Chapter 4 #2
Henry broke our eye contact. “Hmm. Well, we're stuck here for now. I wonder how he bought that car. It doesn't look like he suddenly found a lucrative career.”
I twisted a long blonde strand through my fingertips, a nervous habit I'd tried to stop for years. “There are a lot of ways of getting money, and not all are legal. I hope he wasn’t dealing drugs or something.”
"Pemberley and money are certainly connected. Did he ever flirt with you at school or anything? Maybe he thought he could get money from you or your family,” Henry mused.
I’m sure I blushed, and I wondered again about the mystery letters.
If Zac really was the con artist he seemed to be, staging the letters and coming to me with confessions of love hoping to extort money wouldn’t be beyond him.
My heart dropped. They probably were from him.
It made perfect sense. