Chapter Twelve
Shakily, she stepped into the room she and Darcy were sharing and closed the door behind her. Her eyes were not yet accustomed to the dark, but she could make out enough to see that Darcy was still lying down, probably asleep. She fumbled towards the bed and slide in from the bottom so she didn't have to risk climbing over or around him. Once settled, she realized she was shivering slightly after being exposed to the cold for so long. It was a little better when she got under the covers, but she still risked waking him by moving right up against Darcy to benefit from the heat he seemed to radiate. She was shivering and looking at him with wide eyes; if he were to wake, the picture she presented would probably send him right into a panic, asking questions and demanding to know what had affected her this way. She wasn't sure she would be able to keep it from him in the state she was in right now and if she was completely honest she silently prayed he would wake.
As she studied this strong, powerful man who vowed to take care of her, to protect her, she thought of how much he had already changed her world. Before he was in her life, she had relied on plenty of people to protect her from the dangers of growing up in a crime-riddled neighborhood, but even as she relied on people like Charlotte and Jay to look out for her, she had also accrued several skills for keeping herself safe, because she could never rely on anyone else one hundred percent of the time.
She knew how to fight if it came down to it, and a few times in her life it had. She knew the best ways to circumvent the law, and she had an impressive set of criminal skills. Most importantly, she knew how to assess someone's personality, to read a person so that she could talk her way out of trouble with threats or promises of future favors. It was a skill she had learned from her father. He pulled strings and did what he could on the bureaucratic side of his life, but to even get to that point, he had used his skill of reading people to make deals that were mutually beneficial to all parties involved.
It didn't hurt that he lucked out and became good friends with Charlotte and Jay's father, the brother of the leader of the most powerful gang in the area but part of that luck was her father's natural talent of putting people at ease and appealing to their better nature. She had learned to take her cues from him at an early age, and as much as she had good friends growing up, he was the only one she really trusted.
So it almost went without saying that she was not used to trusting so easily, but whether through lust or pure admiration, she had to admit that she trusted Darcy, despite many of Charlotte's warnings and her own misgivings. How was it, then, that she now had deals with two different people to go behind his back and throw herself into the path of danger?
Of course, the simple answer was that it was all in the name of helping him out. No matter what happened, the end result was Wickham being locked up for his crimes. If that meant Darcy had to live the life of a drug-dealing criminal or that she had to do whatever Wickham asked her to do to make sure Darcy got close enough to take Wickham down for the murder's he was suspected of, then she would do her part.
When this had started, she thought sticking her neck out as far as she did was bad; she never could have imagined at the time that a few short months of playing boyfriend and girlfriend would have her making decisions she promised never to make. Narc'ing on The Riders, agreeing to be put under Wickham's thumb so that Will could advance – Charlotte was right, she was spiraling out of control. She had made a promise to herself and her dying father that she would get her life together, that she was done with rebelling and breaking the law with her criminal friends. Now she was in more trouble than she could have imagined; instead of the threat of prison, it was her life that was on the line.
Wickham was obviously her biggest problem, but, although informing on the Riders felt safe in perspective, even that came with its dangers. Sometimes it was too easy to forget how dangerous these people were when she saw them as friends first and gang members second. The Riders were just a typically biker gang; they were the top car choppers in the area, but they also bullied, robbed, and generally liked getting into fights whether you were in the gang or not. She might be let off the hook relatively easy if anyone found out she fed information about their operation to her boyfriend because they would take her friendships, past favors, and retaliation that would come from The Family into consideration. Of course, she would be out of the loop forever- all past friendships would be forgotten; on top of no one trusting her, it would be too dangerous to go flaunting herself in their territory when there would be plenty of bikers who thought retribution was in order.
The Family sold drugs and guns, robbed stores, and murdered their competition, but they also took care of their own, which was practically the whole neighborhood. For a gang, they were relatively safe- as long as they looked at you as one of them. The Family had a long-standing rivalry with the biker gang, and even though she had friends all throughout the neighborhood, regardless of who they ran with, it was The Family that she had the most loyalty towards.
To be fair, she knew practically everyone in the gang, and she had the most friends in it; her two best friends, Charlotte and Jay, being prime examples. She wanted to say she would never help Wickham or Darcy with anything that would hurt The Family, but a month ago she would have never guessed she would be feeding information on The Riders to a detective, let alone laying here, sharing a cabin in the woods with Wickham as she considered meeting him in secret as soon as they got back.
Back to the problem at hand. She could tell Darcy about the arrangement, but he didn't like the thought of her walking down the street alone – he would never let her go through with it. Unfortunately, if she didn't go through with it, then all this work would have been for nothing. Darcy would be stuck on the outside and eventually would have to pack it in on the undercover front. What then? Would he be able to find a different way to get Wickham off the street? She had to guess the investigation wasn't going that well as it was, or Darcy wouldn't have had to do what he did.
Idly, she wondered what Jay would do if she came to him and told him Wickham was harassing her. More than likely he would get his guys to pay Wickham a visit to encourage him to leave her alone. As tempting as it was, that would accomplish nothing but getting Darcy ostracized even more than her not showing up to Wickham's secret meeting.
If she told JJ to take Wickham out, would he? Could it be that easy? To tell a friend of hers, one who was almost like a brother- or more accurately someone she once thought herself in love with, to take it upon himself to kill Wickham for her? She was almost sure he would do it if she asked. The thought was terrifying - to have that kind of power over someone. But that was always her MO, wasn't it? She was weak; she was white and she was a woman, but she had powerful friends - her father had made sure of that.
