by P. Creeden
Clenna followed him, the knot in her gut untwisting as she felt she might finally meet someone on their side. When they got out to the railway yard, workers were moving and laying wooden ties and the steady sound of hammering filled the air. She couldn’t help but stay close to Ben, as some of the men stopped their work specifically to eye her. It was the first time, she realized that Cheyenne had far fewer women than men in the town. And out of the town, on the railroad yard, there were no women at all. What was she doing here?
They reached a rotund man with gray and blond wisps of hair on the top of his head, his blue eyes sized them up as they came near. Ben stepped forward and offered the man a hand. “Ben Mercer. Are you the yard foreman?”
The man narrowed his eyes at the two of them and glanced down at Ben’s hand. “That’s me. Everyone around here call’s me Baker. What can I do for you?”
Ben closed his empty, offered hand and set it to his side. “You’re the man we’ve come to see then. My wife and I are the Pinkerton Agents you sent for.”
Baker’s eyes went wide and darted around the area as though making sure no one was near enough to hear. Then he gestured with his head for them to follow him as he led them to a caboose train car. The whole thing shook as he mounted the steps, and moved a bit more as Clenna followed. Not one of them said a word as they entered the car.
Then the man turned toward them, his eyes still scanning the windows to make sure no one followed. “Look. I don’t know those boys well, but I know they didn’t do this. One of them, James. He came to me because he’d been given too much pay in his notes on Friday. Who does that? An honest man. That’s who. He returned the notes just before he and his cousin went out to the saloons. I don’t know about this whole fraud thing, but those two are not alone.” Then the man met eyes with Clenna and said, in Gaelige, “I’m just as guilty as they are.”
Clenna’s eyes went wide, and she spoke in Gaelige as well, “You’re Irish!”
“Aye,” he said in English again without a trace of accent when he eyed Ben. “But, like the boys, I’ve taken on a new identity in order to work. Baker is a Dutch name.”
Slowly, Clenna nodded, suddenly feeling relieved. “So, you believe them.”
“I don’t know how it happened exactly, but how could a good Catholic boy like James return part of his payroll on Friday and then rob the train with next week’s payroll on Sunday? I understand that the two boys were found out and accused of fraud on Saturday, but I just cannot believe they were capable of joining a gang of outlaws and changing so much so fast.” His eyes were a bit watery as he said it.
“Good man,” Clenna said, her voice cracking a bit. As far as she was concerned, Mr. Baker was an angel sent directly from heaven to help her and her family. She couldn’t possibly thank him enough. Then the crushing reality of the impending arrival of the judge fell on her, and she realized they still had no evidence that the boys didn’t do this. They needed to find something, and fast.
Chapter 11
Clenna
“There’s no need to come with me if you’ve never ridden a horse before. I can go on my own,” Ben told Clenna as she followed him toward the livery. “It’s safer and faster if you stay here in town while I go check out the bandit’s hideout that I knew about before. Besides, this could be a complete waste of time, since they might not even use the same location. They were found out there last time. That makes it not such a good hideout anymore.”
Clenna frowned, her hands on her hips. “Just what am I supposed to do here in town?”
Ben shook his head. “Go to the general store. Find out where the local gossip is and if they’ve heard anything about the situation. And hold your temper, for goodness sake, even if most of what you hear is negative about the boys, you need to keep it all in.”
Her frown deepened as she glared at him. Although his words had a sharp edge to them, Ben had said them softly and without the hard tone he could have used. There was something about him when he spoke gently to her in situations where Declan or James would have yelled. As far as Clenna could tell, the man had just as much a temper as anyone else, but always seemed serene, like a lake. It helped calm her own nerves. Even though she didn’t physically lean on Ben, she found herself doing it a bit emotionally. “Fine,” she said, but her words didn’t have as much fire as she intended. “I’ll go find something else to do.”
