By Kristy McCaffrey
In the 1800’s, money in the United States came in many
different forms, from gold and silver coins to fractional paper currency (denominations
less than a dollar), Treasury notes, and postal currency used for redeeming
postage stamps. The first paper currency was issued during the Civil War in the
form of “greenbacks.” Individual banks also issued their own currency, called
banknotes, in varying denominations, but their value fluctuated depending on the
solidity of the bank.
Dealing with these banks was risky for most Americans since
there was no insurance on the deposits or government control over how the banks
did business. Because of this, banks and paper currency were greatly
distrusted. Only gold and silver retained their value, so most people tended to
hoard these metals.
Enter the counterfeiters. By the 1860’s, nearly one-third of
the currency in circulation was counterfeit. Retailers subscribed to weekly
papers showing drawings of the latest counterfeits. Printers of the fake money
would sell them to passers, who exchanged them for real currency or goods.
Detecting the counterfeit money was fairly easy, but it was
harder to catch the printers. Prior to the Civil War, the Treasury Department
used the U.S. Marshal Service to track down the perpetrators. In 1865, the
Secret Service was established as a bureau in the Treasury Department to
suppress widespread counterfeiting. (Informal part-time protection of the
President of the United States—Grover Cleveland—began in 1894. By 1902 the Secret
Service assumed full-time responsibility for the safety of the President.)
In my upcoming release THE STARLING, Pinkerton Detectives Henry
Maguire and Kate Ryan have been hired to uncover a counterfeiting scheme in
Trinidad, Colorado, in 1899.
* * *
Colorado
1899
Kate Ryan has always had a streak of justice in her. When
she decides to apply to the Pinkerton Detective Agency, nothing will stand in
her way. Initially hired in a clerical position, she quickly works her way up
to field agent with the help of her mentor, Louise Foster. When Louise is
injured, Kate gets her first assignment and the opportunity of a lifetime.
Henry Maguire has been undercover in the household of
wealthy entrepreneur Arthur Wingate. Employed as a ghostwriter to pen the man’s
memoir, Henry is also searching for clues to a lucrative counterfeiting scheme.
When Henry’s “wife” shows up, he’s taken aback by the attractive woman who isn’t
Louise. Now he must work with a female agent he doesn’t know and doesn’t
necessarily trust. And because he has another reason for coming into Wingate’s
world, Kate Ryan is unavoidably in his way.
Kate Ryan is the daughter of Matt and Molly from THE WREN,
and THE STARLING is the first of five novels featuring the second generation of
Ryans in the Wings of the West series.
* * *
Coming August 2, 2022
Pre-Order Now
Excerpt from The Starling
“Your wife has arrived, sir.”
My wife ….
What the hell? Louise was here? Now?
Jonesy had agreed that Louise Foster would be summoned when
Henry sent word. And he hadn’t sent word. Dammit.
“Of course,” Henry replied. “Thank you.”
“Please follow me, sir.”
Henry thought of abandoning the drink he’d been nursing for
the last hour, but instead kept it as he followed the valet through clusters of
people and the low din of talking and laughing. In fact, he took a large gulp
as he walked, to soothe his nerves. Sometimes his own rules needed to be
amended. This wasn’t a disaster, he reminded himself. Louise was a good field
agent, one he’d worked with more than once, and he respected her abilities. She
was also his friend, one of the very few along with Jonesy. If she were here
now, there must be a good reason. While his cover had included a wife, Henry
rather liked working alone, and he’d told Jonesy that Louise could join him
when it seemed necessary. And it hadn’t been necessary … yet. But apparently Edgar
Jones had pulled rank, thinking differently.
As Henry entered the foyer, his gaze landed on a young woman
in a stunning blue gown, curls of dark brown hair accenting her oval face, her
figure lithe and youthful. Her reserved countenance indicated her discomfort as
she conversed with Arthur’s wife, Lottie, near the front entrance, and Henry
couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her. Lottie Wingate had been mostly
unwelcoming to him.
The young woman’s poise drew his eye and for a moment, Henry
considered what it would be like if he weren’t working, if he could simply
pursue a conversation with an attractive woman. He had purposely not set down
roots. His work made it impossible. Well, not impossible. He’d simply never met
a woman who could turn his attention from his job.
And hell if that didn’t remind him that he was more like his
old man every day.
He pushed aside the memories of the last time he’d seen his
father, of the terrible fight they’d had, of the anger that had pulsed white
hot within Henry.
Instead, he focused once more on the alluring distraction of
the woman in blue, and then, reluctantly, he peeled his eyes from her and
searched the foyer for Louise, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“She must have stepped into another room,” Henry said to the
valet.
“No, sir.” The young man stopped and gave a nod toward Mrs. Wingate
and the striking woman beside her.
Henry endured a brief state of confusion, an unnatural
occurrence since he kept everything in his life compartmentalized and in order.
Recovering quickly, he said, “Of course, thank you. I must
need my spectacles this evening.” He left the valet before he was forced to
converse further, giving even more opportunities for a slip up. He walked
slowly to the two women, since he wasn’t certain what he should say. Clearly,
the valet had been misinformed.
Henry glanced over his shoulder, confirming the man had left
the foyer. With the all-clear, Henry shifted his path to miss the two
conversing women, although a twinge of regret flared. A small part of him
wondered what would happen if he struck up a conversation with the woman who
drew his gaze with such ease. But now wasn’t the time for personal interests.
Just as he passed within three feet of the women, a voice rang out, “Gilbert!
Darling!”
Henry stopped and faced the woman who had in a brief span
sparked such an intense interest in him. She’d used his alias. It all became
clear in an instant.
She was his wife.
