Elizabeth stretched luxuriously under the weight of William’s arm, draped over her in his sleep. She felt wonderful, waking up in a bed again, and said bed being filled with such a glorious man as the one next to her.

Oh joy, oh bliss… oh shit.

She could feel the sudden rising of the hairs on the back of her neck. Slowly she slipped a hand under her pillow and felt for the cold grip of her gun, but found nothing. She cracked an eyelid and peeked around the room, trying to locate the problem. And she found it, directly in front of her, leaning against the door frame, twirling her missing weapon around one finger like a wild west gun slinger.

“Good morning, Sunshine. Missing something?”

Elizabeth sat bolt upright in the bed, shocked.

“Petra!” she hissed, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“No, Lizzy, the question of the hour is, what the hell is he doing here?”

William grumbled and rolled over. Elizabeth eased from the bed and grabbed her robe. Throwing it on, she escorted Petra into the kitchen. She banged around the cupboards in hopes of making some coffee, but Petra had beaten her to it, so she poured them both a cup and leaned against the counter.

“How long have you been here?”

Petra sipped her coffee and looked around the apartment, taking in its open layout.

“I did a pretty good job, sight unseen. How do you like the place?”

“I asked you a question,” Elizabeth pushed.

“And I believe the appropriate response is ‘Thank you, Petra’.”

“Thank you, Petra, the apartment is great. Now, how long have you been here?”

“Oh, long enough to get good and pissed off. But I have to say, I was pretty much there before I got here.”

“You live in a perpetual state of pissed off.”

“True. So, Elizabeth, how am I supposed to respond to this blatant disregard for the rules? Rules set in place to protect you? Rules you need to follow now more than ever, considering your precarious mental state?”

Elizabeth’s answer came in the form of her middle finger.

“Getting cocky is not going to solve our problem, Lizzy.”

“Name one instance during this mission that I’ve made an error in judgment.”

“You screwed the mark, Bennet,” Petra slammed her empty cup down on the counter, shattering it. Elizabeth winced. “And, what’s more, I wouldn’t care if you’d screwed him every which way to Sunday if you had kept your damn emotions out of it.”

Petra drew a deep, calming breath and pulled her anger in check. A screaming match would solve nothing right now. She cleaned up the shards of porcelain and walked into the living room, perching herself on the arm of a chair.

“How long have we been friends, Lizzy?”

“Our whole lives.”

“You know, when we were in high school, and I was going through my rough patch, you were always there for me. And because you helped me get my life straight and focused on something bigger than myself, got me signed on with the Agency, I’ve always felt I owed you a debt. I made sure that I was the one that handled your missions personally, so that I could be there if you needed me.”

“Thank you, Char,” Elizabeth smiled warmly at her friend.

“God, I haven’t thought about that name in years.”

“Well, to be honest, its been years since you’ve acted like Charlotte Lucas. Angry and lost and screwed up as you used to be, you used to have some heart. I know you changed your name because you needed a fresh start, but Charlotte is still in there, somewhere. You‘ve become very cold, Petra.”

“I’ve had to be, Lizzy. If I’m not a hard ass, you get stomped on and treated like nothing but a number. And if I get soft at all, you get soft and then you get a bullet in the head. Its on me to make the hard decisions so you stay alive. Can you understand that?”

“Yes.”

“That’s why, when you go and do something stupid like this, I get so freaking angry. You are purposely putting yourself in harm’s way. How can I protect you from… you?”

Elizabeth looked out the large picture window at the city outside.

“Lizzy, you know you will have to leave him. You can’t take him with you. And, Lizzy, look at me.”

Elizabeth turned her watering eyes to Petra.

“You cannot stay here.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes, tears spilling down her cheeks. She nodded.

“Elizabeth, who is this?”

William entered the room, rumpled from sleep. Petra rose from her seat and crossed the room, hand extended.

“Hello, William. I am Petra Villanova.”

William took her hand and smiled.

“Well, finally. And here I thought Richard had been making you up all these years. I am very honored to meet you.”

“Likewise, William.”

Petra turned to Elizabeth, looking at her with all seriousness.

“Lizzy, I am going to go. You and William need to talk.”

Elizabeth nodded again as Petra left.

“What was that all about?”

Elizabeth took a deep breath and motioned him to come sit on the sofa.

“William, we need to talk. I… God, I don’t even know where to start, so I guess I’ll just come out with it. I have to tell you that, when this is all over, I have to leave. And there is nothing I can do about it, its just the way it is.”

“What do you mean, leave?”

‘I mean that once we catch Yushenkov, and I believe that it will be very soon, I will be retired. And that means that I will be relocated, sort of like the witness protection program.”

