One Word From You: A Pride and Prejudice Adaptation (24 page)

“
Beth? Are you still there?!”

“
Yeah, I'm here. What did the note say? Do you have it?”

“
Yeah, I do. One second – um – Chrissy, give me the note! Hang on...”

“
Got it.”

“
She said that she and Gideon are already bored of the trip, and they're going to have some fun of their own. She also said not to be surprised if she hears that they're eloping!”

“
Eloping?! With Gideon?!” I asked.

At the sound of his name, Will started paying much closer attention. So much so, in fact, that he snatched the phone out of my hand. Before I could take it back, he put it on speaker so we were both party to the information Jenny was giving.

“
Jenny,” he said, “Which city are you in?”

“
William? What are you doing there?”

“
I'll explain another time,” I said, “Answer him.”

“
We're in Rome.”

“
And the name of the hotel?”

“
Uh – Canvas De Italia. Why, what are you going to do?”

“
Don't panic. We'll be on the first flight out there today, and we'll help bring her back,” Will announced.

“
Jen',” I said, “You need to tell the teachers right now, okay? Let them know we're on the way, and have them call Lisa's parents.”

“
I don't want to get her into trouble!”

“
She's already in trouble! I know you want to be her friend, but they have a right to know what's going on. I'm coming out there with Will, and we'll find her before anything bad happens, I promise.”

“
I'm sorry. This is all my fault! If I'd been honest with them about Gideon's nature -”

“
I told you not to tell anyone, so it's not your fault. Jen', you have to keep calm, and take care of Chrissy and Meg. If you can get either of them to tell you anything we don't already know, then do it. I'll be there soon, and we'll find her together. Trust me.”

“
I do. Thank you. Both of you. I'll text you and keep you updated until you arrive, okay?”

“
Okay. We'll see you soon.”

Will handed back my phone, his fingers brushing the back of mine as he did. We didn't have time for anything besides getting organised. If Lisa had been missing all night, she might have left the city. Gideon was an adult, he might have hired a car and driven them away from there. I should have spoken up about him going on the trip when I had a chance. I'd had a gut feeling that it wouldn't end well, and like an idiot, I'd ignored it.

It really was my fault.

“
I need to go home,” I said, “Dad can lend me the money to fly out there. I'll pay him back some other time. And I need to call Jenny's mother, and pack a bag -”

“
Hey, I meant it when I said that we'd both be going out there. You go home and pack, and tell your Dad the situation. Get him to drive you to our house, and we'll go from there.”

“
I can't ask you to help,” I said, “This is nothing to do with you.”

“
Our family decided not to go public with Gideon's crimes, or his reputation. If we had, your school never would have employed him. And it wasn't just your mother who put in a good word, but mine because she wanted to give him a second chance. If anyone's to blame for putting him in Lisa's path, it's us.”

Well, I couldn't argue with that.

It had been a long time since I'd run so fast. And it was mostly uphill. My P.E teacher would have been proud, to say the least. Will and I went our separate ways. He had his own car to take him home, whereas I was within walking distance of home. I didn't greet any of the early starters in the garage, and burst into Dad's office instead.

He was a little perplexed by my appearance at first. When I was given time to explain what had happened, he didn't let me down. Dad and Jenny's Mum were on better terms than I thought. Not only did he call her by her first name, but he had her number in his frequent contacts. I knew I missed out on a lot of the goings on while I was away at school, but I thought I would have noticed that before.

I would have to ask for more details once we'd found Lisa.

On crime shows, they said that the first forty-eight hours were the most important in a missing person's case. Gideon didn't seem like the murdering type, and if Lisa had gone with him willingly, then it wasn't an abduction. I wasn't sure the police would be all that interested in our plight if we went to them.

While I packed for both of us, Dad called around to the parents. Will hadn't said anything about flights, but I was guessing we would all travel together. The garage was left in Eric's capable hands, on the understanding that we hoped to only be gone a couple of days. I was prepared to stay out there longer if it was necessary. I loved Lisa like a sister. She annoyed me, and she could be rude sometimes, but that didn't matter.

All siblings fought, but it didn't mean they stopped caring about one another.

God, I hoped we weren't too late.

Chapter Twenty-Three

How are they even to be discovered?

To say I was anxious on the plane would be an understatement.

