James Frost is an agent with the FBI.
He fully expects to stay a special agent for all of his working days. He enjoys it and he is good at it and he gets considerable satisfaction putting bad guys away. He is in no way looking for a change of employment. And then the offer arrives.
Our first encounter with Frost takes place as he heads to the scene of a reported car bombing which had no apparent explosion and yet the car and its passengers were gone and a big crater left in its place. As he begins to inquire about the details, he is told to expect a "hotshot" from DC to work with him. It will be from this newcomer, a man who identifies himself as Alex Geist, that we will soon get a very informative, succinct biography of Frost:
"Special Agent James Frost. Former Marine. Master Sergeant. Served two combat tours in Afghanistan. Marine Scout Sniper. Very impressing shooting skills. Excelled in martial arts Favorite discipline is Muay Thai ('the art of eight limbs'). Bronze Star with Valor. Two Purple Hearts. 47 confirmed kills. Probably another fifth unconfirmed. Graduated with distinction from Stanford University with a law degree. Joined the FBI five years ago and thus far have a stellar record except for one incident a few months before where he killed a civilian [the shooting was justified but the situation extremely regrettable]."
Frost is understandably surprised that Geist had such information about him and he is even more surprised to find that Geist was not really there to join Frost's investigative team but to recruit Frost to join his. Geist explains the benefits of his team over the FBI's: "My teams operate at a higher level and without hindrance from normal legal and political boundaries. The FBI must operate within the confines of rules and laws. On my team, you can get the job done without those hindrances as long as you stay under the radar. "The real criminals out there don't recognize rules or limitations. That gives them a very obvious advantage. When we go after bad guys, we level the playing field."
At that point, Geist reveals a very sobering thought to Frost when asked who is the ultimate order-giver, "What makes you think the President is the highest authority in the country? The presidency is a variable that can change every four years. The real leadership doesn't change that often." After that chilling announcement, we start to see even more disquieting details about Geist, the "teams" he leads, and how Frost will make a change while staying with the Bureau.