Steffie Fills a Cavity @StoryADayMay #amwriting #espionage

I meant to write about Steffie tomorrow, but she had a story for today, so here it is. Frequent commenter Pete Laberge calls himself “a hapless, hopeless romantic,” so I’ll probably throw him a romance now and then this month. Today’s story seemed to call for it. YES,  ROMANCE WITH STEFFIE. You think cold killers can’t be all mooshy gooshy?

Steffie Fills a Cavity

by Marian Allen

Steffie left the dentist’s building with a spring in her step and a gleam in her teeth. She was on her way to a rare face-to-face with her mysterious handler, Pete, and now she knew she’d look her best.

Ordinarily, the privileged information gatherers (or, as they preferred to refer to themselves, spies) communicated via heavily encrypted and coded text messages and closed-network emails. In the past month, though, they had discovered that their network had been hacked.

The meeting this afternoon was to be a planning session, where she and Pete would meet for coffee to discuss the swiftest way for Steffie to locate and neutralize the hacker. You couldn’t blame a girl for hoping for more, could you?

She cocked her head, swung her hair, and grinned, as her country cousins would say, like a mule eating briars.

She silently narrated: You can’t find your white knight with yellow teeth! Use the whitener for the 21st century, and visit your dentist regularly.

Although the newsstand on the corner was closed, it’s wooden awning lowered and latched to block the counter and the goods within it, Steffie walked behind it out of habit. She hadn’t liked feeling trapped by the curb since her trainer had been shot in a drive-by.

The rear access door of the newsstand swung open as she reached it, and the man inside swept her in and closed the door behind them.

The interior was only lit by the computer monitor and the lights of various pieces of electronic equipment stashed beneath the counter.

“Aren’t you going to say it?” The man smirked. “Isn’t this where the secret agent looks at the person they trusted or paid no attention to and says, ‘You!’?”

Steffie struck with her customary swiftness. A punch to the solar plexus doubled the man over. She shoved his head into the edge of the counter, intercepted it when it bounced off, and shoved it into the counter again. She couldn’t feel his pulse but, just to be sure, she unspooled her floss sample and fashioned a crude but effective garrote.

An open padlock hung on a peg just inside the newsstand’s back door. She took it and locked the rear door when she left. Pete would contact a clean-up crew, who would deal with the body and the equipment.

The coffee shop was just ahead. Pete would be in a booth with his back to the wall. Her heart began to race.

~*~

I’m posting today at Fatal Foodies about a soup Charlie made the other day. He’s a big soup-maker, is Charlie.

MY PROMPTS TODAY: dental floss, a “like” unsaid, an internet daemon, and a cup of coffee

If you liked this story, you might like my other stories and my novels. Support an author: buy a book and leave an Amazon review. I thank you, and my cat thanks you.

MA

About

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but now live in the woods in southern Indiana. Though I only write fiction, I love to read non-fiction. The more I learn about this world, the more fantastic I see it is.

You may also like...

One thought on “Steffie Fills a Cavity @StoryADayMay #amwriting #espionage

  1. Pete Laberge

    May 16, 2017 at 12:02pm

    Luca Brazi would be proud.

    Dental floss is also good to fasten buttons to things.

    And I save the string from potato bags, which I use to “knit” cord with.
    Better not let Steffie know. She might want to hang someone!

    I alway sit with my back to the wall. I also avoid curbs.
    I always have been a little paranoid.

    I like my coffee with lots of cream, no sugar, and a quart sized cup should do!

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply
  2. Dan

    May 16, 2017 at 3:37pm

    “Did you gloss today?” “I did!”

    Great story. I hope Stef gets a donut.

    No kile button, but very much Lileythis

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply
    • Author

      Marian Allen

      May 16, 2017 at 6:25pm

      Can you see the li’l emojis under my post, like FB has? I added those to take the place of the Like button, but if they don’t show up, I might as well belete them. Stef prefers biscotti when she meets Pete. Donuts are too messy for a date.

      Permalink  ⋅ Reply
  3. Pete Laberge

    May 16, 2017 at 8:21pm

    She can be added to my list of princesses. I collect them!

    And of course, I like pizza, KD, and subs. And an “all day breakfast style” coffee shop. That way I can get bacon, eggs, coffee, hash browns, toast, and jam at 2:30 pm! Oink!

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply
    • Author
      • Pete Laberge

        May 17, 2017 at 12:35pm

        KD, is the Canuck Appellation of Kraft dinner. Mac and cheese.
        But I soup mine up with real cheese.
        Besides Steffie uses that magic orange powder to assassinate bad guys.

        “Here, breathe this!” as she shoots a teaspoon into their noses…..

        Permalink  ⋅ Reply
  4. joey

    May 17, 2017 at 10:55am

    Steffie has such an interesting life.

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply

Leave a Reply, If You Ple-az

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.