Sorry it took so long guys. The chapter wasn't writing the way I wanted it to (in the end I just had to listen to what my characters were telling me, rather than what I originally had plotted) so I had to keep rewriting it. Add my nice post-bar vacation in the middle (with no laptop), and that's why it took so long to update.

Once again, thank you for reviewing. Y'all are absolutely wonderful!

Enjoy!

Chapter 30

After Darcy's phone I sent Jane an e-mail (in hopes that she may be able to read it on the plane) telling her the news that Logan was safe. Then Mom, Mary and I, together, as a family, sat and waited for Dad, Lisa, Darcy and Logan to return.

Finally, a little over an hour after Darcy's phone call, the front door opened. We all rushed to the entryway. Through the door came Lisa, holding Logan, with Darcy directly behind them. However, once they came inside, Logan took one look around, saw all of us and scrambled out of Lisa's arms and ran over to me.

"Lizzie! Lizzie! I went on an adventure!" he exclaimed.

I picked him up.

"Did you really, my big fierce pirate?" I asked, playing along.

He nodded solemnly.

"Yep. I even got to meet real police men."

"Wow! That's quite an adventure. You must be hungry."

Logan shrugged.

"Not really. Will" he pointed at Darcy "bought me a hamburger before we came home. He said being a pirate is hungry work."

I looked up at Darcy, who was wearing a slightly sheepish look on his face, and grinned at him. I then turned back to Logan.

"That it is."

"Where's Woof?" was Logan's next comment.

"Hmmm. I suppose he's in your room, considering he didn't come out to greet you. Shall we go find him?"

Logan nodded and we headed upstairs to his bedroom. Once there, we found Woof laying on Logan's bed, but as soon as he saw Logan he bounded down and started licking Logan in sheer doggie happiness. We then sat on the floor of his room to pet and play with Woof.

"Lizzie?"

"Hmmmm?"

"What's that?" he asked, as he pointed to my cast.

"It's called a cast Logan."

"What's it for?"

"It's to protect my arm."

"Why?"

"Because I broke my arm"

"You mean your arm is in pieces?"

I then had to try to explain, on his level, what it meant to break an arm. We then took out his box of large lego and began playing with it, in my hopes to tire him out. After being upstairs for an hour, I began to wonder where Lisa was. I know that if I had a child, and something like this were to happen, I wouldn't be able to let my child out of my sight. As it was, I couldn't seem to bear the thought of leaving Logan now that he was home safely.

"Lizzie?" Logan asked with a yawn.

"Are you tired?"

Logan shook his head while rubbing his eyes and yawning again.

"Ok, let's get you into a pair of jammies."

I took him into the bathroom and gave him a quick bath (I should have probably done that earlier, not knowing where he had been), then got him into a pair of pajamas. Once he was all clean and nice smelling, I settled him into his bed and tucked him in. Woof then jumped onto the bed and settled himself by Logan's feet.

"Lizzie?" Logan asked again.

"Yes honey?"

"Can you stay with me?"

"Of course sweetheart." I replied, as I laid down next to him on his bed and began stroking his hair. Within a few minutes Logan drifted off to sleep and a few minutes after that, apparently I did as well.

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I woke up, disoriented as to my surroundings. It took me a minute to realize that I was still in Logan's room. I went to glance at my watch, only to realize that I wasn't wearing one because of the cast. As quietly as I could, I eased myself out of Logan's bed and went into the hallway, then headed downstairs to the kitchen. A quick glance at a clock along the way told me that it was shortly after midnight.

When I arrived in the kitchen, the only person there was Lisa, sitting at the kitchen table in her pajamas and bathrobe, holding a mug of tea.

"Where is everyone?"

"Mom, Dad and Mary went to sleep. Mr. Darcy left about an hour ago to return to the city. He said to tell you not to worry about work tomorrow."

I nodded in response.

"Can't sleep?" I asked her, as I headed toward the fridge to make myself a sandwich since I hadn't eaten practically all day.

She nodded.

"I can't stop thinking about how close I was to losing Logan today. Everything that happened just keeps playing over and over in my mind."

"What exactly did happen today once you left the house?"

"Well Mr. Darcy, I mean Will," she corrected herself and shrugged "that's what he told me to call him. Anyway, the two of us drove to the police station and gave the detectives handling the case the note we received. They immediately started to form an operation for Eisenhower park this afternoon."

"But the note explicitly said that there could be no police!"

"Yes. They were going to hide in the bushes, behind trees, as joggers in the park etc. and were going to have me meet Wickham with a duffel bag full of paper to get Logan."

"What if Wickham looked in the duffel before having given you Logan back?"

"Would you let me finish the story?" Lisa exclaimed, getting a bit annoyed with my interruptions. "That's exactly what Will said to the police. They acknowledged that he was probably right but they didn't have the money that they could lend for the operation."