Still, a sigh escaped her as she headed out the barn door of the livery. But just as she stepped out into the bright, noon time sun, she spotted a man suspiciously walking toward the Denver Pacific office. And that man, had a scar from his ear to his chin. She could see the pink skin, plain as day. Her heart leapt in her chest and she rushed back into the livery, catching Ben in a conversation with the owner. She rushed over to him and grabbed hold of his arm. Adding a bow to the livery owner, she said, “I’m sorry, but I really need my husband a moment.”
And then she pulled his elbow.
Ben lifted a brow at her, but didn’t resist her pulling. When they stepped outside, she put a finger to her lips when he opened his mouth, and then pointed in the direction the man with the scar had went. As soon as Ben saw the man, his eyes widened, and they caught him just as he was entering the railway company’s offices. Ben’s jaw clenched as his gaze hardened, he nodded once to her and slipped from her grasp, heading along the side of the building and sidling up next to the open window. Clenna followed his lead, leaning against the painted side of the building, careful not to actually touch the wood. She stayed clear of the window, too, making sure that the people in the office wouldn’t catch sight of her.
“What are you doing here, Joe? I told you to get out of town before the judge arrived. What if someone saw you coming into my office?” the manager they’d spoken to earlier said.
“Do you think me daft? Of course I looked around to make sure no one was around before slipping in here. And besides, I need the contents of that saddle bag if I’m going to give all my boys the cut I promised them,” the gruff voice of the man with the scar said. At least, that’s what Clenna assumed. In order to confirm it, she’d have to look in the window, and that would be too great a risk.
Instead, she clenched her jaw and waited.
“You should have thought of that when you left the bag behind. Right now it’s at the sheriff’s office, being kept as evidence for the trial. After the trial’s over, it will go back into the possession of the railway company. You won’t be seeing that money, and I sure as heck wouldn’t be giving it to you. You’ll have to steal it again if you want it, because I’m not here to get caught. You’re the muscle. I’m the brain.”
The sound of spit hitting the floorboards ensued. “Just like a typical namby-pamby man like yourself would say. You think you’re the brains? Think again. You’re nothing but another lackey. Just because you don’t do the work and keep your hands clean, doesn’t mean that you won’t get caught. I know where you hide your stash, and if I go down, you go down.”
Ben’s smirk tugged at his lip. He turned and nodded toward Clenna. Then, ducking under the window, he headed toward the front door of the office after gesturing toward her and whispering, “Get the sheriff.”
Clenna’s heart raced in her chest. Would the man with the scar really turn on the manager of the office if he got caught? She steeled herself and rushed toward the sheriff’s office. But before she could make more than three steps, she tripped and fell, unable to keep down her cry as her knee hit the dirt.
“What was that?” the gruff voice cried out.
Feet shuffled inside and approached the window. They were going to see her and know she’d been listening. She was going to be caught. There was no running. Then she thought to herself, what would Ben do in this situation, and calmness came over her. Slowly, she stood and brushed herself off.
Behind her a voice called out through the window, “What are you doing there?”
She turned toward the sound of the voice with her head held high and cultivated
a bored expression on her face. Once turned around, she lifted a brow. “Whatever do you mean? Can’t a lady walk about town in Cheyenne?”
The man with the scar narrowed his eyes at her. “You stay right there,” he said before turning around and stepping deeper into the room.
Then a shout and a bit of tumbling sounds followed. The manager of the railway disappeared from the window, as well, and the moment he did, Clenna took off toward the sheriff’s office at a run.
Ben
The two men shouted at Clenna through the window, and Ben’s ire rose in response. His hands fisted as he stepped toward them. When the man with the scar turned around, his eyes went wide for a moment before Ben socked him in the jaw and pulled the man’s pistol from his holster. The man fell backward a step into the manager. When the two tumbled to the ground, Ben pulled out his badge. “Stay where you are and keep your hands where I can see them. You’re both under arrest.”
The manager blinked several times. “Under who’s authority?”
