An Agent for Penelope

by Christine Sterling

  “Shush, lass,” he said, rubbing her back. “Let it out.” Penny leaned into him, placing her head on his shoulder as she sobbed.

  Angus didn’t know where to put his hand, so he kept it in the middle of her back and patted it occasionally. Eventually her sobs subsided, and she pushed back from him, wiping her eyes with the palm of her hands.

  Her cheeks were blotchy, and her pert nose was bright red. Angus pushed her curls aside. “Don’t look at me,” she said from behind her hands.

  He removed her hands from her face and held them in his own. “Wh’ere not, lass?” He had never seen anyone look more beautiful.

  When he received the telegram from Archie he feared for Penelope’s safety. When he heard her voice in the warehouse a sense of relief filled him. Now that she was in his arms, he vowed to protect her for as long as she allowed him.

  “I look terrible,” she moaned.

  “N’ae,” he whispered to her. “You look beautiful.”

  Penny lifted her eyes to his, the green had softened to the color of moss on a Scottish field. She blinked and a tear fell from her lashes onto her cheek.

  “You were really worried about me?”

  Angus nodded. He reached up and cupped her chin with his hands, wiping away the tear with his thumb. Her lips parted and her breath hitched. The sound made Angus feel entirely masculine. Her fingers flitted over his shoulders before settling on his skin.

  Angus felt a passion burn as he never had before. “Penelope,” he whispered, leaning in to capture her lips with his own. He felt her pull him closer, her nails cutting into the skin on his shoulders.

  She returned the kiss, leaving Angus feeling like a schoolboy. He broke the kiss and looked at her. Her eyes turned from desire to confused as she gazed upon him. He leaned his head down, resting his forehead on hers.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “Don’t apologize,” she whispered.

  “I had no business kissing you.”

  “Are you disappointed?” Penny asked, weaving his fingers between her own.

  “N’er. You could never disappoint me, lass.”

  Penny leaned back and placed a kiss on each cheek. “Thank you for not thinking I’m a loose woman.”

  “I would never think that.”

  Penny moved and sat at the table, next to him. “Oh, no. I’ve blown your cover?”

  Angus shrugged. There was nothing he could do about it. “Another agent will get assigned to the case.”

  “Perhaps I can help you.”

  Angus raised his eyebrow. “How?”

  “We can come up with a cover story…”

  “No. I don’t want you involved in any of this.”

  “I’m already involved.”

  Angus blew out a breath. He scratched his chin. “Are you serious?” Penny nodded. “Then we have some work to do.”

  “Alright. What do you need me to do?”

  “We are going to send a telegram to Archie letting him know you are safe. Then we will send one to your family to do the same.”

  “Oh! Can you ask if Alice made it home safely?”

  “Your sister is in Nebraska?”

  Penny nodded. She relayed everything that happened since she arrived in San Francisco, including the encounter she had with Father Price and Silas Benson, who was now going by Brother Hiram.

  “Hiram, you say?”

  “Is that important?”

  “The owner of the fight club is named Hiram.”

  “Isn’t that peculiar?”

  Yes it is, Angus thought.

  “I need to go back to the compound,” Penny said tracing her finger on the table.

  “Absolutely not.” Didn’t she learn anything?

  “My clothes are there. They have my picture of Marmee and Father. Tamar is there. She’ll need my help.”

  “I can buy you clothes. You’ll see your parents soon, and we can let the authorities handle Tamar.”

  “But they’ll take her to the gated house.”

  “Gated house?”

  Penny nodded. She grabbed Angus’s arm. “It is a terrible place in the compound,” she said as she explained what happened with Deborah.

  “I’ll take a look and see what I can find out. Will that satisfy you?”

  “Yes,” she said throwing her arms around Angus. “Most definitely.”

  “Alright, let’s send the telegrams and get cleaned up. Then we need to go see a friend of mine.”

  “Which friend?”

  “His name is Harrison. He is a local inspector.”

  “Detective?”

  Angus nodded. “Yes.”

  “Is he going to help us?”

  “No, Miss Chapman. He is going to marry us.”

  Chapter 10

  Penny watched as Angus slipped a simple ring on her finger. She felt bereft that she didn’t have a gift for him, but then she remembered this wasn’t a real marriage.

  When Angus explained that he had a duty to protect her, as both Marianne’s sister and his partner, the marriage didn’t seem so farfetched to Penelope. It allowed her to stay with him, without sacrificing her honor.

  Inspector Harrison was also a licensed clergy and was able to marry them without anyone knowing. He promised not to file the certificate with the courts but gave one to Angus in case he needed to validate the nuptials.

  Once the marriage was annulled, then they could simply tear up the certificate. Penny had mixed feelings. On one hand she was disappointed that her family wasn’t there for the wedding. She envisioned a double wedding; Penelope and Marianne marrying on the same day.

  Instead, here she was in the back office of a crowded police station, in a dress that Angus picked out for her, drinking coffee and filling Inspector Harrison in on what she knew.

  The inspector said he would reach out regarding Tamar, and let Angus know the results. Penny thanked him as they left the station.

  “Now what?” she asked.