"So what happened"

"We started to plan out the whole operation without the money. How the police would be in plain sight while undercover and how Dad and I would wait to get Logan. Once we had him the police would arrest Wickham."

"What do you mean you started to plan it out. Isn't that what happened?"

"Well . . . no. Will disappeared for awhile, close to 4 pm, which was around the same time that Daddy came to the police station so that we could head over to Eisenhower Park."

"Where did he go?"

"I don't know."

"You must have some idea." I pressed

"Well, he came back with a duffel bag filled with cash. He gave it to me and said it was for me to use to get Logan back. Then he insisted with the police that he be allowed to stand with Dad and me in order to help with the exchange. Explained the Wickham knew you worked for him and that Wickham would just assume you came to him for help with the money."

"Um, ok."

"So we went to the park and Wickham calls Dad's cell phone and tells us to meet at the bleachers for the baseball field just off of parking lot 4. The police wasn't able to trace the call, though they tried, so everyone then converged around the baseball field. Wickham shows up with Logan and some other dude who held Logan back. Naturally Wickham went and checked the duffel bag to make sure there was cash in there. Then Wickham grabbed the duffel bag out of my hand and he takes off, and the other guy does the same, just leaving Logan where he was standing on the baseball field. Of course the police caught the both of them and placed them under arrest. The police called in an ambulance for the paramedics to check Logan over. Thankfully they said everything was fine with him."

"That's great to hear."

"Yeah. That's when Will called you." She trailed off.

"So what happened after that? It took you a long time to come home."

"Oh! We had to go back to the police station to fill out paperwork for the police report. Go over everything that happened, again. Will went out to get Logan a hamburger and when he came back he wanted to speak to the police for a minute –"

"Wait! Why did Will want to speak to the police?"

"He wanted to tell them to take the money he had brought to get Logan back and use it to pay off whatever gambling debts Wickham had and to donate the rest of it to a charity that helps find abducted children."

"What? Why?"

"I guess he gives a lot of charity."

"No, why did he pay off Wickham's gambling debts?"

"Oh, he said he didn't want to give the people Wickham owed money to any reason to come after our family. Damn it!" she cursed so suddenly that I jumped.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Will asked me not to mention anything about the money to anyone! I can't believe I blew it!"

"Don't worry, it's ok. Why don't you try to get some sleep now?"

"Yeah, I suppose I'll try. Good night." She said as she got up to head to her bedroom

"Good night." I replied.

I finished my sandwich and then went to sleep as well.

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The next morning I woke up around 9, having not set an alarm clock. I awoke to the sounds of muffled shrieking coming from downstairs. I immediately became alarmed and in a pair of pajamas (Mary had left one of her pairs out for me the night before) and ran downstairs.

I rushed into the kitchen in a near state of panic.

"Wha – What happened? Is everyone ok?"

"Lizzie!" Logan called out as he tugged at my pajama pants. I scooped him up.

"Logan, what's going on?"

"Grandma got excited cause Aunt Jane is home."

"Jane is here?" and then I saw her "Jane!"

She looked absolutely wonderful in a pair of jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt, her hair pulled back into a ponytail and sporting a healthy looking tan.

"Lizzie!" she cried out as she rushed over and enveloped me in a hug.

"Lizzie, Aunt Jane, I'm getting smushed." Logan said as he was in between the two of us.

"That's because you're the middle of our happy sandwich, honey."

Logan giggled.

"Jane have you eaten anything yet?"

"Yes, I grabbed a coffee and croissant at Au Bon Pain at the airport."

"Logan, would you like to go upstairs and play with Aunt Jane and me?"

Logan nodded yes and bounded up the stairs. As soon as we were out of earshot from the rest of the family I turned to Jane.

"Lisa said when the whole incident ended last night that the paramedics took a look at Logan to make sure that everything was ok-"

"But you'd like me, as a pediatric physician, to look him over to make sure everything is really fine?" she finished my sentence.

I nodded. We entered Logan's room.

"Honey, would you like to play doctor?"

Doctor was a game that Jane and I had been playing with Logan since he was a toddler so that he wouldn't be afraid to go to his pediatrician for check-ups.

"Yay!" Logan clapped his hands "I'm gonna get my stefescop!"

"Stethoscope, dear." Jane corrected him. "And how about I be the doctor this time and we can use a real stethoscope?"

"Ok, Aunt Jane."

"Liz, I'll be right back, I'm just going to get my medical bag from the foyer."

"Mmhmmm" I replied as Jane left the room.

"Lizzie, what are you doing?" Logan asked, as he climbed onto his bed where I was sitting and peered over my shoulder. I had been on my blackberry asking Jen if she would send me notes from the class we had together at 6 pm that evening (no classes during the day on Monday – although I have no choice in going to work, I don't need to torture myself with classes as well on hell day).

"I was asking a friend to tell me what happens in class today since I'm going to stay here with you instead of going."

"You're not going to school?" His eyes went round with wonder "You're playing pookie?"