He flashed the badge at the manager. “Sorry I didn’t introduce myself properly earlier. Ben Mercer, Pinkerton Agent.”
Joe or George, or whatever the man with the scar’s name was hissed and spat, his hand reaching for his holster.
“Looking for this?” Ben asked, training the man’s own pistol on him.
He cursed and then narrowed his eyes at Ben. “I don’t know what this is about, but you can’t just go assaulting innocent people.”
“Innocent?” Ben asked with an eyebrow raised. “We’ll see about that.”
A few minutes later, Clenna came rushing into the office door, panting and completely out of breath. Her disheveled look drew a smile to Ben’s face. Through her gasps, she said, “The sheriff is on the way.”
“Good work.” He nodded to her and immediately, the sheriff and the deputy stepped on the floorboards of the office. Ben smiled to the sheriff. “I think if you question these two, you’ll find that they are both guilty of conspiring to steal the Denver Pacific’s payroll. If you offer one of them leniency, I’m sure they will turn on the other. Agent Clenna and I heard as much.”
“She’s an agent, too?” the manager said, eyes going wide.
Clenna smiled and straightened. “Can’t a lady work as a detective and solve crimes while walking through Cheyenne?”
Ben huffed a laugh, and the sheriff shook his head.
Chapter 12
Ben
As he suspected, once they were brought into the sheriff’s office for questioning, both men were ready to confess, provided that they didn’t have to face the gallows when the judge arrived for trial. Because Ben was present, he asked the manager plainly, “Were the two boys in the jailhouse involved in the heist?”
The manager narrowed his eyes and then shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Then Ben turned his questioning brow on the man with the scar. “How about you? Were the boys involved?”
Slowly, the man with the scar shook his head. “No. They didn’t know what was going on at the time. They had just stayed the night in our camp and had nothing to do with the robbery or the planning.”
Ben leaned in toward the sheriff and whispered in his ear. “You’re more likely to get an honest answer out of the man with the scar. If one of them gets leniency, I’d be more willing to trust his word.”
The sheriff nodded and both men were locked up in the jail house to await the judge. And, at the same time, Declan and James were released with the stipulation that they both stay in town until the trial was over in case they were needed as witnesses. Clenna hugged both of them so hard that Ben thought they would choke. Her eyes filled with tears as she sobbed on their shoulders. The boys even got misty-eyed themselves.
When they headed outside, the sunset had already thrown some oranges across the darkened sky. The boys basked in the light with wide smiles. And Ben grinned with them. There was nothing so great as freedom.
Then James’s stomach growled loud enough for them all to hear. He covered it with both arms as his cheeks turned red. “I guess my appetite is already back.”
Ben slapped a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go get some dinner then.”
Together the four of them headed over to the dining hall at the inn and ate a delicious roasted quail. As they were drinking apple cider and eating a bit of cobbler after the meal, Mr. Baker stepped up to the table. He leaned over toward Ben, hand outstretched. “I want to thank you for helping with this situation. I would have hated to see innocent boys hanged, and it was even more shocking to find out that Mr. Van Horn, the manager, was involved in the robbery, as well.”
After standing, Ben took his hand and shook it. Then he beamed at Clenna. “We’re both glad things worked out. Agent Clenna had a huge part in bringing them both to justice, too.”
Mr. Baker offered her a hand to shake as though she were an equal and it made Ben smile more. The Irishman pulled her into a hug when she accepted the hand and said something to her in Irish. Afterward, he kept hold of her shoulder as he turned back toward Ben, “This lass is a keeper, Mr. Mercer. Be sure to treat her well... treat her like the prize she is, and I know that she will make a lovely wife for you.”
Heat rose to Ben’s cheeks as he bowed his head. “I will.”
Ben had nearly forgotten about their paper marriage. His heart sunk when he realized that it could be so easily broken. He found over the last few days that he really enjoyed the time that he’d spent with Clenna. He’d like to learn more about her. He’d like to continue to have her in his life. Without question he had a great affection for the woman. But was it love?