“Okay, I don’t understand. What does that mean exactly?”

“That means, that once this mission is over, you and I will not see each other again.”

William’s jaw clenched. “Not acceptable, no.”

“It has to be this way, William. I‘ve screwed up a lot of schemes for a lot of bad people over the last decade or so, and the only way for me to have any semblance of a life when this is over is for me to be relocated. The alternative is not pleasant.”

William rose and paced the room, much as he had the night before.

“No… no. You will be safer if you stay with me. I will hire a bodyguard, hell, I’ll hire a hundred if its necessary. That way I can make sure you are safe at all times. And we can stay at Pemberley. I can move my offices there and set up a security system. I’ve been meaning to do that for years, anyway, and now I have a good reason. There, all settled, I’ll put in some phone calls as soon as we get back to the office.”

Elizabeth shook her head in amazement at his self-assuredness. Here was a man used to getting everything he wanted. No was a foreign word to him.

“William, sit down please. Listen, that sounds lovely, and under any other circumstances I think that would be a great idea. But I’m not just walking off into the sunset because its what I want, or because Richard and Petra think its best. I have to go because people with scary amounts of power and influence have ordered it so. People who will not be swayed by your money or stature. I signed my life away years ago, before I ever knew there was such a wonderful person as William Darcy, and because I signed my life away, I am owned and must do as I am commanded. You can’t buy me out of my contract with the devil.”

“You’d be surprised how much pull I actually have, Elizabeth.”

“Actually, William, you’d be surprised at how much pull they let you think you have, just to keep you making that money.”

His face darkened. “So, this is what you and Richard have been trying to tell me all along.”

She nodded.

“Excuse me, I have to go.”

She put a restraining hand on his arm.

“William, running away, burying yourself in work is not going to make this better.”

He raised his hands, shrugging his arm away from her touch. He pointed an accusing finger in her direction and opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again in silence. He popped up off the sofa, and took two steps away, then turned and opened his mouth again. And again he closed it in silence. Shaking his head he marched back to her bedroom and gathered the rest of his things. With grim determination he walked to the door, not looking at her once.

“Stop,” she commanded, her tone the same as the one she had taken with Manny in William’s office.

He turned on her in a fury.

“No, darling. I do not take commands from you.”

“Okay, you’re right. Please, William, you can’t go out of here by yourself. I will call Richard to come get you, if you can’t stand to be around me right now. Okay? Please?”

He ground his teeth, but capitulated, taking a seat at the table as she placed the call.

For the next twenty minutes they waited in silence, neither one looking at the other. At Richard’s knock, William bolted for the door, throwing it open, hoping to just drag Richard down the hall and to the car without so much as a hello to Elizabeth. But his progress was impeded by the three large men standing behind Richard. William took two steps back and let everyone enter.

Moe stood with his back against the door, blocking any access to it, while Jack moved to the hallway and Manny walked over to stand at Elizabeth’s right hand. Richard shook his head as he approached William. Old habits died hard, and the boys were feeling the need to protect their girl.

Something about seeing Manny standing so close to Elizabeth, assuming a very territorial stance, sent William over the edge. Manny saw the look he was getting, and being who and what he was, took a proactive approach to the situation.

“I’ll be glad to take that chip off your shoulder.”

William’s forward progress was stopped by a quick body block from Richard. Under his breath, Manny muttered something about trained apes. Elizabeth shot him a searching look, but saw nothing there that helped settle the sudden prick in the back of her mind, so she moved on to try to diffuse the situation, putting that little statement away to think on later.

“William, this is Manny. He’s my second in command, and he’s the one that took the bullet for you at Pemberley.”

William breathed out slowly and unclenched his jaw. He felt himself tearing in two parts, one half of him burned with rage at the deception, manipulation and loss that was being forced upon him, the other half overwhelmed with awe by the revelation of Elizabeth‘s true character and love for him, the sacrifices these people were making, and the obvious loyalty they all shared. He felt trapped in a schizophrenic hell. Grudgingly he nodded thanks to Manny, then turned to Richard.

“Lets go.”

Moe moved from the door and allowed William and Richard out of the apartment. As the door closed, Jack and Moe moved into the living room, finding seats where they could. Manny chose to stand by the window, looking out, his shoulders stiff and proud.

“Whew, that was intense,” Moe chuckled.

Elizabeth went to the kitchen and poured them all a cup of coffee. When she got to Manny, he took it without looking at her. She was catching a definite vibe off of him, and she didn’t like it.

“So, boss, are we okay?”

“Yeah, Jack. Everything is going to be okay, somehow.”

“That’s good, because we thought you’d be mad as hell,” Moe sighed with relief.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m not mad, Moe. Sad, hurt, very, very tired, but not mad.”

“We didn’t want to hurt you, boss. I hope you know that. We were just looking out for you.”

“What are you talking about, Moe?” Elizabeth was getting a very sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“The bug, boss. You know the… you don’t know, do you? Aw, hell.”

Everything suddenly clicked into place.

“Manny, is there a bug in my apartment?”

“Yep.”

“Who authorized a bug in my apartment.”

“Villanova ordered it…,” Jack jumped in defensively.

“But you would never have done it if Manny didn’t say it was okay. Right, Manny?” Elizabeth’s voice grew as cold as her insides.

“Yep.”

“You are my boys, not Villanova’s. How dare she ask you to do that? How dare you do it? Manny, damn it, turn around and look at me!”

Manny turned from the window, his face a mask of stone. He put the coffee cup down on a small table next to him and pulled himself to attention.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Knock off the uber-marine bullshit, and face me like a man.”

Manny relaxed his pose, but said nothing.

“First Richard screws with the team and now you? I can understand it from Richard, because he’s not us. Us, Manny. Kicking ass and taking names. You screwed the team, Manny.”

“No, Lizzy, you did. You screwed us when you went off by yourself in Turkey, and we all lived with the guilt that you were probably dead in some shallow grave somewhere. What were we supposed to think, when you started making eyes at Darcy? We were just supposed to take it on faith that you could keep your head? They told us at Quantico, when they were running your tests, that it was almost a guarantee that you would crack under the stress at some point if they sent you back out so soon. If I have the choice between making sure you are going to be okay and hoping that you are going to be okay, I’m going with option A, baby. And that’s why I allowed the bug. I am only human, Lizzy, and you are my family. The boys and I can’t handle another Turkey.”

“Well, those are very pretty words, Manny. But answer me this, when you made a tape of last night, which I know you did, at what point did you determine that I was cracking under the stress? Did I do anything that put William or myself in harm’s way? No, I didn‘t. But you gave the tape to Richard anyway, didn‘t you? And at what point during this mission have my feelings for William impaired my performance? When I shot the guy who was dragging you across the ground, or when I was putting a bullet between Braska‘s eyes? If anything, being closer to William has made it easier to protect him. The only thing that has caused me any trouble is this crap.”

“We don’t know what’s right or wrong anymore, Lizzy. Don’t be mad. You’re our girl, and we love you. We just want you to be alright,” Moe pleaded.

“Just go. I need to think.”

Moe and Jack got up and walked to the door. Manny paused next to Elizabeth and put his hand on her shoulder.

“Lizzy, I can handle you hating me if means your alive.”

“I could never hate you, Manny. Like you said, we’re family. Its just this knife between my shoulder blades is starting to hurt.”

Manny sighed and walked out with Moe and Jack. Elizabeth moved in slow motion, trying to get herself ready to go to the office, feeling very alone in the world.

William sat behind his desk, staring at his computer screen. It was a sad day indeed when he couldn’t even hide himself in his work. An unending stream of questions plagued his mind. Where was she? Why wasn’t she here yet? Was she coming in at all? If not, would he get to see her once more before she went? When she had told him that she had to leave, he felt a small piece of him die. Why was it that everything he loved was ripped from him? He didn’t know if he could take it again, and he had run like a coward. But now, sitting here, he realized that he couldn’t hide from this.

His phone rang, breaking his internal dialog.

“Hello, William Darcy.”

The voice on the other end of the line sounded far away, and came in broken fragments.

“William, how... Caroline… guess who… at London airport… William, can you hear me?”

“Caroline, I can’t make out what your saying.”

“Listen… Christmas… airport I saw… I thought he was… William?”

“Caroline, you are going to have to call back on something besides your cell phone, I can’t hear you. I’m going now. I can’t hear you. Alright, good-bye.”

He moaned as he hung up the phone. No doubt Caroline was calling to crow over some celebrity she had spotted in London. He had neither the time nor inclination to listen to her babble right now. So it was with a complete lack of guilt that he let the next few phone calls go straight to voicemail.

When Elizabeth got to the office an hour later, her first stop was to see Richard. Now that everything had gone to hell in a hand basket, she needed to know what she was expected to do. She found him on the phone, so she sat in a chair near his desk and waited for him to finish. It didn’t take long.

“Petra looks good,” she said by way of breaking the ice.

He smiled and nodded. “I’m not going to chew your ass, Lizzy. I think you’ve had enough for one day. What’s done is done, and we just have to move forward now. William wanted me to send you in as soon as you got here. Go see him.”

William looked up as Elizabeth entered his office. She looked so small and fragile standing next to his door. He rose and walked to her, taking her in his arms.

“I’m sorry. I am having a hard time with all of this, I hope you understand that.”

“Of course I do, William.”

“I’m going to find a way around this, you know.”

She smiled sadly and shook her head, letting him think what he wanted if it gave him comfort. They could face reality later, because right now she was feeling battered and bruised and she just needed him to hold her and make it okay.

As she curled into his chest, she felt something hard against her right shoulder. She patted her fingers against the lump in his coat pocket.

“What’s this?”

He smiled and dipped his fingers into his pocket, pulling the familiar little box from its confines. He held it up for her to see.

“I was hoping you’d change your mind.”

She took the box and opened it again. And again she pulled the golden chain from its velvety bed. He took it from her and undid the clasp, a question in his eyes. She smiled and turned so he could fasten it around her neck, but as his hands reached around her she stopped him. She removed the black onyx pendant that had been her companion for so many years, and held it in her hand, touching the smooth surface of the stone as William secured the cameo around her throat. Elizabeth noted something rough on one side of the onyx and brought it up to her eyes for closer inspection. She scratched at the strange substance until it flaked off onto her fingernail. She stiffened, recognizing the fine black mesh immediately. It was the final straw for Elizabeth Bennet. They had all been so sure that she was going to crack that they had pushed her right into. And crack she did. She excused herself from William’s office, assuring him she would be back momentarily. She then proceeded to the cubicles outside her office and placed her hand on the back of the small, mousy secretary that did the filing and typing for Richard. Elizabeth smiled at the girl and asked if she would be so kind as to bring her up a few legal note pads when she was next in the supply office. The girl returned her smile shyly and said she’d be glad to. Elizabeth patted her shoulder in thanks, securing the small black mesh to the back of the girl’s shoulder. There, track that you bastards.

She returned to William’s office and found him just ending a phone call, a frown creasing his brow.

“What’s wrong?”

“That was Mrs. Reynolds. She needs me to come to Pemberley, something is wrong with Diablo and the grooms can’t seem to locate the vet or deal with it themselves. She sounded very shaken up. I need to leave now. Come with me?”

“I’d love nothing better than to get the hell out of here. Let me grab my little black bag and we can go.”

William slowed the car to a stop and Elizabeth looked up at the vast façade of his ancestral home through the front windshield. Though it was early evening, it was already dark outside due to the season, yet only one room appeared to be lit, and the entry lights were notably absent.

“William, wouldn’t Mrs. Reynolds have turned the front lights on, since she was expecting you?”

William looked out at the house and frowned. “Yes, I suppose so. Does it really matter?”

“I’m not sure, I’m not familiar with your staff’s habits. Do me a favor and don’t get out of the car until I’m around to your side, and then stay behind me.” Elizabeth turned around to grab her gun from the black bag she had tossed onto the back seat. She clicked off the safety and reached for the door handle. William put a restraining hand on Elizabeth’s arm.

“Maybe I should go first.”

She looked from him to the gun in her hand and back at him.

“Okay, maybe not.”

Quickly and quietly they walked to the front door, Elizabeth keeping an eye on everything around her. So far the only thing out of place was the lack of lighting. Once up the steps, she had William stand with his back against the wall and her back against the door then she opened it slowly, looking into the darkened foyer before entering. Still seeing nothing out of place she slipped inside and turned, scanning the room with her gun drawn before her. Still not seeing anything amiss, she signaled for William to follow. He stepped into the foyer and closed the door behind him. It was then, when their eyes were adjusting to the dark room, that Elizabeth heard the sound. A small whooshing sound, which was followed by a stinging in her left thigh. In the time it took for her to turn her head to warn William, she heard another small whoosh. Then everything went black.

The small part of Elizabeth’s brain that was regaining consciousness remembered this. Sitting in a metal chair, in the blackness, hands bound behind her and tied to her feet around the back and under the chair so tight it drew her legs back as far as they could go. It hurt, it was dark, and it smelled bad. Her whole body began to tremble, slowly at first, then harder and harder until the chair rattled against the floor. Yet even over this came the sound of metal scraping against metal far behind her, as though a billy club was being drug against the bars of a line of prison cells. Closer it came, closer and closer. Her breath began to come in small puffs as her hazy mind became awash with terror. It had all been a dream, a hallucination that she had been free. Here she was still in Turkey, still in the dark. Then the scraping stopped, and she heard a step, right behind her, and she felt a breath, right on her neck. And the voice whispered in her ear,

“Hello, dearest… loveliest… Elizabeth.”

