”

  “We could start working on our sleuthing skills. Find out where he lives, where he likes to eat, work out—and casually show up in his favorite Starbucks or donut shop.”

  “I doubt the man eats Krispy Kremes. He’s rock solid.”

  A laugh burst from Jenna’s mouth. “I knew you were checking him out!”

  Chloe gave Jenna a glare, trying to suppress her own laughter. “Let’s go find our shuttle. If we miss it, we’ll be kicked out of Quantico on the very first day.”

  “Unfortunately, there are lots of ways to get kicked out of Quantico,” Jenna said. “Failing tests. Sneaking off campus before we hit the halfway point. Fraternizing with the other recruits.”

  “That would be a hard one since we’re probably outnumbered three guys to one girl. Maybe five to one.”

  “Ooh là là,” Jenna said, wiggling her shoulders. “Seriously, no looking at the other recruits, even if they’re total studs. Let’s make a pact.” Jenna brought her suitcases to a stop on the curb where taxis and shuttles were loading passengers. “The other guys at Quantico are NATs too, just like we are. And just because they’re of the male species doesn’t mean they can shoot or take exams any better than we can.”

  “Agreed,” Chloe said. “We won’t look. Heads down. Total focus. If you see my eyes wandering, just kick me. Or take me down on the karate mat.”

  “That part will be easy,” Jenna flung over her shoulder. “Hey, we’re gonna make it all the way to graduation day with flying colors. I would love to be assigned to a terrorist task force.”

  “You’re such a daredevil. I should have known you’d want to take down a few terrorists. But,” Chloe added. “You have it easy when it comes to rooms full of gorgeous men, Agent Fielding.”

  “How so?” Jenna asked innocently.

  “You’re the one who doesn’t have to worry about fraternizing since Frank put that big diamond rock on your finger last week.”

  “Nope, I’m going to have it the hardest. I already miss Frank like crazy. Being apart for four months will be like having my arm cut off. And it’ll delay our wedding date, too.”

  “We can spend our free time planning your wedding after graduation,” Chloe assured her as they bumped their suitcases over the curb. “Googling wedding dresses and three-tiered cakes will keep us from stressing during our Quantico training, right?”

  “You do have a point,” Jenna admitted. “Otherwise I’ll obsess over my test scores and marksmanship. Hey, I think that’s the shuttle to Quantico over there.”

  The shuttle was filled with other new recruits and they were the last to board. While Jenna pulled out her phone, Chloe noticed her absent-mindedly twisting the diamond on her left hand.

  Frank had popped the question three days before their letters of acceptance had arrived in the mail. The Federal Bureau of Investigation actually wanted them after so many years of hard work and applications and interviews, but the timing wasn’t the best, and Chloe knew she’d have to keep Jenna distracted over the next twenty weeks of training.

  Watching the Potomac River through the car window, Chloe’s mind wandered back to the man at the airport. Fighting over his luggage—could she had looked any more stupid and silly?

  Mr. Esposito possessed the suave, dark looks of an Italian model. Dang, the first man she’d been attracted to in years, and she’d never see him again. Despite the sizzle between them and the flirty conversation he’d walked away without a moment’s curiosity about who she was, or to ask for her number.

  Maybe the attraction was all one-sided. Women probably gawked at the guy so often, he didn’t even notice anymore.

  She had to quit thinking about him. She was going to be an hour away from the airport, and the man might live in Maryland or Virginia. Or be catching a connection to California.

  But he had flown in from Charleston, and he was originally from Alabama, right? Although Chloe wouldn’t be back home for months. Maybe years if she got assigned to a field office across the country.

  If Chloe was a sneaky sort of person, she could have her father—the governor of South Carolina—help her track him down.

  Then again, she didn’t need her father. She was about to have access to the best databases at Quantico. NSA computers. Over the next few months she was going to be trained in tracking down criminals, scouring data, and all the best methods of surveillance using cell phones and computers.

  Then again, a simple call to the phone company would net her Liam Esposito’s personal information.

  “Just get through training without getting kicked out,” she murmured to the window glass. There would be time for men down the road.

  “What are you muttering about?” Jenna asked, glancing up from texting with Frank.

  “Oh, look, did you see that heron flying over the trees?”

  Jenna let out a laugh. “Really, Chloe? You’re birdwatching?”

  “Hey, I need to distract myself with something, Miss Engaged Woman with the most adorable fiancé.”

  “Ah, Chloe,” Jenna said softly, linking her arm through Chloe’s and letting her cell phone drop into her lap. “You’re so sweet. The best-est friend ever,” she added, repeating the words they had often said to one another over the years since first meeting in Mrs. Hampton’s first grade class while creating their own movie out of paper, glue, and shoe boxes and lots and lots of script writing.

  A script where they were secret spies and could kick anyone’s butt. Maybe the dream had been embedded into their genes from the very beginning.

