An Agent for Annie Page 4

  

  “Oh my gosh, yes.” The words bubbled from her. She had no idea she’d have to marry an agent in order to be trained, but the outcome was the same. Once she learned how to solve a case on her own and be a detective, she’d get an annulment and go on to be the best female Pinkerton since Kate Warne. This was unbelievable! It was really happening! She knew her grandma Hinkley had her doubts about her even being accepted into the agency, but here she was— on her way to a hotel—

  On her way to a hotel! …with a husband. A red-hot poker of fear stabbed her gut. What was she thinking? This wasn’t what she wanted! A Pinkerton Agent couldn’t be a married woman. Kate Warne had remained a widow! This was a mistake! She tried to stand, but the motion of the carriage tossed her back into the seat. Bruno Thomas eyed her dubiously.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She stared at him. “What’s wrong?” How could he not know? “Look, I love a challenge, but— I don’t know you. How could I let this happen? All I wanted was to become a Pinkerton Agent. This— this isn’t what I wanted.”

  “You think I wanted to marry you?” He startled. “Uh, I thought you were a potential client. I thought I was doing Mr. Gordon a favor bringing you to the office. I had no idea you were applying to the advert. Why would you want to apply to that ad in the first place? Women don’t belong in this line of work. It’s dangerous! You could get killed… or worse.”

  She stared at him. “What could be worse than getting killed?”

  His eyes flitted from her to his lap and back. “There are things worse than dying.”

  She perched on the edge of her seat, fiercely glaring into his reluctant eyes. “Like what?”

  His sun bronzed cheeks blazed. He opened his mouth and then closed it tight. His jaw muscles bulged and his Adam’s apple bobbled. “Like…” He darted his eyes to the window, fixed on the scene going by. “A gentleman doesn’t speak of such things in front of a lady. Especially, his wife.”

  Annie shook her head. What was he saying? “You mean… rape?”

  He whirled around to face her, his eyes wide with astonishment. “Y-yes. And slavery. It’s a big, cruel world out there. And-and a lady should be protected from the harshness that-that can befall—“

  Annie Kate placed her hand tenderly on his arm. “Is that what happened to you?”

  He stared at her.

  City sounds drifted past the window. “Fresh Bread! Get your fresh bread here!” “Vegetables! Just picked this morning. Vegetables!” The horse’s hooves clip-clopped rhythmically on the cobble streets.

  Her eyes remained fixed on his. The window to his soul revealed troubled thoughts lurking but not released. Slowly his lips parted. “Trust me. There are worse things than death.”

  She sat back. In her world in Walnut Grove, on Grandma Hinkley's farm, she knew heartache, disappointment, and frustration. Raymond continued for twenty years to build a cottage for his dead wife. Grandma Hinkle continued to farm even though her husband and son had passed. But never had Annie faced danger. Not real danger. And never did she think a man could be this broken. Where being killed was better than… other horrible things. She lifted her eyes to his. He dropped his gaze to his lap. Her heart broke for him, what he must have been through.

  “Mr. Thomas. I just vowed to love, honor, and obey, til death do us part. I know Mr. Gordon said when the case is resolved, we can get an annulment and go our separate ways, but for now we are obligated to those vows we just took. I never broke a promise in my life. And I don’t plan on doing so now. All I ever wanted when I was growing up was to be like Kate Warne— brave and clever and strong. I never took the time to consider what that meant beyond the glory of it all. I want to learn how to be a Pink, like Kate Warne. If you teach me everything you know, I promise to do my best to listen and learn from you. And I won’t go doing nothing naïve or stupid that will get me into trouble… like you said. Besides, I got a really strong feeling you will be my champion if something does go wrong. I don’t know how I know this, but I feel I can trust you with my life and my… reputation.”

  Thomas lifted determined caramel eyes of steel. “Deal.” He took her hands into his. “I would never let harm come to you.” Emotion deepened his voice more than usual. “Even… even if you weren’t my wife… and my partner. A Pinkerton Agent is an agent for all the people. Mr. Gordon taught me that.” He glanced down as if he’d dropped his thought on the floor, but then he found it and lifted it up to look directly, purposefully into her eyes. “I will teach you everything I know about being a Pinkerton. There’s more to solving a case than just being clever. I’ll teach you how to shoot a gun and how to throw a knife.”

  She gasped. “Really? I’ve always wanted to learn how to fight. Will you teach me to box too?” Lifting her fists, she rotated them in his face, like she’d seen Cletus James do with Theodore Gobel.

  He almost smiled, then covered her fists with his enormous hands and pushed them to her lap. “No. Boxing is not for… you. Trust me. But I’ll protect you. To the best of my abilities, I’ll protect you from harm. Although, this case shouldn’t be all that dangerous.” He laid his hand on the dossier. “A rogue wife and a sister who has been wrongly influenced by a scoundrel. We just have to convince her she needs to come home, and then see to it that she makes it back to Colorado. It should be an open and shut case.”

  Annie Kate stared at the dossier. Somehow she felt he was wrong about the case being so easy. If it were an easy case, why would it have been brought to the best detective agency in the country? But for now, she’d agree.

  “Deal.” She giggled. A calm settled in her heart. This may not have started the way she had imagined, but her dream of becoming a Pinkerton Agent had come true. Perhaps this Bruno Thomas was just a bonus to the dream she hadn’t been able to imagine to the fullest extent. Perhaps while answering her prayers to become a Pinkerton, God had answered this Pinkerton’s prayer, too. She reached for his hand and wrapped her fingers over the web between his thumb and index finger. Hers looked like a child’s hand compared to his.

  They sat in silence the remainder of the ride to the hotel.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Annie Kate crawled onto the bed and arranged the pillows behind her back. She opened the dossier and began reading. Bruno paced the hotel room. Her eyes flitted to him. “Can you sit down?”

  “I usually spend this time doing what you’re doing. Going over the case.”

  “Why can’t we go over it together?”

  His eyes widened. “Well, you’re… there, and I’m—”

  She smiled. “Well, it’s either we sit here, or on the floor. Which do you prefer?”

  He stopped mid-stride to stare at her.

  She patted the place next to her. “I reckon we are married. It won’t hurt nothing for us to sit together and review our case. Besides, you gotta teach me how to decipher all this information.”

  His stare remained on her as he considered what she’d said. Finally, he nodded and eased over to the other side of the bed. When he sat down, she had to reposition herself as his weight pulled her over into his side. Together, they went through the dossier. He showed her how he took notes in his leather-bound notebook.

  “I need one of these.” Annie took his notebook and examined his notes.

  “Deal.” He looked at her with surprise in his eyes. Had he not meant to answer so abruptly? His eyes softened. “We’ll get you one. Are you hungry?”

  Her eye met his. Hungry? What time was it? Three hours had flown by. She touched her tummy. “You know, I am hungry.”

  He smiled. “Let’s go downstairs to dinner and then we’ll take a walk to the mercantile to get you a notebook.”

  She scrambled from the bed and stood in front of the vanity. “Deal. Let me freshen up and then we can go.”

  His eyes darted to the chairs in the other half of the suite. “I’ll just… go in there.”

  She nodded with a sweet smile. “Thank you.”

 
Soon she joined him in the outer room of the suite. She had changed into a simple, but nice dress and pulled her hair into a neat bun. She looked lovely. Simple, but lovely. Bruno put out his elbow and she put her hand around his arm. Together they walked to the restaurant.

  The maître d’ smiled as if he knew a secret but wasn’t telling, and led them to a quiet table near the hearth. He lit a candle in a sconce and placed menus on the table in front of them. “Your waiter will be here shortly to take your drink orders. May I bring you a complimentary Champagne to celebrate your new marriage?”

  Bruno glanced up at the maître d’ in confusion. “Champagne?” His eyes darted to Annie Kate. She shrugged. “Uh. Yeah. That would be… appropriate.”

  The maître d’ wrinkled his brow, but quickly smiled and bowed. “Very good sir.”

  Annie Kate giggled. “I suppose they assume we are on our honeymoon.”

  Bruno gawked at her. “Well, I suppose we are… in a way.”

  Annie Kate’s chin quivered, then she giggled. “Yes, Pinkerton style.”

  He chuckled. “A Pinkerton honeymoon, indeed.”

  They laughed and opened their menus with a waning sigh.

