Official Personnel Report
Sci-Spy Covert Operations
Special Projects Division
Re: Matthew Tugood

You want me to describe a typical day in my life? Is that before or after I met Dr. Bree Mayfield-Watson?

Before—long before—my covert intelligence operations were mostly classified. I don’t talk about them. I worked for [INFORMATION REDACTED]. Unlike in thrillers, being a spy is mostly boring—as in sorting through financial statements to look for discrepancies. It’s also sordid—as in digging through the life of people you meet to try to find ways to influence them. Occasionally, it’s messy—as in—[INFORMATION REDACTED]. Details available in my report on [INFORMATION REDACTED]. It’s always dangerous. But it’s also necessary. And I’m good at it.

Except for my last official mission, when my cover was blown and the terrorist cell known as [INFORMATION REDACTED] slipped through my fingers.

Which brings me to Bree Watson. I left the agency and continued—unofficially—to keep tabs on the terrorist cells. This entailed working at Chemical Industries Corporation (CIC), where I met Bree. She thought I was an annoying marketing manager. And I thought she was. . . someone who made me wish I hadn’t included a wife in my cover story.

Since meeting Bree, nothing has gone according to plan. My plan was to investigate CIC and, depending on what I found, to help a rival purchase the small company. Instead I ended up in the middle of a murder investigation, with Bree as a prime suspect.

I intended to keep my emotions out of it. But if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s to watch an innocent person suffer for a crime she didn’t commit. And every instinct I had (plus a few discreetly planted listening devices) convinced me Bree was innocent.

Innocent and determined to prove it by investigating the murder herself. Now I was not only investigating possible financial crimes, I was trying to solve a murder and keep a too-nosey-for-her-own-good chemist out of danger.

Still, from the beginning of the murder investigation, Bree impressed me with her intelligence, dogged persistence, and methodical mind. As I watched her investigate, I became convinced she’d be a perfect candidate for helping me crack into the terrorist cell again. So, when the opportunity presented itself, I recruited her to join my team.

Together, using the chemical company as a cover for our covert operations, we are back on the trail of the terrorist cell. And some other national security threats.

Now if only Bree would stop finding dead bodies when I send her undercover. . .

And if the lovesick local PD Detective would stop trying to convince her to quit my team. . .

But that’s a topic for another report.

Matthew Tugood
Covert Intelligence Operative
Leader, Special Projects Division

For more on Bree, her adventures and “the lovesick local PD Detective” visit his October 9, 2017 post on Killer Characters

Want to join Team Matthew?
Visit Facebook – Kelle Z Riley Readers Group to join the discussion!

You can read more about Matthew in Shaken, Not Purred, the second book in the “Undercover Cat” mystery series.

Bree Watson traded her lab coat for a trench coat, expecting the life of a spy to be fun. But when a body turns up on her undercover mission, she’s forced to handle:

• A murdered woman with more enemies than meets the eye
• A hunky handler posing as her fake boyfriend
• A sexy detective bent on wooing her – and wooing her away from espionage
• A drop-out drug dog with a nose for trouble
• Her cranky cat, curious coworkers, a cupcake challenge she can’t resist, and too many secrets, lies and cover identities to keep straight. . .

In the whirlwind of investigations and undercover operations, Bree develops a serious identity crisis. Who is she really? A spy pretending to be a chemist? Or a chemist playing at being a spy?

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About the author
Kelle Z. Riley, writer, speaker, Ph.D. chemist and safety/martial arts expert has been featured in public forums that range from local Newspapers to National television. Her work was featured in the April 2014 “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living with Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias.” Her other publications include a romantic suspense (Dangerous Affairs), multiple short stories, a self-published memoire in honor of her father, and her debut mystery series featuring a scientist-turned-amateur-sleuth. A former Golden Heart Finalist, Kelle resides in Chattanooga, TN. She is the past program chair for the Chattanooga Writer’s Guild as well as a self-defense instructor, a Master Gardener Intern and a full-time chemist with numerous professional publications and U. S. patents. Kelle can be reached on Facebook.

All comments are welcomed.