Darcy shifted in his sleep. She had calmed down considerably as she took stock of her situation, but she still wondered what his reaction would be if he woke to find her sitting in bed next to him, studying his face.
He was handsome; there could be no two opinions on that. Awake he looked dangerous; brooding and silent- most days you were unsure of where you stood with him. Still, she had always felt safe with him, even more so after he beat the shit out of those guys hassling her. He also looked good with his face relaxed in sleep, slightly vulnerable; instead of feeling sheltered, she felt a surge of protection go through her. She wanted to help him, to take care of him like he always strived to take care of her.
Suddenly, she was sure she would do whatever it took to get Wickham off the street for Will. If that meant meeting him in secret to find out what Wickham got out of the deal, so be it. She had been in worse situations before and survived. As if picking up on her sudden decisive mood, Darcy shifted in his sleep once more, but this time his eyes fluttered open. She had no chance to feign sleep, their eyes met instantly. For some reason, he simply stared at her with that intense look that had been in his eyes the last few days.
"Hey," she finally said in a low voice. It was beginning to unnerve her, the way he was staring so intensely.
"Hey" he replied, blinking and sitting up so he leaned on his elbow. As close as they had been because of her need for body heat, this put him almost leaning over her. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Lizzy swallowed heavily, a mixture of feelings fighting it out in her chest. He put a hand on her shoulder, his skin barely touching hers before pulling back.
"I'm sorry about your shoulder," Darcy murmured, looking down at her.
"It's alright. It doesn't hurt," she replied, for once not shying away from his intense gaze, letting her eyes linger on his familiar face. She felt relaxed in his presence and safe for the first time since her encounter with Wickham.
"Are you alright?" Darcy looked concerned, repeating his question. He seemed to become more aware of his surroundings.
"Yeah- I just… yeah," she smiled, ignoring the pit in her stomach that stemmed from the knowledge that this was a perfect moment to tell him what had happened. He would never let her go through with it if he knew about it and as much as she didn't want to go behind his back, she had no choice if he wanted him to get close enough to take Wickham down
Just as she was about to suggest they try and get some sleep before Rob's no doubt eager and early wakeup call, he shifted closer so she felt his leg flush against hers and ran his hand from her shoulder to lightly graze her arm before stopping to rest on her waist.
"Sometimes I forget how small you are," he kind of smiled and blew out a breath of air in what could be described as a laugh if one was being generous. She glanced up again to see his eyes running over her face and neck as if he were memorizing her features.
"Hey," she protested, eyes furrowing despite the pleasure she felt at the moment as she turned slightly in his embrace. "I'm not that much shorter than you," she kicked at his leg, but despite her protest, she only reached his shin - not the foot she was aiming for.
"No," he agreed amenably, but then was silent as he resumed studying her face. She took the opportunity to return the favor, especially lingering on the scar beneath his eye, but after a few moments had passed, she couldn't help but squirm.
"Why are you staring at me?" she asked, meaning to sound hard and teasing but somehow the message got screwed up and it came out curious and just on this side of shy.
"Elizabeth," Suddenly, he had a determined look on his face that left her feeling anxious. "How would you feel if I kissed you?"
Her heart stopped and she couldn't help but wonder if she misheard him, or was missing something. "I don't mind when you kiss me," she eventually whispered.
"Not as Will O'Mara," he shook his head slightly; his eyes were almost black as they met hers intently. His deep voice was barely above a whisper and unless someone had the place bugged, no one would be able to hear him. Still, she was surprised at his daring when he clarified. "I mean Darcy."
"Oh," she said stupidly, her mouth slightly open in surprise. What did it say about her that her first reaction was to point out all the times he scolded her for letting his identity slip and here he was in the same small cabin as Wickham saying his real name. She let the urge pass when her brain caught up with his words. His hand was still resting on her waist, and she could feel him tense slightly as time passed without an answer from her. "I…" she felt vulnerable, but she knew he had already taken a big risk in asking and deserved to have her honest answer. "Darcy, I've wanted you to kiss me for… for I don't know how long."
"You have?" He asked, and for some reason seemed surprised, although pleased. She nodded, hoping to hide her frustration that he didn't do it already. "I was under the impression you barely tolerated me."
"What gave you that idea?" she asked, confused. He kind of laughed again.
"You're always teasing me, laughing at me; or trying to push my buttons. It always seems like you're trying to piss me off rather than…" he trailed off, apparently not wanting to finish that thought.
"You mocked me for thinking you were hot, that first day at the diner," she almost exclaimed in defense, sitting up to she leaned on her elbow as well, mirroring his position; he didn't move away even though they were now almost nose to nose "I wasn't going to moon over you like an idiot. I do have my pride, you know." To her surprise, he laughed outright.
"You're judging my interest in you based on a five-minute conversation on that day, of all things?" he asked, laughing again and looking down at her with a look that could only be called affectionate. "I wouldn't put much stock into anything I said that day – I was working on no sleep for two days and was in the worst mood."
"Oh," she repeated, her heart fluttering in her chest again at the implication of his words. He smiled at her response, a big smile that shows teeth. "So, you like me then?"
"Despite my better judgment, yes," he replied, still smiling. She pulled back.
"Despite your better judgment?" she asked, stung. He must have realized he slipped up because he lost his smile.
