An Agent for Arabella: Pinkerton Matchmakers, #17

By Patricia PacJac Carroll

Arabella needs a job to pay for her sister's medical care at the sanatorium in Denver. After hiring Pinkerton agents to help her rescue her sister, she goes to the Pinkerton Headquarters for a job and is hired easily enough. Then, she sees that she is paired with Gerard Fletcher. Worse, the agency marries her to the man and sends her on a case with him.

 

Gerard Fletcher decides since his success with rescuing the mail-order brides from a Mexican brothel, he goes to the Pinkerton Headquarters in Denver for a job and is quickly hired. Then he sees Arabella and they are married. Great. She's beautiful, even if she does have an attitude. Then he gets the case, and his world crumbles. He's sent after his old partner to catch him in a swindle. Great. The very man that Gerard swindled and owes money to.

 

Love Never Fails, even as Gerard and Arabella do in this sweet romance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barr26 Publishing, LLC
• Release date: Nov 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223201564

Book preview

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1871, Denver

Arabella Powers tucked the blanket around her twin sister, Anabella. Lung disease, the doctor had said. Arabella gazed out the window to the Rocky Mountains and prayed her sister would recover.

For Anabella, having the disease had saved her from a horrible life as a bought woman in Mexico, but now she was in a different fight for her life. She’d gone to Brownsville, Texas, to be a mail-order bride, not knowing that her intended had sent letters to many cities and collected mail-order brides to be sold in Mexico for a healthy price.

Fortunately for Anabella, she contracted lung disease. She was kept separate from the other women hoping that she would recover, which gave Arabella time to rescue her with the help of Pinkerton agents Seth and Charity Warren.

Now, Arabella worried about her sister’s health. They were at the sanitarium in Denver that was known to offer hope to those with the disease.

Anabella weakly reached for her hand. Ara, don’t worry about me. I want you to live your life.

Arabella kissed her sister goodbye. Dear Ana, you’re always thinking of others. I promise I’ll get on with my life as soon as I see that you’re taken care of. It didn’t take long, and her sister fell asleep. Arabella reluctantly left her in the large room of hospital beds in the sanitorium.

On the way out, Dr. Newsome, the head of the hospital, stopped her. Miss Powers, I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but we do expect you to pay for your sister’s care.

By the man’s stone-face, Arabella doubted he’d cracked a smile in twenty years, but then perhaps dealing with such tragic circumstances led to his demeanor. I will pay for her care. Somehow. She looked around the unfamiliar city as if to find an answer.

Dr. Newsome shook her hand. Let’s hope the treatments work. Good day.

Arabella left the building, took in a deep breath, and was thankful that she could. She had so much to be grateful for, but how would she pay for the treatments? Her thoughts drifted to Charity and Seth. Charity had been hired as a Pinkerton agent by the head of the Denver office.

Arabella thought back to the ordeal she’d gone through to rescue her sister and smiled to herself. I can do that. After all, I figured out what that horrible man Ana had gone to was up to. Arabella dashed down the street and into a local diner and asked where the Pinkerton agency was located. Getting the information, she walked by the directions she’d been given.

It was only a twenty-minute walk when she saw the sign. A little foreboding, but she didn’t have the option to walk on by. Ana needed her, and she wasn’t about to let her down. Dr. Newsome thought her sister had a chance, and Arabella was going to do everything in her power to give her that chance.

Pushing down her trepidation, she knocked on the door.

Before she finished knocking, a big gentleman, to use the term very loosely, swung open the door and rushed out muttering.

Arabella went inside and heard more shouts and angry words. She almost spun around to leave until she thought of Ana. Her poor sister had no choice. Pulling her shoulders back, Arabella walked to the desk where a pleasant-looking woman sat.

In fact, the woman seemed to be oblivious to the shouting.

Arabella cleared her throat.

Looking up from her desk, the woman beamed a smile. Hello, I’m Marianne Chapman.

Arabella Powers.

Looking a little confused, Marianne rummaged through her papers. Did you contact me earlier?

No, Ma’am. I heard you were hiring women.

Marianne looked up at her, and her smile diminished a bit. I see. Do you have qualifications?

I’m smart. I helped your agents, Seth and Charity Warren, rescue my sister.

Oh, yes. That’s where I know your name. You were the client. She put a pencil to her lip. Can you shoot a gun?

My father taught me. Shotgun mostly.

You can read?

Yes. Proficiently.

Let me talk to Mr. Gordon, the lead agent. Marianne disappeared into the room where all the arguing was going on.

Arabella stepped away from the desk and studied the walls filled with awards and letters of commendation. Seems Mr. Archibald Gordon was quite a success. One frame contained a civil war medal. Another a letter from Allan Pinkerton himself.