The voice was unfamiliar, the accent definitely American. This was no Turkish guard. But still the tears ran silently down her checks as she tried to grasp what fresh hell she had just been thrown into. The footsteps and breath receded and a light came on, washing the whole place with brightness. She squinted against the invasive light. She was unable to make out anything but blurry shades of light and dark.

It had been over an hour since Richard had last seen or heard from William or Elizabeth. Thinking they should have hashed everything out by now, he rose from his desk and walked toward Elizabeth’s office. He peered quickly inside and found no traces of her, so he moved on to William’s door. Richard tapped lightly, but received no response, so he tapped again harder. Still no response. He pushed the door open and again found an empty space. Once more he moved down the hall and toward the secretarial cubicles. He asked everyone when was the last time they had seen Mr. Darcy. The answer perturbed him greatly. Forty-five minutes before, William had been seen entering the elevator with Elizabeth and had not been seen since. Richard strode to his office and pulled up his surveillance program, running it back a little more than an hour before and scanning the data, looking for a sign of William and Elizabeth’s departure.

Slowly Elizabeth’s eyes began to focus, the light and dark around her becoming soft edged shapes and forms. Once more the footsteps approached behind her, but she was unable to turn around as each move of her shoulders only served to tighten the bonds at her wrists and ankles. She could only sit and wait.

A hand reached around and stroked her cheek softly.

“You have no idea how long I’ve dreamed of this. How long I‘ve wanted to be able to see you, touch you. What lengths I‘ve gone to just to make this night a reality.”

Elizabeth could not get her mouth and brain to function as one, so she remained silent, hoping who ever was behind her would make himself known. Her eyes still fought to see, and she split her fuzzy concentration between the voice behind her and the strange dark pillar a few feet before her.

Richard stopped the surveillance data at an hour and fifteen minutes earlier. He saw Elizabeth exit William’s office, move to the cubicles, and then enter her office, only to exit a few moments later to with her bag and reenter William’s office. Then they both left right after. Richard pulled up the data for William’s office during the beginning of that time frame, and while it loaded he put a call in to the boys.

“I see that my gift in Turkey paid off, just as I thought it would. Look at you now, so humble and sweet, crying for me. You needed to be taken down a notch, Elizabeth. You were too proud and self-assured. But not now, no. I see you learned your lesson very well in that hole.”

“Yushenkov.”

“Ah, there’s my girl. Right on the button. How is your vision, darling? Have the tranquilizers worn off enough for you to see my next gift there in front of you?”

Elizabeth strained her eyes, willing them to focus. The soft edges began to become harder lines, and the pillar before her began to take on a disturbing form.

Richard turned up the volume on his speakers as he ran the selected file from William’s office. He saw William walk to Elizabeth and hug her, saw him hand her the box, saw her take off the onyx necklace, then inspect it closely. None of the ensuing conversation enlightened him as to where they might have gone. He then saw her look at her finger and leave the room. His stomach turned as he pulled up the hallway files for the same time period.

Elizabeth put all her concentration on the fuzzy image before her. The dark pillar was sharpening, shaping into the form of a man, and the soft moan coming for that direction confirmed it. She blinked once, twice, and on the third time she saw that they were in the breezeway of the stable. On the fourth blink she saw him.

William’s hands were bound tightly in baling wire, and Yushenkov had suspended him by his bindings on a hay hook connected to a pulley from the hay loft. He then had pulled William up until he was on his tip toes, making sure he would be unable to get any leverage with his legs to push up and free his hands. The wire bit into his wrists cruelly, as his limp form hung from those restraints. William was slowly rousing from his stupor, groaning and blinking. Elizabeth was panicking, unable to see an avenue of escape, or a way to free William.

“William, wake up, wake up,” she yelled.

A firm slap rocked the back of her head.

“No, no. All in good time. I’m not ready for him just yet, first I have some things I need to say to you.”

“Why are you doing this, Yushenkov? Why him? I know why you want me, but why him?”

“Oh, how very considerate of you to put him before yourself. But as I said, I’ll get to him later. Right now I need you to appreciate how long and hard I had to work to get you here. Can you see clearly now? I need for you to be able to see me clearly before I show myself to you.”

She nodded, not sure it was the right idea. In a few steps he was before her, and she lifted her eyes to look on her nemesis for the first time. A small gasp escaped her lips as she took him in. He was so young. He had amassed such a large amount of power and wealth that she had assumed he had been around for decades, but no, before her stood a man not any older than herself. And he was painfully beautiful. His features were chiseled and refined, his hair black and wavy, his eyes light and sparkling, his mouth full and smiling. His dress was impeccable, his aura one of wealth and breeding. He was light-years removed from the mental image she had built up of him over the years.

