The Agent's Mail-Order Bride

by Heidi Vanlandingham

  Tate nodded.

  “Even stranger was when Rose Marie appeared out of nowhere—literally, nowhere—and took her to one of the dressing rooms then came back and sat beside Sutton. I would have started back here then, but unfortunately, the colonel from Fort Douglas decided to strike up a conversation and try to figure out why I seemed so familiar to him.”

  “Damn,” Thad said. “Pinkerton won’t like that unexpected wrinkle.”

  “Everything going good here?”

  “Fixin’ to break through the wall now. What’s your plan?”

  “Don’t really have one now that we don’t need to worry about getting anything on Sutton.”

  Thad whirled around, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

  “Excuse me? We’ve worked too hard to just let it go! Pinkerton—”

  “Lower your voice. Sutton’s dead.”

  His best friend continued to stare at him. He blinked a few times.

  “That would have been a good thing to start the conversation with. So, we’re breaking into the bank for nothing?”

  Tate shook his head. “Not nothing, I guess. Pinkerton will still want proof of what Sutton did and why. He’ll also want to make sure everyone gets back their property and the earnings he’s withheld. Let’s continue. Let those two break into the bank. We can say we just happened upon them. With luck, we’ll find everything Pinkerton wants inside the vault.”

  “I don’t like it—too much like what we used to do. If you concede to this, what’s going to stop you from taking some of the money? We don’t need to get mixed up in this, Tate.”

  “Hiya, boys!”

  From out of the darkness, Welder’s large shape appeared. He stepped up beside the two men just as they broke through the bank wall.

  “Seems like I got here just in time.” The moon peaked out from the dark clouds overhead, and a quick flash of light glinted off the gun their long-time friend held in his hand aimed at him and Thad.

  “Welder?” Tate said, pulling off the leather loop on the hammer of his backup gun, glad he’d stopped by the house and grabbed it after leaving the saloon. He pushed all thoughts of Cat and the callous way he’d left her back at the saloon from of his mind. Thinking about anything other than Welder and what he was capable of with a gun would only get him killed.

  “What are you doing here? Thought I told you to stay at the mine and make sure things keep progressing?”

  Welder rocked back on the heels of his boots, a sneer on his face.

  “Well, I got to thinking about things. When I heard you were planning this here break-in without telling me about it, I decided I couldn’t rightly trust either of you anymore. Shame too, after what all we’ve been through—like brothers.”

  Without warning, he tilted the pistol down and fired. Biggers never knew what hit him as he dropped to the ground, partially blocking the hole. Adams fell, scooting backward out of Welder’s way, but Welder motioned at the body with a flick of his gun.

  “Pull him out of there.”

  While Adams did what he was told and dragged his friend’s body off to one side, Tate tugged on Thad’s coat sleeve and motioned at the ground with a tilt of his head. Welder’s boot prints matched the ones they’d seen by the dead man at the mine.

  “If you don’t want to end up like your friend there, get inside and start handing out the money, silver, and whatever else of value you might find,” Welder ordered Adams.

  His gaze moved back to Tate and Thad.

  “So what’s it gonna be, boys? Are we in this together or is this the end of the line?”

  He turned his cold gaze on Thad, who’d opened his mouth to reply.

  “And before you answer, that’s your end, not mine.”

  Thad’s mouth clamped shut.

  Tate tilted his head to one side, adopting an air of nonchalance.

  “At our last job, you killed Roberts, didn’t you?”

  “Kid got in my way. I circled back, but he caught me taking the last of the bags—wouldn’t listen to reason, so I killed him. I managed to get one bag to my horse, but when I went back to grab the other two, they were gone. I found out later, several people had seen a man running up the street with two bags in his hands. I finally figured out that man was none other than John Sutton.”

  “And the miner?” Thad asked.

  “That was Black. Sutton wanted us to pick off the owners of the best producing mines. The miner was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The explosion was my idea though.”

  “What happened to you, Don? Family doesn’t usually kill each other.”

  Welder raised one brow. “Your family maybe. Mine killed each other until there was only one person left...me. Now, why don’t the two of you get in there and help Adams?”

  He followed the statement with an impatient flip of his gun.

  “Don’t drag your feet. Sheriff will sober up soon enough and start his morning rounds. I want to be outa here long before that.”

  When neither man moved, Welder aimed the gun at Thad, but his gaze was on Tate.

  “Want to risk what I’ll do to your lapdog? I tried to warn you not to cater so much to him, but you never listened to anything I said and always did what you pleased. Now look at the two of you. Thad follows you from town to town doing your bidding...like the lapdog he is and always will be.”

  His lips pulled into an evil grin.

  “Maybe I ought to put him out of his misery now? From what I can tell, I’d be doing him a favor.”

  Tate raised his hands and stepped in front of Thad.

  “No reason to get all riled up, Welder. We’ll do as you ask; you can even take all the money.”

  “Damn right I can!”

  His dark eyes narrowed, his face twisting into an evil grin.

  “I’ve worked this too long for you to take the winnings. After Black killed Monty Adams for his silver mine, I knew Sutton was going to take everything for himself, so I decided to kill Big John myself, but it seems like you beat me to it. Sheriff’s angrier than a mad hatter now that his employer is gone. I had it all planned out—kill the boss and frame the murder on you.”

