To Love a Scoundrel Read Free Page A

Benton was Scotty's partner on this little venture. Apparently Harry double-crossed him and made off with the goods before Scottson even knew what had happened."
    Jewel frowned. "What would Harry be doing with a counterfeiter? His specialty is helpless women and their money."
    Propping his fingers tent-style, Allan offered a theory. "Maybe he's just trying to throw us off the track."
    "I don't know. It seems to me that I would have noticed someone of Harry's caliber no matter what he was up to. I would have felt his presence."
    "Could be his disguises are getting to be as good as yours."
    "That does it. Harry is not going to slip through my fingers again." Her mind filling with questions, she circled the chair. "What's the attraction in Kansas? Why is Harry back in the States, and why in God's name would he go to Topeka?''
    "First off, the centennial. Folks from all over the world will be converging—"
    "Never mind," she said, holding up her hand. "Everyone who is anyone will be in Philadelphia next month. Stupid of me not to have thought of that myself. But Topeka ? People there don't exactly shake diamonds off their fingers."
    Allan laughed. "No, but he may want a little warm-up before he heads to the big city. An important poker tournament will get under way next week at the Golden Dove Hotel. If he's operating as usual, Harry's going to become best friends with the most likely winners."
    "Then I expect he and I are going to become very close." Jewel spread her arms and twirled in a lazy circle, the pleated flounces of her polonaise following the movement like the last skater in a whip. "Do you think I'll pass for a winner?''
    "As always, your dress is as lovely as you are, Jewel, but I'm afraid that's not what I have in mind."
    "It's not?" She dropped her arms to her sides. "What's wrong with it? This is my best dress, save for the ball gowns. Am I supposed to be a Vanderbilt? If so, you'd better raise my salary."
    "That's not it at all." He laughed. "You look much too rich and successful. For this assignment, you'll have to become a bit... plainer."
    "Oh?" Jewel cocked a suspicious eyebrow. She returned to her chair and perched on its edge again. "Just how plain, Mr. Pinkerton?"
    Allan began to examine his immaculate fingernails. "I have to admit it's not going to be as glamorous a job as some. Not like dressing up in fancy dance hall costumes or high-society ball gowns. Not like that at all."
    "Like what, then?"
    He tossed a newspaper across the desk and pointed to an advertisement he'd circled in bright blue ink. "You'll be dressing according to the whims of an Englishman named Fred Harvey."
    Puzzled, she glanced at Allan, then read the help wanted ad: "Young woman 18 to 30 years of age, of good character, attractive and intelligent, as waitresses in Harvey Eating Houses in the West. Good wages with room and meals furnished."
    Jewel wrinkled her nose. "I've never heard of this Harvey or his restaurants. Why can't I be a lady gambler or keep my dance hall girl disguise? It will put me in touch with more of Harry's cohorts than serving meals in some pie and coffee hole-in-the-wall."
    "It would also put you in a position of attracting too much attention. For this—these," he corrected,"criminals, I think we should try a fresh approach." Allan leaned back in his chair and linked his hands across his remarkably youthful waistline. "I have a good friend named Mclntyre over at the Kansas First National Bank. He says the restaurant in Topeka is the first of several Harvey plans to open along the railroad lines. It was finished just a month or so ago. Best of all, Mclntyre tells me Harvey's credentials are impeccable."
    "So?"
    "So, missy, you'll blend in with the woodwork, so to speak. This ad only tells the half of it, from what Mclntyre says. Harvey's restaurant is a remodeled train depot, and it's serving gourmet meals prepared by French chefs. He also said"—Allan leaned forward shaking his head as if he didn't believe it