An Agent for Esme by Amelia C. Adams

Author:Amelia C. Adams [Adams, Amelia C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Feeling the pressure of urgency, the two agents stayed up rather late, discussing everything that needed to be done. Esmerelda threw a shawl around her shoulders when the room got chilly, but didn’t insist on going to bed until it was so late, her eyes ached from being open. She’d never concocted a plan so daring, so foolish—especially not when she was supposed to be undercover. This flew in the face of that concept altogether.

They fell asleep shortly before dawn and slept for two hours, then got up and prepared to move forward with their plan. It was with the full understanding that they could get in trouble with both the police and the Pinkertons, but there were things they had to know, and they couldn’t wait for the slow trickle of information that seemed to be coming their way. It was time to create an outright rainstorm.

They ate quickly, then headed out, their first stop being the house where Agent White had been living.

“Excuse me!” Esmerelda called out to a woman working in her garden nearby. “Good morning!”

The woman looked up from her rake. “Yes? Can I help you?”

Esmerelda chose to ignore the forced nature of the welcome. “I’m looking for my brother, Robert White. He sent me a letter from this address a while back, but he doesn’t seem to be home.”

“Nobody’s lived there for a month or so—not since the night of the gunshots.” The woman began raking again, but if she thought she was done, she was certainly wrong.

“Gunshots?” Esmerelda asked. “What do you mean?”

The woman sighed and leaned her elbow on the handle of her rake. “One night, there was some kind of party going on—loud voices, so maybe it wasn’t a party. Anyway, I heard some loud voices and then a couple of gunshots. Since then, nobody’s been around.”

“And what did the police say?” Esmerelda didn’t have to fake a note of worry into her voice—this was very concerning indeed. “When they came around and questioned everyone, that is. Who was shot? Did they catch the shooter?”

“They never came around,” the woman said with a shrug. “They don’t pay us much attention on this side of town. I think they’ve about given up on reforming us.” She paused. “I’m real sorry that your brother got mixed up in this.”

“Thank you,” Esmerelda said faintly. “Do you think it’s all right if I go in and look around?”

“Help yourself,” the woman said. She glanced curiously at Matthew, but didn’t say more, turning back to her garden instead.

As they walked to the house next door, Esmerelda muttered under her breath, “There were shots fired here, and Agent Bleaker didn’t say anything? Why would he leave that out?”

“I don’t know,” Matthew replied. “And why didn’t the police question the neighbors?”

The door was slightly ajar, but the wood was warped, and it stuck against the floor when they tried to open it. Matthew took a firm hold and pushed it open, and they stepped inside prepared for nearly anything they might see.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.