CONTENT WARNING

This chapter includes a discussion of a sexual assault that happened off page, the perpetrator is portrayed as lacking in compassion or understanding of what s/he has done, and the victim has not fully accepted that this is what happened. This could be problematic for survivors of sexual violence.

Darcy and Lizi both sat up quickly. Darcy grabbed his towel, making sure it was secure. Karo, face white with anger, stood staring at them, a broken coffee pot at her feet.

"Don't move," said Darcy sharply.

Chad popped his head out of his room. "What happened?" Seeing Karo he sprang into action, "Nobody move. Karo, I'll get your shoes!"

Jane came down the steps, "Is everyone OK?"

"Don't come down here without shoes! Karo, are you hurt?"

"No."

"OK, no one is hurt." Chad went back into his room, emerging a moment later with his shoes on and carrying a pair of shoes for Darcy, before fetching some from Karo's room. Meanwhile, Jane—who had rushed back upstairs—returned with shoes for Lizi.

After Chad had scooped up the worst of the glass with a dustpan, Darcy vacuumed a wide area to be sure nothing was missed. Karo had disappeared into her room, and only reappeared just as the work was done. "Chad, give me your keys. I'm going out to get a new coffee pot."

Chad looked surprised by her sharp tone, but he handed over the keys as Darcy said, "You don't have to do that."

She glared at him before marching out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

"What's with her?" Chad asked. He didn't seem to expect an answer, and no one volunteered one.

He and Darcy went into their room to get dressed.

"Is that all you had on that whole time?"

Oh, right. Darcy had half-forgotten he was only wearing a towel. "I went for a swim."

"Without getting arrested?"

"I mean earlier, while it was still dark. Then I had some warm milk, and fell asleep on the couch." It was true. Why did he feel like he was lying? He hoped Lizi didn't mention going for a swim and falling asleep on the couch, or Chad might figure out they had been together. Then again, Karo had seen them, so Chad might be a moot point.

"Nightmare?"

"Yea."

"You don't usually sleep afterward. That's an improvement."

"That's true." Even when he did sleep afterward, he was usually restless. He'd slept more deeply in Lizi's arms than he had in a long time. If only he'd woken up before they'd been discovered, or it had been anyone besides Karo. He didn't care what Karo thought about what she'd seen—if anything she might finally catch a clue—but he didn't want her upsetting Lizi. He'd have to speak to Karo before she talked to anyone else.

He was on a phone call when she returned with Chad's car, and when he went to find her she'd made herself scarce. Ironic, that the one time he actually wanted to talk to her, she wasn't around.

He didn't see Karo again until he found her talking to Lizi.

.~.~.~.~.

Lizi drank several cups of coffee to get through her shift. When she got home, she plopped down into a lounge chair on the porch. If she could just close her eyes for twenty minutes before—

"Did you have sex with him?" Karo's voice was like nails on a chalkboard. So much for avoiding her for twenty minutes. She must have been lying in wait for Lizi to get home. Oh well, she knew she was going to have to face Karo sooner or later. She might as well get it over with.

"That's not really any of your business."

"I told you what he's like."

"Yes, you warned me. Whatever happens now, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you did everything you could."

"You're completely wrong for him."

"If I am, you have nothing to worry about."

"I'm exactly what he needs, he just doesn't know it yet."

"Warning other women away from him isn't likely to make him think more highly of you."

Karo narrowed her eyes. "You haven't had sex with him yet. He's still being nice to you. Are you going to?"

"If he's as bad as you say, you ought to hope I do. It would be your surest way of getting rid of me." Why hadn't she thought of that before?

"You think you'll be different, just because you're making him work for it, making him wait. I'll admit, he's put more effort into you than anyone else. He's pretending to enjoy spending time with you and all that, but once he gets what he wants you'll be just like the rest of us. He'll treat you the same way he has me, ever since I slept with him."

"What the hell, Karo?"

They both jumped. How much had Darcy heard? For a moment, Lizi felt a sort of affinity with Karo, then she remembered she hadn't done anything wrong.

"What?" Karo practically spat the words at him, "Now that I'm talking to Lizi, suddenly you care what I have to say? Are you in love with her?"

"Karo…"

"You are, aren't you? How could you choose her?"

With that, she stormed off, and Darcy stood looking back and forth between the direction she had taken and Lizi, like he didn't know what to do.

"You should talk to her," Lizi said. "I'll be here."

He still looked torn, but he nodded and followed Karo into the house.

Lizi closed her eyes again. She was too tired to think about whether Karo was telling the truth. Ten minutes later her phone beeped, startling her out of a light sleep. She told herself she would ignore it, but checked it almost automatically.