"It's called hooky honey and yes I am. I'd much rather spend the day with you."

Jane returned with her medical bag and we had Logan strip down to his undies for Jane to examine him. Then it was Logan's turn to listen to our heartbeats, during which Jane leaned over to me and whispered.

"Everything is fine. He's perfectly ok."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank heavens."

Then we began to play with Logan in earnest. While playing, Jane turned to me, looking serious.

"Lizzie, I received an e-mail from Charlie."

"Oh?" was all I could reply.

"Yeah, he said that he was back in New York, was sorry for not providing any real explanation for his lack of contact while in Tokyo and that he knew he had a lot of explaining to do but would like to see me when I got back so that he could explain."

"Ok."

"I just don't know how I feel about this. I was really heartbroken when he left and then didn't stay in touch with me. I don't know if I could stand it if he did something like this again."

I sighed. Time to spill some of the beans, but not all of them because I felt that Charlie really did have to explain things for himself.

"I saw Charlie on Saturday evening. He really is upset and sorry over what happened. I can't tell you whether to forgive him or not, that's not my place to say. However, I will tell you to hear him out, talk to him about your concerns etc. before deciding whether to forgive him or not."

"All right, I'll give him a call." And then she smiled.

I smiled back. Things were starting to turn right side up.

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Although I was able to call in sick on Tuesday and take another day off of work, I couldn't afford to miss another day of classes, especially when my schedule this semester had me going to three classes on Tuesday. So I found myself on a 10 am train back into the city in order to get to my 1:30 class on time.

While on the train, my phone rang. I checked the screen and saw it was Ryan (whose number I had stored in my phone's memory after his last call) and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hi Liz?"

"Yes."

"It's Ryan."

"Hi Ryan, how are you?"

"I'm all right. I know I had said that I would call later in the week, but I was concerned since you had said you had an emergency. I wanted to make sure you were ok."

I smiled. How sweet.

"Yeah Ryan, everything is fine now. Although I wish the situation hadn't happened in the first place, everything turned out all right in the end."

"So everything is ok now?"

"Yes, it is."

"I'm very happy to hear that." There was an awkward pause. "Would it be in poor taste for me to ask you out now?"

I laughed.

"No. No, it wouldn't be in poor taste."

"Liz, would you go out on a date with me?"

The word yes was on the tip of my tongue, and yet I hesitated. Then I pondered why I was hesitating. Here was a great guy, who is smart and gorgeous and obviously is considerate and caring, and I would be a fool to not want to go out with him. Then it hit me what the problem was.

"I wish I could say yes Ryan. I really really do. From what I know about you, you seem to be an amazing guy. But I don't think I can."

"It's that guy who came into the emergency room with you, isn't it?"

He's very observant. I had just barely realized it for myself, and yet he already knew.

"Yes." I said quietly "yeah, it is."

He sighed.

"I guess there's no chance I could convince you otherwise?"

"No, I don't think you can. It wouldn't be fair to you. I'm beginning to realize that I couldn't put my heart into it. Because it might belong somewhere else."

"I understand. I wish I could say I didn't."

"Thanks Ryan."

"Hey Liz?"

"Yes?"

"If things don't work out, give me a call. I don't mind sloppy seconds."

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With my revelation fully formed, when my train arrived in Manhattan, I bolted off it and onto a subway train. I only had a short window of time before class and I knew exactly what I needed to do.

I arrived at Darbing and immediately went up to the 21st floor, heading straight to Darcy's office. His secretary, now having known me as someone Darcy knew and trusted, was considerably warmer to me than the first time I had met her, but she still tried to stop me from entering the office.

"I'm sorry Ms. Bennett, but he's in the middle of a conference call."

I ignored her and bypassed her, walking straight into his office. Sure enough Darcy was sitting behind his desk, looking powerful, with a phone pressed to his ear. When I entered the office, he looked up immediately, and seeing me he held up one finger.

"Gentlemen, I'm going to have to reschedule the rest of this meeting. My secretary will call you with a new date and time."

He hung up the phone, stood up and came around his desk quickly.

"Liz, is everything ok? Is Logan –" he started, the concern evident in his voice and body language.

I couldn't find the voice to speak so I just shook my head.

"What is it? What's wrong? You're shaking." He asked as he came over to me.

I just walked over to him and, still silent, I grabbed his tie with one hand to pull him down (he's so tall!) and looped my other arm around his neck.

And I kissed him.

Ahhhhhhhh! THEY KISSED! I really didn't plan for that to happen yet, but it's what Lizzie wanted me to do :)

There are still a couple of chapters left to this story, but I'm already starting to think about my next one (the one that I'll probably write all, if not most of, in advance to prevent long updates between chapters). I need general story ideas. Send me your suggestions in your reviews (but also review this chapter as well!) and if I decide to use one (I get complete character license on the story) that person will get a sneak peak on the next chapter, AND the first chapter of the new story when I write it!