“He hired you based on your letter?” Lincoln asked incredulously.
“No, I had to first prove myself on a case,” she informed him. “My assignment was to befriend the mother of a known bank robber, in hopes of learning his location.”
“I assumed you completed the assignment.”
“I did,” she answered proudly. “The mother mentioned her son was coming to visit shortly, and we were waiting for him.”
“Well done.”
She grew silent. “My parents didn’t think so,” she revealed. “They threatened to disown me if I left for Chicago, but I didn’t think they would go through with it. After I solved my first case, I sent them a note to inform them that I’d been hired by the Pinkerton Detective Agency. They never responded.”
“Never?”
She sighed. “Never,” she admitted. “My brother and I continued to write each other, but he told me that I broke my mother’s heart by leaving.”
Lincoln winced. “I can only imagine how hard that was for you to hear.”
“It was,” she said. “When I went to Tucson to investigate my brother’s death, my parents refused to meet with me.”
Lincoln’s brow lifted. “That seems rather harsh.”
“It was, but it made me realize that I was truly alone in the world,” she stated. “I had no one to rely on but myself.”
“That’s a sad way to live,” Lincoln acknowledged.
She offered him a weak smile. “No, it’s a sensible view on life.”
Lincoln watched her for a long moment before saying, “We should get some sleep. Most likely, we’ll have a long day ahead of us.”
“I agree.”
He rose from the bed. “Do you require help changing out of your clothes?” he asked with a flirtatious smile.
She huffed. “I most assuredly do not, agent.”
“Pity,” he teased.
Rising from the bed, Amey walked over to her trunk and retrieved her nightgown. Then, she went behind the changing partition.
After she changed, she hurried over to the bed, slid under the covers and blew out the lamp. She heard Lincoln chuckle as he laid on the floor near the sofa.
She laid her head on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. She wondered what she’d been thinking when she confided in Lincoln. That had been a colossal mistake on her part. Lincoln couldn’t possibly understand what she’d gone through, and she wasn’t entirely sure that she could trust him yet.
She would be mindful never to make that mistake again.
5
Dressed in a brown suit with a matching vest, Lincoln rested his shoulder against the wall in the hallway as he waited for his wife to finish dressing for the day. What was taking her so long? It had been almost an hour since he’d left the room. Women couldn’t possibly take that long to change. Could they?
He was about to knock on the door when it opened, revealing his partner. She was dressed in a dark blue, fitted gown that highlighted her small waist, and he had an almost overwhelming desire to wrap his arms around her.
Where had that feeling come from?
He cleared his throat as he watched her close the door. “It’s about time you were ready,” he said gruffly.
She smiled sweetly at him. “It takes a decent amount of time to dress like a lady.”
“I thought you were going to wear trousers today.”
“And draw unwanted attention?” she asked. “I think not.”
He straightened from the wall and said, “That’s a good point.”
“You’ll find that I can be rather astute,” she teased, brushing past him.
Lincoln easily caught up to her and matched her stride. “Are you carrying a pistol on your person?” he asked when he noticed she didn’t have her reticule.
“I’m actually carrying two guns,” she informed him.
His eyes perused the length of her body as he tried to determine where her second gun was hidden. He knew she kept a derringer in her corset, but he was at a loss as to where her second one could be.
She glanced over at him and gave him a knowing smile. “If you are wondering where my revolver is, it’s strapped to my right thigh.”
He quickly adverted his gaze, embarrassed that he’d been caught staring.
Amey placed her hand on the bannister as they walked down the stairs toward the entry hall. Once they stepped into the dining room, they quickly found a table in the corner, granting them some privacy.
Lincoln pulled out Amey’s chair and waited till she sat down before pushing it in. Then, he sat down next to her.
“Mr. Tiner should be here soon,” Amey said, reaching for a cloth napkin on the table. “We’ll know it’s him because he’s going to have a flower in his suit pocket.”
Lincoln watched as men and women walked into the dining room and sat down. “I’m well aware of that fact. I read the case file, as well,” he remarked, smiling. “Although, I do question what type of man wears a flower in his suit pocket.”
Amey’s alert eyes remained on the door as she remarked, “A very handsome man.”
Lincoln turned toward the door and saw Mr. Tiner standing in the doorway. He was dressed in a grey suit and had a red flower in his jacket pocket.
Amey rose quickly and said, “Allow me to go fetch Mr. Tiner.”
Lincoln frowned as he watched Amey walk over to Mr. Tiner with a smile on her face. Why did it bother him that his partner found another man attractive? It shouldn’t matter to him. But it did. It bothered him greatly. Perhaps it’s because this man was still their only suspect in the case.
Yes.
That had to be it.
It couldn’t be that he was jealous of Mr. Tiner. That was just preposterous. He had never been jealous of another man before, and he wasn’t about to start now. But he’d never been interested in a woman before. Until now. He
