An Agent for Josie: Pinkerton Matchmakers, #27

By P. Creeden

Marriage has always been the furthest thing from Josie Roth's mind. After all, the majority of men cannot suffer for a woman to vote, much less tolerate one who is smarter than him. For want of a son to take over his practice, her father raised his only child, Josie, to do the job. Even though she graduated summa cum laude at the New England Women's College of Medicine, many in New England still looked down on her, believing that women should be either nurses or midwives. So, her father decided to take to the rails and travel out West, to Wyoming, and start a practice where there was a shortage of good doctors, hoping she'd be less frowned upon, being a woman.

 

Billy Hogge worked with Allan Pinkerton as an agent in Chicago before the fire. In fact, as a former fireman, he had volunteered to help bring the flames under control before they consumed the city. When the Chicago office shuts down, he joins the Pinkerton agency in Denver to work on crimes out west. He sees it as a great opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

 

The two of them meet under the unfortunate circumstances of Josie's father's death. But she's too sick to make arrangements, so Billy does them for her. When she finally comes to herself and mourns her father, she discovers that the town in Wyoming isn't free of the prejudices that she'd been dealing with in the East, and she turns to the Pinkerton agency for employment.

 

What happens when these two find out that the only way to work their next case together is by getting married first?

 

Lady Pinkerton detectives, their rough and ready agents, and a whole lot of excitement and romance! The Pinkerton Matchmaker series tells the stories of the women determined to bring criminals to justice, and the agents who win their hearts. Each book is a standalone story and they can be read in any order.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barr26 Publishing, LLC
• Release date: Dec 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223269793

Book preview

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March 1872

Josie

Josie wiped the sweat from her brow. Please help me with him. She peered into the conductor’s face.

The burly man, who the conductor had called to help, lifted her father as though he weighed nothing at all. The conductor led the man, her father limp over his shoulder, toward the sleeper car that Josie had just acquired for the remainder of the trip, provided that the weather continued on well enough that the train could make it to Denver without another three-day stopover. It had been a bad idea to travel across the country at the end of winter, and she had said as much to her father when he’d decided to undertake the trip. They’d been snowed in when they reached Missouri and were stuck there for three days.

The conductor opened the door to the car. Josie fished through her coin purse and gave the conductor two more quarters. Thank you so much.

She crowded in the sleeper car and inhaled he faint smell of smoke that filled the air came off the jacket of the burly man who held her father.

Where should I put him?

The two beds faced each other on either side of the car. Josie shook her head. Either one is fine. Thank you.

The man nodded and put her father down in the bed to the right. He slid his arms out from under her father and then pulled his hat from his head. He bowed slightly toward Josie. My pleasure, Miss...

Roth, Josie Roth, she said absentmindedly as she pulled the blanket over her father’s sleeping form.

Miss Roth. I’m Billy Hogge. If you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to ask me. He wrung his hat in his hands and then moved to smooth down his sandy blond hair when she looked up at him.

She nodded. Thank you, Mr. Hogge.

The conductor, who still stood just inside the car, peered past the large man. Miss, are you sure I should not try to find a doctor aboard?

Josie sighed and shook her head, lifting her medical bag. As I said, sir, I am a doctor. Trained and certified by the New England School of Medicine. My father is also a doctor. I will tend to his needs.

Blinking, the conductor barely nodded before ducking out the door. Mr. Hogge remained a moment longer. Truly, Miss Roth. If you need anything at all...

Yes, I’ll ask you. Thank you again, Mr. Hogge.

Then finally, the man replaced his hat and slid the door closed behind him. Josie swallowed hard and began fishing through her medical bag. Her father had a fever. When they’d stopped in Missouri, there had been a flu that had been going around several of the passengers. The women and children had been crammed together in the ballroom area of the hotel when there were no more rooms to let, and the men had a hospital tent. She and her father had spent the entire of the three days helping those they could in both locations. Out of forty passengers who’d contracted the sickness, they had lost eight. Half of the remaining thirty-two had stayed behind in Missouri to convalesce as they were still too weak to travel. For a long while, Josie and her father had considered staying behind as well, but her father had insisted that they continue their journey, once he was sure that the town’s doctor didn’t have his hands too full.

She searched her bag until she finally found the vial she’d been searching for—Peruvian bark. She only had a scant amount left after treating the patients in Missouri. She gritted her teeth. Maybe her father’s bag would have more. Quickly, she stood and retrieved the kerchief from her father’s pocket. Then she left her father in search of water. It didn’t take her long before she found the conductor who helped her fill a basin with cool water.

Also, if you could bring me a cup and a tea pot of just hot water? I have to make a medicinal tea. She kept her words clipped and curt, trying to put in more confidence than she felt. If she showed the conductor any weakness at all, she was certain he wouldn’t do as she asked.

Josie wished she were a bigger, older woman. One of her instructors at school had been nearly as tall as a man and as wide in the shoulders as one. No one disrespected Professor Cleaver. Instead, Josie had been cursed with being barely five-feet tall and struggled to weigh over a hundred pounds. Her father was also a small man, one of the reasons she’d been made the way she was. Back in New England, she’d worked with their horses to keep up her strength, and did what she could, but men always towered over her, much like the conductor did.

When she returned to the sleeper car with the wash basin, she wet the handkerchief and placed it on her father’s forehead. She needed to monitor his body heat to make sure that he stayed warm enough to stave off the chills, but cool enough not to let the fever affect his wellness. After several minutes, Mr. Hogge entered with a tea service. After blinking in surprise that it was the sandy-haired man instead of the conductor, she let out a breath. Thank you. Please place it on the other bed.

He nodded and did as she asked. Do you need anything else?

After shaking her head, she began to make the tea with the bark she had left. If she leveled off each little spoonful, she might be able to make what she had left equivalent to four cups of tea. Then she’d have to search for what her father might have in his bag.

Mr. Hogge cleared his throat. What’s that?

She blinked up at him, wondering why he hadn’t left yet. It’s Peruvian bark. It will help with the fever.

So, you really are a doctor?

With a lifted brow, she stood and met the man’s gaze. I’m not a liar, Mr. Hogge. My father and I are on our way to the Wyoming Territory to start a practice in a small town near Cheyenne. Our hope is to get past the prejudices that many have against a female practitioner. I am not a nurse. I am not a midwife, but I am a doctor, fully-accredited.

He nodded slowly; his honest eyes wide. I believe you, Miss Roth, but you don’t need me to believe you. Just by doing all you’re doing is proof that what you say is true.

She let out a sigh of relief. Mr. Hogge didn’t seem to be patronizing her and that was enough for now. The tension in her shoulders relaxed a bit as she sat on the bed and finished making the tea.

Her father began coughing and worked to sit up. She grabbed the pillow from the second bed and helped stuff it under her father’s shoulders when he lay back. Her father met eyes with the man standing in the car. He cleared his throat. Who is this, Josie?

Josie nodded to the man who still wrung his hat in his hands. This is Mr. Hogge, Papa. He helped carry you in here so you could lay flat instead of staying in the seated car. And he also got the tea set for you.

Ah! I remember Mr. Hogge. Thank you for your help, sir. Then he turned to Josie. "Tea?’ her father asked before he started coughing again.

When things finally calmed a bit, Josie handed her father a cup of tea. I made tea with the Peruvian bark, Papa. It will help stretch what we have to last until we make it to Denver.

He nodded and took the cup from her hands. He drank it slowly as though savoring it, but she knew it had to be a bit on the bitter side. Once he finished the tea down to the last dregs, he leaned back against the pillows. I just need a bit of rest. I’m sure I’ll feel much better in the morning.

Mr. Hogge bowed slightly and took up the tea service. It’s good to see you up and able to drink your tea, sir. Have a good rest. I’ll just leave the two of you alone, and I’ll come back in the morning with some more hot water for you.

Josie offered him a small smile of thanks. Mr. Hogge seemed like a kind man, willing to help when he didn’t have to. His overcoat had a slightly sour tang of smoke that reminded Josie of a campfire. The large man might have been a fireman or something for his size and the utilitarian coat that he wore. She wondered what he might be doing on this journey. She didn’t remember seeing him before they reached Missouri or even while they were there. But she couldn’t miss him on the train if she’d tried since they’d started on this last leg. He was much too big to avoid. She stood and walked the last step with him to the door of the sleeper car and nodded her goodbyes.

As she slid the door closed, she thanked providence that the train had one of the private spaces in the sleeper car available for her and her father. The coach seating area had over twenty people sleeping in the space and made it much harder to quarantine her father or help him through his illness.

He began softly snoring while lying on his back against the pillows. She washed the kerchief and cooled it a bit in the air before placing it back on her father’s forehead. It might be a long night of her having to get up several times to do so. She allowed herself this moment to lie upon the other bed in the car and rest her head upon her arm since she’d given up her pillow. Closing her eyes, she drifted off into