by Laura Beers
Davy huffed. “How adorable. My betrothed is holding my shotgun.”
“About that,” Alexina started, scrunching her nose, “I’m already married.”
“To who?” Davy exclaimed.
Her steps were precise as she walked closer to Davy. “To Dawson Wayne.”
“Your brother?” Davy asked in a disgusted tone.
Alexina rolled her eyes. “No, we were only posing as brother and sister.”
“Who are you?” He narrowed his eyes.
A slow, satisfying smile came to Alexina’s lips. “I’m a Pinkerton agent.”
“I abducted a Pinkerton agent?” Davy groaned.
She pulled the hammer back on the shotgun. “Put the gun down,” she ordered.
“I don’t think so. My brothers will be here any minute,” he replied with a shake of his head.
“About that…” She tilted her head purposefully toward the trees. “Both of them are currently unconscious.”
Davy grew rigid as he growled, “Put your gun down, or I will kill Sheriff Washburn.”
With a flickering glance at the shrub he was hiding behind, Alexina released the shotgun’s hammer and lowered it to the ground. “This is between you and me,” she stated calmly. “Let Sheriff Washburn go.”
“And why would I do that?”
“Because I don’t want to have to shoot you.”
With a cruel laugh, Davy turned his pistol toward her. “I am surprised a Pinkerton agent would concede so easily.”
“Who said I’ve conceded?”
He held up his pistol. “I have a pistol, and one of your weapons is on the ground.” He shot her a pitying look. “Your derringer is holstered to your thigh.”
“That’s all true,” she said with a bob of her head. “But the question that you should be asking yourself is,” she paused dramatically, “where is Dawson?”
Davy’s eyes frantically scanned the surrounding area. “Dawson is here?”
“Of course, he is,” she replied. “He’s my partner and my husband.”
“Tell me where he is!” he snarled, shoving his pistol toward her.
“And why would I do that?” Alexina asked in a sweet voice.
The moment Davy took a commanding step toward her, Dawson fired his gun, hitting Davy in the leg. Davy dropped to his knees, but he was still holding his pistol. He started to raise it when Alexina kicked it out of his hand.
Drawing her derringer, she pointed it at Davy. “It’s over, and you should be thankful that you’re still alive.”
Davy glared at her with hate in his eyes as his hand pressed on his wound. “This isn’t over, Pink.”
“Yes, it is,” Dawson declared, walking closer to his wife. “You will spend the rest of your pitiful life in jail.”
“When I get out, I will hunt you down…”
Dawson punched his fist into Davy’s jaw, causing him to collapse to the ground. “That’s for threatening to shoot my wife,” he growled before tucking his revolver into his trousers.
He walked straight up to Alexina and cupped her cheeks. “I am relieved beyond words that you’re safe, Alex.”
She smiled up at him. “I knew you’d come for me.”
“I will always come for you.” Leaning forward, he rested his forehead against hers. “I was scared that I wouldn’t find you in time.”
“If you hadn’t, I would have been able to take care of myself,” she responded cheekily.
He knew that no words rang truer.
“We’re a team,” he said. “Allow me to take care of you from now on.”
He felt her nod, and knew he’d just secured his first victory with her.
Tilting his head, he had just pressed his lips against hers when someone cleared their throat from next to them.
Leaning back, slightly, he huffed, “What?”
“Sorry to interrupt… whatever this is,” Sheriff Washburn said with amusement in his tone, “but we need to tie up the Davy brothers and find Miss Jolley and Miss Price.”
“A Pinkerton agent’s work is never done,” Alexina murmured against his lips. She stepped out of his arms and reached down to pick up the shotgun. “I’ll go retrieve Miss Jolley and Miss Price.”
“Let’s meet at the Davy’s cabin,” the sheriff suggested. “The least they can do is let us borrow their horses to bring the ladies home. After all, they aren’t going to need them where they’re going.”
