An Agent for Hazel

by P. Creeden

  The man sneered, and Sam immediately saw a resemblance between this man and Reginald Duffy, who they’d just spoken with. “Mr. Duffy, I presume?” Sam asked.

  “Carter Duffy, at your service,” the man answered, tucking in his chin and standing taller. It seemed to be a stance the man used often when introducing himself. “I was discreet this morning, so I don’t understand how you tracked me to the construction office.”

  Sam tilted his head, trying to take stock of the situation quickly. Hazel had been smart and stayed behind his body, but she was moving around a bit and that disturbed him. It would be best if he could find a way to get her out of there. Maybe Hazel could make a run for it. It would only take Sam one leaping step to hope forward and attempt to disarm the man, but Mr. Duffy had his finger already in the trigger of his cocked pistol. One wrong move and one pull of the man’s finger and Sam was finished. No, that wasn’t the best of ideas. He needed to distract the man somehow.

  “You were spotted,” Hazel’s quiet voice came from behind Sam, and his jaw tightened at the sound of it. He didn’t like that she was drawing attention to herself. She could have gotten away, but now she’d made it obvious that she knew too much about Mr. Carter Duffy to just let go. “And the clues you left behind led us directly to your place of business.”

  The man spat. “My place of business?” He waved around the gun for a moment before returning to his position of pointing it at Sam’s head again. If Sam had thought quickly enough, he might have taken the opportunity to disarm the man, but he was too late now. The man’s eyes were wild. “Yes, it was my business. But my brother took it from me.”

  “Your younger brother?” Hazel asked, resting a hand on Sam’s back. Somehow he found comfort in her touch--to know she was safe and still there.

  Mr. Duffy’s teeth protruded as he sneered once more. “Aye. He is, but just my half-brother. Kin enough to feel betrayed when stolen from.”

  None of this made any sense. Sam shook his head. “So why did you shoot Mr. Lockwood? He had no quarrel with you.”

  “He did!” The man waved the gun again. “By supporting my brother and giving him a job when no one else would, he was keeping my brother in business. I couldn’t tolerate that. I needed that man dead before he paid for the building that my brother was constructing.”

  “You’re mad,” Hazel said, coming from around Sam’s side.

  “Get back,” Sam hissed.

  She shook her head and whispered, “I know what I’m doing.” Then she tilted her head at the older gentleman. “I don’t mean completely mad. What you’re saying is somewhat rational, but Mr. Lockwood doesn’t own the bank, he was just running it. If you killed the man, another would come in his place. Then you’d have to kill each and every one of them to stop them from coming.”

  Blinking several times, Mr. Duffy shook his head. “No. That man was in charge of everything. He’s the one who hired my brother. He was the one who was signing the check.”

  “He is an employee, sir. Nothing more. And the next one would be an employee, too. The man who owns the bank lives in Connecticut and has no intention of coming all the way out here, especially not if you keep shooting at his employees,” Hazel clarified with a nod. Her hand remained on Sam’s arm.

  When the confusion remained on Mr. Duffy’s face, and he said not a word, Sam nodded. “What she says is true, sir. There would have been another and another. There would have been no stop to the men that would have come and given your brother more money.”

  Slowly, the man began lowering his weapon, confusion still evident on his face. The moment that Sam felt it the pistol was no longer pointed at a vital area, he leapt forward and took hold of the gun, wrenching it from the old man’s hand and twisting his arm behind his back to subdue him. Then he turned to Hazel. “Go and fetch Archie. He’ll contact the police. I’ll hold this villain here.”

  Hazel nodded and started off in the direction of the house.

  “Ow! Hey! Unhand me.”

  “Not a chance,” Sam answered, feeling satisfied that they had caught the villain they were after, but after a few minutes, when things had settled down and Hazel had returned, sadness struck him. Would this mean that he was no longer working with the smart, plucky lass that had wormed her way into his heart?

  * * *

  That evening, Hazel told her father and mother everything that had happened and they were in awe of it. Then her father shook his head. “All because he wanted to put his brother out of business?”

  “Yes. It was mad,” Hazel answered.

  Hazel’s father shook his head. “No, it wasn’t mad. For that man it was fairly reasonable, though not at all the right way to go about what he wanted. Jealousy can do a lot of things to a man and revenge makes things much worse.”

  Mother nodded and patted Father’s hand. “Yes, we have to be understanding of what the man wanted to succeed at doing so that we understand people better. Villains, especially. If you’re going to be working as a Pinkerton Agent, like your sisters, you’ll want to have an understanding of the motive of ruffians. Otherwise you’ll never understand if you just consider them mad.”

  With a nod, Hazel agreed.

  “Wait a moment,” Father said with his brow furrowing. “What do you mean she’s becoming an agent like her sisters?”

