I'm sorry, this is so late, blah, blah, blah, and you don't care. My pet gerbil got chicken pox and whatever. I'll try to do better, most likely I won't. I don't own anything and please don't sue me –thanks for sticking with my story. I haven't abandoned it and I will finish it (eventually) XOXO Lady M

Charged

As Darcy raced back to the Nemesis, his heart was filled with...Wait, what was it filled with? He thought to himself that whatever these emotions were, they weren't ones he was exactly familiar with.

Dread, longing, excitement, vitality, fear.

Not something a Darcy felt on an everyday basis. One thing was for certain, the feelings that emanated from his non relationship with Elizabeth Bennet had him on edge. He thought again and then realized he liked the feelings. It was as if his heart was defrosting, slowly, and the sensations –although unfamiliar were not unwelcome. It had been too long since he had felt much of anything (besides hatred for Wickham and love for Georgiana) for anyone.

After a few moments of silence, he realized Charles was speaking to him.

"Darcy...Dar-CY...DARCY!"

"What the hell happened back there, man?" Charles asked Darcy, worried about his friends silence.

Darcy blew out a quick sigh and answered, "Long story, or maybe, short story, Wickham, Beni and my boat was just burglarized by a bunch of thieves with serious gear."

"Please Charles, just get us to the Nemesis right now."

"I'm on it!" "there in less than 5" – Charles responded, realizing there was more to this story, but that Darcy would only tell him when he was ready.

In the meantime, Darcy quickly sent an SMS to Elizabeth. She was responsible for his new engine and he wanted her to personally make sure things were running smoothly. He also had the feeling, that although everything seemed disconnected, it was somehow an elaborate plot that had Wickham's fingerprints all over it.

Nemesis, just burglarized, guys w/ serious scuba gear. Please, meet the boat ASAP and ditch your coffee companion on the way over. ~D

Darcy read the text aloud to himself. Then he read it again and changed the inflection in his voice. Charles starting laughing. Darcy looked over at his friend. Darcy's face contorted into an expression Charles had never seen before. Stopped at the light, Charles tried to grab the phone and just send the text message for him. Darcy grabbed his phone away.

Charles came back with "You like her, a lot, so just admit it to yourself and make your move" "She would be a fool to reject you."

"She already rejected me" answered Darcy.

"No, she rejected your attitude, think about it and her and up your game my friend. If you really want her, she'll be yours pretty easily"

As they pulled into the underground parking garage for the dock, Darcy hit send on his message to Elizabeth. He knew how long it would take her to get there from where he had left her, so he figured he had 15 minutes on the boat to get himself together and make a plan of action. He had planned something totally different for 2PM, but that would have to wait.

Darcy still couldn't imagine why anyone would break into the Nemesis with such serious gear. The only valuable thing on the boat was essentially the engine, and they didn't take it with them when they jumped into the water, so something wasn't making any sense to his way of thinking.

As they got to the boat, they heard Caroline and Jane. Jane had the SUPs (stand upright paddleboats) out on the dock and she was trying to convince Caroline to come and join her. Insisting it was great exercise and a lot of fun. Caroline was having none of it. She had positioned herself for maximum Darcy view upon his return to the boat, wearing a flaming orange bikini and sarong.

She thought she looked perfect sunning herself on the dock. She couldn't be up on the boat as the police were swarming as were Chase and his crew. She had forgotten that this wasn't the sunny Greek islands and this time of year, LA on the water was freezing. She was about to turn blue waiting for Darcy to arrive, but this was her chance to show off her assets to Darcy and solidify her rightful place by his side, once and for all.

Darcy quickly nodded to Jane and Caroline and went to see Chase and see what the police had to say. Darcy noticed the DEA team arrive near the entrance to the dock, but paid them no notice assuming they were part of the regular Coast Guard or Police force in LA when something criminal happened on the water.

Jane slipped the SUP into the water and had walked onto it, steadier herself and was about to pull away when Caroline suddenly screeched. Caroline hated dogs and the DEA canine crew had come up her suddenly, with one of the dogs stopping to lick and nuzzle her. At Caroline's unexpected screech, Jane lost her balance and hit her head on the side of the dock as she fell into the water. 20 police and DEA units saw it happen, along with Charles, and it became was a mad rush of testosterone to see who would come to her aid and rescue first.

Bleeding from a gash near her forehead and somewhat dazed, Charles managed to be the one who offered CPR, although Jane was breathing on her own.

Jane smiled at her rescuer weakly, apologized for being clumsy and proceeded to feel badly about getting water all over the decks of Darcy's boat. Charles dismissed her worries, carried her into the master suite and asked Darcy where the first aid kit was. Close on his heels were at least 10 guys and a canine all wanting to offer their help to the helpless female in his arms. Two of the helpers offered first aid kits, another brought towels and still another had a hypothermia blanket.

As Charles took care of her oldest sister, Elizabeth Bennet was on her way to the Nemesis via her bicycle. It took her a little longer, but she didn't want to lose her transportation if she took a cab to the boat. Anyway, she couldn't understand what a burglary would have to do with her. The fact that Darcy wanted her to ditch Wickham on the way pretty much said it all.

"The man is just a petulant overgrown child" "don't let him get to you" Elizabeth muttered to herself as she tried to speed up the last few blocks to his boat.

When Elizabeth got to the boat, she saw one of the Nemesis SUPs floating in the water about 25 yards from the boat. She also knew that a SUP could do serious damage to a small craft on the intercostals and that it was especially hard to see and avoid. Who was the idiot who left a SUP in the water and let is just float away? Beni saw commotion on the boat, but she was more concerned with the other boats that might be damaged so she quickly grabbed the remaining SUP, paddled herself over to the abandoned SUP, perched herself to grab it, and then managed to paddle herself back with the other one in front of her.

Once she got to the dock, she pulled herself and both SUPs out of the water and when to find Darcy and Chase. She heard serious barking from inside the Nemesis. What the heck was going on here today?

Darcy had seen Elizabeth, but he was in the middle of trying to understand why the DEA dogs were on his boat and why on earth they were barking, when Elizabeth came on board shouting at Chase and his crew and eventually at him as well.

"SUPs, left out in the intercostals are a huge hazard to small craft, Chase. What the hell were you thinking?"

"And why are there dogs on the boat, and why are they barking like that?"

"Jane, is here and was in an accident?"

"My sister fell of a SUP?"

"What are you talking about, where is she?"

It was almost too much for Elizabeth to take in, she rushed down to the cabin area but was stopped at the door by a DEA agent who told her she couldn't enter. Elizabeth squared her shoulders, and told him that her sister was in that room, that she was the engine designer for the boat and there was nowhere that Mr. Darcy did not permit her to be.

She found herself pushed aside, and then pushed against Darcy's back. He had apparently come down right behind her. The turned quickly and saw that she had been followed by both Darcy and Chase. The agents blocking the door to the Master cabin asked them both who was responsible for the boat. The three of them looked at each other, then back at the agent.

"This is Darcy's boat, but I designed and retrofitted the engine, Chase is the Captain and responsible for the crew." What exactly do you need to know?" Elizabeth asked, unsure where this line of questioning was going.

"Well, for starters" answered the agent "which of you is responsible to the drug smuggling operation trying to bring the 5 kilo of heroin we just found aboard the boat into LA?"...


Please don't hate me for leaving things here...it will eventually be 2PM...

Reviews will get you Chapter 15 that much quicker!