“Why now? If my mother really is trying to kill my father, why would she be doing it? What changed?”
Brutus reached across the table and took her hand in his. Her pulse leapt at his touch. If only she could do something about that.
“I wish I knew, colibri rouge.”
***
She hadn’t pulled her hand away. Brutus considered that a good sign.
The atmosphere around the ranch had changed the longer he and Tam stayed. Celine became more impatient and insistent they leave.
Truthfully, Brutus wanted to leave. Caesar, except that night when he accused Celine of poisoning him, they had very little to say to each other. He was still disturbed by his refusal to help with Tam’s surgery. The night before, she had another episode. It had lasted longer than before, a frightening experience he never wanted to experience again. He tried once more to offer to pay for the surgery, but she refused.
Though he didn’t argue with her about it, he knew that if he had to carry her kicking and screaming to the doctor, he would do so.
“We need to find out what poison she is using.” Tam pulled her hand from his.
“So, you do believe your mother is?”
Tam shook her head. “If we find the poison, I’m sure it would lead to the culprit.”
“Where to look?”
A hint of humor entered her voice. “Everywhere.”
The rest of the morning was spent in an exploration of the ranch. Due to the snow outside, Tam knew that any sort of poison that was being used would come from inside the house. Brutus was by her side as they explored the house.
Opening a small tiny door, they found a pantry of sorts, not fully stocked, with only a few canned items in jars. He was about to close the door when something in the back caught his eye. Reaching toward it, his fingers clutched around a small bottle. Pulling it out, he looked at the label. “Arsenic.”
“Why would that be here?”
“That is a good question. Who put it there?”
The more he stared at the bottle, Brutus got the idea that something about this wasn’t right. It was almost too convenient.
“Brutus, tell me what you think.”
“About what, Tam?”
“I almost feel as if we are being led down a certain path. The clues all point to my mother. But that doesn’t mean they are all accurate.”
He agreed with her. Everything was pointing to Celine. Was it deliberate?
Then he remembered that Caesar was a strategist.
“Tam.” He turned her around to face him. “I am thinking, Tam, that maybe you were right. What if no one is trying to kill Caesar…but Caesar himself?”
“Why would he?”
“You asked what had changed. Nothing changed. The only thing that has changed is Caesar. He must be making himself sick on purpose.”
“No!”
“Think, Tam. Nothing changed for Celine, but it did for Caesar. You. Our arrival here. Being married and he can’t do anything about it. If we were to send this information to the sheriff in Silverpines or Wickwell, they would come and take her.”
“But why?”
Brutus thought about it. What if this was Caesar trying to exert some control over Tam? He had to know that if he wouldn’t pay for the surgery that he, Brutus could.
Why would he continue to do this to his daughter?
Then, he heard Tam say from before. “He said he wanted to bring you to your knees.”
A moment later, Brutus knew what he had to do.
“Tam, stay here. I think I know what’s going on.”
Brutus went down the halls until he came to Caesar’s room. If there was ever going to be peace between them, he had to do this. Roseline and Tam needed him to do this. For different reasons but it was still necessary.
He opened the door without knocking and then stopped.
Caesar sat at a desk and on the surface of the table was an identical bottle like the one they found in the small pantry.
For just a moment, he hoped that he was wrong. “Caesar, we know what you are doing.”
He put the bottle down and then walked without assistance. “What is it you think I’m going to do?”
“You’re trying to frame Celine to make us believe that she is poisoning you.”
Caesar eyed him. Brutus stared back. A thousand memories flashed in his mind. Caesar had been his friend. They’d gone on many adventures, faced peril, and lived to tell the stories. In return, he and Roseline had betrayed him. Though he would never regret his life with Roseline, he had done it and the repercussions stood before him.
Tam grew up with a man who would not give his heart to another.
“Why do you think I would do that, Brutus?”
“Because of me.”
“It is all because of you, Brutus,” his hard voice snapped. “You ignored her for three years.” Caesar’s eyes flashed. “When she came to me, I suspected that it may be because she wanted to see you. So, I took myself out of your vicinity.”
Brutus dragged his fingers through his hair. “In her own way, Roseline cared for you.”
“I gave her a year to make up her mind before I asked her to marry me. She could have said no, Brutus. You do understand that.”
“Of course, I do.”
