An Agent for Nadine

by Jenna Brandt

  He decided he needed to stretch his legs, which at the moment were cramped. His 6’3” frame wasn’t designed to be sandwiched between a wall and a robust Italian man who had the pungent odor of garlic pouring from his skin. He stood from the bench and made his way down the hall. If he was lucky, no one would be at the back and he could stand on the platform without having to deal with anyone else.

  He reached the caboose and made his way through the doors. The cool night wind wafted over him, ushering in some much-needed relief. The stagnant air inside the train was stifling, and there was nothing like being out in the open. It reminded him of his days riding shotgun on stagecoaches with his brother, Amos, back when they guarded the transport of bank deposits out in the New Mexico Territory. Though the hours were long and the job grueling, those had been some of the happiest days of his life. When the brothers stopped a series of stagecoach robberies, the Pinkerton Agency got wind of it, and recruited them as agents. They had worked together until Amos wanted to work on his own.

  “I don’t want to live in your shadow for the rest of my life, Josiah. I want to make a name for myself in the agency. I can’t do that when everyone considers me your kid brother.”

  “That’s not how they see you, Amos. They see us as a team,” Josiah countered. “We’re partners.”

  “Don’t you get it? I don’t want to be partners anymore, Josiah. I’ve already put in for a transfer to the Texas office. This will be best for us both. You use me to keep from living your own life. Maybe this way, we can both find a way to live again.”

  Josiah knew he meant that they stopped looking for anything permanent after their parents died when the brothers were teenagers. They’d floated from one job to the next, never expecting anything to last.

  “I’m content with how things are now,” Josiah said with resentment. “Why can’t you be?”

  “Because I want more, Josiah. I don’t want to just be content. I want to find a way to be happy. I’ll never do that if I believe that this is all there is, like you do.”

  The words hit Josiah like a ton of bricks. He didn’t view his life as deficient, but apparently, his brother did. Enough so that he wanted to get as far away from him as he could. In that moment, Josiah decided he wasn’t going to have another partner. He didn’t need to risk getting hurt again, and he was more than capable of doing this job on his own. His brother, on the other hand, would end up crawling back when he realized he needed him.

  That had been three years ago. Josiah wished he had stuck to his gut instinct and insisted they stay together. Maybe if he had, Amos would still be alive. Now, the only thing he could do for his brother was avenge his death and make sure nothing happened to his widow while he did it.

  His poor treatment of the woman had been gnawing at him. He’d been downright awful to her. She didn’t deserve him treating her badly because of his past history with his brother, or the fact he’d made it so Josiah never wanted a partner again. His baggage was not her problem, and he needed to figure out a way to make this work for both their sakes.

  Now that he was thinking of Nadine, he should probably go check on her, and make sure she hadn’t woken up and started wondering where he was. He turned from the railing and opened the door behind him. On the other side, his eyes locked with a set of steely gray ones who were glaring at him with anger.

  “My, my, if it isn’t the man who put in me in jail for nearly five years,” the man stated, blocking Josiah’s path from heading down the hall.

  “I think you have me mistaken for someone else,” Josiah said, trying to push past the other man. The stranger wasn’t having it though, as he reached out and shoved Josiah backwards.

  “No, I don’t think so. I’ll never forget your face, or what I had to endure while I was behind bars because of you. It’s why when I got on the train today and saw you, I knew I was going to make you pay for what you did to me.”

  “I can honestly say, I don’t know who you are,” Josiah insisted, though the man’s face was vaguely familiar, he couldn’t place the stranger. He tracked down so many criminals, they tended to blend together over the years.

  “How about I remind you,” the man said, reaching back with his fist. The punch came quickly, and Josiah was barely fast enough to sidestep it and squeeze through the door to prepare for the fight inside.

  Josiah lifted his fists in front of him, crouching slightly so he was ready to spring into action. “Look, mister, I don’t want to fight you. I’m sorry you went to jail, but I can assure you it’s not my fault.”

