Chapter 3 When Hunting a Fox

William realized as he drove to Pemberley that he must have come across as rude; he was never much of a man for words, he would not exactly say he was a man of action, but he did feel the need to do something. Watching the Bennet sisters speak about the carnage George Wickham had inflicted on their family, the only emotion, beside anger, that William could feel was guilt.

After George had enticed Georgina way from her family with the promises of marriage, children and eternal love, he set about selling her on a dark auction on the internet. She had been drugged for days so that he could get all the pictures those deprave animals requested so that they could place their bids to buy his precious little sister. To add to the evil of what he was doing, he had started offering 'pre-tastings' where someone could pay half a million to spend an hour with Georgina at a location of their choosing (obviously they would be paying for said destination).

William and his cousin Richard, had spent a considerable amount of money and resources to track George down and extract Georgina from his slimy clutches. They had left George to face the music he had made, as his first pre-tasting client would have arrive 20 minutes after they had left with Georgina. Knowing George, he had taken payment and already spent all the money, so he would not be able to reimburse his client. William was pretty sure that the client would have ways and means of making George pay.

Georgina had a long road to recovery. Her physical recover took time but slowly and surely, she gained all the weight she lost, even though the ligature marks had disappeared it took a lot longer for her to stop rubbing those areas. Only now did she venture out of the house and the property, she was going to the mall, albeit with Mr and Mrs Reynolds, but he would not have it any other way. He paid handsomely to keep the best bodyguard husband and wife team. Their cover as groundman and housekeeper worked well, especially as they had originally started working for his father, their looks totally belied their abilities. Because they had known Georgina since she was an infant, they adored her and viewed her very much like a daughter.

He would have to contact Richard again, he needed help finding that reprobate, and Richard could find anyone anywhere. That is how they managed to find Georgina so fast, hopefully they could do so again before another innocent life was ruined.

Richard seemed surprised to hear from William, they had spoken two days ago, and he knew that William was in town with Charles and his crazy sisters and would have his hands full fending off the tentacles of Caroline. Everyone who knew them, knew about Caroline's obsession with William.

"Old boy, what a surprise! I thought you would be mingling with the rich and famous with the delectable Caroline on your arm" Richard was the only person who could actually get away with teasing William, especially when it came to Caroline.

"Really Richard? That is the best you could come up with?" William tried to engage with his cousin, but as with real family he could not fool the astute soldier.

"What's up Will? The last time you were this serious…no you are always serious but this is different.' Richard did not mince words, he could tell his cousin was in need.

"I knew we should have taken care of him the last time, he obviously did not get punished enough by that pervert arab prince!" Richard spat out

"Egyptian!" William corrected his cousin

"Whatever. I am going to have to take some leave and do this myself." Richard started planning.

"I am coming with, this is partially my mess" William insisted.

"What about the company? What about Georgina?" the voice of reason masquerading as Richard spoke up.

"The company can be run remotely, and Georgina is in the care of the Reynolds, they do not leave her sight. I also could not look her in the eye if another girl has to go through this when I could have…should have ended it there and then" William responded

"We will have to get authorities involve this time." Richard was firm, they did it Wills way last time, and this was the outcome. "We cannot kill him, but we can make sure he gets locked away for a very long time, I still have the evidence from last time and combined with this, it is highly unlikely he will ever see the light of day again."

"I will fly out in the morning and meet you at the airport. From there we can go to the Operations Head Quarters, they are the only private security company that works well with government." Will continued planning, knowing that his cousin was onboard.

"I will contact William Lucas, so that he knows we are coming, his son has joined the firm and would be a good addition to the search party. William can in his capacity as CEO can handle the involvement of anyone from government. It would be great if they could get the whole ring at the same time, Wickham is small fry in comparison to some of the key players out there.

Knowing he would not sleep that night, William found out all he could about the Bennet family. All for research purposes of course. He discovered that Elizabeth's father was a History Professor, respected in his field, very much an academic with a passion for books and learning. His wife used to be a dress maker but after marrying she became a housewife who dabbled with MLMs occasionally. They had five daughters, all of whom were considered beautiful. The eldest was Jane who he had met that afternoon, she was 23, she was the deputy principal at a private kindergarten; somehow that did not surprise him at all. She was by all accounts a very beautiful woman; the type of woman Charles Bingley would fall head over heels in love with.

He skipped Elizabeth's bio and moved onto their sister Mary. She could not be considered a traditional beauty, but she was striking, she was studying architecture and was considered to have an eye for photography. He wondered how on earth she met George Wickham, outside of her striking looks it did not seem that they had anything in common.

The fourth sister, Catherine, was called Kitty. She was a ballerina, considered gifted. She attended a creative arts school along with the youngest sister who was into art. Kitty was a pretty girl, but even in the photos online Lydia stood out as the more vivacious of the two. He could see how this girl got totally taken in by someone like George Wickham.

Finally he look at Elizabeth, where Jane seemed to take after their mother, the four other daughters had inherited their dark looks from their father but none so more than Elizabeth, despite being the shortest of all of the siblings, it was her his eye was drawn back to time and time again. Elizabeth seemed to be the more independent of the five daughters, she was living out of home at the age of twenty two; with an impressive career as a Specialty Chef, he did not realize that was a thing until now. People would invite her to come create an eating experience for them and their guests, she had a small team of cater staff who travelled with her to tailor-make each dining experience. She launched her career, and a hotel in town called The Cold Cabbage, two years ago, impressing the culinary and hospitality worlds so much she and her team are booked out a year in advance.

He sat back looking at the picture of Elizabeth on her website, it did not do her full justice, it did not catch the way her beautiful curly hair caught the light or how her complexion glowed regardless of the lighting, or the flash humour/anger/irritation that sparked in those violet eyes of hers. WHAT! William shook his head, now was no time for romantic foolishness. He had to find her sister, right the wrong and then they would return to their respective lives and that would be it. He ignore the small pang that squeezed his heart.