Clenna
A blush heated Clenna’s cheeks as Mr. Baker told Ben to take good care of her. She hadn’t thought about the fact that they were married and faced annulment when they got back to Denver. She swallowed hard, trying to avoid that train of thought for the moment. As Mr. Baker released her, she cleared her throat. “Is there any chance that the boys can get their jobs back with the railroad, sir? Now that their names have been cleared.”
Mr. Baker’s smile remained fixed on his face as he scratched the beard on his chin. “Actually, yes. They can continue their work as if they never left and this whole incident had never happened. I’ll talk to the new rail yard foreman about it.”
Ben blinked, his brow furrowing. “New foreman? Does that mean you’re no longer working for the railroad company?”
The man laughed, his hands slapping both sides of his round belly. “Oh, I’m still working for the railroad company. You’re looking at the new manager of the Cheyenne office of the Denver Pacific.”
Claps and cheers went up around the table, and everyone stood to pat the man on the back. Then they invited him to their table to celebrate with them. Together, they had a comfortable time, talking and telling old stories. For another hour they just communed with each other.
Afterward, Mr. Baker took his leave and the remaining foursome stood in the lobby of the hotel. James frowned. “Exactly what is going on with you, Clenna? You and Mr. Mercer are sharing a hotel room?”
Heat rose to her cheeks again as a lump formed in her throat. She choked, unsure how to explain. “Actually, Mr. Mercer and I... We...”
Ben put an arm around her shoulder. “We’re married.”
James eyes went wide. “Oh! I had no idea.” He narrowed them at Clenna. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She felt as though she’d been struck dumb--no, worse. No coherent thought formed in her head, much less words on her tongue.
Ben laughed. “We had quite a lot of things to take care of when we got here. I’m sure you understand that some things remained unsaid at the time. We needed to get you out from behind bars first.”
James nodded. “Of course.”
Declan laughed and grabbed hold of James’s shoulders. “Well, let’s let the two newlyweds alone. I’m sure they would like to spend some time alone instead of with the bride’s brother. We’ll both come to the train station t
o see you off in the morning.”
With a bob of their heads, they both left. It wasn’t until the closing of the door that Clenna finally came to her senses. She slapped Ben on the shoulder and then whisper-shouted, “What are you doing? How could you say something like that to them?”
“Shhh.” he said, pressing a finger to her lips and then scooped her up into his arms.
She squealed with surprise and at first tried to struggle out of his grip, but lost her balance and ended up wrapping her arms around his neck. By the time she’d done that, she realized they were halfway up the stairs. Her heart raced in her chest. What was going on? Exactly what kind of designs did Ben have? Her mind raced and her stomach twisted. Everything was happening too fast.
Once they got to their room at the inn, Ben pushed the door closed and set her on her feet. A wide, wolfish smile played on his lips.
She suddenly felt exposed. Wrapping her arms over her chest, she shook her head at him. “What are you doing?”
Ben sat on the chaise lounge and began pulling his boots off. Clenna backed up two steps until the backs of her legs hit the edge of the bed and her knees buckled, forcing her to sit. She swallowed hard and stood back up again quickly.
Once his boots were off, he leaned forward in his chair. “Please have a seat, Clenna.”
“I’d rather stand.” The last thing she was going to do was sit on the bed. She didn’t want anything to look like an invitation to this cad.
He sighed and then smiled up at her again with his signature smirk. “I’ve decided that I don’t want an annulment when we get back to Denver. I’d like to stay married.”
Fear gripped Clenna, as her knees buckled. She ended up sitting down again. What did this man have planned? Was he going to force her into a marriage that she didn’t want? Was he going to force himself upon her with the claim that it was his right as her husband? Tears blurred her vision before she blinked and let them slip down her cheeks.
