“Shoot me? Surely, you don’t mean that?” Luke questioned raising his eyebrows.
“I most certainly do,” Regina asserted. “I always carry the Derringer my grandmother gave me.”
“Always?”
“Always,” she nodded.
Luke dropped his hands to his side and took his place next to Regina, not too close, but next to her as Archie began the simple ceremony.
The ceremony was short and quick. Regina answered when it was her turn and bit back a smile when she heard Luke force the words she knew he didn’t want to say.
After they were pronounced man and wife, Luke took a chance to look at his new wife. She wasn’t scowling at him, and he thought he saw her trying to hide a small smile.
Regina saw the other couples talking and laughing. She supposed she should try and get along with Luke since they were partners and married. She turned to speak to him when she saw Bronco lift Claudette and spin her around. Somehow, they bumped into another agent sending him tumbling into the table covered with the beautiful cakes Pearl had made for them.
Regina took several steps backward to avoid the mess of cake and frosting crashing to the floor. Marianne’s shocked expression spoke volumes of what she felt when she saw Pearl’s hard work destroyed.
Regina’s eyes opened wide when she saw Bronco grab a handful of cake and throw it at Luke. Her new husband threw a handful of cake back missing Bronco but hitting Elizabeth squarely on her chest. Chaos ensued as more couples became targets of flying cake. Regina stepped away and across the room to avoid getting her dress soiled and hid a laugh behind her hand as she watched her new husband. Perhaps there was more to Luke Tucker than the ladies’ man he portrayed. Surely, the agency saw the best side of him, and if she could manage to keep him at arm’s length, they just might get along.
Archie’s shout of, “Enough” made Regina jump. He had to repeat it twice, but finally, the male agents stopped cavorting on the cake covered floor and rose to their feet. They filed out to change clothes, but Archie stopped Luke for a moment and spoke to him. Luke nodded and continued to his quarters to change.
Marianne asked Regina if she was all right since she was still standing in the corner just staring at the mess and appeared to be fighting laughter.
“Yes, I’m trying not to get cake on my dress. Look, Arielle and Caleb saved the ham and cheese, but should you feed the men after they acted that way?” Regina stifled a laugh again.
“I’m not sure. Men will be men, but today they were little boys. I suppose it was a way to break the tension. I need to help the ladies get changed into clean clothes. Do you need a traveling suit?” Marianne asked.
“No, thank you. This one will do nicely,” Regina assure her.
When Marianne left, Regina offered to help Pearl clean the mess, but Pearl refused not wanting Regina to mess up her clothes on her wedding day.
Regina watched as Archie looked over the room and shook his head. Regina was wondering if he was second-guessing his idea of sending married couples out to solve cases when the men could resort to silliness so easily. Silly or not didn’t change the fact that Regina was an agent of the National Pinkerton Detective Agency and she’d work the case with Luke and maybe next time or the time after that, she’d work a case on her own or with one of the other new female agents.
Regina found a clean chair and decided to sit and wait for Luke to return. It had been an exciting few days, and she was pleased with her decision to send a telegram to her father simply explaining that she moved to Denver and was employed. She doubted if her father would come after her or send one of his employees to look for her. He knew she wouldn’t return and all he might do is…? Oh, no, Regina thought. He might hire someone to look for me. The logical course of action would be to hire someone in Denver to search for her. Someone like a Pinkerton detective. She needed to speak to Archie.
Regina stood and looked around the room to see if Archie was still close by when Luke returned dressed in clean clothes and shiny boots.
Luke approached Regina cautiously and said, “You look perplexed. Is something wrong?”
“I’m not sure. There might be. I need to speak to Mister Gordon before we leave.” “Archie asked us to stop by his office before we leave so you’ll get your chance. Something about our assignment has changed. He wants to speak to us both,” Luke explained.
“All right,” Regina answered. “Are we going now?”