  “Let’s go back to the apartment and see if there is any word from Archie or your parents.”

  Penny agreed and they returned to the small apartment. Angus told her to sit on the settee as he removed a panel in the wall and pulled out a paper tape.

  Penny walked over to look over his shoulder. The marks looked like hieroglyphics. “What does it say?”

  “It says you should be sitting on the settee.”

  Penny swatted his back. “No. Really, what does it say?”

  “Alice isn’t in Nebraska. She never arrived home.”

  Penny sat back on the sofa, placing a fist against her mouth. “What does that mean? Where is she?”

  “I don’t know. But we will find her. You said Silas Benson was in San Francisco.”

  Penny nodded. “He is going by Brother Hiram right now.”

  “I need to find Brother Hiram.”

  Finding Hiram was proving more difficult than Angus first anticipated. Angus returned to the fight club and asked to fight again. He thought it would allow him to continue his investigation and see if there was a connection between the Hiram that owned the fight club and the one Penny recognized.

  Randall, the club manager was thrilled that Angus was returning. Angus explained that it was his wife that showed up in the club that evening, she wasn’t aware that he made his living in the ring, and he knew he had to get her away.

  Randall understood and muttered something about women but didn’t ask any more questions. He scheduled Angus for a fight that very evening. He thought the club manager appeared way too excited about scheduling the fight.

  Angus headed for the police station to tell Harrison that he was fighting again. Penny was sitting with the Inspector describing the people in detail that she encountered in the compound.

  When Harrison saw Angus through the glass, he waved him in. “How’s it going?” Angus asked, popping his head in the door.

  “Your wife gave us details about the inside of the compound. I think we might know who Brother Jonah is
.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes. About six months ago, there was a man named William Morrison who was found to be selling women out of the back of a saloon. Nothing could be proven, and Morrison disappeared, along with most of the women in his company.”

  “You think that he moved his operation inside the compound?”

  “He may have, but unless I have concrete proof, I can’t go barging in there.”

  “Anything else?”

  “No. Mrs. Hightower hadn’t finished telling me everything.”

  “You can finish up tomorrow. I have a fight tonight.”

  “You’re fighting again?” Penny asked.

  “I need to find out why these boxers are dying.”

  “But won’t they know you are working with the Inspector here?”

  “It’s a chance I need to take. I don’t want you anywhere near the ring tonight.”

  “Angus…”

  “N’ey, Penny. That is final.” He signaled for her to leave. “I’ll bring her back tomorrow morning.”

  Penny picked up her notepad and followed Angus out the door. “What are you thinking, Angus?”

  “I’m thinking that I’m being set up to be killed.”

  Penny gasped. “Then you can’t fight tonight.”

  “I have to. I have a job to do.”

  “What about your wife?”

  “Penny, you know that this is just a charade. That once we find Alice and I find out who is behind the death of these boxers that we will go our separate ways.”

  Penny fell silent and Angus thought maybe he shouldn’t have told her the truth. She didn’t say anything the rest of the afternoon until Angus needed to leave for the fight club.

  He hated leaving her alone, but she promised that she would stay at the apartment until he got home.

  She seemed distant and Angus didn’t know what to say. She was sitting on a chair staring out at the San Francisco Bay when it came time for him to leave. He looked at her a moment longer, burning the image of her into his skull, then whispered goodbye before leaving the apartment.

  His heart was heavy as he walked to the club. He knew that was going to be the last time he ever saw her.

  Penny was thinking so hard she didn’t hear Angus leave. She came out of her woolgathering and found herself alone in the apartment.

  She paced the floor trying to make sense of what she discussed with Inspector Harrison. There was something she was missing. Suddenly she stopped. What was it that the inspector said about Brother Jonah?

  His real name was William Morrison. He disappeared six months prior.

  William. Will. Bill. Billy.

  Tamar’s brother was named Billy. She mentioned that her older brother had brought her to the compound six months prior. It could just be a terrible coincidence, but she needed to check it out.

  Grabbing a wrap that Angus purchased for her, she ran back to the police station to find Inspector Harrison.

  “Mrs. Hightower, what are you doing here?”

  “I just remembered what you said earlier.”

  “About?”

  “About William Morrison disappearing.”

  “What about it?”

  “Did he have parents that were killed?”

  “How did you know that?”

  “How about a younger sister?”

  “Yes. I don’t understand.”

  “Do you have a picture of her?”

  “There might have been one in the newspaper.”

  “Can you find it?”

  Harrison stood and yelled out to the detectives sitting at the desks outside his office. “Someone find me the file on William Morrison.” No one moved. “Now!”

  Penny watched several of the younger detectives race from their chairs to the filing room. It took about five minutes for one of the young men to return, breathless from running, and handed the file to the inspector.

  Harrison opened the folder on his desk and rifled through the papers until he found a news clipping. He turned it around so Penny could look at it. Local Businessman and Wife Dies Under Mysterious Circumstances, read the headline.

  Penny scanned through the article. “Local businessman Henry Morrison was found dead, along with his wife in their apartment. The Morrison’s two children, William, 25 and Hannah, 17 were missing. Anyone with knowledge of their whereabouts should contact local authorities.”