“Do you have a doctor in town?” Alexina asked.
The sheriff nodded. “We sure do. His office is next to the mercantile, and he sleeps upstairs.”
“It might be best if I took the women to see the doctor right away,” she said. “The Davy brothers seemed to take pleasure in abusing them.”
“Good idea, ma’am,” the sheriff responded before turning his gaze toward Dawson. “You ready, Pink?”
“Yes, I just need to do one more thing,” Dawson declared as he wrapped his arm around Alexina’s waist and yanked her toward him. He kissed her, hard and long, then let her go. “Good luck, wife.”
11
As Alexina slipped her hairpin back into her hair, she declared, “And that is how you pick a lock.”
Emma, who was sitting in the front of the classroom, raised her hand. “Is that how you saved Miss Jolley and Miss Price?”
With a side glance at the now prim and proper Miss Jolley, Alexina responded, “I did have to pick a lock to aid to our escape, but it was more of a team effort.”
“Did you have to shoot anyone?” Timothy asked.
She shook her head. “No. Not on this assignment.”
“Have you shot anyone before?” a child asked from the back of the room.
She opened her mouth to respond when Dawson spoke up. “Class, let’s avoid the topics of shooting and death, shall we?”
Picking up the iron lock, Alexina handed it to a student in front to pass around. “You never know when certain skills may save your life.” She stepped back. “Miss Jolley used a skillet as a weapon.”
“When is Miss Price coming back?” Emma asked.
Sarah stepped forward and shared, “Miss Price has decided to return home to her family and recover from her injuries at this time. But I plan to resume teaching starting tomorrow.”
“Does that mean Mr. Wayne and Miss Wayne won’t be our teachers anymore?” a freckled face boy pouted.
“As we discussed earlier,” Dawson replied as he leaned his shoulder against the wall, “we are Pinkerton agents. We were just posing as your teachers. Also, we aren’t brother and sister. We are actually married.”
“You two are married?” a red-headed girl asked.
“We are, but that was only so we could track down the bad men that took Miss Jolley and Miss Price,” Alexina explained.
Emma raised her hand. “Can I be a Pinkerton agent when I grow up?”
Alexina smiled. “You can be anything you want to be.”
“You would be a horrible Pinkerton agent,” Timothy remarked. “You talk way too much.”
“I do not,” Emma declared, sticking her tongue out at Timothy.
Sarah clapped her hands together to get the class’s attention. “I believe we’ve had enough excitement for one day. Between Mrs. Wayne’s,” she hesitated, “unique demonstration, and all the questions, I feel like we should go home and rest. But come back bright and early tomorrow, and we’ll start with an arithmetic lesson.”
As the children filed out of the room, Sarah turned toward them. “Please say you taught the children some of their lessons.”
“We followed the lesson plans, except for Alexina’s demonstrations,” Dawson confirmed as he started to straighten the desks. “For the record, I taught for two years before I became a deputy. I assure you that your students were in capable hands.”
Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. Although, I have to say, the children did seem to enjoy Alexina’s demonstrations. Perhaps I should incorporate more useful demonstrations into the curriculum
.”
Glancing out the window at the cottage, Alexina asked, “Do you think Deborah will be all right?”
With a frown, Sarah responded, “I just checked on her before I walked up to the schoolhouse. She is packing to take the train home to Wichita.” She paused before adding, “I believe the Davy brothers broke her spirit. William was quite cruel to her.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t find you sooner,” Alexina confessed.
“Good heavens, you found us only two days after you arrived!” Sarah exclaimed. “That must have been some type of record.”
“Yes, but you were with them for over a month,” Alexina murmured.
Sarah grew tense. “I did what I had to do to survive.”
Alexina gave her a weak smile. “Your bruising has all but disappeared,” she observed.
“So has yours,” Sarah said, pointing at her right cheek.
Bringing her hand up to rub her sore cheek, Alexina replied, “I hope the rest of the school year goes much smoother for you.”