  “You know how happy I am for you and Frank,” Chloe told her. “And I can’t wait to help you choose your wedding dress. And pick out bridesmaid’s gowns and choose colors and flowers and everything. How you’re going to do all that and graduate with flying colors from the academy is a feat only you can achieve. You’re gonna knock everyone’s socks off, woman. I just hope I can keep up.”

  Butterflies fluttered in Chloe’s stomach when the shuttle pulled up in front of the main building of Quantico a few minutes later.

  Rows of windows reflected the rays of sunshine finally peeking through the clouds. “We’re here,” she gulped.

  Chapter 3

  Two hours later, Chloe and Jenna had gone through the check-in process and were assigned their room. Orientation was scheduled after dinner so Chloe performed a quick unpacking job.

  The living quarters were very similar to living in a college dorm hall. Well, maybe more like a hotel floor, but with rooms that two people shared.

  “Interesting combo room, right?” Jenna mused as she sorted through her luggage.

  “I like it. Better than college, actually,” Chloe said while she shoved folded and stacked underwear, t-shirts, and running shorts in the bureau drawers.

  The room was laid out with open
living spaces, but partial walls gave them some privacy, creating a bedroom with a bed and nightstand placed under their own personal window that overlooked the back courtyards and grounds. Each recruit also had a desk, dresser and personal closet.

  They shared a large double-sink bathroom with the room next to theirs which was occupied by two other New Agent Trainees.

  Chloe claimed two drawers for her toiletries and shampoo, including her beloved straightener when the summer humidity made halos of long, wavy curls around her head that turned unruly by July. Not that it was summer yet, but it would be by the time their four months of training ended and they graduated.

  “Not too shabby, eh?” she called out to Jenna through the doorway.

  Jenna agreed. “The room is better than I thought it might be. And it’s been updated recently. Modern fixtures and carpet instead of that horrendous shag rug from our college dorm that was probably forty years old.”

  “Think it’s ever been replaced?”

  Jenna rolled her eyes. “Gosh, I hope so. The strange multi-colored threads looked exactly like someone had gotten sick on it.”

  Chloe covered her ears. “No more talk of puke, I’m starving! I hope the meals are decent.”

  “You ready?” Jenna asked as the sound of doors slamming shut sounded in the outer hall. “I think the rest of our new class is hungry, too.”

  After locking their room door, Chloe entered the crowd of NATs headed out of the dorm area as she and Jenna made their way to the dining room. The smells of baked chicken and mashed potatoes wafted through the air before they took a final set of stairs into the lower bowels of the building.

  Two other new female recruits joined them, introducing themselves as Lindsey and Marla.

  “How many women are there in our class?” Lindsey asked, quickly reaching out to shake hands while they jostled down the hallway.

  “Hard to say,” Chloe answered. “The dorms were a mad house with everyone arriving at the same time and trying to find their assigned room. Maybe, thirty percent of the new class?”

  “Should be fifty percent,” Marla interjected, a serious woman with close-cropped dark hair and an athletic build although she was much shorter than the other three women.

  “I feel super lucky to get in at all,” Jenna said with her usual cheerful smile.

  “We all should,” Lindsey agreed. “This was my third attempt.”

  “Second attempt for us,” Chloe told her. “I keep pinching myself that we’re actually here.”

  “Anyone homesick yet?” A man of about thirty with bleached blond hair interjected, coming up behind them. He looked like a California beach bum, but Chloe tried not to stereotype him.

  “Speak for yourself, NAT,” Jenna shot over her shoulder.

  Chloe stifled a laugh.

  “Hey, you’re wearing a wedding ring,” the guy said, lifting Jenna’s hand to show off her diamond ring.

  “Engagement ring,” Jenna corrected, looking suddenly grumpy.

  Marla gasped. “What are you doing being engaged as a wet-behind-the-ears NAT, girl?” she drawled in a southern accent.

  “My boyfriend proposed last week,” Jenna replied.

  “How romantic,” Lindsey sighed. “Is he afraid you won’t go back to him after training?”

  “Of course not,” Jenna began, then realized that Lindsey was teasing her.

  “Where are you from, Marla?” Chloe asked. “With that accent, I detect a woman who’ll be wanting grits at breakfast. Jenna and I are Charleston girls.”

  “Macon, Georgia,” Marla replied. “Pleased to meet y’all.”

  “You came to the right place, ladies,” Jenna said. “Back home in Charleston, women outnumber men two to one. Here at Quantico, we have three men to every woman. Enjoy the next four months!”

  “You’re joking,” Lindsey said, skepticism in her face.

  “True South Carolina stats, unfortunately,” Chloe told her. “They say that if you’re not married before you leave your twenties you’ll have to settle for a scumbag in your thirties or get known as a crazy cat lady spinster by the time you’re forty.”

  “Here I was thinking I might check out Charleston for single men,” Marla said. “Remind me not to come visit you—or ask to be assigned the field office in the south. Guess I’ll have to settle for my man back home.”

  While they followed the rest of the class of about fifty new recruits all chatting together and comparing hometowns and acceptance stories, Chloe’s eyes darted everywhere, taking it all in.