“Yes, we should so we don’t miss our train,” Luke answered and held out his arm and then pulled it back.
“It’s all right, Luke,” Regina said. “As long as you’re a gentleman, I won’t shoot you. Just don’t touch me without permission.” She took his arm and smiled that smile that made his heart skip a beat.
Luke smiled back as they walked toward Archie’s office hoping she’d always smile at him that way but wondered how he could keep from touching his new wife.
Chapter Five
Luke held the door open for Regina as they entered Archie’s office.
“Please sit down, Miss Caulfield, umm Missus Tucker,” Archie stammered.
As Regina sat, she smiled at Archie, “Please call me Regina. I don’t plan to be Missus Tucker any longer than necessary.”
Archie nodded, and Luke raised his eyebrows but took the seat next to his partner wife. She was dressed impeccably, and her dark brown hair was neatly pulled back in a stylish but functional bun. What was wrong with being Missus Tucker? There were worse things she could be but being forced to marry didn’t sit well with him either. Why did she have to be beautiful? Couldn’t Archie have found ugly women for agents? Luke mused.
Archie began, “You received your first assignment, but I need to change it and send you two on an urgent case. It’s a case of a delicate nature in Wyoming that I want the two of you to investigate. First, I received a letter from a young woman in a small town who insists their school teacher, a Miss Abigail Stegler, was abducted. The evening was fairly dark, heavy clouds covered the moon, and no one in town believed that the school teacher was abducted by a man reported to be a hired gunslinger, Red Conroy, from the small town of Treefall approximately fifty miles south.” Archie handed the letter to Regina.
She scanned it quickly, the details now part of her memory, and handed the letter to Luke. Regina glanced back at Archie. “Why won’t they believe the young woman? She’s a preacher’s daughter and had seen that gunslinger in town before. She sounds reliable. They don’t believe her because she’s a woman. That’s unfair, and the men in town believe the teacher left with a strange man without taking her belongings. Are the men of that town intellectually unsound or heavy drinkers?”
Luke stared at his wife as she spoke to Archie. Intellectually unsound? Do people speak that way? He thought. At that moment he decided his wife was smarter than him.
Archie responded, “You make a good point, Regina. People will believe what’s easiest and if they don’t have the resources or inclination to search for an abducted woman, it’s easier to assume she left of her own accord.”
Before Luke had a chance to say a word, Regina continued. “The preacher’s daughter says the man who abducted her friend is from another town. It might be best to start in that town and see if we can find him and hopefully her, too. He may lead us to her.”
Archie nodded, and Luke feeling his frustration grow, grumbled, “Well, Missus Tucker, do you have a plan on what else we should do?”
Regina’s eyes snapped to Luke, and she frowned.
“Wait,” Archie said, “there’s more. Here’s another report of a possible problem in the same town where the teacher may have been taken. It has to do with the printing, selling, and shipping of illicit books.” He again handed the report to Regina, she scanned it, then gave it to Luke.
Regina said, “When I was in school, we heard a lot about the possibility of illicit material being transported to larger cities. There is talk back East that they may pass a law making it illegal to mail any
literature of an illicit nature. This discussion of banning the materials has been going on for some time. A Mister Anthony Comstock has made it an important mission in his life. He is quite passionate about the issue, and I heard he may have plans to travel to Washington to try and have the use of the mail service for illicit materials made illegal. Is that what we’re investigating?”
Luke continued to stare at his wife. Where did she learn these facts? Yes, she was most definitely smarter than him.
“What does one have to do with the other? If it isn’t illegal now to print and sell the books, why bother with a report?” Luke asked.
“Possibly nothing,” Archie answered, “but it seems strange that these two incidents happened in or near the same town. Some might say it’s a coincidence, but as you know, I don’t believe in them. I feel there might be a connection. It’s up to the two of you to find that connection and the teacher.”
“We can do that,” Luke insisted.