  “So how do we play up her superstition to convince her to come home?” Annie lowered her menu. Bruno peeked over his but didn’t respond.

  She continued. “Mrs. Toffler. Gordon said we should use her superstition to convince—“

  “Oh, yeah. I’m not sure. With it being Las Vegas, I’m sure we’ll find a disguise of some sort. Can you read a crystal ball?”

  Annie smiled. “No, but I’ve played around with tarot cards. Grandma Hinkley threw a fit when she found out. Said they were the devil’s tool.” She shrugged and returned her eyes to the menu. “Seemed perfectly harmless to me.”

  “Well, that may be what we do. We’ll just have to get to Vegas and see where we can make a tarot card reader fit in.”

  She peeked over the menu and nodded. “I’ll have the stew and cornbread. You?”

  His eyes smiled. She assumed his mouth did too. “I was thinking Porterhouse steak and baked potato.”

  Her brows arched with wonder. A soft whistle slipped past her lips. “Well, good thing this is on the Pinkerton Agency… I’ll have the same.”

  His brows slid upward on his forehead. “A little mite of a girl like you can’t eat all that.”

  “You’d be surprised what I can manage. And, it’s Vegas! Of course a tarot card reader will fit in!”

  His eyes twinkled with delight. “Alright. Location for tarot card reader, solved. Now, let’s see who has a clean plate at the end of this meal.”

  She leaned over her menu. “Is that a challenge?”

  “Maybe.”

  She slapped the menu down on the table and lifted her hand. “Waiter!”

  

  Annie Kate sopped the last remnants of steak drippings from her plate with the last biscuit and placed it in her mouth, licking her fingers as she drew them from her mouth. Bruno had pushed his plate away with a small chunk of steak and a half a biscuit left. He sighed heavily while grinning like a toad. “You weren’t kidding.”

  Annie Kate looked up from her plate. “I told you, I like a challenge.” She suppressed a belch. “And a good steak.”

  He tilted his head. “Sure, but you’re such a little thing, to out-eat me— that’s rather amazing.”

  “Remember that next time you assume I can’t be a Pinkerton Agent.”

  “I will.”

  Bruno signed the bill and stood. Annie eased out of her chair with a moan. That victory was going to cost her. She smiled up at him and winced.

  “Come on, that walk to the mercantile will do you some good.”

  She nodded. The idea of getting her own leather-bound notebook exhilarated her. Having the right tools would help her look like an experienced agent. Perception was, sometimes, everything.

  And if she were going to pretend to be a tarot card reader, she’d need a costume and makeup. What were the chances of finding some cards? She took Bruno’s arm and moaned. What she looked forward to the most, right now, was removing this corset.

  Entering the Mercantile, she spied some off-the-peg dresses and some sheer scarves. She picked through it all, looking for dark colors that would make her look like a mysterious fortune teller. She found some dangly costume earrings and bracelets that would be perfect. Gathering her findings in her arms she searched for Bruno. He stood a head taller than the owner who waited patiently at the pay counter. She smiled at her husband and rushed to lay her purchases beside his. A purple box caught her eye and she stopped to lift a set of tarot cards to her bundle. She looked over the items in that section and found two books and a serpent-headed baton that would do perfectly. What a surprise, to find everything she needed in a Denver mercantile.

  Bruno had a small pile of pencils, two pocket sharpeners, and a new leather-bound, ribbon-wrapped notebook. She leaned over the counter to allow her bundle to spill next to his neat pile. Bruno leaned over to whisper in her ear. “You’re going to need a gun and a knife, too.”

  She looked in his eyes with wonder. “Yeah. I suppose I will. Will you teach me how—”

  He smiled. “Deal.”

  He walked with her to a display and helped her choose a derringer with a pearl handle and an adequate knife. Both could be stored in a garter or a pocket. “How did you know?”

  Bruno smiled. “I’ve seen what the other lady Pinkertons carry.”

  “Here.” He pulled several boxes of bullets for his gun and hers, “We’ll need these, too.”

  “Sure.” She carried the bullets for her pretty little derringer to the counter.

  The owner tallied their purchases on a notepad and told Bruno the final amount. “Put this on the Pinkerton Agency tab, Mr. Walstein.”

