Rage Matters

Character Profiles

Susan Atkinson | Protagonist

Susan grew up in a loving home. She met her knight in shining armor early and they married, had kids, did the whole mom and dad thing. Susan was a shy gal, but complicated. Very complicated.

The first time Susan saw her future husband, Scott, she thought he was dorky and never gave him much thought. When she met him, it resulted from his really dumb plan, albeit original, that turned her off even more. It was a first impression from hell, but oddly enough, worked, though she never admitted it.

Susan never wanted to get married. She thought the entire premise was flawed. The agency she worked for, however, had a different opinion. It wasn’t that they forced her to marry, but, rather; they gave her no choice. Her life was in a downward spiral, a freefall, and they figured a little stability would do her good. She, of course, refused the idea, but their power of persuasion trumped her power of refusal. The type of work she did was not traditional, and the less attention she brought to herself, the better for her and the agency. She chose Scott because he was the only one around, and nine months later, little Rageena was born. Susan was suddenly knee deep into the whole family thing, whether she wanted to be or not.

With the marriage fully implemented and stability re-established, Susan’s behavior came back within a normal operating range. The agency she worked for breathed a collective sigh of relief and all involved were happy again. She could get back to work and continue honing the skills that made her who/what she really was, what the agency needed her to be.

The next phase of the agency’s plan was for Susan to choose a side hustle to cover for her real work. Her schedule included lots of no-notice travel, so the idea of a flight attendant instantly came to mind. It was perfect. She could come and go as needed and Scott would never question the absences.

Things, however, eventually got murky. Susan had gotten bored with work, her real work, and sought relief. That relief, unfortunately, meant she had reverted to what the agency had found undesirable before. Bodies began showing up again. She was even more sloppy with it this go round. It wasn’t that she did not know how to cover her tracks; it was that she simply didn’t care. She knew she would never get caught, and if, by chance, she did, the agency would never allow her to be captured.

Susan was very good at what she did. She was extremely good, and she was extremely good at reading people. One of the people she read constantly was her husband, Scott. There was always something about him that ate at her. It always seemed as if he was hiding something. There had to be something about his past that she would not like, something that would put him in her crosshairs. Yes, Mr. Scott Matters was harboring a terrible secret, and it would be just a matter of time before his wife discovered it. It would affect her personally and it would transform the trajectory of the story.

Miles Jordan | Antagonist (Sort of)

Miles was a rebel, a down home up-and-coming good old boy who wanted desperately to break that mold. Miles never backed down from anyone. And that was a problem that he could never come to terms with. Mile had secrets that changed the dynamic of the story.

Miles grew up on his dad’s tobacco farm about ten miles northeast of Raleigh, North Carolina. At an early age, he knew he was going to differ from his dad. Farming, especially tobacco farming, wasn’t his thing. Hating people just for the sake of hating people wasn’t his thing, either. And he and his father never met in the middle on that. Miles went to school with and played with most of the guys his age that worked for his dad. He couldn’t understand the concept of why he was supposed to hate them.

His dad tolerated Miles’ views up to a point, but he wouldn’t budge beyond that point and expected Miles to respect that. For a time, they agreed to disagree, and life stayed somewhat on an even keel. His dad believed in pre-emptive strikes. When he sensed Miles was about to lose focus, a beating usually brought things back into perspective for him. The last straw for his dad was the day Miles showed up with a new girlfriend. She was a beautiful young woman coming of age. The problem her dad had with the arrangement was that she was from the wrong side of the tracks. Miles knew this. He knew the beating that evening would be rough, didn’t care, didn’t fight back. He took his licks like a man, packed the following day and left home, never to return. Her name was Geneava Ali, and they were genuinely in love.

Miles drifted for a while after leaving home. Though having plenty of options for employment, he got the idea that playing homeless might be fun. Miles never was one for taking the uncomplicated path. He thrived with a little uncertainty in his life. But uncertainty needed to be kept in perspective. Enter Popcorn Tuesday.

Popcorn was not much older than Miles. He used to work for his dad on the farm. Like Miles, farm work was not his thing. Unlike Miles, Popcorn had only one other career choice: hustling. He and Miles hung out for a while. Geneava did not like Popcorn. She knew he was no good for Miles. Unable to persuade him to ditch Popcorn, she dangled an ultimatum, which Miles handily rejected, and they parted ways.

Popcorn talked Miles into doing a job with him, a burglary, which Miles initially rejected. Like farming, Miles wasn’t into crime, either. But when the money got tight, he ran to Popcorn to ask if the offer was still on the table. It was. He accepted. They did the job. Things didn’t work out too well for popcorn, and in the long run, even worse for Miles. Miles came away from the job with a secret he hoped to carry to the grave. But secrets have a way of breaking through cloaks of cover and once exposed, terrible, terrible things can result. Miles’ life was about to change dramatically, and so was the direction of the story.

Orvo Kaur | Fixer

Orvo was a retired agent of The Allen Agency. His role was an unofficial one in a secret society of world renowned fixers. He is a key player in the story with a meandering role that defined “good guy” one moment, and, well, something else the next. At six foot eight inches tall and 320 Lb, he was an absolute mountain of a man. He was 55 years old, a chiseled hunk of solid muscle, and always ready to defend himself against men much younger, who often felt a need to try his skills. ‘Twas a mistake each and every time for them. Orvo’s role initially was to investigate the murders of an elderly couple up in Wake Forest. He was to determine why and who did it. It was a high-profile case for The Agency and they made sure local police BS would not hamper him.

Orvo reported to LaDonna Vasiliev, a partner at The Allen Agency. LaDonna was a middle-aged Russian beauty who still had the goods. She was flat out gorgeous and commanded attention in any room she so desired to enter. She and Orvo were like brother and sister and worked well together. He was her most trusted agent.

It was by dumb luck that LaDonna met Susan Atkinson. Susan ran away from home at age seventeen and wound up on the wrong side of the wrong streets of the wrong town. LaDonna immediately took a liking to her. As beautiful as she was, LaDonna was not a beautiful person. She was as ruthless an agent as The Agency had ever produced. Susan was awestruck by her. In a rare instance of kindness, LaDonna intervened in a developing situation one evening, which surely would have resulted in Susan’s mangled and violated body being found dumped on the streets the following morning.

One thing led to another and LaDonna recruited Susan to join The Agency. She had no idea what set of events she had set in motion. After Susan’s training, LaDonna eventually assigned her to Orvo for mentoring and supervising. They became very close friends. Orvo would inadvertently uncover information about Susan’s past that shocked even him. LaDonna had vetted Susan and thought she knew who she was, but she was way off. Orvo would dig deep into Susan’s past and realize that LaDonna had repeated a mistake she made years earlier. Susan Atkinson was not at all who LaDonna thought she was. Susan’s trust in Orvo would be the only thing that kept the unthinkable from happening.

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