It was a private jet William's mother had hired, because we couldn't get seats on any commercial flights that day. Apparently money was the key to getting just about anything a person wanted. I wasn't going to complain about it when it got us off on our journey so quickly. I tapped my feet rapidly on the floor, the confined space making me increasingly frustrated. I felt like I should be up, walking around, and doing something productive. It was impossible to sit patiently when Lisa was in potential danger.

What if she got hurt?

What if I never saw her again?

I hated not knowing what was going on. And even worse, I wasn't there to make sure Jenny, Meg, and Chrissy were okay. They must have been shocked when they found Lisa missing. If I was the first person Jenny had thought to contact, then it meant they thought this was something we had to face together. After so many years sharing a dorm, we depended on one another for support. I felt like I had let them down by not going to Italy with them in the first place.

In a bid to reassure me, or just because he couldn't stand my fidgeting, Will put his arm around my shoulders. No one said anything, but I caught Dad and Charlie looking over when he did. He squeezed my shoulder, and I leaned into him. He whispered, “It'll be fine, I promise. We're going to find her.”

Against my better, more rational judgement, I believed him.

The hotel was one of the largest in the country, and it was no surprise that our school had thought it was the best to put their students in. They should have been safe there, and they were when it came to people outside. The teachers never would have suspected one of their colleagues would be responsible for potentially harming a student.

Well, statistically speaking it wasn't that much of a surprise.

Most people were attacked by someone they knew.

There was a depressing thought.

“
Beth!” I heard Jenny before I saw her, and she tackled me so hard that I nearly toppled backwards. Before I could regain my balance completely, Meg latched onto us, and then Chrissy. After a few minutes, it got a little awkward. Not to mention, pretty sweaty.

“
Okay, we should stop hugging,” I said.

“
Girls, go to Jenny's room, and wait there,” Dad said, “Jenny, is your mother here?”

“
Yeah, they're waiting for you in the conference room. Lisa's parents are on their way.”

“
Guys,” Will's mother encouraged her offspring, Chantelle, and Charlie in our direction, “Go with them, please. None of you should leave the hotel until we've come up with a strategy for dealing with this.”

“
Mum, we can help,” Will insisted, “Let us come with you.”

“
No, she's right,” I said, “Come on. We'll just be in their way.”

He raised a brow, and I winked. Will caught on quickly, and realised that I had something else in mind. Obviously I wasn't going to just sit patiently while other people handled things. I intended to get out of the hotel as soon as was possible, but we had to formulate a plan between us. Running around the city without any direction wasn't going to do any good.

I held Jenny's hand, and let her lead us back to her bedroom. It was the mostly neatly kept. I didn't dare let a couple of boys into Chrissy's room, because they'd be tripping over discarded clothes and underwear. I let the others go in first, and waited to make sure no one had followed us. With Amanda in our company, they must have assumed we would be under her watch. As if she was going to make us stay still. I could see in her eyes that she was just as desperate to act as we were.

“
Okay, I need a map of the city, Lisa's note, a pen, and a notebook,” I said, “Go.”

“
I have a map,” Jenny announced.

“
I've got my homework books, and a few pens,” Meg added.

“
I'll go get the note,” Chrissy announced, and left to fetch it from her room.

“
Your Dad ordered us all to stay here, Blake,” Chantelle reminded me. She dropped into a nearby chair, and picked at her manicure, “We should just watch television or something until they drag your stupid friend back.”

“
Shut up, Chantelle!”

Hey, it hadn't been me.

I was just as shocked as everyone to hear the outburst come from, of all people, Meg.

“
What did you just say to me?” she asked in disbelief.

“
You heard her,” Jenny pitched in, “Shut up! If you don't want to help, then stay out of our way. Lisa's
our
friend, and we're going to be the ones to find her.”

“
Bloody hell,” I said as Chrissy was returning, “What do they put in the Italian water?”

“
I – I'm sorry,” Jenny said sheepishly, and then pointed openly at Chantelle, “But I'm so
sick
of her attitude!”

“
Don't be sorry,” I grinned, “It's freaking awesome. And Meg, I didn't know you could reach that volume.”

She blushed, and smiled somewhat smugly, “I just never get angry with you guys.”

“
Well,” I said to Chantelle, “You heard them. Either help, or shut up. What's it going to be?”

“
I don't care what you do. Just leave me out of it,” she retorted furiously.

Amanda clapped me on the back, “Count me in. What's your plan?”

“
Yeah, it seems like you've got this well thought out already,” Charlie said. He caught Jenny's eye, at which point she looked away pointedly. I knew she was hurting, and I did want them to talk things out, but there was a better time and place for that to happen.