Archie, curious as to whether he did the right thing hiring female agents, addressed Regina, “What would you do to investigate either case?”
Regina thought for a moment and answered, “I think the key is the gunslinger, Red Conroy. If he works in or around the town of Treefall, we may find our missing teacher there. The best place to find a gunslinger is in the saloon. I can sing and play the piano, and Luke tells me he used to be a gambler. I can get a job as a saloon entertainer, and Luke can do whatever it is he does. We may also hear talk about the illicit press. Drunks often talk without thinking.”
“Press? Who said we were looking for a press?” Luke inquired staring straight at his wife.
Regina stared back, “How do you produce books without a press? We find the press operator, and he may lead us to the books. We find Red Conroy, and he may lead us to Miss Stegler. It’s common sense.”
“Now, wait a minute,” Luke interjected. “Don’t I have any say in how we work this case?”
“Of course,” Archie answered. “What would you do, Luke?”
Luke shrugged. “I suppose I’d look in the saloon for this Red person. I just don’t think Regina should be in the saloon.”
“What?” Regina said. “I thought I was hired to work cases that needed a woman’s touch or were delicate. This case certainly meets the requirements. I can get closer to the girls at the saloon and ask questions you never could. What did you expect me to do while you investigated? Stay in a hotel room and embroider a sampler?” Her brown eyes bore into Luke’s, and he was at a loss for words.
“Umm, I…” Luke stuttered.
Archie nodded. “Regina has a good plan. Work out the details on the train and report back to me. One last thing, usually I would expect you to report to the local law and identify yourself as agents. From what I’ve read, the sheriff in Treefall is in someone’s pocket. We just don’t know whose pocket. Until you determine who, figure out a good cover story.”
Archie dismissed them with a word of counsel, “You are partners. Work together.”
“Mister Gordon,” Regina said. “Before we leave I need a moment to explain what might become a situation you may not like.”
“Yes,” Archie answered while steepling his fingers and listening intently.
Regina explained her circumstances and her concerns that her father might hire a Pinkerton agent to look for her.
Luke laughed out loud. “A Pinkerton agent looking for another agent. Only I could end up with a wife that’d place me in this predicament.”
Regina scowled, and before she could answer Luke, Archie said. “Her concern is valid, but if any information comes into the office about you, Regina, I’ll handle it. Don’t allow this personal worry cause you to lose focus with your case.”
“I won’t.Thank you, sir,” Regina answered.
Archie nodded, and Regina took a deep cleansing breath.
Luke closed Archie’s office door behind him and Regina and hurried over to Marianne’s desk. His usual dazzling smile was replaced with a scowl.
“This is all your fault. Archie didn’t put Regina and me together without your help. I suppose you think this is funny? She took over in there, and I didn’t get a word in. She planned our entire case or at least as far as she could. How am I supposed to run this case with her along?” Luke demanded.
“You’re partners. You need to work together. Regina is brilliant, and you complement each other. You’ll see how useful it is to have a partner that can work with you and one that you can trust completely.”
“Trust? That remains to be seen,” Luke grumbled.
Marianne smiled, “She’s your wife. Of course, you can trust her. She’s also your partner. It’s essential that partners trust each other.”
Luke leaned close to Marianne and whispered, “But she threatened to shoot me if I kissed her at the wedding.”
Marianne bit back a laugh, “Then don’t try to kiss her without her permission.”
Luke spun on his heel to leave and saw Regina standing by the door impatiently tapping her foot. She was beautiful, but trust her? That might come with time. Female agents were new and untrained. Regina had a lot to learn but listening to her in Archie’s office had Luke wondering who was going to teach who and which of them would win a battle of wits.
Luke strode toward Regina and watched the frown on her face turn into a beautiful smile when she looked past him to Marianne. “Thank you for all the help, Marianne. We’ll keep in contact,” Regina told the secretary.
“I know you will. Be safe and support each other,” Marianne suggested as Luke ushered Regina out the door.