  “Of course, Mr. Thomas. This looks like an interesting case.” Walstein smiled at Annie Kate. Their purchases had definitely piqued his interest. She just smiled, assuming a Pinkerton didn’t openly discuss their cases.

  Bruno nodded and accepted the paper and twine-wrapped bundles. He extended his elbow to Annie and they strolled out to the boardwalk. Their hotel was three blocks away.

  “So if you are going to be disguised as a tarot card reader, what will I be?”

  She tilted her head back to look him in the eyes. “I don’t know. I s’pose we’ll see what opportunity presents itself when we arrive in Las Vegas.”

  “Mmm. So long as I don’t have to be a boxer, I’m good with any disguise.”

  She smiled. “How about a sideshow carny? Big Bob.” She giggled. “You could be the guy that yells ‘Come one, come all! We’ve got the most amazing shows on earth!’ And I’ll be… ‘The Mysterious Melinda… or Magnificent Mandy.’”

  “Mysterious Melinda knows.” He continued in an exaggerated voice. “What you need to know about your future and your past! Step this way, folks. Just a small fee of... ten dollars in my hat, will let you into her chambers.” His voice trailed like a fading fog. “You know, this really might work. How are we gonna get this Liza Toffler to come to you?”

  Annie Kate put a finger to her chin. “Hmm. I don’t know. I suppose we’ve got to find her first. Then we figure out how to lure her into our trap and let the spirits convince her to confess her sins.” Annie erupted in laughter. Bruno chuckled too.

  “You’re good at this already.” Bruno squeezed his hand over hers at his elbow. “Let’s go over the dossier one more time and plan how Mysterious Melinda can persuade Mrs. Toffler to make a confession. It’s got to be good enough to convince her to go home to her brother, too.”

  “Mmm.” Annie squinted her eyes with thought. “Somehow the spirits have to persuade her that if she returns home and reconciles with her husband, the charges of attempted murder will be wiped away.”

  They walked in silence the remainder of the distance to the hotel, both contemplating how to make all this happen. Annie’s over-full stomach caused drowsiness to threaten he
r ability to focus on the dossier tonight. Coffee might help, but she honestly couldn’t imagine putting another thing, not even coffee, in her stomach. “How far is Las Vegas?”

  “We leave in the morning and arrive midday the next day, why?”

  A sleepy sigh escaped her mouth. “Just wondering, if we sleep first, we still have a day and a half to peruse the dossier.”

  Bruno smiled mischievously. “Deal. That meal weighing on you, Miss Annie Kate?”

  “It’s Mrs. Thomas, to you, sir. And, yes, I’m afraid I’m sleepy as a cat lying in sunshine.” She blinked slowly.

  “Then we shall save our planning for while we are on the train, and go to sleep soon as we return to our room.”

  She snuggled into his arm as they ascended the stairs. A yawn escaped her mouth. “Who’s sleeping in the bed and who’s sleeping on the floor?”

  “Huh?” Bruno stopped walking and met her droopy eyes. “Uh. You can have the bed. I’ll make a pallet on the floor.”

  “You’re a good husband.” She released his arm and entered their suite. Drifting into the bedroom, she disappeared behind the dressing partition. He opened the armoire door and pulled down a blanket and extra pillow. He didn’t know how good a night’s sleep he’d get, knowing she was in the next room. But it’d be better than trying to sleep in the same bed… with her. That he knew without a shadow of a doubt. They might be husband and wife, but in name only. He didn’t have any husbandly rights. Not if he wanted to get the annulment after they resolved this case.

  Why did that cause a sadness to sink in his gut like a stone anchor? This was the condition of this whole partnership, from the beginning. Of course it was exactly the way he wanted it to end.

  Didn’t he?

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Ugh. I still feel full.” Annie Kate waited patiently for Bruno to hand their tickets to the steward. The traveling gown Marianne packed for her was tight. She had had to force her corset tighter to make the gown fit properly. Would she ever recover from eating the whole steak… and potato… and three biscuits? Did she have to eat all three biscuits? Maybe she should have let him win that challenge. She would be much less miserable this morning if she hadn’t let her pride get in the way. It was a character flaw, she knew. Grandma Hinkley had reminded her often enough. “I’ll pray over that prideful spirit in you, Annie Kate.”