“But she loved you. I knew it even then, but I had given her and you the chance to come back together. You never did until after she accepted me.”
“I was a fool.”
A coughing spell took over Caesar’s body once more, not as hard and wracking as it had been.
“Brutus, why didn’t you tell the truth to me when you came? I knew that you would come to see me once you heard of our betrothal. I thought for sure you would lie to me. Why didn’t you?”
“Because you were my friend. I couldn’t lie to my friend.”
Caesar’s back stiffened. “That was your reason?”
He nodded. “Caesar, you don’t have to hurt Celine to get back at Tam. She’s your daughter. Celine loves you despite everything or she would not have traveled all over the world with you. If you continue, you will only make Tam unhappy.”
The moment came and Brutus surrendered everything. A profound sense of rightness and a curious weight lifted off his shoulders as he said, “You told Tam that you wanted me on my knees before you. Well, here it goes.”
Brutus dropped to his knees. Caesar stared back at him. “What are you doing?”
“Caesar, I’m sorry for taking Roseline from you. Please forgive me.”
The atmosphere tightened again. Caesar looked down, his face still hard but as he watched, there was a softening happening. “You never said sorry to me, Brutus. All these years, you never apologize. You’d stolen my bride from my bed. She went back on her word to me. What was I supposed to?”
Brutus sighed as he placed his hand on his thighs. “None of us can go back, Caesar. The years are gone but we can start anew here. You can love your daughter with the same fierceness that I love her. I want to start a family with her, Caesar. I can pay the fees for the surgery, but she wants you to do it. She is your daughter and you’re her father. She loves you so much. Don’t leave her like this. Please, please take care of your daughter.”
There was no pride, nor other emotion to stop his words.
Caesar said nothing for a very long moment. Then he turned away. “I do love my daughter although I haven’t always been good to her.”
“But you can now, Caesar. That can change today.”
“All right, Brutus.” He went over to where Brutus knelt before him and reached out his hand. “Get up, Brutus. I forgive you.”
They embraced each other. Brutus didn’t pretend that Caesar had really forgiven. The fact that he was willing to try, after all these years of resentment was enough. When he went to let go, Caesar’s grip tightened. He heard him whisper, “If you ever hurt my daughter, you know what will happen.”
“Of course.”
***
Brutus le
ft the room as swiftly as he had come. He raced down the hall until he saw Tam waiting for him at the kitchen table again. She was studying something but when she heard him come in, her head lifted. “Brutus.”
Without thinking, he pulled her out of the chair and kissed her. Long and hard until he felt as if he were going to drown in her sweetness. Tam’s arms went up and around his shoulders. He felt her fingers squeeze as if she were trying to keep him with her.
As if she could ever leave his arms.
“I love you, colibri rouge. And I was able to gain your father’s favor.”
“What? I thought you were questioning him about—”
“I know. But I realize what he wanted me to do. He wanted me to ask him for forgiveness. And I did. Now I know what the truth is, it’s you. I know what love is – it’s you. I hope you will love me someday.”
“I already do, Brutus.” She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him long and hard until they came up for air. “I love you, Brutus. I know I’ll never be Roseline.”
“Shhhh. You can only be yourself and that’s all right.”
“Brutus.”
“Yes?”
“Do you think Roseline would--?” Her voice trailed off but he knew what she was trying to say. Would Roseline approve?
Brutus caressed the side of her face. All at once, he found himself thinking of Roseline as he remembered from his dream. Yet, instead of the red hummingbird poking out her eye, Roseline lifted her finger and the bird landed on it. With a beatific smile, his wife held her finger out, presenting the bird.
Cher.
Her voice seemed to be right next to his ear.
“Brutus!”
He jerked as if coming out of a trance. Tam looked up at him anxiously. He shook his head as if to rid it of cobwebs. “I know she would want me to be happy. Just as I would want the same for her. Even if she didn’t, you belong with me, Tam. I’ll never let you go.”
EPILOGUE
June 1874
Home of Arielle and Caleb Smith
“Tammy! Tammy!” Little Brutus’s legs pumped fast as he raced across the tiny back yard to leap into Tam’s arms. Sloppy kisses on her face made her laugh.
Arielle lightly scolded the child, but Tam waved away her gentle rebuke. Although saliva covered her face, she didn’t mind.
She had a family of her own.