"No- I mean," he shook his head, his hand tightening on her waist as if to prevent her from putting any more space between them. "I mean… You know I'll be leaving soon- eventually. I don't want… I didn't want to start anything, knowing that."
"You didn't want to?" She asked, catching his self-correction. Logically, she knew his reasons were sound and that blurring the lines between fiction and reality was not a smart move, especially considering the worsening conditions of his undercover work; but all she could manage to focus on was that he had been struggling with wanting to kiss her as himself and not his alter ego. "But now?"
"Now," he murmured, looking down at her, his eyes turning black once more. "If you say you've been wanting me to kiss you, I don't think I have any other choice."
Her heartbeat a strong rhythm in her chest at his words and where she was only moments before shivering with cold, there was a warmth building in her chest that was magnified where his hand still rested on her waist. He grasped her hip and shifted slightly, pulling her with one hand and resting his weight on his elbow so they faced each other more. This gave her a brief view of the contracting muscles of his arms before his face was all she saw. This close to him, her eyes could only focus on one major point of his face; her gaze jumped from his scar to his eyes to his nose to his lips. They shared the same air, each drawing breaths in through parted lips. She only had a moment to wonder if his hesitation was to build up the kiss itself or if he was having second thoughts when, unconsciously, her tongue darted out to wet her lips in anticipated; this apparently sent some message to Darcy, because he closed the remaining space between them.
They had kissed before, but never like this. It was if those chaste kisses were between two other people and this was their first real kiss, without any awkwardness or timidity; he kissed her like he was meant to be the one to kiss her. She was instantly aware of every part of his body that was touching hers, made all the more overwhelming when he shifted them both again so that her back was pressed against the mattress and he hovered over her, his knee pressed against her inner thigh and one arm still on her hip. A few brushes against her lips and she felt his tongue trace her bottom lip. She immediately opened her mouth to him and their moans mingle together as his tongue slide against hers.
She ran her hands through his hair and felt his free hand caress the spot where her shirt rode up enough to leave an expanse of skin exposed. If she thought he radiated heat before, it was nothing to the scorch that he branded her with now. Impatiently, she shoved the crumble of blankets and sheets aside and pulled him closer by tugging his shirt down towards her. Unfortunately, she had to break free to breathe, and their gasps of breaths mingled together as he looked down at her.
"That was..," she managed to get out before he leaned down to taste the skin of her shoulder and she cut herself off with a moan. "Darcy."
"Yes," he replied, either in agreement or encouragement. He pulled her shirt up slightly, his tongue darting out to taste the skin of her lower stomach.
"Jesus," she whimpered.
"Darcy," he corrected. She caught sight of a smug grin that would have normally sent her into competitive mode but at this moment she was enjoying herself way too much to care. Unfortunately, as he lifted her shirt tantalizingly even more upward, she heard a noise coming from the living room. Suddenly, she could think of nothing but the fact that Wickham was in the other room; it was if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water onto her.
"Wait," she said, sitting up.
"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.
"I'm sorry," she winced, berating herself for letting it go this far. "I can't do this, with…" as she trailed off, there was another noise from somewhere else in the cabin. She gestured to the door and he nodded resignedly. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry," he said, looking into her eyes as if conveying another message.
"I mean, I'm sorry we have to stop," she whispered shyly back. He grinned, kissing her once more, a quick kiss.
He grabbed the covers from where Lizzy had shoved them and rearranged them over the two of them once more. He turned to face her and she mirrored him; he looked more relaxed than she had seen him before and she wondered how she managed to have such an effect on him.
"I know this is probably more irresponsible than dangerous," he murmured. "But I don't want you to get hurt."
"I'm a big girl, Darcy," she whispered back. "I know this probably isn't going to end well."
"As a rule, starting a relationship in this kind of situation doesn't bode well for the future," he agreed seemingly reluctantly. "But that doesn't mean it automatically has to have an expiration date."
"You're an undercover cop who will eventually have to either expose yourself as a cop or mysteriously disappear. It might be a little hard to go out to dinner, or whatever, when you can't be seen by anyone in the neighborhood," she replied; they had always been honest with each other and she didn't want that to stop now, however much she wanted to believe this could work out for them.
"You won't always be in this neighborhood," he murmured back. She knew why he hesitated; her life outside of school was always a source of disagreement between them. He looked down on her friends and where she lived, but this was her home and she was not ashamed of it. Still, he did have a point. Soon she would be going to a real university and if she didn't live there she would still have to move to be closer to campus.
"That's true," she allowed. He smiled.
"I've never met anyone like you, Elizabeth. Now that I know I have a chance, I won't be giving up so easily," he told her. She couldn't help the pleased smile that arose at his words.
"Good," she replied. "But I know you, Darcy," she added, turning serious. "Don't focus so hard about not hurting me that we don't get the chance to enjoy our time together, however much of it we get."
He looked like he wanted to protest or argue, but he stifled whatever reply had come to him and simply nodded. He reached out and ran his thumb over her bottom lip, his fingers lightly grazing her cheek and chin, making a shiver run down her back. She narrowed her eyes despite the pleasure she felt and had to say one more thing. "And this compliant and assenting Darcy is throwing me off. If you think not arguing with me is the way into my pants, you haven't been paying attention."
He actually laughed. "Fair enough. Anything else?"
"Yeah," she smiled, then scooted closer until she could lay her head against his chest. "Share some of that heat you seem to radiate."
"I can do that." His voice rumbled in her ear and his arm came underneath and behind her, pulling her close. "Like that?"
