by Laura Beers
“If you keep walking about two hundred yards up the road, you will see the mayor’s house,” Deputy Harper explained, pointing down the road. “It’s past the schoolhouse on your left.”
Smoothing out her skirt, she tipped her head graciously toward him. “Thank you again, deputy.”
“I hope to see you around, Mrs. Kimball,” he said, tipping his hat.
Smiling to herself, Audrey thought about Deputy Harper as she walked up the road. Now, that was how a man was supposed to act. Considerate. Polite. Traits that her partner certainly did not have. Her thoughts soured as she thought about Warren and how he’d attempted to manipulate her last night. His job was to train her, not harass her or demean her at every opportunity.
She may not have been born a man, but she was confident she could handle the rigors of being a Pinkerton agent. Why did Warren make her feel so inferior? She had solved cases for the Cincinnati Police Department, and she’d done it alone, without backup.
The faster they solved this case, the faster she could get an annulment and never have to see Warren Rockwell again.
Chapter 7
Audrey grimaced as she pricked herself with the needle… again. Glancing around the room, she could not fathom how these women enjoyed sitting around using these torture devices to create a quilt. A small, red dot appeared on her finger, and she brought it up to her mouth. She decided that very moment that she needed to increase the wages of all her maids who were required to sew on a regular basis.
When they had finished their uneventful tour of the town, Mrs. Brown had invited her to help with the quilt she was making at the sewing circle. Thirty women were in the hotel’s dining room, sitting around tables, merrily chatting as they sewed.
“Ladies, we still have plenty of the baked goods that everyone so graciously brought to share,” Mrs. Henderson reminded the group as she stood by a long table covered with cookies, cakes, and other delicious confections.
Audrey removed her finger from her mouth and pushed the needle through the fabric, pleased that it was a successful attempt. “I did it,” she mumbled under her breath.
A woman chuckled behind her. “That you did,” she said as she sat down on the chair next to her. “I take it you are not a fan of needlework.”
Audrey looked at the woman no older than she with red hair, fair skin, and freckles along her nose. Smiling, she admitted, “I never excelled at this lesson during my time at finishing school.”
“What subjects did you prefer?”
Placing the quilt onto the round table, she replied, “My parents sent me there to learn deportment and etiquette, but I discovered a love for physics, chemistry, and mathematics.”
The young woman gave her a look of surprise. “Those are quite unladylike pursuits.”
Audrey waved her hand over the quilt. “Apparently, I didn’t learn the necessary skills to acquire a husband,” she joked, but then remembered she was a married woman. She ducked her head, pretending shyness. “Until recently.”
“Heavens, me,” the red-headed young woman said, feigning shock. “I did obtain the skills to land a respectable husband right after finishing school, but I lost him during the war.”
“I am sorry for your loss,” Audrey murmured.
A wistful expression came to her face. “Thank you. Almost everyone I know lost someone that they loved during the war.” A forced smile came to her lips. “Enough about heartache and gloom,” she put her hand out, “I am Phoebe Quinn.”
Shaking her hand, Audrey responded, “I am Audrey Kimball. It is nice to meet you.”
Phoebe leaned closer and put a hand to her mouth. “Has Mayor Brown managed to insult you, yet?”
Ensuring Mrs. Brown was out of earshot at the next table over, she whispered, “His greeting to me when I got off the train was… unusual.”
Phoebe laughed and leaned back in her seat. “He is a kind man and means no harm, but he tends to say the first thing that comes to his mind,” she paused, smirking, “especially around women.”
“I assumed as much,” Audrey assured her. “If there are so few women in Hickory Creek, how are you avoiding the marital noose?”
Tapping her fingers on the white tablecloth, Phoebe just huffed, amused. “Men have tried… are trying, but my sister and I are incredibly busy running the finishing school.” Her eyes roamed the room as she shared, “Besides, my sister refuses to leave the school grounds, and I don’t have an interest in courting again.” Her eyes grew misty. “My husband and I were childhood sweethearts.”