  The other man didn’t want to talk. Instead, he struck out with his fist a second time. Josiah was able to dodge it again; however, the man followed it up with a second punch. This time it landed straight on his nose. Blood spurted out and Josiah let out a small grunt, but he pushed the pain away and focused on returning the hit with one of his own. The two exchanged blows for a couple of seconds before the other man decided he was done punching. He pulled a knife from behind his back.

  Josiah reached for his gun behind his coat jacket, but not in time to stop the man from attacking him. The stranger used Josiah’s movement to his advantage and lunged forward, knocking Josiah to the ground. He jumped on top of Josiah and raised the knife in the air; the glint of the metal blade caught Josiah’s attention. Just as he thought he would feel the blade’s edge pierce his flesh, there was a shout from behind them.

  “Get off of him,” he heard Nadine’s voice scream, “right now, or I swear I will shoot you dead.”

  The man hesitated, but as Nadine came into the line of sight of both of the men, the assailant saw a shimmer. He must have believed she would pull the trigger because he climbed off Josiah.

  “Drop the knife and face the wall,” she ordered, keeping the gun trained on him the whole time. “If you move, you’ll regret it.” Her attention flickered for a second to Josiah as she asked, “Are you okay?”

  “Other than a few bruises and a broken nose, I’m fine.”

  “Broken nose?” she choked out.

  “It’s fine,” he said, reaching up and grabbing both sides of his nose. He braced for the pain, then popped it back into place. “It happens all the time.”

  Nadine’s face paled as she shook her head. “This happens all the time to you?”

  “Unfortunately, it’s a hazard of the job,” Josiah said, standing up and pulling his own gun from his belt. “I honestly don’t remember this guy, but he says I caused his arrest. It’s probably true, but frankly, it happens so often, I don’t remember everyone.”

  “Of course you don’t remember the people whose lives you ruined. It’s how you sleep at night,” the stranger said bitterly, still facing the wall. “I stole that money to provide for my dying sister.”

  Josiah could see the words worked on Nadine a bit. She looked sympathetically towards the other man.

  “It’s always for a dying sister, starving child, or a pregnant wife. It’s never because you don’t want to get a job and earn an honest living like the rest of us,” Josiah stated with resentment. “Don’t blame your poor choices on your family.” Looking over at Nadine he directed, “Why don’t you go get the detectives who are assigned to guard this train while I keep an eye on him.”

  Nadine nodded, then took off out of sight. A few minutes later, she arrived with a set of Pinkerton Agents Josiah didn’t recognize. He explained the situation to them, and they took the other man into custody.

  “We’ll deposit him in the jail at the next stop,” the taller of the two agents explained. “Good work, Mr. Bell. Your reputation proceeds you.”

  Josiah looked over at Nadine and shook his head. “I can’t take all the credit. My new partner here, Nadine Bell, was the one who actually stopped him from stabbing me.”

  Both men looked over at her with surprise.

  “Your wife is responsible for this?” the short one asked with clear skepticism in his voice.

  “Yes, but she’s my partner first and foremost, and apparen
tly, quite a good asset to the agency,” he admitted, realizing he was just as surprised by the fact as the other two men. Nadine had remained calm during the altercation, used her gun properly, and kept the situation from escalating.

  The agents took the man away, leaving Josiah and Nadine alone. He turned to her and said, “Thank you. I appreciate your helping me like that.”

  “Like you said, we’re partners,” she confirmed, placing her pistol back in her purse. “When I woke up and didn’t find you in our train car, I decided to come looking for you.”

  “I’m glad you did. I’m surprised you had the forethought to bring your gun with you, Mrs. Bell.”

  “I think, since we’re married, you can call me Nadine. As for the gun, I keep it with me at all times,” she said. “Amos taught me it was the most important piece of equipment an agent has, and as a woman, it’s an equalizer.”

  “It seems my brother trained you well. You can call me Josiah by the way.”