"Uh, yeah," she stuttered. He smiled at her reply.
It seemed like five minutes had gone by before Rob was knocking on their door again. "Sun's been up for hours, let's go already," he called through the door. Lizzy attempted to bury her face deeper in the pillow; she was uncommonly comfortable at the moment and could only think idly that the temperature must have risen a great deal when the sun rose. Of course, it only took a few seconds for her to realize the pillow she was clinging to was actually Darcy's chest. She loosened her death grip slightly and opened her eyes to catch a glimpse of his arms rising over his head in a long stretch.
"Wickham's up to something," he murmured. His eyes were still closed as his arm came back down to hold her against him. Her heart plummeted into her stomach at his statement and the guilt at not telling him what had happened last night mingled with the thought that he might be dreaming. "Promise me you won't go wandering off without me today."
"I promise," she agreed amiably, uncomfortable with the knowledge that the longer time passed before he found out Wickham already cornered her the harder it would be to tell him.
The pair eventually got up and Will left to use the bathroom and give Lizzy a chance to get changed without him in the room. He came back in as she was shoving her packed overnight bag back in the closet.
"Be careful with the door," he warned.
"You mean so I don't get a matching bruise?" she teased, looking down at her shoulder to see the nasty bruise she had incurred the first night. Despite the deep purple color, it didn't hurt unless she pulled it a certain way, and even then it was more sore than painful. He stepped close to her as she exposed her shoulder; they mirrored their stance yesterday with him lightly brushing his fingers over the bruise. Today though, he leaned down and lightly kissed it. When he pulled back, she brought her hand behind his neck to pull him to her lips. They had only just kissed when Lizzy suddenly pulled back, turning to look at the closet.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"My bag," she frowned, thinking hard. "I didn't pull it out last night because I just slept in my clothes."
"Yeah?" he prompted her, interested but not following her train of thought. She looked up to meet his gaze.
"I just realized it was out. Someone must have pulled it out of the closet and couldn't get the door back open to put it back in," she said.
"Shit," he cursed low. "Is there anything missing? Or added?"
She didn't answer, but together they opened the door without incident and she pulled her overnight bag back out. She riffled through it, ticking things off in her head. "Everything's here. As far as I can see nothing's been messed with or added," she left the bag to go to the side table next to their bed. Their cell phones, which had served as expensive alarm clocks had basically been plugged in and not moved since they got there; there wasn't a tower close enough that they got reception so it didn't make much sense to carry them around. She looked swiped to unlock the phone and noticed right away that the home screen was showing rather than the alarm app she had left it on.
She turned to look at Will, who could tell by the look on her face that someone had looked through her phone.
"Is there anything…" he trailed off, frowning.
"No. I mean, we're careful with our texts. No," she shook her head, heart pounding as she tried to think. She double-clicked the home button to see what apps had been accessed. Luckily, whoever had gone through her phone didn't think or have time to cover their tracks.
"They looked at my texts," Lizzy frowned the phone. "My photos, my contacts. Damnit."
"Nothing is discriminating on there," Will reassured her.
"So what? Someone was looking through my stuff and just because they didn't find anything doesn't make that suck any less," she huffed.
"Well, who had the opportunity?" Will ignored her biting comment to wonder aloud.
"I don't know, I don't think any of us have been alone all…" Lizzy started, then remembered. "Yesterday, when we were at the lake, Jade went back to the cabin alone. Sherry said it was to see if we had reception."
Will nodded. "I remember. The question is, did she do it for Wickham or her curiosity?"
"I don't know," Lizzy shook her head. She could well imagine Wickham asking Jade to do his dirty work, but would he have a reason for wanting her to go through some other girl's stuff, or would he not even have to justify himself?
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Last call," Rob said, and then shuffled off.
"We're leaving tonight. Let's just get through these last few hours, and we can figure out her motives later," Will instructed. "This might be a good thing at any rate. If Wickham is suspicious of us, Jade finding nothing compromising in your phone might actually help us."
She didn't want to burst his 'look on the bright side' bubble, but she couldn't help but notice his stuff seemed untouched. Maybe Jade got interrupted by someone returning to the cabin early, but she couldn't help but think Will was not the reason she was having her stuff searched for incriminating evidence.
Rob barely let them grab some food for breakfast to eat on the trail before he was ushering them out the door. Jade and Wickham were already outside with sunglasses on, lounging against a tree together. Lizzy tensed at the sight of them but forced herself to relax. While she certainly had a reason to be wary of them, Will was unusually perceptive to her moods and his brain would have no trouble connecting the dots if she were to act any differently around Wickham than she had been all weekend. Anger he would expect, fear he would wonder about. She was grateful this would be their last day, and that they would be heading back into town alone. Her mind wondered what it would be like to spend time with Darcy when they didn't have to put on their different personas. Maybe she would be able to tell him what had happened with Wickham; at the very least she had to come up with a plan of what was going to happen tomorrow.
"What's the plan?" Darcy finally asked.
"We're heading to the caves," Rob called back. "We might need the buddy system –your girlfriend tends to wander off in here."
"I was drunk on a dare," she defended with a frown. "And it was the middle of the night."
"Don't worry sweetheart," Will smiled, throwing an arm around her shoulder so they were flush up against each other. "I'll be your buddy."
She wanted to grumble about not needing anyone to take care of her, especially in a set of caves that you literally had to be drunk to get lost in, but the way he smiled down at her and the memory of the kisses they had recently shared only produced a begrudgingly pleased grin.
