“But to what end, Chaz? Yes, there are records of large sums of money being withdrawn from one East Coast bank by members of the original investors group, but what does that prove? These same men are original investors in Carlton Benstead’s bank. Perhaps the money is being used for that, or some other very legitimate investment. There must be something more that neither Lee nor Noah are sharing.”
“Perhaps they’re in the same fix we are,” Chaz interjected. “They must respond to an order from their bosses the same as us.” He stood, walked to the liquor cabinet, and poured another drink, offering more to the others, who declined. “And they may not be sharing everything they’ve learned. I will guarantee you, if anything of note occurs, we will be given instructions.” He paused a moment to swallow some of the amber liquid in his glass. “There is one piece of information that may interest you. One of my sources has heard multiple rumors of an American, connected with the government or possibly an actual government employee, who is seeking contact with people my source says are less than honorable men. His sources are distinct, so he believes there is some truth to the rumors.”
“What is he asking? Has anyone given a description?” Eva set her glass down and stood, becoming more intrigued as this new revelation unfolded.
“The rumors are that he is an American connected to the government, that’s it. No one is saying what business he is discussing or services he needs, or what the man looks like. Are they afraid to talk? I don’t know. Nothing more specific, yet it’s a start and confirms that something is in the works. Is it connected to what Lee and Noah have us doing? I don’t know that either.” Chaz knew the assignment would not be cancelled, at least not until Noah was ordered to shut it down. “Right now, all we can do is continue to learn what we can from those in San Francisco financial and business circles. At some point, our endeavors may mean something.”
Pierce turned at the soft rapping on the door. He opened it to find Penelope.
“Supper is ready, sir.”
Chapter Eight
Lee Hatcher looked around his room at the elegant San Franciscan Hotel. He’d been given a suite, one of only three in what was considered the most prestigious hotel in the city. He knew Chaz and Eva had rooms in the same hotel and tried once more to quell both the dread and anticipation he felt at knowing he would be near Eva again after more than four years apart.
He’d seen her a few times since their divorce, or more accurately, since the evening she’d shown up at his hotel room at the urging of Owen Kendall, his partner and close friend—at least until that night. Now, he would not only see Eva, but also be partnered with her until the assignment was over.
He knew she’d be furious and might quit, or refuse to continue until a replacement could be found. It was a chance he’d have to take. Even though she’d judged him and filed for divorce without allowing him to explain, Lee still loved her. He didn’t know if he could ever take her back, not even if she learned the truth and came begging. He’d learned Eva’s true nature—beneath the exotic beauty, keen mind, and charming exterior was a woman incapable of fully giving her heart or her trust. He doubted he would ever be able to entrust her again with his.
Lee stopped his musings at the sound of a soft knock on the door. The hotel messenger handed him a note then disappeared. It was from Chaz, informing him of his room number and that he’d be out that night. He wanted to meet Lee for breakfast the following morning at seven o’clock in a small restaurant two blocks from the hotel. He’d scrawled the address at the bottom of the message. Lee smiled, knowing his fellow agent had picked a place Eva wouldn’t patronize.
He laid the note on his dresser, glad to have a meeting already arranged. Once he met with Chaz, he’d decide what to do next.
******
Penelope had a prepared a wonderful meal. Pierce had overindulged in both food and spirits. It was fortunate he was a man who could hold his liquor.
“We’ll take our dessert and coffee in the parlor, Penelope. Shall we?” Pierce stood and pulled out Mollie’s chair, then offered his arm.
“You’re good at this, playing a role, pretending.” Her comment hit a nerve with Pierce.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re a natural at it.”
“At what?”
“Pretending to be someone you’re not.” Her tone wasn’t accusatory, more a statement of fact.
“Do you want to tell me exactly what you’re talking about?” He let her arm slide from his then took a step back to look at her.
“Slipping into a role comes easy to you, like putting on a different shirt, or hat. You’re a natural at fitting into unfamiliar situations and making people believe that’s where you belong.”
“Not any better than you. Your performance at the Benstead’s couldn’t have been better. You had Traxton right where you wanted him.” Pierce clenched his teeth, remembering how he’d felt when he’d seen Traxton’s interest in Mollie.
“I was doing my job, trying to gain his trust. Nothing more. Certainly not as entertaining as watching you and Virginia Traxton circle each other.” She took another step away from Pierce, turning toward the parlor. “Tell me, how far will you let the pretending go?”
“As far as it needs to go if I think she has information we need.” His eyes were like knives, razor sharp and penetrating.
Their sparring had taken an uncomfortable turn and Mollie wished she’d never brought it up.
“Just forget it.” Mollie walked into the parlor and took a deep breath. She’d done this her whole life, opened her mouth before she’d thought through her words. Most of the time, everything turned out all right. Once in a while, they didn’t. Tonight, she was afraid, was one of those times.