  Mother huffed a laugh. “Not becoming, Hazel already is an agent.”

  Her father’s frown deepened. “I’m not sure I approve of this idea. It’s bad enough that her sisters ran off here to Denver and got married, but they both had to choose careers that are dangerous. Hazel is a talented musician. Must she also choose a dangerous line of work?”

  Patting Father’s hand again, her mother leaned in toward him. “You must stop trying to decide your daughters’ futures. They have always been willful--just as you’ve raised them. They couldn’t be more determined if you’d had sons.”

  “That much is true,” Father said, huffing a laugh and the wincing for the pain.

  After spending a pleasant evening together, Hazel and her mother left her father to rest in the hospital while they both stayed at a hotel nearby. First thing in the morning, her mother shuffled about in the room with the barest gray light of morning coming in. She kissed Hazel’s cheek and then whispered that she was going to return to the hospital to help her father but for Hazel to continue to get some rest. She did. She slept again and didn’t wake until light flooded the rooms. Then she lay in the bed, and her first thought was to wonder what Mr. Sam Shelby was doing that day.

  Her heart fluttered in her chest. Truthfully he’d been the last thought she’d had before falling asleep, too. If she returned to the agency, now that the case her mother had hired them for was complete, would she still be accepted as an agent? She imagined so. But would Sam Shelby still be her training agent? Her heart squeezed in her chest. She couldn’t imagine relying on anyone else. No, definitely not Geoffrey Lee.

  Butterflies filled her stomach again as she sat up thinking about the differences between the two men. Hopping to her feet, she dressed quickly and rushed down the stairs to the dining room for a late breakfast, as it was nine-thirty and they stopped serving at ten. Once she’d eaten, she stopped in the hospital to visit her father and found him excited that he’d be discharged from the hospital that afternoon.

  “They just want to keep me so that they can continue to poke and prod me until this evening,” he said with a laugh.

  But it was good to see color returning to his cheeks and his spirits up. After a short visit, both Hazel’s parents shooed her off and told her that she shouldn’t be irresponsible about returning to the agency since it was her place of employment. But she still felt uncertain. No one had told her when she needed to return or if she should even come back after the incident with the villain the evening before.

  Still, Hazel thought it best if she just did as she thought she should and returned to the agency, knocking on the door since she was unsure if she should just walk in. Mrs.
Gordon answered. “Oh. Lovely to see you--and just in time! Archie has an assignment for you and was just about to send word to your hotel.”

  Hazel’s eyes widened. “Really? An assignment for me? Already?”

  A smile spread across Mrs. Gordon’s face. “Yes. I was surprised too. Let me take you take you to him.”

  She nodded and followed the lady to the office of the head of the agency. Once inside, Mr. Gordon smiled. “Excellent to see you. With your knowledge of music you will be perfect for the assignment I just received this morning. There has been a rash of threats to an orchestra at a theater house in Ohio. Because you could easily pose as musician, we felt the job was perfect for you.”

  Hazel’s eyebrows raised as her stomach fluttered. “I could play in an orchestra if needed.”

  Mr. Gordon nodded. “I knew you’d be ready for this job. Now, there’s only the problem of deciding who your training agent will be. I waived the need for marriage before your case before, but this time you will be going out of town. I’m going to need to insist upon the wedding this time. So, would you rather have as your training agent Mr. Lee or Mr. Shelby?

  Chapter 11

  Sam Shelby sat in the kitchen with Gregory Lee when Hazel Lockwood came in with both Archie and Marianne. The spoon with his porridge was halfway to his lips when he froze in place, his breath hitching and his heart hammering. When Gordon cleared his throat to get their attention, Sam finally unfroze and put his spoon back down in his bowl.

  “We have another assignment, and Miss Lockwood has been assigned as the primary agent for the case. I will need one of the two of you to escort her on the journey and to assist her in training again. This time, I am not bound by the situation to choose who her training agent might be, so I’ve allowed her to decide on which agent she would like to accompany her and as such, sign the marriage contract with her to prepare for the journey.”

  Sam’s stomach clenched as his gaze darted toward Hazel and then also to Geoffrey. Although Hazel’s cheeks grew pink, Geoffrey paled. Sam swallowed hard. The two of them had a history with each other and were closer to the same age. His heart sank. Surely she would choose her friend to join her.

  “Before choosing, Miss Lockwood has asked to have a moment alone with each of you. And first, she’d like to speak to Mr. Shelby,” Archie said with a nod.

  Sam’s eyes widened as he drew to his feet. He swallowed hard. What did this mean? Was it possible that she just wanted to let him down gently in this situation so that the mutual respect that they’d gained for one another wasn’t breached? He swallowed hard as Miss Lockwood started for the back door. Of course. Sam rushed to his feet to open the door for her. They would go outside into the yard where they could be alone without disturbing anyone.