They reached the caves in a short amount of time, and by then the group had blended a bit so that Wickham, Rob, and Jade were leading the way while Lizzy, Will, and Sherry had fallen behind a bit. Lizzy was reassuring Sherry that there were no bears or bats or anything living in the caves, while Wickham was quizzing Rob on the layout, how deep the caves were, how they connected, and things like that. Will stayed with Lizzy and Sherry but his focus was on Wickham and Rob's conversation.
In her heightened paranoia of Wickham since their encounter last night, she couldn't help but wonder if he were looking for a place to dump her body. Not for the first time, she wondered about the other murders Darcy was sure Wickham committed, but she always had the same hesitation when the chance came of asking for more information- would knowing all the details make her feel better or worse?
"You two seem happy this morning," Sherry nudged her with a sly look when Will had moved far enough away from them. "Anything exciting happen last night?"
"In that disgusting room? Yeah, right," Lizzy scrunched her nose, glad for the distraction. "I barely want to sleep in that bed, let alone…"
"Yeah," Sherry shrugged. "At least you get a room to yourself."
"True," Lizzy agreed; she would not have liked having to stay on the pull out in the main room, although Wickham would have had trouble getting her away from Will if he was sleeping a few feet away.
"I'll be glad when we're on our way home. Don't tell Rob, but this outdoors stuff is so not me," she swatted at a bug on her arm for emphasis. "I'm ready for a hot shower and a heater apartment."
"I think everyone but Rob is ready for that," Lizzy laughed. "If we didn't drag him back he'll probably be happy to live out here for weeks."
"Don't give him ideas," Sherry warned with a serious look on her face.
"Don't worry, I'm ready to be home too, you won't hear me singing the praises of the outdoors for a long time," Lizzy promised.
"Well, at least we got some sun. And it's warmer out here than it was in the city," Sherry said begrudgingly.
"See I knew you'd like it out here. Maybe if I talk to Rob we can stay one more day-" Lizzy started with a teasing grin on her face.
"Don't you dare!" Sherry exclaimed, grabbing Lizzy's arm and pulling her back, although Lizzy had made no real move towards Rob. "I will drop your skinny white ass off this cliff, I swear to you."
"Alright, Alright," Lizzy laughed, pulling away. "My lips are sealed."
By now they had caught the attention of the rest of the group. Rob and Will exchanged glances; both seemed to be considering whether to ask what had caused the reaction in Sherry and why Lizzy felt she had to promise her secrecy.
"Are we sure no bears decided to hibernate here?" Lizzy asked, coming to stand next to Will but addressing Rob.
"Nah, I was here this morning already. It's empty," Rob waved off her concerns.
"You came to these caves at the crack of dawn by yourself? What if there had been bears, you dolt?" Lizzy questioned.
"I woulda taken care of it. Bam!" he mimed a punch. "right in the nose," he flashed a cocky grin to his girlfriend.
"Riiiiiight," Lizzy and Sherry harmonized, then turned to each other, laughing.
"It's a tiny, dirty hole in the rock, what is the big attraction?" Jade asked with a sneer.
"It's fun," Rob replied, clearly skeptical that she couldn't see the attraction. "You go a little way in and it's like pitch black and quiet – it feels like you're cut off from the world in the middle of a mountain."
"It's like sensory deprivation. You can't see anything once you turn off the flashlights, and the sounds bounce around the walls. It's way cool," Lizzy jumped in.
"Sounds cool," Jade replied with a flat tone, clearly not impressed.
"No one's twisting your arm," Sherry said, clearly making an effort to sound friendly.
"Come on babe. I'll keep you safe," Wickham coaxed her, holding his hand out. She smiled and let him lead her in the caves after Rob and Sherry led the way, but Lizzy could tell she was still reluctant.
The entrance to the cave was a little low, all the boys had to duck slightly to get inside and although the path was technically wide enough for them to go two by two, it was more comfortable to proceed single file. Rob led the way, of course, and all the men had flashlights. It was about thirty degrees cooler in the cave and as much as she really did find the tunnels fascinating, she hoped they weren't going to linger very long. To be honest, the thought of Wickham somewhere out there in the dark was also very disconcerting.
"Ok, the left path is cramped for a while, but there's a really cool cave-in that was boarded off about a hundred years ago," Rob described to them. "The middle and right path wind around and connect. At the far end of the right path, the cave opens up to a kind of room. We usually go there and turn off the flashlights and hang out in the darkness."
"I vote for the right path," Lizzy chimed in first. She wasn't exactly claustrophobic, but there were spots in the left path where you had to turn your body and crouch to get by, and going with this whole group would make it feel like even less space was available.
"Me too," Will echoed her. The rest of the group followed suit, so Rob took the right path.
Jade and Sherry commented on the cold and even though she had thought to bring a jacket, it was colder than she hoped it would be. All three of the boys had flashlights, but Lizzy mostly saw outlines of everyone in front of her and her own feet shuffling along behind Will. It was sort of exhilarating, knowing they were going deeper underground and were surrounded by rock.
If she wasn't sure of Rob's loyalty she would probably also be feeling a spike of fear going into this out of the way place with Wickham and his girlfriend; it felt too much like they were doing the hard work for him. But most of her brain knew that it was ridiculous to be afraid he would try something and that perhaps her thoughts were so morbid because every minute that ticked by brought her closer to when she would actually be in danger of disappearing when she agreed to meet Wickham alone to give Will a chance to take him down for those murders Wickham had committed.
"Here we go," Rob's voice broke her out of her internal countdown. They all shuffled into the open space and formed a semi-circle with Will on the left of Lizzy and, unfortunately, Wickham on her right. "Ready?" he asked with a grin, turning his flashlight off. Will and Wickham followed suit and then they were all standing in complete darkness. After a moment, their other sense seemed amplified by the fact that they could see nothing. Soon the sound of their own breathes seemed loud and every shuffle of their feet or movement of their body was easily recognized.
"This is some creepy ass shit," Sherry was the first to break the silence.
"Imagine if we got wasted first," Wickham commented, sounding amused.
"I would lose my shit if I had to do this high," Jade replied.
"It's pretty intense," Rob agreed, clearly speaking from experience.
"I can see a goddamn thing," Sherry said, sounding slightly awed.
"I wonder how long we would have to be in here before our eyes adjusted," Wickham questioned. "I have some night vision goggles, I should have brought them."
"We played hide and seek with night vision goggles once, remember that Liz?" Rob laughed
"Talk about creepy. It was more like stumbling around in the darkness like an idiot while someone else could see perfectly and choose the scariest moment to grab you out of nowhere," Lizzy replied with a shudder, imagining playing the game with Wickham as 'it'.
"I never heard Lizzy scream so loud in my life," Rob laughed again at the memory. "JJ got really good at it."
"You brought the Family up here?" Wickham asked his voice clearly unamused. Lizzy frowned, happy not to have to hide her displeasure in the darkness. This was his first trip out and he already acted like he owned the place. There was an uncomfortable silence before Sherry broke in with a teasing manner, clearly hoping to break the tension.
"I bet Will's heard Lizzy scream that loud," she joked, Once more Lizzy was happy for the darkness to hide the color that flushed her face. "He doesn't seem like the type to let someone else be the one to make his girl scream."
Lizzy prayed for a hole to swallow her up and deliver her from the moment. Suddenly, she felt a Wickham's hand brush up against her leg. She jumped but was thankfully able to bit her tongue before anything more than a gasp could escape. She shifted closer to Will, feeling for his arm to grasp. He patted her hand where it clutched his arm; she didn't know if he thought she needed comfort from the embarrassment of the conversation or if he heard her gasp and worked out what might have happened.
"Let's head back," Lizzy suggested after another pause. "You guys evidently don't know how to appreciate total silence."
"She's just sore because you brought up her sex life," Rob commented. "Ow!"
"Oh sorry," Lizzy was all sincerity. "Was that your knee?"
"What the hell?" Sherry growled. "Who kicked me?"
"Sorry baby, I thought you were Lizzy," Rob sounded contrite.
"Looks like you lost your edge," Lizzy laughed, back next to Will. Suddenly there was a flashlight blinding her.
"Look like you forgot who has the light," Rob mocked, swiping at her with a kick. Will easily blocked it with an apologetic shrug.
"Can't let you kick my girl, man," he said. Lizzy grinned triumphantly even as she squinted, still half-blind from the sudden and unexpected bright light in her eyes.
"Thank you, sweetheart," Lizzy sing-songed, kissing him on the cheek.
"Will won't be around forever, girl," Rob said, feigning a menacing tone.
"Okay tough guy, let's take this outside," Sherry instructed, pushing Rob towards the path that would lead them back out. Will and Wickham turned their lights back on and they all got back in the same formation they came in; Rob led Sherry, then Wickham and Jade with Will and Lizzy headed up the rear.
They continued teasing and joking with each other on the way back to the cabin, where Rob tried to convince them to join him in a swim in the lake. The others all deemed it was too cold for such an endeavor and eventually they managed to convince him as well. Thought it was still daytime, Will got the fire lite so they could roast marshmallows and make some s'mores. He also got started on cooking up the rest of the steaks with Lizzy's assistance.
Sherry commented once more on their suspiciously good moods and need to be together, but Lizzy managed to turn the conversation away from her relationship by asking the group when they all planned on leaving. Rob was reluctant to leave before dark, but Lizzy told them she and Will had to get back early enough to prepare for school tomorrow. Wickham took pity on Rob and agreed they could stay longer if he wanted.
"Elizabeth and I will pack up our stuff and whatever's left of the kitchen supplies," Will let him know.
"Don't worry about cleaning up too much, I'll send some prospects up here to do the dirty work," Wickham replied. Lizzy knew he had two prospective members that were looking to join his crew. Normally, they would be tested by seeing how much product they could move and when they inevitably found themselves in trouble with the law if they would keep their mouth shut about his operation. It wasn't unheard of, however, that they would run some none-gang related errands for the boss and higher up members.
As much as she had enjoyed Rob and Sherry's presence, Lizzy couldn't wait to get out of here and back home. Her recently-fake-suddenly-real relationship with Will weighed heavily on her mind, but equally prominent was her upcoming meeting with Wickham. She needed time to think away from the prying eyes and proximity to everyone here - none more than Wickham.
After dinner, the friends played cards, watched another movie, and generally just hung out. She wasn't so distracted to notice that Will seemed to be on edge as well, barely letting her leave the room without his presence. Sherry rightly guessed that something had happened last night, but she assumed that their relationship moved forward in a way that Will didn't want to leave her side for a moment. She told Lizzy, in the semiprivate moment they had with the others distracted but within hearing distance, that it was very cute and she remembered a time earlier in their relationship when Rob would always want her around. Lizzy took the teasing as well as she could, and hoped at the very least that the others would think the same thing, and not think twice when they wanted to leave early together.
