An Agent for Opal
Page 1
An Agent for Opal
The Pinkerton Matchmakers, Book 27
Pauline Creeden
Contents
An Agent for Opal
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue
About the Author
Love Western Romance?
A Bride for James
A Bride for Henry
Promise of Home
A Pony for Christmas
Brokken Rising
Brokken Pursuit
An Agent for Opal © 2019 P. Creeden
Cover by Virginia McKevitt
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An Agent for Opal
Opal Cahill was raised as the only girl in a family full of rough and tumble men. They taught her to fight and survive and taught her to push aside fantasies, because reality is as harsh as the rough side of a cat’s tongue. But she could never let go of reading about adventures of life in the west and dreaming that she might one day become a Pinkerton agent, like her hero, Kate Warne. But when her father passes, she’s stuck living in Atlantic City with her cousin who sometimes has them living in rundown shacks and sometimes, high end hotels. Until one day, that odd lifestyle catches up with them both.
When Opal must choose a place to go out west, she heads to the Pinkerton office in Denver in the hopes that they might still interview her though it’s months after they originally advertised they were accepting applicants.
Caleb Wade has just come back from going deep undercover. He returns to the Pinkerton office and runs into one of the most stubborn, frustrating, and interesting women he’s ever met. When he finds out that she’s not only his new partner but his new wife, he digs in his heels before he decides to treat it as another undercover act. Together the two travel to Ohio to help Archie’s good friend and owner of the Turner Theater deal with an arsonist who has already succeeded in burning down the theater once and threatens to do it again.
Both Caleb and Opal must learn to get past their stubborn ways and work together in order to capture the person who threatens not only the building but the lead actress as well.
Chapter One
June 1871
Atlantic City
Opal Cahill sat, her book forgotten in her lap, before the fourth story window at the hotel and marveled at the gas lamps on the street below, extending far into the distance If she could live in a hotel like this, it would be a dream. She closed her eyes and shook her head. That was more of a fantasy than hoping to live the kind of life she read about out west in the dime-store novels. At least, that’s what her cousin Dudley called it when she talked about the west—a fantasy. When Opal’s father had passed on last November, she’d had nowhere to go, but Dudley, her cousin and childhood friend, arrived at the funeral. She hadn’t seen him in five years, since they were fourteen, and he’d dressed like a respectable gentleman. He’d promised her that if she found herself in dire straits, she could call on him, and he would take care of her as a sister. And that’s what he’d done.
They moved about frequently and lived in shacks more often than they stayed in hotels like this, all the while Dudley searched for a job in Atlantic City. At least, that’s what he’d said he’d been doing, but she had begun to suspect the last two weeks that he was gambling instead of searching. Staying in a hotel like this was finer than she was used to; part of her felt more comfortable and more at home in the shacks. Her discomfort was the reason she’d always carried a derringer and a billy stick in her bag. She already understood life was dangerous, and her cousins had taught her to be prepared for the worst. She let out a breath and closed her novel and stood. Then, when she turned toward her bed, the door to the hotel suite crashed open and Dudley rushed in.
Opal pulled the hotel robe tighter around her night clothes, her heart racing at the surprise. Then she saw his face. His right eye was swollen, and a black bruise grew bigger around the socket. She sucked in a gasp. “Dudley, what’s happened? What’s going on?”
He shook his head at her and continued forward until he reached their carpet bags. “Pack your things. We’re getting out of here, Opal. Right now.”
“What happened to you? Are you hurt?”
He turned and looked at her through his one eye, with fear burning in the iris. “Now, Opal. We need to go.”
She blinked twice and then hopped into action. It didn’t take much to dress quickly in the other room and grab the few things she had and throw them into her carpet bag. When she headed toward the stairs, Dudley stopped her. He shook his head. “We’re going this way.”
She frowned when he pointed to the dumbwaiter. “What do you mean?”
“You go down first and then when you get to the bottom, send the dumbwaiter back up. Count to twenty and then lower it back down with me in it.”
“This is ridiculous.” She rested her hands on her hips. “Do you plan on explaining what’s going on?”
He grabbed hold of her cheeks. “Cousin, I love your spunk, but right now, I need you to just trust me and do as I say. I’ll explain everything once we’re safe.”
A shiver ran through her. That meant they weren’t safe right now. She clenched her jaw and pursed her lips and then climbed in the small space of the dumbwaiter. Slowly, she descended in the pitch-black darkness. At first, she strained her eyes, trying to see anything, but she soon gave up. She began to pray, unsure of whether God heard the prayers of gamblers. Regardless, she asked for his forgiveness and help in this situation. Anything that would keep both her and Dudley safe.
