I’m black and I’m beautiful.
Growing up in south Chicago didn’t give me a whole lot of options and I got in with the wrong crowd. When I was doing time in the 1960s, Dash Hanover came to see me and offered me a job with a spy agency called SIAMESE (Special Intelligence Apparatus for Midwest Enemy Surveillance and Espionage). He needed someone like me with street smarts and guts. If I worked for him, my record would be cleared.
I figured, why not? Dealing with foreign spies seemed safer than going back to gang life.
No day is “average.” Every day’s different, or rather, every night. Most of my work is done in the dark when decent folk are tucked in their beds. In Southern Indiana, where I operate, the nights can be snowy, raining, wet and cold. Plays havoc with my sinuses and my sleep. Getting eight hours of sleep a night is a dream. So I learned how to nap like a cat at the drop of a hat any time.
Some nights I’m doing surveillance. That can be dull if the subject is sitting tight. Or I might meet a courier or an informant in some out-of-the-way hidey-hole. James Bond gets to swing in ritzy clubs and casinos, but I’m in the back alleys and dives and the places your mama told you not to go after dark.
I don’t eat well. With no regular work hours I usually munch on the fly on the way to and from assignments. When I have time off, I stay home and fix me a real home-cooked meal like my mama used to make. I don’t like to eat out. Always worried about an enemy agent spotting me in public.
I don’t get close to people—they may not be alive the next day. For a while I had a thing going with one of the guy agents at SIAMESE and—let’s just say when the enemy got through with him, wasn’t much of him left for me to cry over. Still haven’t gotten over him.
Recently Hanover had me working with a young kid named Noelle McNabb. Fresh behind the ears and right off the farm. She got pulled into this mess when one of our couriers showed up at her door with a bullet in him. She plays a witch in a silly musical show at a Christmas theme park in Yuletide, Indiana.
Dash said she’d be good at undercover work ‘cause she’s an actress. Me, I had my doubts. I had to pass a slew of tests and training before I was named a field agent. Then this girl comes in with nothing more than attitude. We had a rocky start, but she settled down and started pulling her weight. Now we make a pretty good team.
Our job was to find missing microdots full of top-secret information. First we pretended we were go-go dancers so we could infiltrate a sleazy nightclub and meet an informant. Shoulda been an easy job but something came up and the local cops almost grabbed us. We cats at SIAMESE work in secret and don’t like the fuzz tailing us.
While I was on another assignment, Noelle made a message drop. Instead of following orders, she barged off on her own and messed things up. Dash gave her a good chewing out over that one.
But I felt sorry for the girl and gave her another chance. I took Noelle along when I went to retrieve the last microdot. This caper involved breaking and entering on private property. We SIAMESE cats don’t exactly break the law—we just bend it a little. We had a tussle with an enemy agent but Noelle came through when the chips were down. The girl has a good head on her shoulders after all.
As long as the Cold War is simmering, I’ll be working. And I wouldn’t mind doing another case with my soul sister Noelle.
Giveaway: Would you choose an occupation as a foreign spy? Leave a comment below for your chance to win a print copy of Flower Power Fatality. U.S. entries only, please. The giveaway ends September 6, 2018. Good luck everyone!
You can read more about Destiny in Flower Power Fatality, the first book in the NEW “Psychedelic Spy” mystery series.
The Cold War gets cozy in this retro-cozy spy caper set in 1967, a year of music, miniskirts—and murder! Actress Noelle McNabb works at the Country Christmas Family Fun Park in Yuletide, Indiana, but she longs for the bright lights of Hollywood. Real-life drama comes her way when a stranger with a fatal gunshot wound stumbles across her doorstep. When she attempts to finds the man’s murderer, Noelle encounters a super-secret spy agency, SIAMESE (Special Intelligence Apparatus for Midwest Enemy Surveillance and Espionage). SIAMESE recruits Noelle on a quest to find missing microdots under the guidance of a street-wise agent, Destiny King. As Noelle goes undercover in a cheesy nightclub and faces the enemy in late-night chases, she uncovers family secrets and finds her moral values put to the test. Along with her pet cat, Ceebee, and the kooky residents of Yuletide, Noelle discovers it takes a village to catch a killer.
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About the author
Flower Power Fatality with Destiny and Noelle is the first book in the Psychedelic Spy retro-cozy series by Sally Carpenter. She’s a former Hoosier now living in Southern California. She also writes the Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol retro-cozy series from Cozy Cat Press. She has short stories in three anthologies and a chapter in the group mystery “Chasing the Codex.” For more information, visit her at sandyfairfaxauthor.com or on Facebook.
All comments are welcomed.
Sounds like an interesting new series to read.
Being a foreign spy sounds exciting but much too dangerous. So no,I wouldn’t choose that occupation on purpose. Sounds like an interesting new series set in a colorful time period.
let me in on this new series!!!
thank you for the giveaway……
Sounds like an interesting book, but I prefer to read about spies and not be one. Although with luck I could be a modern day Mrs. Pollifax…lol
I suspect I would be a terrible spy,but then again, as a frumpy middle aged lady perhaps I would be beyond suspicion and quite effective lol
Good morning Dru Ann. The life of a spy would never work for me. I just don’t have the ability to wrap my mind around innuendos that would help me solve a case. Of course being an older woman beyond retirement it would be an adventure.
I would be a terrible spy. People tell me that my emotions show on my face all the time. However, I love reading about successful spies.
Me? A foreign spy? I don’t think so. But I suppose and 83 year old lady might be useful somewhere.
I think my potential spying days are behind me (although I always admired Mrs. Pollifax.) I would enjoy reading this Psychedelic Spy mystery!
I wish I could have when I was younger. It sounds exciting and dangerous at the same time. I never thought about trying for the FBI or CIA when I was in high school in 1974.
Sounds intriguing.
Years back I would have said “Yes.”
Now? No.
what an exciting story line!! love the premise!! I would have loved to do spy work
I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t make a good foreign spy. Book sounds like a fascinating story.
No, I would not like to be a spy, but I’d like to read about them.
Thanks for hosting me! Writing about spies is thrilling enough for me. I’d rather sit at home at my computer than tramp about in some dark, cold alley.
Although I would never want to be a spy, I am a fan of this author and would love to win her book!
I’ll pass on spying as an occupation.
Maybe when I was young, foolish, felt invincible….I’d never venture to do anything risky enough to put my family in possible jeopardy. With that said, I love to read mysteries and vicariously experience adventures.,
You mean some people haven’t worked as spies?
One of my sons is convinced I am ex-CIA. I think that is pretty cool he believes that, but in reality I’m not sure I could follow directions all the time! (And too old now!)
Book sounds great!!!
No, I would not want to be a spy.
I think I’m more suited to an amateur sleuth than a spy. I’m observant, & as a frumpy oldlady , pretty invisible. I’m also friendly & can strike up a conversation with anybody. But if I had to run, or shoot a gun, I’d be in deep doo-doo.
Thanks for the chance to win.
**** WINNER ****
Flower Power Fatality is Rochelle
Congratulations!