  Early evening light streamed through the high windows, but all she could see were mostly newly leafing trees showing off the early spring season.

  When they reached the lower floors of the building, she glanced into various rooms as they walked down the halls. Game and TV rooms, a weight room, a library, and a couple of restaurants—when the NATs got sick of cafeteria food.

  “Oh, good, look at all those rows of snack machines,” Jenna said. “I can get my daily chocolate hit.”

  When they entered the dining room, the tables were filling up with the new recruits as well as the rising volume of conversation.

  Chloe grabbed a tray and got in line behind Jenna and the other two women. There was a second serving zone that looked like a salad bar and a third filled with desserts, but she couldn’t eat too many of those if she wanted to maintain the core strength she’d been working on the past year. The upcoming physical fitness test had her a little worried despite all the weight training and hundreds of miles she had run over the last twelve months. At least South Carolina didn’t have too much snow so she could hit the trails daily, unlike the NATs who had arrived from Montana or Idaho or Alaska.

  “Food’s not too bad,” Jenna said, forking baked chicken and mashed potatoes into her mouth while texting Frank.

  “Mm,” Chloe agreed, hungrier than she thought she was. Of course, breakfast had been way too many hours ago, and lunch had consisted of snack food out of a vending machine to make it to Quantico on time.

  The din of chatter grew louder as the new recruits interrogated each other about their backgrounds in law or engineering or languages, but the dinner hour was soon over.

  “At least we don’t have to change clothes,” Chloe said, as the group of newbies headed toward the main hall for orientation. She glanced down at herself in the standard issue uniform everyone was wearing. “Never thought I looked particularly good in neutral tan colors.”

  “Otherwise known as ‘blah’,” Jenna added, using the term they had coined in high school so long ago.

  Their uniform for the next five months was a pair of khaki slacks and a soft-knit polo shirt with a row of buttons up to the neckline.

  “It’s not a fashion show, dear Chloe,” Jenna quipped.

  “I do believe you look better than I do in your Quantico uniform,” Chloe shot back “Only problem is, we won’t be able to recognize anybody from a distance since we all look alike.”

  “We’re twinsies, just like we always wanted to be.”

  “There’s that,” Chloe agreed. “Ooh, here we are. I’ve got butterflies in my stomach.”

  “Because you’re still thinking about that man back at the airport,” Jenna said, lowering her voice and quirking one eyebrow.

  Chloe fixed an innocent expression on her face. “What guy?”

  “The one you had a tug-of-war with over his luggage.”

  “Oh, go wash your mouth out with soap.”

  Jenna’s laugh was so loud the other NATs around them gave them looks.

  Chloe hissed, “You’re never going to let me forget how much I made an idiot out of myself over the luggage, are you?”

  “That’s what best friends are for, darling Chloe.”

  “Ssh!” Lindsey hissed at them. She had a severe look on her face as the group took seats in the auditorium, the NATs shuffling into seats while the solemnity of their first meeting overcame the group. Obviously, she was a woman who liked to obey the letter of every r
ule and law.

  Chloe’s phone buzzed ten seconds later.

  Just admit that I’m right. Jenna had texted.

  Chloe tapped at her phone. Wrong, wrong, wrong, Miss Know-it-all.

  As much as Chloe was pretending to deny it, Jenna was absolutely right. She couldn’t stop thinking about the man and the memory of his warm hand against her fingers when they reached out to grip the suitcase handle at the very same moment.

  What a way to start her Quantico experience, mooning like an idiot over a man she’d never see again.

  You can always put your agent skills to work and hunt him down. Jenna texted next.

  Not! Chloe set her phone down when the double doors on the far end of the room opened. A man and a woman in their late 40s entered and briskly crossed the floor toward the lectern in the center of the room.

  “Hello Nats,” the woman said into the microphone, speaking with a crisp voice. “Welcome to Quantico. I’m Agent Emma Wells, and I’ll be one of your trainers over the next twenty weeks. Next to me is Agent Paul Fedorko, my partner in training—and crime. Excuse the pun.”

  The NATs tittered with nervous, but relieved laughter. Maybe FBI agents had a sense of humor and weren’t always as stern and unsmiling as they usually appeared in public or on television.

  “Before we do introductions,” Agent Fedorko said, “Please rise and raise your right hand for the oath. We do it at the beginning of your training period to convey the solemn and serious nature of what you are about to enter into—and then again when we graduate you. If you graduate,” he added, his eyes moving slowly around the room. “Not everybody does.”

  Chloe always knew that there was a possibility of not graduating with a certificate and a badge, but didn’t want to entertain the idea. How devastating to go through the rigorous application process and training here at Quantico, and then not graduate because of a few points on a test.

  When she rose to her feet and held up her right hand, a sense of thrill and emotion filling her throat. Just then, the wall in front of them turned into a high res projector screen, lighting up with the words of the oath for the new recruits to repeat.