When she finally reached the bottom of the shaft, she lifted the doorway and crawled out in the basement of the hotel. Washing basins were being run by little old ladies in the corner, but they chattered so loudly that no one had seen her come out of the dumbwaiter yet. Once her feet hit the floor, she turned about and pulled on the ropes to raise the dumbwaiter back up, watching the little meter on the side so that she’d know when it hit the fourth floor. The moment it reached the fourth floor and clicked into place she began counting slowly. Twenty seconds had never seemed like such a long time.
“Eighteen... Nineteen...” She counted while she peered toward the old ladies, willing them to remain turned about so they didn’t see her or Dudley. When she reached twenty, she began lowering the dumbwaiter, surprised by the difference in weight from when it was empty.
The moment it reached the bottom, she rushed over to the door to pull it up, but Dud
ley was just a split second ahead of her. Before stepping out, he peeked over her shoulder at the old women and then leaned in toward her as his feet hit the ground. He grabbed her hand. “Let’s get out of here.”
They opened the back-alley doors and submerged themselves into the warm night air. Dudley continued to search every direction, looking for someone while they rushed just outside of the light pools cast by the gas street lamps along the way. When they reached the familiar shack hideout, they ducked inside. The musty smell of dust and mildew accosted her senses. Cobwebs remained in the corners. The shack looked abandoned, and Opal’s fingers itched to clean the place and straighten it up. Dudley had said that it needed to stay that way, .that it needed to look abandoned for their safety. That way if anyone stumbled upon it, they wouldn’t search it for the treasures they had hidden under the floorboards but would be more likely to leave the place alone.
Once he bolted the door behind them, Dudley dove for those loose floorboards. Opal frowned. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on yet?”
He put a finger to his lips. “Shhh. Stay quiet. There are some bad people after us right now, and we need to get out of this town.”
“What do you mean? Why are they after us?”
He shook his head. “Someone accused me of cheating. One thing led to another and they took all my money and left me like this. But somehow that wasn’t enough for them. They claimed I owed them more and planned on taking it out of my hide if I don’t come up with it.”
A frown tugged at her lips. “What are you planning on doing?”
Finally, he pocketed what money they had in the floor space and stood. “We’re getting out of here on the first train that goes out.”
“It’s the middle of the night. There won’t be any trains.”
“We’re staying here until dawn breaks—then we’ll go. We’ll need to go separately.”
Her heart pinched as fear gripped her. “Why?”
He came over and rested a hand on her shoulder. “Look here, cousin. I promised to take care of you, and that’s just what I plan to do. Right now, they are after me, but not you. If we go two different ways on the trains, then they will follow me and leave you alone. I’ll find you and make it up to you later.”
She frowned. “I don’t like this idea.”
He nodded. “I know, but for right now, your safety is all I care about.”
The first light of dawn came early, less than four hours later. During most of that time, she sat on the stool and dozed off now and then. Dudley stayed by the window and peered outside. Somehow, she felt she wasn’t getting the full story out of him. But she knew he’d get more stubborn if she pressed him harder. It was a family trait that each of them was more stubborn than a mule who didn’t want to cross a bridge. The moment the first rays of light came up over the ocean waves, Dudley stepped over to her and put bills into her hand. “Here’s a hundred and ten dollars. It’s half the money we had in our savings. I’m going to leave for the train station now and head south. You stay here at least another half hour and then when you get to the station, head west. If you see me in the station still, don’t acknowledge me. Don’t let anyone know you know who I am. Understood?”
Her frown deepened as she shook her head. “No. I don’t understand why we have to do all this.”
He clucked his tongue and stomped his foot, shaking his head. Then finally, he pointed a finger in her face. “Fine. It wasn’t people who said I was cheating at cards. It’s a demon lender. I took out a loan while I was losing bad last time, and he came to call on it. When I didn’t have the money, he had his men beat me up. I told them I had more in the hotel room, so they let me go to get it. Right now, they might still be searching for me. They might even be heading to the train station this morning, too. That’s why I need you to keep your distance. Understood.”
Her frown remained unchanged, but she nodded.
He ruffled her hair and said, “Good girl.”