Pierce didn’t budge, hands on his hips, looking through the open parlor door, and wondering what was bothering her. Certainly not anything he’d said during supper, they’d hardly spoken. It couldn’t be her part of the assignment. Even though they were all on edge, tired of trying to figure out what they should be doing with so little information, she’d been handling her part for several weeks without incident. He started into the room then stopped. The Benstead’s supper. In an instant, he knew it had to do with that night, in her room, and the lousy way he’d handled everything. He should have talked with her the following day, told her it was a mistake and it wouldn’t happen again. Instead, he’d been a coward and allowed the tension between them to build.
He entered the parlor to see Penelope walking out the other door, having finished serving dessert and filling their coffee cups.
“We won’t be needing anything else from you tonight,” he said as he took a seat next to Mollie, who straightened her dress and took the opportunity to shift several inches away from him.
Pierce watched her fidget with her dessert, moving the food one way then the other, but not taking a bite. She set the plate down, picked up her cup, and took a sip. That didn’t seem to satisfy her either and she set it down next to the plate before standing to walk toward the window.
“Whatever is going on between us isn’t going to go away, you know. It’s going to hang there until we figure out what to do about it.” Pierce walked up beside her and slid both hands in his pockets.
Mollie steeled herself and turned toward him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s nothing going on between us. The other night was just two people reacting to the situation and the job. We’re both stressed from the lack of direction and information. We handled it poorly, that’s all.” She turned her attention back outside, pretending to enjoy the spectacular garden when her eyes couldn’t focus on anything other than the man who stood next to her.
Pierce’s emotionless expression didn’t change while she spoke, even though inside he was reeling from her words. His reaction to their kiss had been devastating, forcing him to turn away and leave before he did something both would regret.
Mollie was his partner, someone he depended on each day and
was tasked to protect if her life was in danger. Neither could afford to tangle their emotions with the need to focus on the assignment.
Even though he accepted that they couldn’t get involved, unlike Mollie, he wasn’t about to deny how he felt or the strong desire that continued to draw him to her. She obviously didn’t feel the same toward him. Pierce stared at her a brief moment before making the decision to leave the discussion where it lay. It wasn’t something he wanted to explore further. Letting it drop was the best solution for both of them.
“It’s been a long day. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Pierce closed the door behind him, leaving Mollie and her jumbled thoughts to herself.
******
“Chaz,” Lee said as he took a seat across from the other man in the small restaurant not far from their hotel. He looked around. Chaz had selected a table away from most of the others, offering the two men some privacy.
“Good to see you, Lee. How was the trip?”
“Long and uneventful. Tell me how it’s going here.” Lee signaled a server for coffee.
“We’re making progress, but at a pace that’s not even measurable,” Chaz joked and sipped his coffee, looking over the rim of his cup at Lee. “Does Eva know you’ll be her partner?”
A sardonic look passed over Lee’s face before he masked it. “No.”
“I didn’t think so. The four of us met and reviewed what we’d learned. She never mentioned you. I believe she’s under the impression Owen will be her partner.”
“That would be a wrong assumption.” He set down his cup and leaned back in his seat. “Tell me what you know.”
Chaz took the next half hour relaying what he’d learned from his source, including the rumors about an American seeking contact with those of questionable character. “The man is like a ghost. No one has seen his face or knows exactly what he wants, except that he is looking for some type of resolution to a problem. Under normal circumstances, I’d ignore it as folklore, people making up a story out of boredom, except the same story has filtered out of several cities within a couple of weeks. That’s too much of a coincidence to ignore.”
“Plus, it matches similar information we’re getting from our East Coast team. No one can identify him, not even a description.” Lee’s frustration was obvious. “Whatever the man wants, he’ll either find someone or do it himself. My guess is he’s put too much effort into this to stop now.”
Both men were silent as they dug into their breakfasts. Lee finally pushed away his empty plate, crossed his arms, and leaned them on top of the table.
“I’ll send Noah a message about the man your source mentioned and get in touch with some people I know. My guess is that it’s someone not in the government, but who has access to officials and intelligence, a man beyond reproach and most likely from wealth. He has an unpleasant task to perform and would prefer to find someone else to do it. The question is still why? What is he planning, who are his colleagues, and what resolution is he looking for? You don’t reach out to the type of men you’ve described unless the request is serious and immediate. My gut tells me something big is about to happen. We need to identify what.”
“Agreed.” Chaz reached into this pocket to extract some bills. “I’ll be in touch.”
Lee nodded, watched Chaz disappear through the front door, and sat back to finish his coffee. The Mayor’s Ball was the following night. He had much to accomplish before facing Eva and the wrath he knew would follow.
Chapter Nine
Pierce and Mollie sat across the breakfast table from each other, he pretending to be absorbed in the paper, and she concentrating on the meal Penelope had prepared. They hadn’t spoken since the night before when he’d left her alone in the parlor. He’d gone to his room and let her comments play over and over in his mind. Each time he did, the same answer held firm. She didn’t actually believe what she’d said. She’d been as affected by their attraction to each other as Pierce. Mollie had thought they’d come to some resolution, but she was wrong. Her continued silence and obvious discomfort around Pierce told him there was still much to be said.
