Cari: The Daring Adventures of a Female Pinkerton Agent

By Cyndi Raye

A woman who breaks all the rules - A man who lives by them - Can opposites attract while bringing down a notorious swindler before he kills again?

 

Cari Kyllikki won't allow her disability to hinder her dream of becoming a Pinkerton Detective. She has become a master of hiding her daily struggles. What she didn't count on was a Pinkerton Agent who is determined to uncover her secrets. All of them!

 

Michael Durango works strictly by the book; there is no deviating even a little bit. When he finds out what his new wife is hiding, he has a decision to make -- tell the agency and risk her losing her job or keep her secret and complete the case. If only he could tear his thoughts away from her long enough to decide.

 

What does Michael do to protect his partner and solve the case? Will their suspect kill again, or turn his attention to the Pinkertons on his trail? Will Michael and Cari find love along the way, or will her secret tear apart everything they believe?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cyndi Raye
• Release date: May 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223915638

Cyndi Raye

Cyndi Raye writes mostly historical western romance except when she comes up with an idea for a contemporary romance, then she writes both. She loves the old West and the feel of small town togetherness, which is found in all of her series. Creating worlds where everyone is considered family, if not by blood, but from friendships, heartaches and sometimes mistakes made right again is what she loves to read. So, it was important to create such a world for her own readers to indulge in. Cyndi lives in Eastern PA and loves to travel and enjoy life with her hubby of 40+ years. She has 3 grown children and loves to spend time with her grands whenever possible. Don't forget to sign up for the mailing list to get a free copy of the exclusive short read: Miss Addie, the Beginning. The story behind the Brides of Wichita Falls. (This will not be sold, exclusive for reader's only).

Book preview

Table of Contents

An Agent for Cari

copyright

Dedicated to a special friend

Wanted: Female Agents

Disclosure

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Books by Cyndi Raye

Cari

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The Daring Adventures of

a Female Pinkerton Agent

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by

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Cyndi Raye

Copyright © 2023 www.CyndiRaye.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book. This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.

Dedicated to a special friend

Cari Lopez Bryan

This book is dedicated to her extraordinary strength and will. No matter what obstacles came her way, she punched them with a mighty fist and moved the mountains in front of her!

Cari, RIP, you were and still are an inspiration to so many. You have no idea how much of your light shown across the world.

Fight CRC

https://fightcolorectalcancer.org

Wanted: Female Agents to join the infamous Pinkerton Detective Agency

Inquire Inside!

Every single town in major cities had this sign in the window of the newspaper offices, or was found in the daily paper. Many women, strong, brave and independent were applying for the newly appointed job as an agent where only men were hired before. These are some of the adventures of a female Pinkerton Agent.

A woman who breaks all the rules - A man who lives by them - Can opposites attract while bringing down a notorious swindler before he kills again?

Cari Kyllikki won't allow her disability to hinder her dream of becoming a Pinkerton Detective. She has become a master of hiding her daily struggles. What she didn't count on was a Pinkerton Agent who is determined to uncover her secrets. All of them!

Michael Durango works strictly by the book; there is no deviating even a little bit. When he finds out what his new wife is hiding, he has a decision to make—tell the agency and risk her losing her job or keep her secret and complete the case. If only he could tear his thoughts away from her long enough to decide.

What does Michael do to protect his partner and solve the case? Will their suspect kill again, or turn his attention to the Pinkertons on his trail? Will Michael and Cari find love along the way, or will her secret tear apart everything they believe?

Disclosure: This book was previously published as An Agent for Cari in The Pinkerton Matchmaker series created by Christine Sterling. It has recently been edited and republished under this new title.

Chapter 1

Michael Durango left the stage office to make his way down the dusty street of Pistol Ridge. His black patent leather shoes had been immaculate, just like the solid black three-piece suit he wore. Even though a thin layer of dust covered him from head to toe he still appeared tidy and ready for a Sunday church sermon.

Except it wasn’t Sunday.

He pushed back the wide brim of his matching wool slouch hat, his piercing dark eyes searching for the sheriff’s office. Miss Karen at the Tumbleweed Stage Office said it was right next door. He spotted the small sign and let out a deep sigh. There were a lot of people inside.

His office had assigned him and a partner to this particular case a month and a half ago. Michael didn’t approve of using a woman to lure a dirty criminal out, but they had tried to catch this notorious swindler for half a decade, to no avail. And yet, there was no proof the man had done anything wrong.

This time, it would be different.

The bait they planned to use to lure him out with was a female Pinkerton agent.

When the female agent was hired, it was under the agreement she’d have to pretend to be his sister until the case was over in order to catch the bad guy. He knew for a fact she also wanted to prove herself from the start. Why hadn’t she done something a bit easier than throwing herself to the wolves on her first assignment? This was not going to be easy. If Withers finds out she is anything but a fair maiden wanting a husband, he may try to kill her.

The risk of being a Pinkerton is high, but she was too inexperienced for such a case so soon. He had thought she’d want to get some time under her belt before diving in head first like this.

Michael let out a deep sigh. He was offered the Goldman case in New York City or this one. Why hadn’t he taken that instead of working with an amateur and having to pretend to be related to her also? A decision like this one should be easy. Instead, he got caught up in the woman’s beautiful, alluring hazel eyes and those silky waves that cascaded down both sides of her beautiful face.

He carefully placed a hand on the door to the sheriff’s office, hesitating for a moment, trying to focus on his job at hand. Ever since he had spent the last few weeks in training with agent Cari Kyllikki, his mind kept wandering off with thoughts of her. Especially since she was set up in a nice house in the next town over, waiting for Withers to show up, like bait on the end of a fishing pole.

That meant he had to stay on top of his game, focusing on the duties of a Pinkerton agent, not dreaming of holding her in his arms. Dang it, he wasn’t expecting his new partner to be so beautiful.

But that’s why they wanted to use her as bait. No man would be able to resist her beauty and charm. It was expected that Carl Withers would navigate right to her the moment he got to town and the folks of Pistol Ridge gave the Pinkertons the perfect opportunity to set a trap for Withers in the next town over since it was one of the stops along the stage route.

He heard the gentle neigh of a horse as he looked back to see the stage coach taking off down the street, leaving the town behind. His left hand almost shot in the air to stop the coach. It would be easy to go back to the office and have someone else be assigned to this case. His peers would be happy to step in, but his boss would be disappointed that he didn’t see it through.

So would he.

Because Michael was too involved now with his partner and he didn’t want to be. He didn’t want to mess up his orderly, content life. He liked being on his own working as an agent. The presence of this female Pinkerton had him in a state of confusion and she was in the next town over, waiting excitedly to get to work. She had no idea he wasn’t able to stop thinking about her.

Cari Kylliki had bowed over all the men at the Pinkerton office during her training there. Every single male wanted this assignment, even pulling Michael aside to ask him to step down at one point or another. Every single day for three weeks he had been asked to trade assignments with several other agents. He had refused every single man who asked. This was his assignment and he took his work seriously. He