Unfortunately, Lizzy knew he was just afraid time was running out before Wickham could make whatever move they had anticipated him making and that he would do something desperate to get Lizzy alone. She wished she could give him peace of mind by telling him he already made the move and that there was nothing more to worry about – while they were here anyway. Tomorrow was a whole other story.
"Let's pack up," she whispered in his ear halfway through the movie. He turned to her with an appraising look before nodding. No one commented as they headed to their room to gather their stuff and bring it to his car. They came back and grabbed a few more things from the kitchen but left enough so they could have something to eat for dinner.
When they returned after the car was packed, Rob paused the movie.
"You guys all set?" he asked standing up.
"Yeah," Will nodded. "Thanks for getting us all out here, man, it was fun."
"Definitely. We have to do it again when the weather is warmer," Rob agreed. They all said similar goodbyes and Lizzy had a particularly uncomfortable moment when Wickham hugged her goodbye, whispering 'see you tomorrow, baby" in her ear. She grimaced, hoping to pass it off as a smile before hugging Sherry goodbye next. Will took her hand and led her out to the car, with one last wave to the group of friends they were leaving behind.
"What did Wickham say?" Darcy asked as soon as they were safely in the car. Lizzy hesitated but knew she would have to tell him something.
"He said See you later," she replied with a shrug.
"Well I didn't think we'd manage it, but we got out of there without him making a move," Darcy said in a satisfied voice. She felt horrible and unfortunately, it should on her face. "What?" he asked, wary.
"Um," she hesitated. She knew she couldn't tell him the truth, but she absolutely did not want to start lying to him after what happened last night.
"Lizzy," he said with a warning tone.
"Let's wait til we get home," she sighed, trapped. "I don't want you so distracted you drive us into a tree." Or so pissed that he did it, though she kept that thought to herself.
"It's about Wickham, isn't it?" he asked, clearly already pissed.
"Please, Darcy," she almost whispered it. He frowned and his grip tightened on the wheel, but no more words passed through his lips. It was an uncomfortable drive, to say the least.
The whole way she thought of what she would say, how she would justify wanting to keep it from him but no matter what scenario she played out in her head, she knew he would be fuming at the knowledge that she almost didn't tell him.
The uncomfortable, tense silence lasted until they had unpacked the car.
"Something happened," Will started once the door had been closed and locked. It wasn't a question. She hesitated, but of course, that hesitation was answer enough. She moved toward the couch and sat, her elbows on her knees and her hands gripping one another. He came and sat opposite her on the coffee table, his legs spread so his knees encompassed hers.
"What happened?" He prompted her, already looking pissed. His jaw was clenched and his characteristic frown was deeper than she had ever seen it. "Tell me."
"Alright," she replied but still hesitated. "Wickham cornered me-"
"I knew it," Darcy burst out looking down and putting his fist down against the table and looking like he wanted to punch something. "I told you to be careful. I told you he would try something."
"Hey! How about not blaming the victim?" she protested. His face changed immediately.
"Victim?" he echoed. "What did he do?" his voice was deathly quiet.
"Nothing," she shook her head, but couldn't help but look away and shiver, remembering his cold hands on her neck. "I was coming out of the bathroom last night and he cornered me."
"And you didn't walk away?" he asked, incredulous. She was beginning to get angry at how he kept making it sound like she did something wrong. She wished now she had been able to keep a better poker face.
"What was I supposed to do, go running from the room at the sight of him? Don't you think that would be a little suspicious?" she asked in reply, throwing her hands up.
"Who cares what it would look like?" he growled back "Tell him you were having a nightmare, you were high- who cares? At least you would be safe!"
"I am safe," she immediately replied, gesturing wildly with her hands. She realized the inaccuracy of her words and winced, looking away.
"Obviously," he replied condescendingly, picking up right away on her reaction. "He got to you," Darcy shook his head his voice growing increasingly angrier, "That's how he does it. Somehow he gets into your head and otherwise perfectly smart and sane women put themselves into incredible danger. Do you want to see what he does to women he convinces to do what he tells them to? The crime scene photos, the autopsy reports, the statement from the one victim who got away before she mysteriously disappeared?"
"No," Lizzy finally croaked out as she broke her silence, anger completely gone, and cold fear in its place. She had been thinking of nothing else since her impromptu meeting with Wickham, but now that he offered there was nothing she wanted more than to never see what he was capable of doing while she was the one in his crosshairs. Darcy seemed to regret his harsh words. He maneuvered himself so that he was next to her on the couch, his arm going stiffly around her as he pat her shoulder a few times. His actions spoke for themselves but still, he murmured his apologies. She put her head on his shoulder.
"I didn't know what else to do," she confessed as her own apology.
"Tell me what happened," he directed, managing to even sound calm about it. She told him what was said, what Wickham thought of their relationship and she felt she should play into his misconception of things. "That was smart," he murmured. She thought he was being supportive after basically yelling at her for her stupidity, but when she lifted her head from his shoulder to glance at his face she saw that he seemed to be lost in thought. She felt a flutter of hope that he had a plan, because other than getting someone to take care of Wickham she had no idea what to do, and as Darcy was an officer of the law she figured he would be against that.
