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“Thanks for twisting the knife, old man,” Braden said with a sigh. “All right, I see your point.”
And he did, which was the hell of it. He’d been acting like a complete prat.
Angus lifted a trembling hand to his brow, doing his best to look on death’s doorstep. “We dinna want to fash ye, laddie, but I’m an old man. Can ye blame me for wantin’ to spend time with my grandson before the guid Lord calls me to join my ancestors?”
Logan covered his mouth, but Pippa turned a surprisingly stern expression on Braden.
“I think you’re being mean, Uncle Braden,” she said in her sweet little voice. “Grandda and Uncle Kade came all this way to see you.AndTeddy, even though he’s old, too.”
The one-two punch—true affection combined with finely honed guilt—was a Kendrick specialty passed down through generations.
“Really, even the children?” Braden said to Logan.
“My little lassie is a chip off the old block,” he replied with a grin.
Braden held up his hands. “All right, I surrender. We’ll have a true family holiday, but no fussing. I still have to work.”
Kade nodded. “Absolutely no fussing.”
“And I can help ye with yer emergency visits, so ye have more time for relaxin’,” Angus said in an encouraging tone. “I was a dab hand at doctorin’ when ye were little bairns. I took care of all yer hurts, and better than some bloody sawbones.”
Braden’s mind staggered over the appalling image of his grandfather trying to assist him.
“Another drink, dear?” Donella asked in a sympathetic tone.
“One for me, too.” Angus briskly rubbed his hands together. “Aye, it’ll be grand, us working together, lad. Just ye wait and see.”
“Good God.” Braden handed Donella his glass.
CHAPTER6
“Thank you for meeting me here,” John said as he locked his office door. “If Donny had been able to escort you, I would not have worried for your safety.”
Donny was Samantha’s usual escort when she ventured into Old Town, but his hulking physique made him unforgettable. She couldn’t take the risk that Braden Kendrick might recognize him.
“He took Felicity to visit the orphanage school today. You know how she enjoys spending time with the teachers.”
And while that was true, it was also a convenient excuse for keeping her manservant away from this ill-advised excursion.
“Ah, of course Donny would go with her, if you were not able to take her.”
There was no mistaking the skepticism in John’s voice. He knew how unusual it was for Felicity to go anywhere without Samantha, even under Donny’s protection.
And blast John for putting her in such a dodgy position. His suspicions about her secret mission were dead accurate, of course. But if he decided to challenge her directly, Samantha would go on denying that she was the unknown woman who was ghosting about the slums.
It was her only choice, especially now that she was searching for more than Roger’s killers. She and Donny simplyhadto find the children that had mysteriously disappeared from the orphanage. Most of the board thought they were common runaways, but Samantha didn’t believe it. Every instinct told her those children were in danger.
“Shall we walk to Braden’s clinic?” John asked. “The weather is quite mild.”
Samantha relaxed a degree, grateful that he’d let the matter of Donny drop. “Yes, please. The exercise will do me good.”
“Splendid.”
They made their way out of the college toward the densest section of Old Town. High tenements, winding staircases, and old mansions that had formerly housed the aristocracy meandered down the slopes in this most ancient quarter of the city. With their irregular rooflines and multiple chimneys, the buildings looked picturesque, even quaint. But the tenements cast deep shadows onto the alleys and winding passageways, shadows that turned into inkblots at night.
There was something romantic about Old Town. At sunset on a clear evening, the old stone buildings glowed with a soft patina and looked like the tall towers of a mythical kingdom. The first time Samantha had glimpsed the city from a distance, she’d found it magical—until she’d gotten her first whiff of Old Town streets.
They entered a narrow lane that cut directly from the college yard through to Cowgate. At this time of day, it was busy with open shops and college staff hurrying to and fro.
