Author's Note:
I am having trouble with my files so thank you so much for all your patience. My laptop is having a hard time reading the files so future chapters may be delayed. Please comment if you want me to address something in the story.
Chapter Eleven
5th Avenue, New York
"After the shocking murder of Elizabeth Darcy and her husband's mysterious disappearance, everyone had thought the worse was over. Tonight's news might make bigger waves in high style New York. The sister of Elizabeth Darcy, Jane Bingley, was announced dead last Thursday at five am. Charles Bingley kept the news of his wife's death secret so that he was able to prepare the small funeral. Friends of Charles say that he has been in shock and has not left his estate in LA. The Bingley's as you know, left their home in Manhattan to get away from the press. Charles Bingley, Jane's husband, has been heard to be worried about his wife's health. The shock of Elizabeth Darcy's death seems to have the most effect on her older sister. We have confirmation that the two were the closest out of the five sisters. We have some footage of Mrs. Bingley helping her family prepare the funeral for Mrs. Darcy. Unlike her sister, Mrs. Bingley's death was said to be of natural causes. The report shows that her heart was in too much stress and that Mrs. Bingley's health was decreasing since her sister's untimely death. This leaves only three out of the five Bennet sisters left. Elizabeth Darcy's murder has already been a hot topic in social media but with another death in the Bennet family, the country seems to be sympathetic to their losses. Many are wondering if this will be the last time the Bennet's will have to mourn. I am News Ten's Janine Clark, thank you for tuning in."
Caroline Bingley sneered at the screen before demanding her assistant to turn off the television. She complained about the volume and sat down to get her hair touched up.
Orange County, California
"It has been so nice to talk with you again, Doctor Monroe." Mary shook the older woman's hand.
"No, it has been a pleasure! I was so happy to hear that you were able to attend today's conference. I am deeply sorry to hear about your sisters. I hope your family will not have to deal with anymore tragedies."
"Thank you so much for your kind words. My family is having a hard time and I will be going back to England after the conference."
"Of course, I remember you told me your father and mother are still there." Doctor Monroe said while they walked around the convention. "I am amazed that your parents haven't locked you and your sisters up." Mary smiled a little.
"I don't think they need to. My mother has always had fragile nerves. She has some anxiety problems and the last few months have not been good to her. That is why I'm going back. My sister, Kitty, is already there. I will be there when she needs to come back for her work."
"I understand but you should take care of yourself as well." Doctor Monroe said with so much warmth. "At least take some time to reflect while you are here. Maybe LA will be a good place for you. There are so many people here that no one will bother you. You might like the isolation and you won't have to talk to anyone." Doctor Monroe had to leave to go to a presentation. So Mary was left to browse through the convention and to attend her own presentation. It was around three o'clock when Mary left the hotel and decided to get lost in Los Angeles like Doctor Monroe suggested.
Two Hours Later
Josh ran down the elevator staircase. Not bothering with the elevator and knowing Caroline's sister wouldn't attempt to follow him on the stairs since she was wearing heels.
When he arrived at his hotel yesterday, he didn't expect to see Louisa. It was his luck that Caroline told Louisa of his trip to California and asked her dear sister to watch out for him while he was there. It was more like to stalk him while he was there. Louisa reported everything he did to Caroline. It was a little unsettling to catch Louisa following him in a limo. Like that didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the bystanders.
Louis was not as talkative as Caroline but she was just as forceful. Adding to his luck was the fact that the hotel belonged to Louisa's fiancé. Josh never seen the man but was clear why Louisa was marrying him. The hotel was extravagant if nothing else. The lobby itself was decorated with gold accents and had a very aristocratic air.
Once the lobby looked Louisa free, Josh put on a quick pair of sunglasses and ran out before anyone could ask questions.
Josh walked for a while before seeing an old styled bookstore. It was intriguing and definitely caught his attention. Walking in, he put away his sunglasses and browsed through the shelves. The store seemed to be a mix of used and new copies of books. He even found a section all the way in the back that held much older copies of religious and cultural books.