"We have to buy ourselves some time," Darcy finally said. "Give Wickham something else to worry about for a minute while we think of something to get you off his radar long enough to take him down"
"Well," Lizzy pulled herself together, pushing the fear away to think straight. "The obvious solution would be to have an attack on his business. I could talk to Jay-"
"I don't think that's a good idea," Darcy interrupted.
"Why not?" she frowned at him.
"Do you think he'll bring anything less than a full out war if you ask for his help?" Darcy wondered. She shrugged, but his concerns had merit. The Family traditionally warred with the Riders, but neither gang appreciated Wickham's crew coming out of nowhere to encroach on the limited territory.
"Well, we could steal a shipment of his, I guess. He wouldn't know if it was the Rider's or the Family and he doesn't really have the power to take on either, even if he did suspect one or the other," Lizzy suggested. Darcy thought it over.
"It's too much of a risk of being spotted if we take it from the warehouse," Darcy finally said. "We'd have to do it before it reached the warehouse."
"True," Lizzy frowned. "We'd also have to do it so the driver somehow doesn't see our face," Darcy murmured an agreement, still deep in thought as different scenario's played out in his head. "Thanks for having my back. Even though you practically yelled at me."
"I didn't yell at you," he scoffed. "I was just… concerned."
"This is concerned," she gestured to their position, his arm around her shoulder. "You were pissed."
"I was angry at Wickham, at the situation, not you," Darcy argued.
"Sure could have fooled me," she pursed her lips and looked to the ceiling.
"Well, I'm sorry if you felt that way," he murmured. She looked at him sharply, recognizing this compliant and apologetic Darcy from the one who had kissed her last night. Happily, she had accurately predicted his intensions and accepted his kiss with a grin. After a minute of this pleasurable activity, he pulled back and leaned his forehead against hers.
"No matter what, you cannot meet with him tomorrow," he told her. As much as she wanted to agree with him, she bit her lip.
"I can't miss it," she replied. He pulled back to give her a displeased look. "Darcy, your future in this crew is finished if I don't meet with him."
"That is not your responsibility," he told her.
"It is if I can do something about it," she said.
"You will not put yourself in danger for this – above anything else, my job is to protect you," he said passionately.
"Your job is to take down Wickham before he can kill again" she reminded him. "Preferable before he can kill me since it seems I'm on his list."
"Elizabeth," he warned. "That's not funny."
"I'm serious, Darcy," she replied, shaking her head. "You wouldn't be here if you weren't riding your whole investigation on finding the evidence you need to take Wickham down and you won't be able to do that if I don't meet with him tomorrow."
"I would rather see him walk than you put yourself alone in the same room with him," Darcy said honestly. "If I have to handcuff you to the stove to keep you here, I will."
"I want to protect you as much as you want to protect me," she told him, taking his hand in hers. "We can try to sabotage the meeting so he has to cancel, but if that doesn't work, I am meeting him."
Darcy stood up and paced a little, clearly pissed. "I would never let that happen, but let's say for a minute that you do find yourself alone with him; what if he tries something?"
"He won't. He wants me to inform on The Family, or The Riders, or both," she said with more confidence than she felt.
"And if that's not all he wants?" he pushed. She stood up and caught his arm to stop his pacing.
"I won't let him try anything," she promised. "If he tries anything, violent or otherwise, I'll get out of the room no matter what."
"Promise me," he ordered in a low voice.
"I promise, Darcy," she replied sincerely. "Trust me, I don't have a death wish, and I know how far is too far. If he tries to get within a foot of me, I'll be out of there before he knows what happened."
He shook his head. "I'm not going to let it get that far- I don't want you alone with him. No matter what happens, I'm getting him to cancel that meeting tomorrow."
"Good," she nodded cupping his cheek and running her fingers lightly through the scruff on his face.
"I won't let anything happen to you," he promised, running a hand through her hair.
"I won't let anything happen to you, either," she told him. The side of his mouth pulled up slightly and she was about to tease him about his barely-there smiles but he leaned down and captured her lips before she had the chance. Entirely took soon, he pulled back.
"I know you wanted to keep this from me," he murmured. "I need you to promise you won't keep anything from me anymore. I meant what I said earlier - if it puts you in danger, I would rather see the investigation go to flames than have something happen to you," she swallowed, affected by how much he cared about her. "Promise me now that you won't keep anything from me anymore."
"I promise," she eventually agreed. He smiled and leaned down to kiss her but she pulled back slightly. "I suppose that means I have to tell you something else," he did not look amused.
"Please tell me you're joking," he said with a disbelieving look.
She kind of grimaced. "And I think I should probably make you promise not to get mad if I tell you."
"I don't know if I can keep that promise," he answered truthfully.
"Well, then I don't think I can tell you," she shook her head.
"Elizabeth," he said with a warning.
"It's not as bad as the Wickham thing, so promise you won't get mad... at Richard," she hedged. Darcy sighed and looked to the ceiling.
"What has my idiot cousin done now," he wanted to know.
"Hey, he's nice," Lizzy defended. That apparently was not helpful, if the look on Darcy's face was anything to go by. "We just made-out a little."
"What?" Darcy exclaimed, clearly not seeing that coming. He dropped his hands and took a step back from her in shock.
"Just kidding," she giggled, tugging on his belt loop to pull him back to her. "But now when I tell you what really happened, it won't seem so bad."
"Never use that tactic again," he warned her with a frown.
"Will do," she smiled, leaning up to kiss him her apology.