It was a text from Jane asking if she were home from work.

She wrote back, "Yes, what's up?"

A moment later, her phone rang.

"Hi Jane. What—? Slow down, I can't understand..."

.~.~.~.~.

Darcy found Karo upstairs, pacing the living room. "Is Gigi here?" he asked.

"No, I think she's at the beach."

"Good. What the fuck was that?"

She gestured toward the couch, where she had found him and Lizi sleeping this morning. "What the fuck was that?"

"Karo, I haven't told anyone what happened between you and me, because I didn't want to humiliate you. However, if you are going to tell lies about me, then I'll be forced to defend myself."

"What makes you think I'm telling lies about you?"

He was losing patience, "I just heard you tell Lizi that we slept together!"

"We did."

"In what warped version of reality did we sleep together?"

"OK, we spent some time in the same bed."

"First of all, you know that what you said made it sound as if we had sex, which isn't true. Second, you climbed into bed with me while I was sleeping, and I pushed you away as soon as I realized what was going on!"

"You were the one who snuggled up against me. I thought you were finally becoming attracted to me or I wouldn't have kissed you."

"What part of my being asleep was unclear? Men who have acted the way you did have been all over the news recently."

She rolled her eyes. "We could have been good together if you had just relaxed and let things happen."

"Do you really think that if you'd been successful in violating me, that would have been something we could have built a relationship on? That's seriously messed up!"

"Are you in love with her?"

He was startled by the change of topic and almost said "yes", but he hadn't told Lizi how he felt yet. "My feelings for Lizi have nothing to do with you."

"Of course they do! How could you choose her over me?"

"It was never a choice between her and you. I didn't sit down and think about who I should develop feelings for. It just happened."

"She's all wrong for you. Your parents wouldn't have liked her."

She was taking things too far, "I disagree, but we'll never know one way or the other, will we?" His breath felt tight in his chest.

His voice had a dangerous quality that would have warned most people to tread carefully, but Karo forged ahead. "You've forgotten what it's like to have to please your parents."

He was so angry that he could barely breathe, let alone speak.

He closed his eyes and forced himself to take a deep breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Lashing out right now would just be stooping to her level.

Something about the tone of voice she had used penetrated the haze, and he realized she hadn't said it to hurt him.

His anger left him so suddenly that he felt as if he'd deflated. She was being impossibly selfish, but he wasn't going to let this conversation end until they dealt with that, so he could afford a slight detour. He dropped into a chair, "Karo, I'm sure your parents are pleased with you."

"Are you sure? Are you, Will? How can you be? Does my father say how proud he is of all I've achieved, the way he does when he talks about you? Does he tell you what a great catch I would be, or take a call from me when he's in the middle of having dinner with you—in spite of his no phones at the table policy? Is that how you can be so sure?"

"Karo…"

"No really, I want to know how you can be so sure if he never says anything, because I can give you dozens of examples of why I'm sure he's proud of you."

Darcy getting sidetracked in spite of himself. He'd never realized Karo saw things this way. He tried to think of something complimentary Brian had said about her, but all he could come up with was the implication that she and Lois didn't behave like Lydia and Kat Bennet, and even that was more about his parenting style than about his daughters. "Maybe he thinks you already know how he feels. Have you ever talked to him about it?"

Her only response was to roll her eyes.

"Anyway, he's not as fond of me lately as you seem to think."

"Oh, please. When you disagree with him, he admires your convictions. When I do it, I'm too stupid to understand."

Darcy doubted that, but it wasn't worth arguing. "Is that why you want to be with me? You think it would please your father?"

"Of course not! It would please him, but that's not why!"

"Are you positive? What do you actually like about me?"

"What does anybody like about anybody? If you gave me a chance, we'd be good together. If you would just see me as a woman, instead of Chad's little sister."

"You being Chad's sister is the only reason I've been putting up with you." When he saw her expression, he almost felt bad, almost. "I'm not saying this to be cruel, but if another woman had tried something like what you did, I'd have had nothing more to do with her. It's only because of my connection to the rest of your family that I've tried to keep things civil between us."

"You call the way you've been treating me civil?"

"Under the circumstances I do, but if you don't like it, that's all the more reason you shouldn't want to be with me. Wouldn't you be happier with someone who likes you?"

"That's rich coming from you. You only want to be with Lizi because she's not falling all over you."

"I want to be with Lizi because I enjoy her company; because she challenges me and because she doesn't pretend to be something she's not just to try to impress me; because she's the sort of person who will go out of her way for people; because she doesn't mind looking silly; because I feel safe with her; because I can share things I enjoy with her; because she makes me laugh; because she brings out the best in me…" He could go on, but speaking of Lizi made him eager to end things here and get back to her.

