Chapter 34: Exit Wickham, Stage Right
"How is it that he didn't get caught at the airport?" Elizabeth asked Richard in consternation.
"Why did you tell Darcy that Wickham was here" Richard asked, completely ignoring her question.
"Wha – We were texting and then I got Lydia's message…I'm sorry, was I not supposed to say anything?"
Richard shrugged. "It's fine. I just prefer not having a set of invisible eyes glaring at me through this."
"I'm sorry. How did George…"
Richard steadfastly stared at the monitor in front of him, but this time he deigned to answer Elizabeth.
"Because Wickham had nothing on him. And stopping him for no reason would have made him suspicious. He found another patsy who couldn't get beyond his looks for long enough to stop herself from committing a crime."
"Oh." Wickham strikes again, she thought. "Did they arrest her?"
"Bigger fish to fry; our aim is Wickham, not some teenage princess with dubious taste in men."
"Sir?"
Elizabeth watched as the junior officer – Tim Zheng - wordlessly handed over his binoculars to Richard. She was desperate to know what they were thinking, but sat in her designated corner at the back of the converted van.
"Ma'am, do you need anything?"
"She's fine; this is a stakeout, not a hotel," Richard snapped.
Officer Zheng said nothing, but simply took a second set of binoculars to resume his watch. Elizabeth was dying to see or hear what the men were privy to, but knew better than to ask. They were both professionals, in the middle of a very serious undertaking. Elizabeth closed her eyes. When this was all over…because it was going to be over soon, one way or another. If the plan didn't work…then her parents would finally have to learn how to parent under the most trying of circumstances. If it did work, then Lydia would have a second chance at life, and…Elizabeth hoped that she could prioritise her own life over caring for her sister.
Hoped.
"Elizabeth?"
She looked at Richard.
"Lydia seems to be struggling. Are you ready?"
She wasn't, and Elizabeth almost knocked her head on the roof as she clambered up. "Of course," she said. "What's…"
Richard motioned with his hand for her to wait, and Elizabeth lowered herself into a kneeling position.
The hope…the plan had been for Lydia to tell George that she had sold off the drugs George had left her with, and had concoted a lucrative scheme sell some more at fantastic price in Singapore, only to be short of the goods once here, and desperately reach out to him for help...help in procuring some drugs and selling it for a nifty profit.
And now, here they were. It was hard to imagine that the greedy scumbag would have come this far just for the temptation that was Lydia. Elizabeth wondered what was taking so long, and if Lydia had the mettle to make it much further without messing things up.
"He wants her to go with her."
"Go where?" Elizabeth asked.
Silence.
Elizabeth bit her lower lip. "Should she?"
"She shouldn't even be here," Richard muttered.
"You don't -"
"Have any faith in your sister? Not even a tiny little bit."
Elizabeth had no reason to fault Richard for thinking this, though she hoped that Lydia would prove both of them wrong. In fact, the plan required Lydia to act eager, dumb, and generally clueless, which was not a hard ask under regular circumstances.
Officer Zheng started furiously speaking into his handset, and Richard suddenly did the same, albeit with a calmness that was scary, but also commanded respect. Elizabeth was too sensible a person to start becoming hysterical, though even she could see the situation outside was visibly tense, with George and Lydia seemingly arguing.
"We're going to stay right here," Richard stated, perhaps to ensure that Elizabeth didn't do anything stupid. "The local force is going in now…as soon as he raises his hand…"
Elizabeth was aghast. "He won't…"
"I know men," Richard sad grimly, "and I know him."
Behind George, Elizabeth saw two officers from the local police start walking towards him and Lydia. Oblivious, George grabbed Lydia's arm, and even with the distance, Lydia's wince was clear to Elizabeth. To her credit, Lydia didn't attempt to do anything dramatic. Her pain and unwillingness were clear, but Lydia let George lead. As he forcibly pushed Lydia towards the parked vehicles, the two officers reached the pair, stopping them in their tracks.
