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Still, he only stopped by his house long enough to bathe and eat before hurrying over to Sebastian’s. He only trusted Quinn and Sebastian with this, and he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible before his brother heard that it was happening and somehow managed to outwit him.
Perhaps he’d also wanted to see Heather again, so he was disappointed to find out that Quinn had taken his family home now that Lindon was in custody and no longer a threat. After a few moments’ discussion, he and Sebastian decided to go get Quinn and some orderlies from the asylum. Then they’d head to Danbury’s townhouse and try to intercept him before he went out for the night.
Half an hour later, they were sitting in Quinn’s study, discussing their plans, when a gunshot rang out from somewhere disturbingly close.
Quinn shot to his feet. “That came from the back garden.” He cast a quick glance over his shoulder as he rushed toward the terrace door. “Heather’s out there.”
Drake surged out of his chair, only vaguely aware of his two friends as he burst out the door, only to skid to a stop as he took in the scene before him. Constable Pond stood frozen, a gun in his outstretched hands. Danbury had a knife to Heather’s throat, inching her toward the gate. His left arm was bleeding profusely, and Drake quickly deduced that the blood was the result of the gunshot they’d just heard.
“Mortimer, stop!” Drake cried as he saw that there was also a thin stream of blood trailing down Heather’s slim white throat. “Let her go!”
Mortimer whirled to face him, grimacing in pain. “Drake! Thank God you’re here! That man shot me! I demand that you arrest him.”
“Let the girl go,” Drake repeated, trying to figure out why the hell his brother was even here. If Pond hadn’t followed him, tried to stop him... “We’ll talk as soon as she’s safe.”
Mortimer scoffed, shaking his head. “No, I don’t think that I will. I think she’s the only thing keeping me alive right now.”
“That’s not what’s keeping you alive,” Drake corrected, advancing toward him slowly, vaguely aware of his friends splitting up to circle Danbury. Quinn was moving to block the gate, so he only had to keep his brother focused and talking for a few minutes until his exit was cut off. Drake reached into his inside jacket pocket, removing the commitment papers. “This is what’s keeping you alive. If I didn’t have this, I’d have already shot you myself.”
Mortimer’s gaze flicked to the papers and then to the men who were surrounding him. “Call your men back, Drake. I’ll kill her. You know I will.”
“I do know it,” Drake said, his heart thundering in his chest. “I know what you did to all those women. I know what you did to Evelyn. I also know that I’ll have a hard time proving it, given your title. That’s why I went and saw Father yesterday. He’s signed the paperwork to have you committed.”
Finally, his brother froze, his gaze now glued to the paperwork in Drake’s hand. He gave a strained laugh. “I almost believed you. But we both know Father would never do that to his heir. Especially now that his health is so bad. He cares about that title more than he cares about the deaths of all the whores in England.”
“Perhaps,” Drake admitted, letting himself stare into Heather’s eyes for the first time since he’d come outside, trying to convince her without words that he knew what he was doing, that she could trust him, even despite everything that had gone wrong between them. “But what he cares about even more is our family’s reputation. Do you think he would ever allow me to arrest you? To drag our old, illustrious title through the mud?”
Realizing he was trapped, Mortimer suddenly pushed Heather away so hard that she stumbled and fell hard to her knees. “There,” he snapped. “You have your whore back. Now let me go. I’ll disappear. Go to the Continent.”
“You know I can’t do that,” Drake replied as Quinn rushed to Heather’s side, helping her up and murmuring soothing words as he pulled her toward the door.
“I can’t go to one of those places,” Danbury cried, as Drake gave a nod to Ness and Pond, who rushed forward and easily handcuffed him, even though he struggled and fought them. “Please, Drake! I’ll die there.”
“You will,” Drake vowed, wondering why he felt no remorse at all about his brother suffering such a fate. If he’d ever had any love for Mortimer, his brother had killed it long ago. All he felt now was relief.
The Viper had been caught. No more women had to die.
He glanced over his shoulder to see Heather and Quinn disappear into the house. He desperately wanted to follow them inside, make certain that Heather was all right, but thanks to Pond, there would be time for that later. First, he had to see his brother secured within the gates of an institution he would never be released from. He couldn’t rely on anyone else to see it done. This heavy burden was his alone.
He crossed over to where the other three men stood, putting a hand on Pond’s shoulder. “Thank you, Pond. You probably saved Miss Fields’ life.”
“I stayed with him, just like you said,” the young man said, ducking his head. “I’m sorry my shot wasn’t better, but I was nervous about hitting Miss Fields.”
“You did very well,” Drake assured him. “You alerted us to the trouble, and you stopped him from getting away with her. I couldn’t be prouder of you.”
Pond smiled bashfully. “Thank you, sir. That means a lot coming from you.”
Drake nodded and turned to Ness, ignoring his brother’s constant stream of vitriol as he thrashed about in Ness’s grasp. “Is he secure?”
“He ain’t going anywhere,” Ness said tightly, just as two of Quinn’s largest footmen came outside to assist them.
“Bring him inside,” Drake directed, wanting Danbury in the most secure environment he could until the orderlies from Broadmoor Hospital arrived to take him into custody.
They made their way inside, and Drake made certain that Danbury was securely tied to a chair and his wound bandaged before leaving him with Pond and Ness and using the O’Briens’ telephone to call Broadmoor and explain the situation.
When he was finished, he went down the hall to the sitting room, where Heather was being fussed over by Quinn and Allison.
He stood in the doorway, drinking in the sight of her, more relieved than he’d ever been in his life. If Danbury had managed to get away with her, if he’d done to her what he’d done to those other women...