  Chapter 16

  Tate met Thad’s worried gaze and gave him a nod of reassurance.

  “Come on. Might as well get this over with.”

  He let Thad crawl inside the bank in front of him, always keeping his own body between Welder’s pistol and Thad’s backside.

  “What in the hell...?” Thad whispered, thrusting an empty bank bag into Tate’s hand as he crawled into the vault area and squatted next to him.

  “Wingin’ it this time,” Tate said, glancing across the room to Adams, who was curled up in the far corner. “I’ve had my suspicions about Welder since he arrived. Things weren’t adding up in my mind, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what his end game was.”

  He shoved all the money he could into the bag and tied the end with a string then tossed it to the ground outside. He grabbed another bag and repeated the motions.

  “Welder’s always been money hungry—”

  “Greedy. Say it like it is. The man never was stable when it came to splitting up the loot we took—always cheated his way into getting more and you know it.”

  Thad dropped his bag beside Tate’s and began filling another one.

  “Hell, how many times did you give up more than your share just to make him happy?”

  “More times than I care to remember, but that’s neither here nor there. Right now, I’m just trying to figure out how to keep us both alive.”

  They filled the last bag with gold ore Thad found at the back of the safe and tossed it outside as well. Just as he bent to crawl through the hole himself, Tate noticed a mining shovel propped beside a stack of wooden crates near the opening. He grabbed the handle and, holding it behind his body, crawled through the hole. Just as he straightened, Welder turned to his horse, the bag of gold in his arms.

  Tate swung the tool, giving it everything he had. The m
etal shovel hit the side of Welder’s head with a sickening crunch, and the large man dropped to the ground.

  “Damn, but you poleaxed him but good!” Adams shouted as he crawled out through the hole in the wall. The weaselly man made a grab for one of the bank bags, but Thad jerked him back and tied his hands together with the same twine they’d used to close the bags with. He tossed the thin rope to Tate, who tied Welder’s hands together behind his back.

  “What do you think you’re doin’?” Adams yelled. “You heard Welder. We gotta load up and get out of here before the sheriff shows up!”

  “You’re not going anywhere, Adams. I’m sure Sheriff Johnston has a nice cell for you to relax in for a few days. Until the circuit judge gets here anyway.”

  Adams face scrunched up in confusion, his gaze moving from Thad to Tate then back to Thad, who was now grinning.

  “What’re you two playin’ at? We were in this job together. When I tell Sheriff Johnston what we planned, the two of you will go down for it—same as me!”

  With each word, Adams’ voice rose, sounding more like a squealing pig every second.

  Thad’s grin disappeared. “What happened with Cat?” he asked.

  Tate clenched his jaws together and shook his head. He turned to leave, but Thad grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop.

  “That woman is the best thing that’s ever happened to you, so don’t blow this, Tate! You need her!”

  “When my sister gets her hands on your woman, she’s gonna kill her for just lookin’ at her man!’ Adams screamed. “Big John’s hers—”

  “Shut up!” Thad and Tate hollered in unison.

  Tate jerked his hat off his head and nervously ran his cold fingers through his hair then shoved the hat back down with a wince as the inside band dug into his forehead.

  “She gave me an ultimatum, Thad. Either I tell her what’s going on—who I am, or she would leave.”

  “So tell her, you dolt!”

  Tate pushed back his shoulders as a flash of anger tore through him.

  “You know the rules as well as I do! When we’re on a job, we don’t tell anybody anything—no matter what!”

  Thad crossed his arms over his chest.

  “I don’t think the boss would mind if you told your own wife. He’d leave it to your discretion, Tate, and you know it. Don’t throw away a chance at happiness. You and I both know not everyone gets that opportunity.”

  “No, Tate, they don’t.”

  The two men turned toward Cat who stood near the corner of the bank, her coat clutched between her white-knuckled hands. Tate gave Thad a sharp glance, his gaze moving to the two men tied up on the ground. He stepped forward, noticing the way her body shivered. He wrapped his arms around her and led her back toward the street.

  “Come on, let’s get you home so you can warm up. What are you doing out so late? It’s not exactly safe—”

  “Don’t, Tate. Just don’t. I’m a big girl and have left the saloon many times late at night without any problems. The miners treat me with the utmost kindness—you’ve witnessed it firsthand!”

  She pulled him to a stop and jerked out of his grasp. Even furious, she was beautiful. The constant ache inside his chest increased.

  He sighed. “I’m sorry, Cat, that wasn’t what I meant, but let’s just go to the house, and I will explain everything.”

  He stared into her pretty green eyes and prayed she would agree. After he counted to fifty, she finally gave him a nod and walked back up the street toward their home.

  * * *

  Standing in front of the toasty flames in the living room, Cat had no clue what to say. Maybe she really didn’t want to say anything anymore. She took a deep breath and turned around to find Tate behind her.

  “I don’t know you at all, do I?”

  She rubbed at the pounding ache in her chest as sadness flooded through her.

  “I’m your wife and you haven’t even told me your full name.”