Yushenkov smiled at her reaction, knowing full well she was taken aback by his appearance.

“Do you find me pleasing?”

“I find you different than I expected.”

“But do you like what you see?”

“No.”

His smile became ugly around the edges. He breathed out and squatted before her.

“Well, we will have to work on that rude tongue of yours, won’t we? You make me sad, Elizabeth. I so wanted you to find me appealing, but that will have to come later, I guess. I do want you to know that you are even more beautiful than I had dreamed,” he laughed ruefully and rose to a standing position, “thought I have to confess that I have several hundreds of photos of you taken over the last eight years. But I must say, the camera didn’t do you justice.”

Elizabeth didn’t like the sick turn this conversation was taking.

“You know, I practically jumped for joy when I heard that you had killed Braska. I knew you had it in you. And I sent him to you, just so you could prove how dedicated to me your are.”

“You liar, Braska would never work for you.”

“Oh, but he did. He just didn’t know it. Or maybe you should talk to Solensky about that. Oh wait, you won’t be able to, because he will be dead soon.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ve been helping Solensky for years now, ever since William here first showed an interest in cornering the Russian fuel market. Solensky and I had an understanding. He fed me information about William, and I discouraged any capitalist ventures that might undermine his plan for Russia.”

“If you two are so close then why are you going to kill him?”

“Because his men almost shot you, darling. I didn‘t authorize that attack. Braska yes, because I knew you could take him, but those idiots… no.”

A pained cry came from behind Yushenkov’s back, and a cruel sneer wormed its way onto his lips. “Well, another country heard from.”

William’s eyes flew open, his gaze still unfocused but his expression a mixture of pain and disbelief.

“I know that voice.”

“Yes, William, I should say you do.”

“George Wickham!”

“Right again.”

Elizabeth’s head reeled at the revelation. George turned his back to William and resumed his conversation with Elizabeth.

“You see, darling, William and I go way back. So far back that we are practically brothers. Or should I say that I thought we were like brothers, and so did William’s father, because he took me under his wing when my parents died. But not William. Oh, no. When the time came to prove his loyalty, he made sure to show me the door. Isn’t that right, William? Didn’t your father promise me an equal part in the business, and didn’t you steal it from me and give it to Richard?”

“That’s not the way it was, George,” William growled in pain.

Richard was finally able to access the data from the hallway camera when the boys entered. He filled them in quickly as they pulled up chairs around him and helped him scan the data files for clues. They watched as Elizabeth’s recorded image stopped by one of Richard’s secretaries and spoke to her. Then Elizabeth entered her office. Richard pulled that file up and waited for it to load.

George spun around and faced William, practically hissing with venom.

“Yes, William, its exactly how it was. You stole my inheritance from me because I wasn’t your blood kin. I wasn’t a Darcy or a Fitzwilliam. But, come to find out I didn’t need you after all. When I left this hell hole I found I a had family that surpassed even yours. My mother’s brother, my uncle Vladj Yushenkov took me under his wing and made me the prince of his empire. And since his death I have more than tripled his wealth and power. I did this. Without you or your family name.”

“You stole money from the company when you interned there for my father, George. You faked your own death and you killed my sister, you son of a bitch.”

George’s smile broadened at that. He turned to his left and pulled back the sliding door of the stall next to him. He entered quickly and returned, dragging a young woman, bound and gagged behind him. He shoved the woman in William’s general direction. She looked around her wild eyed, but as soon as her eyes lit on William’s face she screamed against her gag.

William, the pain ever increasing in his shoulders and wrists, his calves cramping severely from their stressed position, sobbed in recognition of his dear sister.

“Georgie?”

She nodded and ran toward him, then darted back from him, scared to touch him and cause him more pain.

“There’s you cowering brat of a sister. She’s been nothing but trouble from the day I took her. Weak, pathetic, useless lump of flesh.”

William tried to push up, straining to free himself and help his sister, but it only ended up causing him more pain.

“So, William, now you know the whole story. Well, except the part about how I told Georgie that you were the one killed in a flaming car crash and that she should come to live with me in Russia. Oh, and that she thinks I married her a year later, but it was all a sham.”

Georgie turned her haunted eyes on the monster, confused and shaking. He had told her that he was bringing her back for the New Year, so she could once more get a look at her family home. And that was the last thing she remembered as she had fallen asleep on his private jet from New York. When she had woken up in the stall in her present condition, she had been scared out of her wits. These new revelations only fueled her fear.

“Now you know, Willaim, and now you must make a choice. Elizabeth or Georgie?”

William looked at George hard, trying to make sense of his words.

“What?

“You must choose. Who will live and who will die?”