“How could it not?” Sarah laughed. “What’s next for you two?”
Dawson came to stand next to her as she shared, “This morning, I sent off a wire to the Denver office, detailing the completion of our assignment, and we are currently waiting for our boss to respond.”
“It must be so exciting to be married and work as Pinkerton agents,” Sarah gushed. “I can’t even imagine the fun adventures that you have.”
Dawson chuckled. “This was actually our first case together.”
“So, you are newly married?” Sarah pressed.
“We are,” Alexina confirmed.
Sarah beamed at them. “You two make a great team, then.”
“We do,” Dawson confirmed.
Leaning down to pick up a pencil on the floor, Sarah said, “I better go see if Deborah needs some help packing.” She placed it back onto the desk. “Thank you again for letting us stay in the cottage.”
“It was no bother for us to move into the hotel last night,” Alexina replied. “After all the excitement, we fell asleep rather quickly.”
Reaching out, Sarah gave her a tight embrace. “Thank you, Alexina. You saved my life.”
“That’s my job,” she responded, unaccustomed to such praise.
Without another word, Sarah turned and exited the schoolhouse.
“She’s right you know,” Dawson said, his eyes tracking the schoolteacher. “You saved both of those women’s lives.”
“We saved their lives,” she corrected.
“Yes. But you may have done a little more than me.”
She smiled mischievously. “Of course, I did. I am the lead agent on this case, after all.”
“How can I forget?” he said, smiling. “You remind me of that fact at every opportunity.”
“If it helps, I detailed your heroics on this case to Archie.”
He eyed her suspiciously. “You did?”
Laughing, she replied, “Of course not. We have to pay for every letter that we send, and Pinkerton agents do not ramble on and on.”
“About our next case,” Dawson began, growing serious. “Are we going to continue working as partners?”
“Oh… I hadn’t thought about it.” Liar! She had thought about little else since last night.
He took a step closer to her. “I would like to keep working with you… as partners.”
“Right, as partners.”
He licked his bottom lip, drawing her attention to those lips that she had kissed before. Lips that she wanted to kiss again.
“But what if I didn’t want to be just partners?”
Bringing her gaze to meet his, she said, “I’m afraid I don’t understand what you are saying, Dawson.”
He reached out and tenderly encompassed her hand. “I have enjoyed our time immensely, but I can’t keep going on as we are.”
“I see,” she replied, but she didn’t see at all. What was he saying? Was he tired of being her partner? Tired of her?”
“No, I don’t think you do, Alex,” he asserted, closing the distance between them. “I have never felt…”
“Mrs. Wayne?” a man’s voice asked from the doorway.
Stepping away from Dawson, she replied, “Yes.”
“You received a telegram from Denver, ma’am.” The man walked up the aisle and extended her the note.
“Thank you,” she said, accepting the small piece of paper from him. She began to read the note, and she felt excitement bubble up inside of her. She handed the telegram off to Dawson. “The Chicago office has a case for me.”
“Just for you?”
She nodded. “Mr. Hopkins had warned me that it could be weeks, months or years before they called me back. Apparently, it was much sooner than they intended.”
“But… what about us?” He crumpled the note in his hand.
“You can work cases solo now,” she rushed to assure him. “You don’t need a trainer anymore.”
He frowned, deeply. “That’s not what I am asking. Did you forget that we’re married?”
“We aren’t truly married,” she responded. “We’ll get an annulment, and you’ll be…”
He cut her off. “I don’t want an annulment.”
“Then, I suppose I can ask my boss if you can transfer to the Chicago office, and we can continue to work cases from there,” she suggested.
“I don’t want to just work cases with you,” Dawson said sharply.
Now it was her turn to frown. “I don’t understand. Do you want to continue being my partner or not?”
“You aren’t getting it,” he declared.
“Getting what?”