Audrey gave her a sympathetic smile. “I can’t even imagine the pain of losing a husband,” she admitted, her tone filled with compassion. After a moment of silence, she asked, “Why does your sister refuse to leave the school grounds?”
Phoebe dropped her hands into her lap. “She takes her role as headmistress very seriously, which allows me to focus my attention on our art department.”
Angling her body toward her new friend, Audrey said, “I don’t mean to offend, but I was surprised to discover there was a finishing school in such a rustic town.”
“That is the beauty of it,” Phoebe explained. “Our finishing school is the only one for hundreds of miles. If someone from the west wants to send their daughter to finishing school but doesn’t want them to travel to the east coast, they have the option of sending them to Mrs. Tucker’s Finishing School.”
“Do you have high enrollment?” Audrey asked, curiously.
“The cattle barons, miners, and logging company employees all send their daughters to our school. It is much safer in a small town, and we ensure our girls are protected from all threats.”
“Like Indians?”
Phoebe shook her head. “We have a school full of beautiful, wealthy girls and are near a town that is full of unattached, rowdy ruffians. We have fenced and gated the entire school and have guards posted throughout our property.” Her eyes grew determined, and her words became hard. “No one comes into our school without our consent.”
Audrey hoped her face was emotionless as Warren had directed her. “That is admirable.” Her instincts told her there was something more about this woman, but she couldn’t put her fingers on what it was.
Phoebe’s face softened. “When did you move into our town?”
Audrey pushed one of her hairpins back into place. “We haven’t, yet. My husband wants to invest in one of the coal or timber enterprises near Hickory Creek. However,” she hesitated, glancing over her shoulder to ensure she wouldn’t be overheard, “our funds are tied up in other investments, and he won’t let me spend any money.” She slumped her shoulders and pouted a little in apparent frustration. “I wish I was free to take a job and earn my own money. That way I could be more in control of my life.” Taking a deep breath, she curbed her impatience and hoped her ploy worked.
Phoebe’s eyes widened as she snapped her fingers. “Why don’t you come work as a teacher at the finishing school?”
Pretending to be anxious, she shifted her gaze to the floor. “I don’t know. My husband has a temper, and I worry that he will be angry with me.”
“Nonsense,” Phoebe insisted, leaning closer to her. “It is only a temporary position. One of our teachers just ran off with a man, and we need someone to fill in for her class for a while. You would be the perfect teacher. The pay is $4.25 a week.”
Audrey dropped her jaw. “I would be rich!”
Phoebe laughed. “Not rich, but you would have your own money.”
“It is only temporary?”
Nodding, Phoebe confirmed, “Less than a month. My sister won’t mind that you’re married, since we are in quite a predicament. It will take weeks for her to sort through all the correspondence and hire a new teacher. Besides, it would be nice to have a friend at the school. All the other teachers keep to themselves, and it can be quite lonely.”
Pressing her lips together, Audrey pretended that she was mulling over her response. She wanted an opportunity to look around the sch
ool. If she found nothing suspicious, then she would say that her husband wouldn’t let her continue working and quit.
“I’ll do it,” she exclaimed excitedly, then quickly covered her mouth and darted her eyes around. Lowering her voice, she added, “When can I start?”
With a wide, approving smile, Phoebe answered, “Arrive at the school tomorrow at seven, and we will set you up in your classroom. You will be teaching a few subjects, but I have no doubt it will be easy for you.”
Audrey pulled Phoebe into a tight embrace. “Thank you, Phoebe. This is a wonderful opportunity, and I will not make you regret your offer.”
Patting her sleeve, her new friend replied, “You are quite welcome. We women have to stick together, especially in this God-forsaken town.”
Audrey leaned back. “I am going to go tell my husband now. If he gets angry, then so be it,” she stated, abruptly rising.