"You could have all that with me."

"No, I couldn't. Even if you hadn't tried to manipulate me, I couldn't. It isn't a matter of doing the right things. With Lizi, it's not what she does, it's who she is. If you would stop trying with me, and find someone who you really care about, you would understand."

"You don't know how I feel."

"I know that when you feel true affection for someone, their feelings are important to you. If you had considered my feelings, you wouldn't have done what you did. If you had understood me at all, you would have realized how unwelcome your advances were. What you did was wrong—and if you can't see that, you need help. It wouldn't hurt you to sort out your issues with your father either. If you ever want to talk to someone, I'd be happy to pay for it, but I'm not comfortable with you staying here. I want you to move downstairs with Chad."

It looked like she was going to give him an argument, but then her shoulders slumped, and she said softly, "I'll go pack." She went into the room she'd been using, and Darcy felt as if a weight had lifted from him. Now he could finally get back to Lizi.

He started for the door, just as Lizi came flying in. She almost bumped into him, "Darcy, sorry. I forgot about you." She looked like she was trying not to cry. "I mean, I can't talk right now. I have to get some stuff for Jane." What was going on? She was heading for his room.

"Jane's stuff isn't up there anymore."

"What?"

"She and Chad moved their stuff downstairs today. Here, I have a key."

"Oh, right. I forgot." She turned, and they went downstairs together. Lizi stood in the entry to Chad's apartment and looked around, as if at a loss.

"I think they're in the master bedroom, over there."

"Thanks." She ran into the room, pulled open a number of drawers, and started flinging random stuff into a suitcase.

"Lizi, what's going on? Did Jane and Chad have a fight?"

"No, it's Lydia. No one knows where she is. Chad and Jane are coming to get me. We have to go home—my parents are freaking out." Her voice was getting higher and faster as she spoke. "Shit, I need to get my stuff, too—"

He put his hands on her shoulders, "Lizi, stop."

"I can't. We have to go as soon as they get here."

"Well if you're packing for Jane, you just gave her Chad's underwear."

"Oh."

"If you need to get home, we can get your things to you later. Tell me what's wrong."

She took a deep breath, "Kat and Lydia have been staying with a friend in Long Beach Island—or we thought they were staying with a friend and her family, but it turned out her parents only signed the lease. It was a bunch of teenagers that were staying there.

"Kat called Jane earlier, all upset because this was their last day, and she hasn't seen Lydia since yesterday. Jane and Chad drove out there, and... I don't know, tried to find her I guess. Kat admitted that Lydia has been spending a lot of time with…with…"

"With whom?"

She dropped her eyes, "John Wicks. No one has seen him since yesterday either, or at least no one they talked to, but Kat doesn't have reason to think they are together."

Shit! He didn't want to upset Lizi more, and forced himself to speak calmly, but he was almost sure John Wicks was mixed up in this. "Go on."

"Jane called my parents to track her phone, and they found out her phone was still in the house. She either ditched it or… I don't know, I can't imagine she forgot it. So now my parents are freaking out, and Jane and Chad should be here any minute, and then we have to go home. I don't know what good we can do, but we have to be there."

"Of course, but neither of you should be driving when you're this upset."

"Chad said he'd drive us home."

"Good." Then he could work on finding John Wicks.

"I should go wait for them outside. You really don't mind sending us our stuff?"

"It's the least I can do. I'll walk you out." As they walked down the steps, he tried to figure out where John would have gone. "Lizi, does Lydia have any money?"

"A small savings account. I don't think there's much in there. Why?"

"Here they are." Chad and Jane drove up and jumped out of the car.

Jane pulled out her phone, "There's more. Lydia's got an Instagram account that none of us knew about, except Kat. She finally told us about it on the way over here."

"The good news," said Chad, "is she's been posting selfies, so we know she's OK."

"The bad news…" Jane showed Lizi a picture.

Lizi looked at it, "She's definitely with John Wicks."

"Let me see." Darcy held out his hand for the phone.

"Darcy…" Chad's voice had a warning tone.

"I only want to see…" he was looking at her pictures as he spoke, and stopped when something caught his eye. "This was taken in Atlantic City."

"Are you sure?" Lizi asked.

"Yes."

Lizi turned to Jane. "We have to go there and look for her."

Jane said, "I still think we need to go home. We need to take Kat home, and Mom will need us. We can let the police know about her Instagram page."

"So you and Chad can take Kat home, and I'll go to Atlantic City."

"Where would you even start looking?"

"I don't know, but at least I'd be doing something."

"I'll take you," Darcy said to Lizi.

She looked startled, "What?"

"Chad can take Jane home, and I'll take you to Atlantic City."