He placed his hands on her shoulders and crouched down to look her in the eye. “I am in…” Dawson started.
A knock came from the back of the room, and Mayor Sunders walked through the door. “The whole town has assembled at the hotel to thank you for bringing Miss Jolley and Miss Price home.” He walked further into the room. “I’ve come to escort you to the festivities.”
“Can you give us a moment?” Dawson asked, his gaze not wavering from her.
Looping her arm through his, Alexina encouraged, “Come on. We don’t want to keep the townsfolk waiting. We can continue this conversation later.”
As she walked toward the town with Dawson, she felt like crying. Which was ridiculous. Lady Pinkertons don’t cry when their partners don’t want to continue working with them. But she felt her heart shattering. She didn’t want an annulment, and she wanted to keep working cases with Dawson.
After that kiss, she had assumed that he had cared for her. But apparently, she had been wrong.
Leaning his shoulder against the wall in the hotel restaurant, Dawson was doing his best to appear cordial as he watched Alexina mingle with the townsfolk. However, it was becoming increasingly more difficult. She was looking especially alluring in her calico dress with her hair tied in a low, side bun. He had never met a more beautiful woman than Alexina, inside and out. Her eyes showed the strength of her soul and sparkled with intensity.
He couldn’t believe that he ever found her too formal and stiff. After spending time with her, he realized that she had a kind, compassionate heart, but she hid it behind a mask of insecurity. She was afraid of being vulnerable… with anyone. Well, he was going to break down those walls as soon as this blasted party was over.
Alexina glanced up from across the room, and she smiled at him. It immediately buoyed him up. Dawson couldn’t remember any woman’s smile affecting him the way Alexina’s did. Not even Lucy’s. It was evident that she had feelings for him, but he suspected she was too scared to admit them.
Deciding that this party had gone on long enough, he crossed the room in a few strides and waited until Alexina had finished speaking with Mayor Sunders and his wife.
Placing his hand on her elbow, he leaned in and asked, “Are you ready to adjourn to our hotel room?”
She gave him an insincere smile. “I suppose it is time for us to
pack.”
“The train does come through in two hours,” he reminded her. Although, he had no intention of being on that train. His plan was to convince Alexina to turn this marriage into a true marriage and start their honeymoon… tonight.
Dawson offered his arm and was pleased when Alexina accepted it. He led her up the stairs to their room. Once he unlocked the door, he stepped to the side to let her enter. She hurried to the far corner, reached for her carpet bag on the floor, and placed it on the bed.
He entered and locked the door. Then, for good measure, he shoved the dresser in front of it.
Alexina lifted her brow. “May I ask what you are doing?”
Dusting off his hands on his trousers, he replied, “I am ensuring no one can interrupt our conversation.”
She didn’t say anything as she went back to folding her dresses.
“Alexina,” he started, waiting for her to look up at him, “I don’t want an annulment.”
She paused. “Then, what do you want?”
“I want to turn this marriage into a true marriage,” he said, walking closer to the bed.
Pressing her lips together, she lowered herself down onto the bed. “We hardly know each other…”
“I don’t buy that,” he asserted, cutting her off. “These past few days, I have been happier than I have been in my whole life. I love you, Alex.”
She gasped. “You can’t possibly love me. We’ve only known each other for three days.”
Coming to sit next to her on the bed, he reached for her hand and brought it up to his lips. “I’ve realized something.” He hesitated before adding, “I haven’t been just searching for adventure; my heart has been searching for you.”
“I… don’t know,” she replied, her voice shaky.
His eyes searched hers, hoping he wasn’t wrong. “I know you care for me.”
“I do,” she breathed.
“Then that will do, for now,” he encouraged. “I will get you to fall madly, deeply in love with me.”
She laughed. “You can’t help being cocky, can you?”
“You bring out this playful side of me, Alex,” he assured her. “I don’t act this way around other women. To be honest, I didn’t even act this way around Lucy.”