And after flashing her a winning smile that looked like it came with a wink due to his swollen eye, he slipped out the door. Opal stood from her stool and began pacing the floor. How could her cousin have gotten himself so deep in trouble? She chewed on her thumbnail. It was her fault. While he was taking care of her, she should have been taking better care of him. As soon as she found out he was spending time in the gambling halls, playing cards, she should have stopped him, somehow. She should have demanded that he come with her to church on Sundays. He could have talked to the preacher about his problems and gotten some help. But no matter. It was all crashing down on them now. It was too late to be thinking about what she could have done.
She pulled her father’s pocket watch from her carpet bag and checked the time. She had fifteen more minutes to wait before she could follow him. When she shoved the pocket watch back in the bag, Her hand pushed against the dime store novel she’d been reading. Her heart fluttered. She’d never been off the east coast. Never been farther north than Atlantic City, never further south or west than Richmond, Virginia. Now she was to head west. Her cousin didn’t say where or how far. When she pulled out her novel, the newspaper clipping she used as a bookmark fell out. It was an advertisement for Lady Pinkerton Agents.
Her heart flipped. She’d always daydreamed about answering the ad, but it was already well past May when they were doing interviews, and she knew it had just been the foolish dream of a girl who read too many novels—like her cousin said. But maybe this was her chance. Denver was out west, and she could take the train there. It was as good a city as any. If she asked at the agency, she could find out if they were still looking for lady agents. If not, she’d just find another job. She could do this. After peeking again at her pocket watch, she slipped out the door and into the morning ocean breeze.
At the train station, Opal spied her cousin in a seat as close to the far doors as possible. She didn’t acknowledge him and avoided looking in that direction. Instead, she went straight to the ticket window and smiled at the man behind the counter. “What train is next out of the station?”
“The next train out is heading for Winston in fifteen minutes. From there, you can switch to the Central Line and go whichever way you need.”
She nodded. “I’ll take a ticket then. Is it possible to get to Denver from there?” she asked loud enough that she hoped Dudley might hear her.
“Certainly,” the ticket man said, brow raised at her volume. “Though you may have to switch trains a number of times before you get on the right line.”
“Thank you,” she said as the ticket man offered her the stub for her journey.
A train whistle in the distance announced its soon arrival. She and Dudley would be on the same train to Winston but would have to pretend not to know each other. It was going to be hard to do. The train’s brakes squealed as it pulled into the station, puffing white smoke from the stack in the engine as it passed to allow the passenger cars to line up with the station. Once the train stopped, several people dismounted the train. Opal swallowed at the lump in her throat and started for the train when she heard a commotion. Three ruffians surrounded her cousin and one of them had him by the collar.
She searched immediately for help, but not one person of authority stood nearby. With nowhere else to go, she rushed back to the ticket counter. “Is there someone nearby to help? There’s a man being beaten in the station by three ruffians.”
The ticket man stood and leaned over the counter to peer out the window in the direction she pointed. Then he sat back down and shook his head. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do about that. I’m sure they will settle down in a minute.”
Her stomach lurched. “You’re not going to call on the sheriff or something?”
He shrugged and then looked her up and down. “I am not permitted to leave my post. As far as I know, this could be a distraction for a robbery.”
She blinked, taken aback. Was this man really accusing her of something she wasn’t guilty of? Shame still ma
de her face flush. “Fine,” she said, “I’ll do something about it.”
He tutted at her. “I think it’s best if you don’t get involved.”
Shaking her head, she ignored the man. Then she marched toward the commotion, placing her hands on her hips. “Now see here. What is going on? Leave that man alone.”
Two of the ruffians turned her direction, one sneering and the other with a smile. “Mind your own business, lady. I don’t think you want to be involved in this.”
She reached into her traveling bag and wrapped her hand around the baton that sat there. “I’m already involved. Let the man go.”
One of the men laughed as he stepped toward her, cracking his knuckles. “I take no pleasure hitting a lady, and I’d hate to mar that pretty little face of yours but if you don’t move on, things are going to get ugly.”
She smiled up at him. “I think things already got ugly the moment you woke this morning.”
He glared at her and rushed forward, his hand pulled back, ready to throw a punch. She withdrew her billy stick and slapped the man upside the head with it. He fell hard over some benches in the station. Shock struck the other ruffian, causing his step to falter, but then he narrowed his eyes at her with more menace and threw a punch toward her. With a flick of her wrist, she slapped the man’s arm away and then smacked him against the side of the head as well. Both men lay over the benches, out cold. She stuffed her billy stick back into her bag and withdrew her derringer. She pointed it toward the third ruffian. “I’ve asked nicely, twice, that you release that man. Don’t make me ask a third time.”