Phoebe fixed her with a steely gaze. “If your husband won’t let you work at the school, we have ways of making him change his mind.” The matter-of-fact way she spoke caused chills to course down Audrey’s spine. Had she misjudged Phoebe? Perhaps she should be afraid of this woman.
No, she was a Pinkerton agent now. She couldn’t let fear rule her life. Besides, Phoebe might just be a tad intense. She may have nothing to do with the counterfeiting. Either way, Audrey needed to take a tour of that finishing school.
As she made her way to their rented room, Audrey wondered how upset Warren would be that she just took a teaching position.
Warren pushed a branch out of the way and walked through the pine trees, not bothering to follow a path. He prided himself on being in control, but Audrey somehow always managed to unhinge him. She was a walking contradiction, and he couldn’t control that. He couldn’t control her. How was he going to keep her safe if she constantly did the opposite of what he asked her to do?
“Warren, please stop,” Audrey said from somewhere behind him. “I can’t keep up.”
Stopping in a clearing, he placed his hands on his hips as he waited for her to reach him. He hadn’t meant to walk so fast, but he was just so darned irritated. When he saw her emerge from the trees, he sighed in aggravation.
Why did Audrey insist on wearing men’s clothing to their target practice? Didn’t she know that it attracted unwanted attention? Even in trousers and a blue shirt, she looked alluring, making it nearly impossible to look away. She was going to be the death of him.
He kicked a pine cone next to his foot and grumbled, “Next time, wear a dress.”
Not deterred by his anger, Audrey walked closer to him and smiled... actually smiled at him! Didn’t she fear him at all? “I believe I already explained to you, dear husband, that it is easier to wear trousers when we are traipsing through the forest.”
“We are not traipsing.”
She gave him a one-shouldered shrug. “Regardless, it is much easier when I don’t have to wear ten pounds of fabric around my waist.”
He took a step closer to her. “I can see every one of your curves in those clothes.” Those glorious curves, he thought.
“Then it is a good thing we are married,” she replied cheekily.
Realizing that she was finding humor in this situation, he started grabbing large pine cones from the needle-coated ground. “I wish you would take your job more seriously,” he grunted.
“Like you?” She chuckled.
“Yes,” he stated as he found the ideal log to balance the pine cones on.
“Fine,” she grunted in a deep voice. “I will act like you.”
Keeping his back toward her, he sighed in annoyance. “Now you are just being ridiculous.”
Audrey walked next to him and dropped her handful of pine cones near the log. “Should I get more?” she asked in the same deep voice.
He shook his head. Why hadn’t he been partnered with a different woman? Someone like Diana. Why had she been assigned to Wyatt? She seemed like a nice, agreeable woman. Instead, he got an heiress that refused to understand the seriousness of their assignment.
Stepping back, he was pleased to see the six pine cones balancing on the log. Now, the hard part. He needed to teach Audrey how to shoot. Before he turned around, he heard bullets whizzing past him knocking the pine cones high in the sky. When the last shot was fired, his jaw dropped. She had managed to hit every pine cone accurately!
He turned around and stared at her in amazement. Audrey could shoot. And she was not just proficient, she was deadly accurate. After she blew the smoke from her revolver, she tucked it back into her belt. She walked to the log and picked up the pine cones she’d dropped, balancing them on the log.
As she stepped back, she asked, “Would you like me to go again?”
“Where did you learn to shoot like that?” he asked, his eyes not wavering from her face.
She smiled at him flirtatiously. “I am not just a pretty face, remember?”
Warren rubbed his chin. “That was impressive. I have never seen a woman shoot…”
“Just stop,” she declared, putting her hand up. “Even your compliments are backhanded.”
“You are an impressive marksman,” he stated, honestly. “I had assumed that I would have to train you to shoot, but this saves us a lot of time.”
He pulled his revolver out, hit all six of the pine cones, and had his gun tucked into his belt before the last pine cone hit the ground. He sat on the log and patted the spot next to him. “What did you learn from the sewing circle?”