Her father, in his plan to make it appear that her mother was poisoning him, had mixed poisons, not just the arsenic. Although he at first seemed to get better, her mother told her later that the mix of poisons had taken a toll on him.
Though Tam knew her father had shown a remnant of fatherly affection for her, the fact that his hate and revenge had caused him to poison himself remained. In the end, he died because of his own machinations. Celine had chosen to see if she could find work among the asylum houses in Wickwell Springs. She’d chosen to wear black for the rest of her life in order to honor White Caesar. Tam said nothing to this. Perhaps she needed to do it in order to forgive herself.
Upon his death, White Caesar had left his entire fortune to Tam. Already, she experienced conflict as several landowners in Silverpines, Wickwell Springs, and even as far away as New Harbor wanted to buy her land. Brutus advise her as best he could but since he wasn’t a rancher, he left the decision up to her.
“Can you sing, Tammy?”
She looked to see Little Brutus staring up at her, his eyes wide as saucers. “I can now,” and she sang a quick little ditty. The surgery had gone extremely well which was surprising. Though the doctor had charged more to operate on negros, he did know what he was doing. He was so impressed by the size of the lump in her throat that he asked if he could keep it and present it his students.
Little Brutus laughed in delight before he was called away by the other smaller children among the Bradford clan.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Brutus came from behind her, his blue eyes filled with love. “Yes.”
“Tres bien.” Then he bent and whispered in her ear. “I love you more every day.”
Tam smiled and gave him a lingering kiss. The miniature she had of him now rested on a chain against her throat. Occasionally, she’d take it out and stare. Until Brutus would reach out and pull her into his arms.
Her hand drifted down to her belly and she smiled. “Everyone, everyone. I have something important to say.”
THE END
Author’s Note
If you’d like to read more novels regarding some of the African American struggles after the Civil War, feel free to browse any of my good friend, award-winning author Piper Huguley’s, books. A professor of United States Literature at Spelman, Mrs. Huguley’s inspirational books give the reader soul stirring plots, historical fact, and of course, romance flourishing through all obstacles.
I hope you enjoyed An Agent for Brutus. There is a mystery involved, but I focused more on the family dynamic here because of my own reflections about family and choices. When you make a choice, it has long reaching effects that can be passed down through the generations. I wanted Brutus’s story to focus on this aspect.
Also, I have plans for the Bradfords so even though this may be my last Pinkerton book as far as I know, that doesn’t mean you won’t hear from the Bradfords. In fact, you should count on it.
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About the Author
Parker J. Cole is an author, speaker, and radio show host with a fanatical obsession with the Lord, Star Trek, K-dramas, anime, romance books, old movies, speculative fiction, and knitting. An off and on recovering Mountain Dew and marshmallow addict, she writes to fill the void the sugar left behind.
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Works by Parker J. Cole
Edgy Christian Romance Novels
The Sins of the Flesh Series:
Many Strange Women (Book 1)
The Other Man (Book 2)
Vengeful Vows (Book 3)
Sweet Inspirational Novels
Michigan Sweet Romance Series:
The Cure
Time to Say Goodbye
Contemporary Romance
Java Cupid Series
Java Blend
7 Mafia Brides for 7 Brothers
Shattered Illusion with Lynnette Roman
Axel’s Sunshine
Sweet Historical Romance Novels
Silverpines Series:
Wanted: Man of Honor
Wanted: Stonemason
Wanted: Fire Chief
Lantern in the Window Series:
Lantern of Hope
Lantern of Charity
The Proxy Bride Series
A Bride for Sterling
A Bride for Valentin
A Bride for Wen Hui
The Pinkerton Matchmaker Series
An Agent for Arielle
An Agent for Brielle
An Agent for Camille
An Agent for Danielle
An Agent for Brutus
Short Story Collection
Wish Upon a Strawberry Shortcake
Thriller Novel
Dark Cherub
Sci-fi Fantasy Romance Series
Crowns and Worlds
The House of Haddaway
Beyond the Veil
Entangled with a Cyclops
Anthology Works
Birds of Passage Anthology: April and Mr. Grim
Realms of Our Own: Godforsaken
Beatitudes and Woes: The Door to Wishes
WRITING AS PARKER PAYNE
The Druid’s Spear (Book One) with Lee Thornton III
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