“
I came up with something on the way over. I knew they wouldn't want us to actually help, but they don't know Lisa or Gideon the way we do.”

Jenny spread out the map on the floor, and we pushed aside some of the furniture so we could get around it. They'd been gone just under a day. Even if they'd been driving, they couldn't have made it out of the country by my estimation. And, to be honest, I didn't think they'd tried to leave the city.

“
Sorry, it's just Rome,” Jenny said, “I could only find a city map when we got here.”

“
It's perfect,” I said, “I needed the streets. Will, you've been here before, right?”

“
Yeah. We have a house out here.”

“
Of course you do,” I teased, “Look, I don't think Lisa and Gideon have gone as far as everyone thinks. Chrissy, where's the note?”

“
Here,” she handed it over.

I scanned it quickly, “Right, so they want to have fun. Lisa's idea of fun is shopping, boys, and clubs. We need to mark out all the places we'd find those things together.”

“
On it,” Amanda said, and started to circle the areas with a green pen.

I passed a red pen to Will, “Gideon's a gambler, right?”

“
Among other things.”

“
Bars and casinos,” I tapped the map.

“
What makes you think I'd know where to find that kind of thing?”

“
You're related to Freddie, aren't you? Don't act like you've never had a night out in this city.”

“
Fine,” he muttered, and got to work.

I explained my method of thinking to the others, “Anywhere that overlaps will be a target. If it's got stuff that appeals to both of them, they're going to go there, or already would have been. We can ask store owners if they recognise them. And if we're lucky, we might cross their paths while we're looking.”

“
Excuse you,” Chantelle piped up, “But if they were smart, they'd totally avoid all those places.”

“
Emphasis on the
if,
there. Chrissy, do you think Lisa knows how much trouble she's caused?”

She shook her head, “No. She wouldn't see anything wrong with what she's doing.”

“
What does that have to do with anything?” Chantelle asked.

Charlie got it, at least. He said, “If she thinks this is all okay, then she won't see the point in hiding. Am I right?”

“
Gold star,” I smirked, “You can be my deputy detective.”

“
Cool.”

“
Hotels?” Meg asked, “They might book into somewhere for the night.”

Jenny paled at the notion, “Oh my God, what if he -”

“
He won't. We'll find them before that happens,” I said with certainty.

“
You don't know that,” Chantelle said unhelpfully.

“
No, I don't. But as stupid as Lisa is, she's not cheap. We have to get to her before Gideon can push her into anything.”

“
Are you sure we should go on our own?” Jenny asked, “You're the one who said we should bring in our parents. Maybe we should tell them the plan?”

“
They wouldn't listen,” I said, “It was the right thing to tell them what had happened, but they've already said we can't leave the hotel. Don't get me wrong, we'll let them know that we're helping. It's just that we'll have to do that
after
we've escaped.”

Someone knocked on the door, and I folded the map over in an attempt to conceal our plan. It was with some hesitation that I answered the door, suspecting that Dad and the others had considered we might attempt our own rescue while unsupervised. My panic was entirely unnecessary it seemed. In the hall, Georgia stood with a determined look on her face. She wasn’t alone, either. Almost every student who’d taken the trip had joined her. Some appeared more anxious than others, but all waited upon an invitation to the room.

Fat chance.

They wouldn’t all fit.

“
What’s this?” I asked, “Revolution?”

“
We want to help,” Georgia announced.

I feigned ignorance, “With what?”

“
Don’t give me that,” she retorted, “You’re going to find Lisa, aren’t you?”

“
No. We’re going to sit here like we were told. You should all go back to your rooms,” I lied.

“
Either you let us help, or we’ll go out on our own,” she said, “We’re friends, and classmates. We want to find her just as much as you do.”

I wasn’t sure that was true of everyone, but the more people out searching, the better our chances. Then again, I didn’t want to be held accountable for the fates of a bunch of teenage girls and boys as they ran free through Rome. It was only because we were desperate that I said, “All right. But we’re being calm and organised about this. Got that?”

Dividing up each section of the city was easier than I thought. Some groups were larger than others, because there weren’t enough boys to go around, so I added a few extra girls to account for that. I figured they’d be a little safer in larger groups. That’s not to say that I was sexist enough to think being male equalled to being brave or strong, but their presence might act as a deterrent to any men who would otherwise try their luck.