  Tate shrugged. “No one but myself, Thad, and Allan Pinkerton know my given name. It was always safer that way. Easier to disappear.”

  A frown pulled her brows together as several emotions played across his face.

  “Why?” She held her breath and hoped he would answer the questions that had plagued her for so long.

  His beautiful blue eyes rose to hers.

  “Be certain you really want the answer, Cat.”

  With a suddenly dry mouth, all she could do was nod.

  He turned away and walked the few steps to the window, his thumbs hooked inside the front pockets of his pants.

  “When you grow up with nothing and no one, life is so very hard. We did what we had to, to survive.”

  As the silence grew, she missed the comforting sound of his low voice and wondered when simply listening to him talk had become so important to her? Several more minutes passed and she began to wonder if he would continue or not.

  “One day we did it. We stole some food. The three of us were so damn hungry. After that, every time we took something, it got easier until Welder convinced us to try for bigger things. Before we knew it, we were robbing anything that moved: the pony express, wagons, even trains. We were unstoppable until we robbed a bank. By that time, we had added a few more outlaws to our group.”

  She studied the reflection of his handsome face in the window and saw the sadness and regret etched in the tiny lines around his eyes and mouth. He scrubbed his hand over his cheeks and chin, as if to wipe everything away.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  His frown returned, his empty gaze staring into the darkness as it pressed against the glass panes.

  “I don’t know. We were loading up the horses with whatever they could carry. As I did on every other job, I told one man to stay behind. His job was to make sure we got everything we could and left nothing behind that would point to any of us. But the man I sent in was taking too long, so I went back to find out why. I found him, but he was dead. Someone slit his throat and took the last two bags of money.”

  Anger flooded his face as he clenched his jaws.

  “I just found out Welder was the one who killed him.”

  He turned around, his eyes again filled with sadness.

  “Samuel Roberts was only seventeen. He had his whole life ahead of him and was only with us to get enough money to pay for his mother’s medicine. Thad and I couldn’t stomach it anymore. Our luck turned, and we fell into jobs after the war, working as Texas Rangers. Allan Pinkerton got involved in one of our cases and liked how we worked. He offered us both jobs, and we’ve worked for him ever since.”

  Her eyes widened.

  “The Allan Pinkerton...as in the Pinkerton Detective Agency?”

  He nodded.

  “My full name is Matthew Howard Tate.”

  Cat smiled and closed the distance between them. She held out her hand.

  “It’s an honor to meet you, Matthew Tate.”

  She wanted to erase the sorrow darkening his blue eyes as he stared down at her upturned face. She began to feel foolish and started to pull her hand back when he grabbed it, holding it tightly between his.

  “I love you, Catriona, and I pray one day you’ll forgive me.”

  She frowned.

  “Forgive you for what?”

  “My past sins. I promise I’ll never return to that life, and I will spend every day proving to you what kind of man I am.”

  Cat smiled up at him, her eyes filling with tears.

  “Silly man. I already know what kind of person you are. Do you honestly think I would still be here if I hadn’t already forgiven you? That’s what love is.”

  She pulled her hands from his and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him to her. She touched her lips to his, savoring the softness as he pressed back and gently forced her lips apart. When his tongue touched hers, surprise fluttered through her. She tasted whiskey and mint, and let out a soft groan as unfamiliar feelings tingled inside her stomach. A warmt
h pooled and spread inside her as his kiss demanded more.

  Breathing deep, he pulled away and pressed his forehead against hers.

  “As much as I would like to continue kissing you, we would end up in bed instead of me finishing my job.”

  She let out a soft sigh and kissed his nose.

  “Then you’d better go and finish whatever it is. Will you let me help?”

  He pulled back with a frown.

  “After me being such an ass, you still wish to help?”

  She nodded and grabbed her cape. She started to button it, but Tate brushed her hands away and finished the job, then turned her collar up.

  “I need to buy you a heavier coat—maybe even a matching scarf and warmer gloves.”

  “I’d like that, especially if we’re going to live where the winters are as cold and harsh as they are here.”

  They left the house and headed back to the bank. He tucked her arm through his and pulled her close to his side. Her heart swelled, and she couldn’t remember a time in her life when she had been so happy Just as they rounded the corner, Thad walked around the back side of the building leading three horses. He took another step and skidded to a stop as he slipped on a patch of ice.

  “Everything’s taken care of, except for these.” With a wave of his hand, he motioned toward several canvas bags lying on the ground.

  “Oh, I almost forgot. ” He yanked a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Tate.

  Tate read the telegram and smiled.

  “Let’s load them up.”

  Tate and Thad picked up the bags and, after tying them together, threw them behind their saddles.

  Cat glared at the two men and shoved her fists onto her hips.

  “What’s in the bags, Tate? And why is there a hole in the bank’s wall?”

  Tate moved to stand in front of her.

  “Nothing for you to worry your pretty head over,” he said and tucked an errant strand of her hair behind one ear.

  “Then why does this look like you’re robbing the bank?” she bit out, not liking his cavalier tone.

  “It’s not what you think, Cat,” Thad started to explain but stopped when Tate held up his hand.