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“Brandy?” Braden asked as he entered the study.
“Yes, please.” Jonathon took a seat in a chair by the fireplace while Braden poured the brandy.
“I have been searching for you for weeks. I know you were aware of my arrival in town, so why haven’t your paid a call until now?” Braden handed Jonathon a snifter.
Jonathon sipped the brandy and sighed. “I had forgotten just how wonderful a good brandy could be to the soul.”
Braden clenched his snifter in frustration. “Jonathon.”
“Oh, very well, I couldn’t see you.” He took a long sip and then said, “I was afraid putting the two of us in a room together for any length of time would be a danger to our health.”
“What nonsense are you speaking of? I would never hurt you.” Braden stared at him. His brown eyes looked clear, not bloodshot from the drug.
“Someone is trying to kill us both. That carriage accident proves they are after you too.”
“Are you saying someone has made an attempt on your life?”
“Yes. It wasn’t until my mind started to clear at the estate that I was able to put it all together. I was encouraged to start on opium by an acquaintance. Why would someone I scarcely know care what I did? But he told me this would solve all my problems.”
“What does this have to do with someone trying to kill you?” Braden wondered if there were some lasting effects of the opium, even if Jonathon had stopped using it. He would have to speak with Tia regarding that matter.
“I was getting to that,” Jonathon said. “Before I came out to the estate, someone took a shot at me as I was leaving the Red Door. Considering how much I had lost, I knew it couldn’t have been someone trying to steal my winnings. Once I was at Middleton Hall, I remembered the rumors of your involvement in the late viscount’s death and his son’s death as well. I was certain you wouldn’t have done such a thing. That’s when I concluded that someone had tried to kill me.”
He wondered if his brother was grasping to make a connection here. “Jonathon, just because someone encouraged you to start eating opium and a random shot almost hit you, it doesn’t necessarily mean someone was trying to kill you.”
“Indeed. But I was determined to find out. Tha
t is why I returned to London.”
“And that was the only reason? Emily had nothing to do with your desire to return?” Braden asked before picking up his snifter for a sip of brandy.
“Perhaps,” his brother admitted with a shrug. “But I also wanted to see if anything happened to me here.”
“And has it?”
“I was robbed and beaten not a fortnight after I returned.” Jonathon stared at a red scar on his hand. He rubbed his finger across the mark. “Thankfully, a friend found me. And more importantly, thankfully this friend listened and did not give me laudanum. It’s been four months, Braden. I feel so much better than I have in a very long time.”
Braden smiled at him. “That is good news indeed.” Not that his brother’s words would stop him from worrying. “Has anything else happened?”
“The place I was staying at burned to the ground. Luckily, no one was at home when it happened.” Jonathon drained his brandy. “Has anything else happened to you?”
He scowled. “You haven’t heard?”
“No.” Jonathon’s eyes narrowed. “But I take it there was something else that happened.”
“Yes, I was shot at and poisoned.” He still wasn’t ready to tell Jonathon about Tia being here. Since his brother hadn’t mentioned her, Braden assumed Emily hadn’t told him.
Jonathon frowned. “I see. You need to leave, Braden.”
“I planned on leaving in a few days. But now that I know your life might be in danger too, I feel I must stay on. We need to figure out who is trying to kill us, Jonathon. Alistair makes the most sense, but I just cannot see him killing someone.” This mess was driving him insane.
“It’s not Alistair.”
Braden looked over at his brother. “How can you be certain? He has the most to gain from both of us being killed.”
“True, but I know for a fact that he was out of town this week. Yet, you still had a carriage accident.”
“That matters not. He could have hired someone,” Braden said slowly. “How did you find out about that and not the other attempts?”