"You don't have to do that."

"I can help you find him, and you shouldn't drive when you're tired and upset."

"Darcy…"

"Lizi, please. Driving when you're sleep-deprived and distracted, is my version of someone going backwards down the stairs."

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"Will you let me drive you?"

"Yeah, OK."

"Just let me tell Gigi, and make a couple of calls, and then I'll be ready to go. I won't be long, I promise."

"OK. I'll wait for you."

"Do any of you know how Lydia is posting selfies, if she left her phone behind?"

No one did. Darcy made his calls quickly, but it took longer than he expected to talk to Gigi. He felt he needed to explain what was going on. "Are you OK?" he asked when he finished.

"Yea, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Rick and Brandon are coming down. They should be here in a few hours."

"I don't need a babysitter."

"I know, but you'd like to see them, wouldn't you? And I'd feel better, if you had someone around. Just in case all this brings up any issues for you."

She agreed she would like to see them, reassured him that she was fine, and added, "I hope you can find Lydia."

"Me too."

He was relieved to find Lizi waiting for him. He'd been half-afraid she would leave, if he took too long. "Sorry, It took me longer to talk to Gigi than I realized it would."

He opened the door for her, and she surprised him with a quick hug before jumping in.

As he pulled away from the house, she asked, "Is Gigi alright? I didn't even consider her history with John."

"I think so, and Rick is coming to be with her."

"Good."

They rode in silence for a long time. He wanted to tell her that they would find Lydia and everything would be fine, but he couldn't promise her what he didn't know.

"Lydia just turned seventeen."

It seemed like a non sequitur, but it didn't take him long to realize why she had said it. Seventeen was the age of consent in New Jersey. "If it's any consolation, I don't think he'd do anything physical to her."

"I don't understand what he would want with her."

Lizi's phone rang and saved him from replying. "Aunt Maddie?"

...

"No, Jane and Kat are on their way home. I'm heading to Atlantic City."

...

"They are?"

…

"No, I didn't know that."

She held the phone away from her mouth and said to Darcy, "Lydia withdrew cash—the maximum amount, yesterday and today—from an ATM in Atlantic City."

"Was it the same ATM both times?"

She repeated the question and gave him her aunt's reply, "Yes, but she won't be able to get any more." To her aunt, she said, "Give me the address anyway."

…

"That's no reason for me not to have a look as well."

…

"I'm not. I'm with a friend."

…

"We aren't doing anything dangerous."

…

"I'm not stopping the police from handling it any more than Dad and Uncle Ed are."

…

"Will Darcy, he runs a humongous company, you can google him—"

…

"Well, not giving me the address isn't going to stop me from trying, I have to do something."

…

"We will."

…

"Yes, I promise."

…

"Love you too."

She hung up. "She's texting me the address of the ATM. I know it won't be much good, but…" she shrugged. "My father and uncle are going to Atlantic City to look for her too."

"I have someone working on tracking her posts."

"You do? Who?"

"A P.I."

"You know a P.I.?"

Was it unusual to know a P.I.? From the way she was looking at him, he guessed it was. "Yes. I use him from time to time. It was one of the calls I made… What?"

She was staring at him like she was trying to figure out what was on his face. "I didn't even think to ask why you're helping me. This must push a lot of buttons for you. Come to think of it, you must be sleep-deprived, too."

I can't let him hurt anyone else I love. "I took a nap. Can we talk about my buttons when this is over?"

"It just occurred to me that I'm taking advantage of you."

What? "You've never taken advantage of anyone."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. If you had, you would know the difference between 'taking advantage' and accepting a favor when it's offered."

She didn't look convinced. Speaking of being taken advantage of made him think of Karo. It had been less than an hour since he'd talked with her. He'd forgotten all about her until now. He wanted to explain things to Lizi, but it didn't seem like quite the right time to say, "By the way, I never hooked up with Karo."

For the sake of changing the topic, he said, "You know, if your aunt googles me, she's likely to get hundreds of references to Pride and Prejudice."

"Not if she adds 'Darcy Enterprises.'"

He repressed a smile, "That's how you found me on google, then?"

Her cheeks turned pink, and she gave him a sheepish smile, "Yeah, that's how."

If John Wicks hurt her sister, he would kill him.

A/N: I know I fell into the trap of making Karo worse than the original I think I've said before that these stories take on a life of their own as I write them. I know Darcy shouldn't be trying to help Karo that issue will come up.

Thanks to those who favorited, followed and reviewed and thanks to cactustactus for the edit, for the extra help clarifying some tricky bits, and for suggesting the format for when Lizi is on the phone. The suggestion was inspired by reading EmmaBee by WadeH

Next Up: Lydia