  She nodded. “In the short time I knew him, he became like a brother to me. Actually, he was more of a brother to me than my own brother was at the end.”

  “What happened with your brother?” Josiah probed, leaning against the wall. His need to find answers surfaced, a product of his years spent as an agent.

  “After our mother died and our father ran off with his secretary, my brother and I were on our own. I was unmarried, and of an age where it was unlikely to find a husband, so Mark took care of me. At least, until he met and married a woman who decided she didn’t like that arrangement. They ended up asking me to move out with little notice. They suggested I accept a mail-order marriage out West, but I didn’t want to be forced into a marriage of convenience.”

  “But you’re in one now,” Josiah pointed out.

  “Believe me, I might have thought twice about accepting the position if I had known it would be part of the job. It wasn’t mentioned in the advert and I didn’t know until I arrived. By that time, I had no other place to go and no money to support myself even if I did. I decided that at least this marriage of convenience was only temporary and strictly business. I can manage that for one year, and then I will be an independent agent, able to live my own life.”

  Josiah wasn’t sure what to think about Nadine’s situation. It was obvious she was still hurt by what happened, which explained why she didn’t want to trust anyone. After his split with his brother, he felt the same way. He’d spent the last three years trying to prove he was the best agent. He wanted his brother to realize he made a mistake and ask to come back to work with him again. Perhaps he had more in common with his wife than he first thought. They were both trying to prove themselves worthy.

  “Oh my, you’re bleeding again,” Nadine gasped as she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and rushed up to his side. She gingerly pressed it against the bottom of his nose. “Let’s get you back to our train car where you can sit down and tilt your head back to stop the bleeding.”

  “Did my brother teach you that, too?” Josiah probed.

  She nodded. “According to Amos, being able to administer medical aid was a necessary skill if I was to be his partner. He told me he often ended up in fights as a normal part of his cases.”

  Josiah chuckled. “He got that from me. Neither of us are afraid to get our hands dirty.”

  “Do you need me to help you to our train car?” Nadine offered.

  “No, I can manage.” He transferred the handkerchief from her hand to his, and just for the briefest moment, their skin touched. A shot of warmth spread from the contact, shimmying up his arm in a way that was unexpected, and enticing.

  She must have felt it too, because she quickly pulled away, her eyes widening with shock. “We should head back so you can rest. We’ll be arriving in Texas in the morning.”

  Josiah wasn’t sure what just happened, but he was certain of one thing: his new wife was going to steal his heart if he wasn’t careful.

  Chapter 3

  Nadine was dismayed at how tiny the town of Rockwood Springs was as the stagecoach pulled up in front of the livery. She’d been in small towns before, but this place was minuscule in comparison. It consisted of one dirt road with a few wooden buildings that dotted the sides.

  This was the favorite watering hole of the Wilkins Gang? She couldn’t believe anyone would want to stay in this place longer than they had to, let alone by choice.

  “Here we are, Mr. and Mrs. Ringer,” the stagecoach driver said, using the alias they were traveling under, as he opened the door of the carriage and helped Nadine out. “Welcome to Rockwood Springs, the most lawless town in all of Texas.”

  Nadine’s eyebrow arched in surprise. “Is that so? And why does it have that reputation?”

  “With no nearby sheriff, a saloon lacking regulations and offering plenty of cheap libations, and a bunch of rowdy cowboys that work the nearby ranches, it’s a powder keg for trouble. Not to mention bandits and robbers frequent the saloon for the same reasons. If you hadn’t paid the stagecoach company such a hefty rate, they would have never sent me here with you. We usually go right around to Woody.”

  “Where’s the hotel?” Nadine inquired. “How far do we have to walk?”

  The dark-haired man snorted. “Ma’am, there isn’t a hotel in this town. The only option is to stay in one of the rooms above the saloon, which looking at you, doesn’t seem like you’d fit in too well. Do you want to get back in the coach? I can take you both to Woody.”