He studied her for a moment before forging ahead. “It’s not like you to lie to me or to yourself, and I believe that’s exactly what you did last night.” Mollie opened her mouth to protest, but Pierce held up a hand to silence her. “I don’t believe either of us knows what’s happening, whether it’s a passing attraction or something to build on. Whatever it is, we need to either get it out of our systems, so we can concentrate on our jobs, or ignore it. I don’t believe it’s smart to try the first and I’m not sure we’ll succeed at the latter.”
Mollie stared at him, her eyes wide, not wanting to accept what he’d said, even though she knew it to be true. She had no intention of letting her feelings for this man go any further. She’d never intended to fall in love with anyone, and certainly not Pierce MacLaren, yet she had.
“What happened the other night was a mistake. At least we had the good sense to stop before we did anything we’d truly regret.” She watched his cool eyes assess hers as she spoke. “There will never be anything between us. We’re too different and want dissimilar things in life.”
Pierce listened, not believing much of what she said. He knew Mollie had developed feelings for him, as he had for her. Their response to each other the other night was all the proof he needed. The difference was that he wanted to erase those feelings with one passionate night in bed, while she wanted to deal with them by pretending they didn’t exist.
“What is it you want, Mollie? Surely it isn’t a life of being an agent, traveling from one job to another, never having a home or family.” Pierce’s words were soft, penetrating the emotional armor Mollie had so diligently constructed over many years.
“And why not? It’s a good life, lucrative and rarely boring. Don’t tell me you want a home, a family? Do you really want to be saddled with children just to pass your name on to?” In contrast to Pierce, Mollie’s tone was mocking, almost bitter.
“You have something against families? My four cousins, my brother, and my sister are married and happy. From what I can tell, it can be a good life if you fall in love with the right person.”
“I’d expect that sentiment coming from a man who grew up in a large, loving family. The reality is quite different.”
Pierce was poised to deny what she’d assumed. The truth of his growing up was so much different from what she’d implied, yet something held him back, prompting another approach.
“How did you grow up? You were born in Boston, right?”
Mollie looked at her plate and the food she’d barely touched, not wanting to get into this discussion. Few people knew of her childhood, and that was fine with her. Except, something about Pierce pulled at her, pushing her to talk about things she knew should be left alone. Then she had a thought. Perhaps sharing something of her past would change his mind, make her less attractive in his eyes.
“Yes, Boston.”
“And your family?”
Mollie’s gaze focused on his, her eyes never flinching. “My mother abandoned my father and me. Just disappeared one night.” To her surprise, Pierce showed no noticeable reaction.
“How old were you?”
“Ten.”
“Did your father work?”
“When he could find it. Mainly, he drank, forgetting about me or anything else, including work.” She took a deep breath, not realizing her voice had begun to waver with each word. “I got a job in a bakery, delivering bread to restaurants until I was old enough to work inside the kitchen. I must have been about twelve by then. It was enough to put food on the table and sometimes pay our rent, but nothing was left over for much else. There was a family with several children who lived nearby. The husband had something to do with the railroads and they always seemed to do okay. The wife would give me clothes their children had grown out of.”
Pierce waited, expecting her to continue. When she didn’t, he reached out and placed his hand on hers
. “As much as I know you’d like to think we have nothing in common, I believe we have much more than you think.”
Mollie looked at him, glanced at their joined hands, and slowly drew hers away. She started to speak when Penelope appeared to take their plates.
When it became apparent their conversation had ended, Pierce stood and pulled Mollie’s chair back.
“Don’t assume this conversation is over, because it isn’t.” He strode toward the entrance hall and grabbed his hat. “I’m to meet Carlton Benstead and Gerald Goss for lunch. I’ll be back directly afterward.”
Mollie watched him leave, perplexed by his lack of reaction to her low upbringing as well as his desire to continue their conversation. Her belief was that their discussion was over. There was no need to bring up the past in any more detail than she’d already shared. Besides, she wasn’t some naïve young girl. She understood his interest in her had nothing to do with anything other than alleviating his physical needs. He’d have to find a solution for that from someone other than her.
******
Lee waited for the message from his contact in Washington, a man he’d known since childhood who now worked in the government and contracted with Alex McCann on a regular basis. Clive Hawkins was one of the few good men in Grover Cleveland’s government, at least in Lee’s opinion. Honest, hardworking, with a sixth sense about anything that could endanger the country. Clive’s father had been a general for the Union army during the Civil War. Clive had followed him to West Point, served his time, then decided on a career in government. Lee wished there were more like him.
The clerk handed him the missive and he scanned it quickly, absorbing the information but not quite believing it. Certainly, it was something he couldn’t share with most in the present assignment. Clive had provided the name of a man under surveillance for various activities deemed to be not only illegal, but also traitorous. The message warned that the information provided was highly secretive and that only four people knew what he had shared.
Wilder Than the Rest: MacLarens of Fire Mountain Page 7