Josh was about to pass it when he saw something move in his peripheral vision. He thought this would be the one section no one would enter so became interested to find someone actually in it. Most likely an old woman or man, Josh walked slowly to not startle the older customer. He took time to look at the titles of the books as he walked by the shelves. Seeing a book he recognized, Josh reached for it and tried to take it off the shelf but the book was stuck. Josh squatted down and pulled harder. The book came out, along with a hand. The hand was a little pale but smooth and had no wrinkles. Looking into the slit where the book came from, Josh saw a pair of deep brown eyes look back at him.
The eyes quickly disappeared and Josh heard someone walk away.
"Hello?" Josh called out and walked fast to reach the stranger. "I'm sorry for that, I didn't know someone else was reaching for the bo-ok" Josh's words faltered as he finally looked at the person that he struggled with to procure the book. She was not an old woman.
"It's alright. I already read it already." The girl said shyly.
"Mary?" Josh looked at her closer. Black hair was in a messy bun and her face didn't have any unnatural colors from lipstick or eye shadow.
"How-" Mary looked up and immediately stopped talking immediately.
"I'm sorry if I scared you earlier. W-"
"Josh!" Josh's head quickly moved to the side to see Louisa's heavily bejeweled form come his direction. "Whom were you talking to?" Josh turned to introduce Mary when he saw she was not there.
"No one." Josh put on his sunglasses and walked out the door.
"Don't lie to me Josh! Who was in there with you?" And this is where the interrogation begins. Josh thought while shaking his head. The rest of the way, Josh tried to ignore Louisa's constant questioning and hovering.
LA, California
"Charles is coming tomorrow." Darcy said as he looked at his wife's reflection in the mirror.
"Will Jane still be safe?"
"Yes, she will be in a private area and away from all of this." Elizabeth nodded and walked up to her husband so she could wrap her arms around him. As she looked at his face, she missed his deep blue eyes that had to be covered by green contacts. As she ran her hand up his neck, she missed being able to play with the dark curls that he had to buzz cut off and dye.
Darcy quickly turned and embraced her. He led her away from the mirror and sat her down the narrow bed. He kneeled before her and looked to see her look at the ring on her left hand. The ring was a simple 14kt thin band with a tiny stone in the middle. It was a practical ring. Not over glamorous and decorated.
It wasn't that Elizabeth missed the extravagance of her former ring but she missed that it used to be hers. The ring on her finger now belonged to a woman named Jenny Johnson not Elizabeth Darcy. It only made sense that the ring would be dumbed with the 'her' corpse so the police would have no way to question the corpse's authenticity.
Darcy saw the way Elizabeth looked at her ring.
"We're almost done. Richard has already found the accounts and we know the two major players. Now we need to know who put Aunt Catherine and Caroline together. We know they wouldn't come together on their own so we need to know who could. Nolan is the only one that can help us with that." Darcy tried to comfort Elizabeth.
Bennet House, England
"Is it done?"
"Yes." Kitty walked up to her father. "The papers and telly are announcing Jane's death. It is all going to Richard's plan." Mr. Bennet had not left his study since the day Jane 'died.' He knew he would not be able to take another announcement of his daughter dying.
"Let it be done. I shall pray that this is the last daughter I have to bury."
Author's Note:
IMPORTANT: This chapter was harder for me to write than I thought. A huge part of me wants to be a realist and write how relationship/attractions actually are. I mean, most if not all relationships start aren't a "love at first sight" story. Relationships take time to develop than people start seeing the beauty of each other. The same could be said vice versa. The point is, I don't want to give support the whole notation of a girl giving herself value after she meets a guy or that your significant other has to be someone "successful" to be special. The only thing that matters is that he or she is special to you! They don't need to be perfect (our your definition of perfect). I just hate those movies where the "nerdy/geeky" girl catches the "popular" boy's attention and is given a makeover! At the same time, I do like those types of movies because it's nice to think that someday, someone that everyone values will see the value in you. Maybe it's that petty side of me that wants something that other's want. Anyway, I already wrote Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship as some kind of intense fairy tale so I think Mary should be given her own "Hollywood" ending. I really don't know if I made the right call in this one. Please tell me what you guys think about Josh Hart and Mary.
P.S. Sorry for my rant but I really needed some advice on how to shape these two and how I view romance stories in general.