  Underneath the article was a picture of William and Hannah. Although it was a crude drawing, there was no denying she was looking at the faces of Brother Jonah and Sister Tamar.

  “That’s them!” Penny exclaimed.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I’m positive.”

  “That’s good,” Harrison said, shuffling the papers back into the folder. One slid out and fell to the floor. It landed face down on the hardwood.

  Penny knelt and picked up the document, flipping it over. It was a lithograph. Her breath caught in her throat. “Who is this?” she asked looking at the evil that stared at her.

  “That is Henry Morrison.”

  “I know exactly who this is.”

  “Who?”

  “That is Father Abraham Price.”

  “Abraham Price?” The inspector looked at her in disbelief. “Are you sure?”

  Penny nodded. “We need to tell Angus.”

  Angus was waiting for his fight to be called. He sat in the downstairs area, bouncing his knee. He hated waiting. He wondered what Penny was doing. Penelope Hightower. He had to admit it had a nice ring to it.

  The door to the downstairs opened and Shaun stumbled in. He had bruising on his face. But he’s not a fighter, Angus thought. The man fell on the settee and groaned.

  Angus went over and shook the man gently. The cloyingly sweet smell of opium wafted from Shaun’s clothes. Angus shook his head.

  “Shaun,” he said shaking the man gently. “Wake up.”

  The man groaned and rolled over, his eyes rolling in the back of his head. “Leave me alone,” he said, batting aimlessly at Angus.

  “Who did this to you, boy?” Angus asked.

  “Shhhh…” Shaun whispered. “I promised I wouldn’t tell. I don’t want to end up like The Mountain.”

  “The Mountain? What about him?”

  “They found out he was going to tell so they killed him. They killed all of them.”

  “Who?”

  “Price. Hiram. Jonah.”

  Those were the names Penny had mentioned. “Did they kill the other boxers?”

  Shaun looked at Angus with glazed eyes. “Shhhh,” he said again, placing a finger against his lips.

  Angus lowered his voice. “Did they kill the other fighters?”

  “Said they were owed money because they lost the fight. I’m so tired.”

  “One more question, Shaun and then you can rest. Have you seen a blonde haired girl around these people?”

  “I don’t kno…”

  “You know something. You better tell me, boy.” Angus picked up the drugged man by the front of his shirt and shook him gently. “Tell me.”

  “She’s at the compound. They are saving her.” Angus dropped him so quickly Shaun’s head bounced against the cushions.

  Alice had been under their noses all this time. Shaun mentioned they were saving her. The question was, saving her for what?

  Penny and the Inspector were rounding the corner to the fight club when they saw Angus come out of the side door.

  “Scotsman,” Harrison called.

  Angus broke stride. “What are you doing here?”

  “Penny recognized the Morrison’s. We came to find you.”

  “I was coming to get you. I needed your assistance at the compound.” Angus quickly filled them in on what Shaun had said. When Penny heard that Alice was at the compound, she let out a sob.

  “We need to go get her.”

  “And we will,” Angus assured her. “We just can’t go rushing in there.”

  Their conversation was in
terrupted by the sound of voices. Angus suddenly pushed Penelope into the shadows against the wall and pressed his body against hers, shielding her from view of the passersby.

  “Hush, lass,” Angus whispered. “I don’t want them to see you.” Penny listened to the sound of Angus breathing and counted the breaths to calm her racing heart.

  She recognized the voice! That was Silas Benson. “It’s him,” she whispered.

  Angus looked down at her. “Are you sure?”

  Penny nodded.

  Inspector Harrison stepped out of the shadows and into the twilight. “Good evening, Gentlemen,” he said to the two men. “You are under arrest.” Penny could see that Harrison held a revolver pointed directly at the two men.

  “For what?” Silas asked.

  “For fraudulent identity, prostitution, kidnapping, opium distribution and possibly murder.”

  “You don’t have any proof,” the other man said.

  “Yes, I do.”

  Penny pushed Angus aside. “You are Henry Morrison,” she cried. “Where is my sister?”

  Henry Morrison, aka Father Abraham Price, pulled a small derringer from his pocket and pointed it at Penny. “You, stupid chit. Tamar gave you an opportunity to escape. Why didn’t you just leave San Francisco?”

  “Where. Is. My. Sister?” Penny said through clenched teeth.

  “You’ll never find her.” He raised the gun up and cocked the hammer. The sound of a gun firing pierced the night air. Penny closed her eyes and jumped, placing her hand against her belly, fearing she had been shot. When she didn’t feel anything, she opened her eyes. Henry Morrison laid dead on the ground. Angus was standing over him with a pistol.

  He made a gurgling sound before he took his last breath. Silas tried to run, but Inspector Harrison threw him to the ground. Pulling a piece of rope from his pocket, he tied Silas’s hands together.

  “Are you alright, Penny?” Angus asked.

  Penny nodded. “I was so scared.” Angus pulled her into his embrace and kissed her forehead. She was so grateful he shot Henry, before Henry had a chance to shoot her.

  “Me too,” he said lifting her chin and capturing her lips in a quick kiss. “I promised I’d protect you. It is over now.”