  Josiah shook his head. “No, we can see ourselves the rest of the way.”

  The driver shrugged. “Suit yourself, but you won’t find another stagecoach coming through these parts. If you plan to leave, you’ll have to rent a horse from the livery.”

  “Can’t we just telegraph for a pick up?” Nadine asked with disbelief.

  “You could if they had one, but they don’t. There isn’t a post office or a bank either. You’ll need to go to Woody for all of that.”

  “What do they have here?” Nadine asked with growing irritation.

  “Look, ma’am, you’re going to have to find someone else to give you the lay of the land. I need to get to Woody for my next assignment. Have a good day.”

  The stagecoach driver hopped back up into the driver’s seat next to his shotgun rider. Without a backwards glance, they took off leaving them in their dust.

  “I’m not sure what you were expecting, but places like this are far more common to the job than places like Dallas or Denver. Criminals tend to avoid cities, since that’s where the law tends to be,” Josiah explained.

  “I guess I’m not surprised by that, but everything in the West is still new to me. We don’t have places like this back home in Massachusetts.”

  “Not that you are aware of, Nadine, but there’s places like this all over the country. Why once, I was in Maine and this—”

  Josiah was cut off when a little girl with bouncing blonde curls came running out of the house next to the livery. “Howdy, you must be new to town. We don’t get many new people around here. My name is Lydia Caldwell. My dad owns the livery and we live right there,” she pointed to the house. “What’s your name?” she said coming to stand in front of Nadine.

  “My name is Na—” she stopped herself and switched to her alias, “Mrs. Ringer.”

  “Who’s that?” Lydia asked, pointing to Josiah.

  “He’s my husband.”

  “He looks angry. Does he always have that scowl on his face?”

  “As a matter of fact, he does,” Nadine said with a wry smile.

  “Lydia Caldwell, what are you doing out here talking to strangers?” yelled a boy with sandy blond hair, who looked to be a couple of years older than the girl. He barged straight towards her, shaking his head in anger. “Wait until Papa hears about this. You’re going to be in so much trouble!”

  “Georgie, they’re new to town. I had to greet them if they want to stay,” Lydia defended. “It’d be great to have some nice people in town for once.”


  “It doesn’t matter what they look like; they could be kidnappers for all you know,” Georgie shouted, giving both Nadine and Josiah a dirty look. “You can’t trust people you don’t know.”

  “The stagecoach just dropped us off. We were just on our way,” Josiah explained.

  “Now I know you’re a no-good liar. Stagecoaches don’t come here anymore,” Georgie objected. “See, they are kidnappers, Lydia. We need to call Papa over right now.”

  “We aren’t kidnappers, and we don’t have time for this.” Josiah gestured towards the house. “Why don’t the both of you head back inside where you belong.”

  “Don’t tell us what to do, mister. This is our town,” Georgie said with fire burning in his eyes. “I have a good mind to get my Papa and have you thrown in the jail.”

  “There’s no jail here, Georgie. Remember, the last one burnt down a year ago when those bad guys escaped from it.”

  Nadine’s eyes grew round with shock. This place just kept getting worse and worse. Not only was there no law in town, but no jail on top of it. What did they do with people who broke the law?

  “There is the makeshift one that Mr. Weston put behind the saloon,” Georgie countered. “It isn’t much, but it could probably hold the two of them.”

  Well, that answered Nadine’s question. They put criminals in what was probably nothing more than a few pieces of wood nailed together. Terrific! What a place to end up working her first case.

  “Georgie Caldwell, we’re not putting our new guests in that disgusting place,” Lydia said, stomping her foot. “Stop trying to pretend like you’re the law around here.”

  “Listen, Lydia, I’m just trying—”

  “That’s enough, children,” a third voice said from the edge of the house, drawing everyone’s attention to a young blonde woman, who from what Nadine could tell looked to be around seventeen or eighteen. She was much too young to be their birth mother. Perhaps she was their stepmother? “Who do we have here?”