“What the hell are you trying to say?”

“You’re a smart man, William, stay with me. Who will live and who will die?”

“I can’t do that. How am I supposed to do something like that?”

George turned to Elizabeth and slapped her fully across the face, causing a small rivulet of blood to seep from her lip.

“I can keep this up all night, William. And my girl is tough, she can take a punch. So, please, by all means, stall a little more.”

Elizabeth caught William’s eye. “Save your sister. I can handle this.”

“I can’t do that, Elizabeth, I can’t.” William’s voice was no more than a choked whisper.

George whispered into William’s ear. “Ain’t my girl a peach. Give her what she wants, the martyr’s sacrifice.”

He stood and breathed deeply, savoring the tension in the air like a fine wine.

“Wickham, I will kill you.” William growled.

“No, I don’t think so, William. You see, this is where you finally learn your lesson. You don’t get your way this time.”

George walked back around Elizabeth and leaned into her ear again.

“Don’t waste your breath on him, darling. He will not choose you anyway, not when the only other heir to Pemberley cowers before him. Familial duty will always come first with William Darcy. And look, he wants desperately to be able to go against his breeding. See him struggle, isn’t he noble? Well, get on with it! Choose!”

William looked at Elizabeth with haunted eyes, knowing he was powerless. She smiled at him, and nodded toward Georgie.

William lowered his head, broken. “Georgie.”

“Good boy. And I’ll let you in on a little secret, William. I was never going to let you have my girl anyway. I just wanted to see you sweat.”

George reached over and stroked Elizabeth’s head.

Richard cursed as the file of Elizabeth in her office proved useless. He pulled up the hall file and decided to pull up the second one for William’s office as well. The minutes ticked by with agonizing slowness as they all waited.

“You know, William, I do have one more surprise for you.”

George moved over to yet another stall and slid the door open. He then squatted on his heels and reached his arms out, smiling indulgently. Slowly a young boy walked over to him. Georgiana screamed against the gag in her mouth.

“Good boy, Christopher. Very good boy. Now, I would like for you to meet your Uncle William. He’s been a very bad boy and he is about to go on a very long trip. But he has a big gift that he will leave to you. See, when Uncle William goes away, he will be leaving you everything he has, because your mommy is Uncle William’s sister, and that makes you rightful heir to the Darcy fortune.”

The boy was obviously frightened and did not understand any of what his father had said, but William grasped it fully. George‘s revenge had been years in the making: to steal Georgiana and have a child, so that child, George Wickham’s progeny, would be the only heir to Pemberley. And George’s next step, to solidify his plan, would be to kill William.

George saw the light of comprehension in William’s eyes and licked his lips like a lion at a feast. He walked back over to Elizabeth as the boy ran to his terrified mother’s side.

“Do you like my little plan, baby? Isn’t it pure genius?”

“Sick bastard.”

George slapped her again, snapping her head back.

“I love it when you talk dirty.”

He stood behind her and ran his hands down her face and neck, slowly caressing her until his fingers reached her throat. He gave a little squeeze, nothing more. Just a little reminder that he could end her life at any moment, that she was completely in his power. He felt her necklace under the fabric of her shirt. Slowly he dipped his fingers under the collar and brought the necklace from its hiding place. The pendant was familiar, a cameo. Grandmother Georgina’s cameo, he recognized the dent in the rim of gold. In a fit of rage he ripped it from her neck and punched her squarely in the jaw, almost knocking her out cold. William screamed in anger.

“What have you done with him, Elizabeth? Have you let him touch you?”

Elizabeth held a tentative grasp on consciousness. She prepared herself for more of the same, taking her mind to the place she went when these kinds of things happened. She had to hold on, or there was no hope of getting out of here. She was sure by now Richard was trying to find her, and she cursed herself for her rash removal of the tracking device. All she had to do was hold on until they got there, or some other solution presented itself.

George raised his fist and struck her again, breaking her left cheek bone with the power of his hit. She groaned as her eyes tried to roll back in her head. Once again she forced down the pain and waited.

Finally, they hit pay dirt. Richard increased the volume as they all watched William on the phone with Mrs. Reynolds. They couldn’t make anything out from his end of the conversation, and Richard started to search again for the phone tap recording for that time period when Elizabeth returned to the screen and William explained to her what was going on.

“Bingo,” Richard yelled. He scooped up the phone and dialed quickly.

“Hello, Petra. I need you to call in a chopper, ASAP, then you need to meet us here. I’ll explain everything to you when you get here.”

“You are mine, Elizabeth, not his, mine,” George kept screaming as he struck her twice more.

“Your mother was a whore!”