With her view finally obstructed, Elizabeth let out the breath that she had been holding in. "Is it…do you think he has the drugs on him?"
"Yes," Richard answered curtly. "It's not in his hotel room, and we've been tailing him since he landed; there's no other place he could have left it. Besides, he's not idiot enough to leave something so dangerous behind. Stay here," he said. "They'll bring Lydia, and then Tim will take you both to the station to get her statement. I am finally off to deal with that scumbag, once and for all."
Elizabeth nodded, finding it hard to believe that it was finally over, without the level of the drama or danger that she had anticipated.
Richard had already stepped out of the van, and he turned back to look at her. "I'll be there at Lydia's interview at the station, but I doubt that I'll see you there. If I don't, thank you, for being here and helping put all this together. I've waited a painfully long time for today, and it wouldn't have happened without you. I hope…I hope both of you work things out. Come back to Pemberley some time. He won't say it, but Darcy misses you."
"Well, Lizzy, things turned out quite alright for Lydia, didn't it? One hopes that she's finally learned something from all of this."
Elizabeth felt Jane's steadying hand on her shoulder, and that stopped her from snapping at her father. It had been less than a week since she had gotten back and she was still jittery. Her father's attitude helped not at all.
Jane smoothly stepped in. "Dad, all the original documentation is in this folder; we picked it up from Dave's - Mr. Irving's - office. Please keep it somewhere safe; remember, Lydia's entire record gets expunged only a year from now, once she's followed the terms of her house arrest and community service. So you never know when you'll need these."
Ultimately, everyone had felt that Lydia needed something more than just a slap on her wrist to teach her a badly needed lesson. Under the circumstances, Elizabeth thought that an expunction following house arrest and some community service was the best they could get out of the situation.
Mr. Bennett made a non-committal noise, but took the folder from Jane nonetheless. "Thank you, girls. You both did well. I admit, I was wrong to have said that this wasn't a good idea."
Elizabeth snorted. "I think your exact words were that it be better for Lydia 'to go through the criminal court process'."
"I can admit when I was wrong, Lizzy."
Elizabeth tamped down on all the comments that came to mind, none of which were either magnanimous or polite. She nodded, and stayed silent.
"Will you be making dinner tonight, Jane?"
"The Lucases invited the two of us for dinner," Elizabeth said quickly.
Mr. Bennett raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Just the two of you?"
"Charlotte drove down for the weekend. I believe the invitation is actually from her. And she's driving us back tomorrow as well, so it would be quite rude to refuse."
"Charlotte Lucas has bought a car, has she? She's doing rather well for herself," Mr. Bennett said.
"Dad, she doesn't live in the city anymore. She's not even in suburbia. She needs a vehicle to get around," Jane said. "And yes, of course she's doing really well," Jane hastily added. "She's taken to her new job like a duck to water."
"Good for her, for doing something with herself. Lizzy," Mr. Bennett said, and then he cleared his throat, forcing Elizabeth to look up. "Lizzy, isn't your graduation in two weeks?"
"The ceremony, yes."
"When were you going to tell us? I had to hear about it from Mary."
"In case you hadn't noticed Dad, I've been a bit preoccupied."
"Elizabeth, I have already apologised. I was wrong about Lydia. Let's all move on from that. I told Mary that she and I could drive up for the ceremony, though she wasn't very interested in attending."
Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Dad, you're welcome to come, of course, I'm not stopping anyone. But…Darcy…might…he might be there. And if you choose to come, you're going to have to be nice and respectful to the people in my life. That's the basic, bare minimum requirement."
Mr. Bennett gave her a long, hard, look. He then simply nodded and walked away, folder in hand.
Elizabeth sighed and leaned back into the chair.
"You didn't tell me you spoke to Darcy! What happened? He said he might be there?!"
Elizabeth bit her lower lip. "I…we haven't actually really spoken about anything except about Lydia. Ergo, I haven't invited him to anything. But, that's my plan. No guts, no glory, right?"
