12:01 am
A young woman opens the door to her second story loft. Light from the hallway spills into the dark and stale space. The heavy door slams shut behind her, and before she turns on the overhead fluorescent light, she bolts the lock, leans against the door, and lets out an exaggerated sigh of relief. Carma is happy to be home, and she turns on the light. Click! The light flickers on and reveals a large open space that is simply furnished and minimally decorated. She reaches behind her, lifts the back of her shirt, and relieves her waistband of the holstered Ruger LC 9mm that keeps her alive. She sets the heavy, fully loaded gun in a wooden box on a table next to the door along with her keys and her glasses.
She goes to the refrigerator and gets a bottle of water. She opens the water as she walks over to the large window overlooking the sleepy city where she secretly lives. Carma takes a long drink of her icey cold water and tries to remember how long it has been since she slept in her bed. Ever since she started this new assignment, she has been traveling non-stop. Her family is worried about her. They knew once she finished her training at Quantico, she would be virtually unavailable. Little do they know her tenure with the Bureau was short lived as she was recruited by the Agency not long after she completed her training.
This strong, young woman graduated Summa Cum Laude with her Ph.D. in criminology from NYU. Her specialty is global industrial espionage. She speaks five languages, is a third-degree black belt in karate, and completed her field training in record time. Needless to say, the Bureau was not happy to let her go, but the Agency can be very convincing when they need to be. Carma spent the first five years with the Agency in deep cover on a security detail protecting one of the top Bratva leaders, Anatoly Ivanovich, as he traveled around Russia and Eastern Europe managing his "Assets." Carma's directive was to penetrate Anatoly's security, chart his movements, and record his interactions. Carma was so successful at convincing Anatoly she was fully committed to him and no one else, Anatoly promoted her.
Carma is now the head of Anatoly's security team, and it is her responsibility to arrive at his travel destinations before he does and secure the premises prior to his arrival. Carma seals all entry ways to Anatoly's hotel rooms, offices, and vehicles with an intricate seal with the letters "CS" to let him know whatever room or space he enters is certified "Safe" by his top security officer, Carma Spell. Carma has exceeded all of her Agency handlers' expectations and now manages Anatoly's appointments all over the world. She is almost always several steps ahead of Anatoly and provides the Agency with the information it needs to minimize Anatoly's impact on the fragile socio-political relationships between the United States and Russia. The following pages contain the chronicled experiences of Secret Agent Carma Spell as she serves her country protecting one of the Russian Mafia's most dangerous overlords.