This one sentence stopped George cold in his tracks. He turned, a full blown mania in his eyes, toward William.

“What did you say?”

“I said you mother was a whore. Your father married her to get her out of Russia, but she was already pregnant with you. Who knows who your father was.” William lavished on the details, not knowing if they were true or not, just knowing that if he pissed George off enough, George would stop hitting Elizabeth and come at him.

George took one step away from Elizabeth and toward William.

“You lie, you dog.”

“Its true, that’s the only reason my father took pity on you.”

George took two more steps toward William, seething with hatred.

“You know, I came here alone because I wanted to deal with you myself. I don’t need a group of thugs to help me kill you, William. I am going to do it with my bare hands.”

William smirked, knowing he had him now, an old childhood taunt that never failed to bring out the ire in George.

“You couldn’t squeeze the life out of that boy over there, much less me, Wickless.”

George flew at William in a rage, but William was ready. With all the strength he could muster he pulled himself up with his arms, the metal bindings slicing at his wrists, and threw his legs around George’s neck and pushed himself up, freeing his arms from the hook. He then pushed himself forward, toppling George over backwards and smacking George‘s head on the concrete floor. William then threw his arms over George’s neck and pulled up, bringing the stunned man to a sitting position while he spun around to the back side of him, using his wire bindings as a make shift garrote. George choked and clawed at his neck and William’s arms, trying to free himself, but William sat back and pulled harder until he saw George go limp from lack of air. He then let up and removed his arms from George’s neck and looked at Elizabeth. She was sinking into unconsciousness fast, so he decided to free Georgie first so she could help him with his own wrists. Once this was accomplished he found some more of the baling wire and proceeded to bind George’s hands and feet, just as George was beginning to wake up. He then rose to attend to Elizabeth when he heard a loud whooshing sound coming from outside. Seconds later, five people came sprinting down the stable breezeway. William sighed with relief as he recognized them all.

Richard skidded to a halt at the sight of George Wickham laying on the ground. It was as if he was seeing a ghost. Petra pulled up short beside him and stared as well, just as shocked. Then her eyes were drawn further down to the frail woman clutching a small boy to her chest. Petra elbowed Richard and pointed. With a strangled cry, Richard flew to Georgiana and scooped her and the boy into his arms.

Moe scouted the rest of the stable for any other bad guys. He found no hitmen, but he did find several grooms tied up in the hay loft. One of them was Seth. Moe laughed at him as he freed the man from his bindings. “We have to stop meeting like this, Seth old boy.”

Jack stayed near Elizabeth as William removed her restraints. Manny brought several horse blankets over for her to be laid out on. Together, Manny and William settled her down on the blankets, each man hovering close while Jack examined her wounded face. Elizabeth turned her eyes toward William.

“You did good, kid,” she lisped quietly.

“Shhh, baby don’t talk,” he whispered.

“You saved me, you know. I thought it was supposed to be the other way around.”

William smiled at her, tears forming in his eyes as he took in her damaged visage. He looked up at Manny, who was that minute wiping a tear of his own from his cheek. Their eyes locked over Elizabeth’s head and they silently acknowledged each other. A deep and mutual respect passed between them.

Moe came back with a stunned Mrs. Reynolds, whom he handed off to Richard. Petra came to kneel beside the group as Richard attended to Georgiana and Christopher, and a couple of the support troops came from the helicopter and loaded Wickham into the back of the aircraft.

“Aw, Lizzy, you look like hell,” Petra teased through tears of her own. Elizabeth tried to chuckle, but it hurt too bad.

Petra raised a questioning eyebrow at Jack.

“It needs attention soon,” he answered as he rose to retrieve a stretcher from the helicopter.

“William, we have to go now. She needs help. So you need to say good-bye, because… this is it.”

“No, I want to go with you to the hospital. I need to know that she makes it okay. Just give me a little more time.”

“No, William, once Jack gets back here with the stretcher we have to go.”

William tried to protest, but Elizabeth tugged at his arm. He looked at her, desperation in his eyes.

“Will, I love you. I will always love you. Please know that.”

“I love you, too, baby,” he choked.

“You take care of Georgie and the boy. Make them okay, okay?”

He nodded, his body starting to shake with emotion. Jack returned with the stretcher and he and Manny lifted Elizabeth onto it. William suddenly jumped up and scrabbled around the floor, looking for something. As the men lifted the stretcher he yelled for them to wait. He stood next to Elizabeth and pressed the cameo into her palm, closing her fingers around it.

“I’m letting the chips fall, princess.”

She clutched the locket to her chest as they took her away. William stood outside the stable, watching the chopper lift off and disappear into the night sky. And he continued to look up, as the rain came down.