Waiting, she sat on the divan under the framed letters and prayed. This had to work. There were no other jobs she was suited for that would make the amount of money an agent would be paid.

Marianne came out of the room and shut the door as the shouts resumed. I think we can use you. Are you physically fit?

Yes. My family owned a store, and I am used to hard work. She left out that her father had died, and they’d lost the family business. Being a woman in a man’s world had its liabilities.

You aren’t married or with child?,

No. Truth was, she’d never come close to being married. Once the store was taken from them, she and her sister had nothing. One older man had made inquiries about Anabella, which led her sister to answer the letter to be a mail-order bride to the awful man in Texas.

Come back tomorrow. Marianne paused. "I do have to tell you. Mr. Gordon has decided that the women are paired with a seasoned agent, and then they are married. Now the marriage can be annulled, as long as you don’t, well, you know. After the cases have been solved, you are free to go your separate ways or remain married.

Married? That’s an odd way to do business.

Yes, but it is a protection for the women.

Arabella looked the woman in the eye. I will be paid my own wages?

Marianne shuffled through some papers. Oh, yes. Of course.

Thinking of her sister, Arabella put her hand down to stop the woman from shuffling the papers. I have responsibilities and will be counting on that pay.

With a shocked look on her face, Marianne nodded. I understand. Yes, you will be paid. It won’t be the same amount as the man because you’re in training.

That’s fair enough. Arabella relaxed. She would take care of Ana, even if it came at the high cost of marrying a man she didn’t know. How ironic, she thought. The reason she was agreeing to marry a man she didn’t know was that her sister had gone off to marry a man she hadn’t known. Arabella said a quiet prayer, asking the Lord to be with her. Do I choose which agent I marry?

Shaking her head, Marianne flipped through some papers. No, my dear. I’m afraid that is a job for Archie, that is Mr. Gordon. But he has done an excellent job so far, and most of the agents have been quite happy with the arrangements.

The door behind Marianne opened and slammed. A rugged man stormed out, glared at her, and yelled. No way will I trade my freedom for a job. And in a rush of wind and curses, he was gone.

Marianne smiled wanly. Most of them.

Arabella laughed. I see. I’ll pray he picks a good one for me. She started to leave when Marianne stopped her.

We have an agreement with a hotel down the street for our women agents. Dinner will be served at five in the main house. Pearl is a wonderful cook. Men are on one side of the room and women on the other. Mr. Gordon will get with you tomorrow.

Thank you. Arabella practically floated to the boarding house. She secured her room and was halfway up the stairs when she remembered she was to be married off to a man she didn’t know. Hopefully, her luck would be much different than Ana’s. She wouldn’t tell her sister about the arrangement, only that she had a job.

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Gerard Fletcher walked confidently to the Denver headquarters of the Pinkerton agency. Seth had written him a nice letter of recommendation and assured him that they needed new agents.

Gerard wanted the excitement the Pinkerton Agency offered him. He enjoyed going after wanted men. Or women. He’d been a private detective on his own for a couple of years but found the ordeal of running a business tedious.

He enjoyed the reckless abandon of the chase. To figure out the clues and find who did the crime. He was good at it. A natural. At least, that is what he’d told his few clients. He took out a silver dollar and flipped it in the air. He was ready for some steady work and, more importantly, a steady paycheck.

Gerard stopped in front of the diner and stared at his reflection in the window. He brushed his hair with his fingers and twisted his mustache. He was a good-looking man if he didn’t say so himself. With his sandy-colored hair, blue eyes, and tall, muscular build, he turned women’s heads wherever he went. Add to his looks that he was smart, and he had it all. Well, except money.

He’d request only the good cases. Maybe the ones where he could squeeze out a reward or two. Yes, they’d soon see that Gerard Fletcher was a man to be reckoned with. He strode down the street until he saw the Pinkerton Agency.

He tugged on the left side of his mustache. This ought to be easy.

He knocked on the door, opening it at the same time, and smiled at the pretty little lady sitting at the desk.

Good day, Miss. He tipped his hat and winked at her. She was a pretty one at that. Not to mention that it was a good idea to get on her good side.

Marianne. She stared at him as if this was a regular occurrence.

I’ve come to see about a job as a Pinkerton Agent. He pulled Seth’s letter from his pocket and handed it to her. Seth Warren wrote this letter of recommendation.

She took the letter, read it quickly, and smiled. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Fletcher. Let me take this to my boss, Archibald Gordon, the lead agent of the Denver office.

By all means. Gerard sat on the divan and waited. The place was quiet as a tomb. No doubt they needed help.

The door opened. Mr. Gordon will see you.

Gerard followed her into the office and held out his hand to the distinguished-looking Mr. Gordon. Pleased to meet you, sir.

Sit down. Mr.