Regina waved her fingers at Marianne as Luke hurried her out into the hall.
“What’s your hurry?” Regina snapped. “I wanted to say goodbye to Marianne.”
“Women,” Luke mumbled. “Given the time you’d begin talking about dress patterns and apple pie recipes. We have a case to investigate.”
“I’m more than prepared to start the investigation. I didn’t hear you offer a lot of suggestions in Archie’s office.”
“How could I when you took over the conversation?”
Regina shrugged, “I was only answering Archie’s questions. You certainly have a short fuse, and I thought you were going to be a gentleman.”
Luke growled quietly and reached for Regina’s arm.
“Don’t touch me.”
“You’re my wife.”
“I’ll shoot you.”
Luke raised his hands in surrender and began walking toward the front door with Regina following.
“Wait, I have to go back to my room and get something,” Regina said.
“Your bags are packed, we have a train to catch, and you don’t need anything else,” Luke insisted.
“Yes, I do. I didn’t bring many evening gowns with me, but I do have two my step-mother insisted I buy for last Christmas season. One is red, and the other is deep emerald green. They are both satin and have lace embellishments. With a little creative sewing, both will make wonderful dresses for a saloon girl.”
“Saloon girl,” Luke stammered. “I told you that I’d decide what you’d do.”
“Yes, you did, but there is no way you can approach the girls at the saloon in the same way I can. We’re both professionals. We’ll work it out,” she said leaving a stunned Luke staring after her.
Chapter Six
Regina and Luke settled into their seats for the train ride to Cheyenne Wyoming. The ride would be short, only slightly more than a hundred miles, and Luke advised Regina that the train ride would be the easy part of their journey. Traveling to the north-west Wyoming town of Treefall by stagecoach would be more difficult. Regina wasn’t sure if he was trying to dissuade her into traveling and giving up her career or if he was genuinely concerned about her comfort. One could never tell with Luke. He had two expressions, delightful and severe.
Luke turned to Regina and asked, “Tell me something about you? As your husband, I should know about your life.”
�
�That’s true,” Regina agreed and began to tell him about being sent off to boarding schools, summers with her grandparents, her step-mother’s abominable attitude toward her, her father’s concern for her wavering between love and what marriage to the right man might do for his business.
Luke laughed out loud when she explained about shooting the stable boy. “You didn’t really, did you? Just for calling you Gina?”
Regina nodded, “My stepmother has the shrillest voice I’ve heard, and when she was angry with me, which was quite often, she’d start to yell at me. Her voice would grow louder, and all I’d hear is Gina screeched through the house. The first part of my name never reached my ears.”
“I can understand why you’d hate the name, but did you have to shoot him?” Luke looked her straight in the eyes.
“I warned him twice before. He laughed at me and grabbed for me. He wanted to kiss me. I told him no, and he didn’t listen. I keep my promises, so I shot him. I aimed for the outside of his left arm which is exactly where I hit him. He was right handed so it didn’t cause him any problems working and my father made him a generous financial offer not to call the police. I wasn’t arrested, the young man learned a lesson, and he never came near me again,” Regina explained while straightening the wrinkles in her skirt.
Luke could understand her reasoning to a point. She was defending herself and didn’t have a fear of guns. That would help if she ever found herself alone and in danger, but she said she’d shoot him if he tried to kiss her after their wedding. She keeps her promises. He better not try to kiss her again. It was going to be difficult.
He smiled hoping to keep Regina in a good mood and asked, “Regina is formal, didn’t your friends ever call you Gina?”
“Never, they called me Reggie.”
“Umm, can I call you Reggie? After all, you call me Luke and not Lucas,” Luke asked.
“Hmm, maybe but I like Lucas.”
“No,” he practically shouted. “I hate Lucas for nearly the same reason you hate Gina.” The scowl on his face led Regina to believe there was a sad story behind his feelings.
An Agent for Regina Page 3