Rachel West is an agent with the CIA.
More technically, West works for the 'Factory', so named because its facility, located a few miles from the main CIA headquarters, looks like a manufacturing plant. The building was the workplace for over a hundred people consisting of agents, technicians, and support staff. The purpose for the Factory and its agents were to do "the Agency's dirty work. Black ops, wet-work, the sharp point of the spear". West is one of those agents and she is very good at it, albeit with a bit of an attitude which annoys her boss at times.
One thing she is not, and makes it a point to remind her boss when necessary, is the bait in a honey trap. She is not overly concerned with dispatching her enemies anyway she can or has to but she decides to whom she gives her affections and it certainly will not be a part of an assignment.
West is a very good looking woman in her mid-thirties with long blonde hair. As would be expected of any agent working in the field for the Factory, she is in excellent shape. She'd have to be or she would never survive the missions she finds herself handling. She is also quite intelligent and crafty and has a talent for languages.
We learn early on that West was an orphan growing up in Atlanta shuttled around to various foster homes, one of which included an abusive foster father. Despite these hindrances, her high intelligence allowed her to obtain a scholarship to Georgia Tech where she earned a computer science degree. While there she joined ROTC and after graduation became part of the DCIS (Defense Criminal Investigative Service). At the end of her term of service, she was recruited by the head of the Factory and has been there for two years.