  Birds sang in the trees overhead and a fall breeze blew through what was left of the leaves. They crunched through the remainder of dried ones that had fallen into the grass. Once they reached the stone bench near the center of the yard, Hazel gestured toward it. “Could we have a seat?”

  He nodded. “Of course.” Then the two of them sat.

  The cold of the stone on the bench seeped into his skin through the fabric of his trousers. The two of them sat for a long moment in silence until finally, Hazel drew a deep breath. “Yesterday doesn’t feel like it was just a day. A lot had happened, and I’m surprised by how much could happen in twenty-four hours. If you had asked me at this time yesterday who I would have chosen to be the agent who met me at the station and who helped solve the case of my father’s shooting, I would have thought I would have chosen Geoffrey. But no, I’m glad it wasn’t him. I have no regrets.”

  “I have none, either,” he assured her, though a lump was forming in his throat as the porridge he’d eaten weighed as heavy in his stomach as a stone.

  “Good. I’m glad to hear that.” She drew another deep breath as though she needed to say all she could without the interruption of having to breathe. “I’ve never believed in love at first sight, and that isn’t what I’d call the way that I’m feeling. Even though we’ve only known each other for a day, I am drawn to you. I feel safe with you as I’ve never felt with any man besides my father. I didn’t think that I could feel this way with any man at all, but with you, I do. I don’t yet know that I would call it love, but it is certainly a strong feeling of affection.”

  His heart began pounding in his chest as he turned toward her and found her innocent eyes shining with mist. Her lower lip trembled as though she were afraid--afraid of rejection and his reaction. The very same things that he was afraid of with her. “I feel the same way,” he whispered, surprised at the sound of his own voice.

  The sides of her eyes crinkled as she smiled and his breath hitched at the sight of it. He wanted her to smile always. He wanted her to be happy and never show any expression except this one that made his heart skip a beat. After licking her lips, she said, “I’ve asked Mr. Gordon for some time. The situation in Ohio can wait a few days while we court and prepare my parents for our marriage. My father believes these are modern times and will allow me to choose my own husband. And I’ve chosen you, Mr. Shelby.”

  “Please,” he said, feeling desperation in his heart. “Call me Sam.”

  That smile she had became a bit shy as pink arose in her cheeks. “Sam,” she said breathlessly, “Will you be the one to marry me?”

  A chuckle rose from the pit of his stomach. “Usually it’s not the lady’s job to ask the gentleman.”

  She giggled a bit herself. “Well, I didn’t exactly mean for it to be a proposal as much as I meant... would you be willing to ask my father for my hand in marriage in order to appease him, as well.”

  His heart swelled in his chest so large that he feared it would break through his rib cage. “It would be my pleasure.”

  * * *

  Three days later, Sam Shelby stood at the front of the church watching Hazel walk down the aisle arm-in-arm with her father. Luckily, Mr. Lockwood had been shot in his right shoulder and walked his daughter down on his uninjured arm while his other remained in a sleeve. Although Mr. Lockwood had been surprised when Sam had asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage, when they’d explained that she’d been assigned to a case in Ohio and wouldn’t want to go alone and unescorted and it was better to be escorted by a husband than another man, he reluctantly agreed. And though Hazel and Sam had only known each other for five days, it could have been five years or more for as much as his affection for the woman had grown.

  Hazel and her father stopped in front of him and Mr. Lockwood placed Hazel’s hand in Sam’s. Even though his eyes were misty, Mr. Lockwood smiled at them both and repeated the words the reverend had given him about the giving of his daughter. Then the two of them were alone in front of all the congregation and yet, they could have been completely alone for all that filled Sam’s eyes was the figure of his soon-to-be wife.

  Even as the two of them repeated their vows and exchanged rings, Sam couldn’t believe that he’d found what he’d been looking for all these years back in Denver. A little over a month ago, he’d been on the West Coast of the country and Hazel had been on the East. And the two of them were destined to meet here--somewhere in between. Sam thanked God for his blessing on finding the wife that he’d always longed for.

  Then he pulled back the veil and kissed his new wife.

  THE END.

  About the Author

  P. Creeden is the sweet romance and mystery pen name for USA Today Bestselling Author, Pauline Creeden. Her stories feature down-to-earth characters who often feel like they are undeserving of love for one reason or another and are surprised when love finds them.

  Animals are the supporting characters of many of her stories, because they occupy her daily life on the farm, too. From dogs, cats, and goldfish to horses, chickens, and geckos -- she believes life around pets is so much better, even if they are fictional. P. Creeden married her college sweetheart, who she also met at a horse farm. Together they raise a menageri
e of animals and their one son, an avid reader, himself.

  If you enjoyed this story, look forward to more books by P. Creeden.

  In 2020, she plans to release more than twelve new books!

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