Audrey walked hesitantly toward him, choosing to sit on the opposite end of the log. He gave her a questioning glance, but she averted her gaze. Interesting, he thought.
After a long moment, she looked at him. “I met Phoebe Quinn, who runs Mrs. Tucker’s Finishing School with her sister. We struck up a conversation, and my instinct tells me there is more than meets the eye about Phoebe and that finishing school.”
“Your instinct?”
“It is just a gut feeling that I have.” She looked at the ground. “So, I ac…” Her voice became so soft that he couldn’t hear her words.
He scooted over on the log until he sat next to her. “Can you repeat that?”
She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and met his gaze. “I accepted a teaching position at the finishing school.”
“What?” Jumping up from his seat, he glared at her. “Are you quitting as a Pinkerton agent already?”
Maintaining his hardened gaze, she didn’t cower from him or appear afraid as she explained, “Not at all. By accepting the position as a teacher, I will have the opportunity to search the school.”
Frustrated, he shouted, “And just what do you hope to find?” He threw his hands up. “Pencils? Books?”
She stood, and there was no distance between them. “I don’t know, but I want to check it out.”
Closing his eyes, he lifted his face heavenward and counted to ten. When he was calmer, he said, “We don’t have a single lead on the counterfeiters, and now you want to stop our investigation to snoop around a girl’s school?”
“I just feel…”
He cut her off. “Feelings will get you killed.”
Audrey pressed her lips together, annoyance flashing on her features. “You look at me and see a helpless woman. Don’t try to deny it. I see it in your eyes.” She glared up at him. “You think I am weak because I am a woman. You think I cannot possibly handle being a Pinkerton agent because I am a woman!” By the time she finished her last word, she was shouting.
Warren bit his tongue. Everything she accused him of was accurate.
After a long moment, Audrey huffed. “I’m never going to please you, am I?” The hurt in her tone was palpable.
Warren was beginning to regret his angry outburst.
“If I was a man, would you respect my opinion that something is odd about the finishing school?”
“It would depend on the circumstances,” he responded, seeing no reason to lie.
“Unbelievable,�
�� she muttered, wrapping her arms around her waist. He could see the disappointment in her eyes as she watched him. “For years, I dreamed of being a Pinkerton agent, but it turns out that my own partner can’t overlook my gender long enough to give me a chance to prove myself.”
She turned to leave, but he gripped her right arm, stopping her.
“Wait, don’t go,” he urged.
“Don’t you dare try to manipulate me again, Warren.” Her tone held a warning.
He was confused. “When did I try to manipulate you?”
“Last night, when you pretended you wanted to kiss me, so I would finish my story,” she replied, frowning.
He chuckled. “Pretending? Darling, it took all of my self-control not to kiss you.”
A small line appeared between her brow. “You weren’t trying to trick me?”
A whiff of vanilla floated to his nose, and he breathed in the heavenly scent. “No, I was trying to be a gentleman.”
Still holding her arm, Warren felt his wife relax.
Peering deep into his eyes, she asked, “Why don’t you trust me?”
Shifting his gaze over her shoulder, he admitted reluctantly, “My job is to train you and to keep you protected. But it is hard when you refuse to follow my direct orders.”
“And what orders are those?” she asked defiantly.
“You were only supposed to engage Mrs. Brown in idle talk over dinner, but instead you steered the conversation toward counterfeiting.” He gave her a pointed look. “And I believe you are wasting your time on the girl’s school.”
She rolled her eyes. “I thought we were partners?”
“We are,” he assured her.
Audrey shook her head. “No, we aren’t. Partners rely on each other, trust each other. You are trying to keep me out of the investigation.”
“I’m trying to protect you,” he insisted. “Why don’t you see that?”
“I can protect myself.” Audrey bit her lower lip as she watched him. “You will never let me prove myself, will you?” Her tone and expression were sad as she pulled her arm from his grasp and turned to leave.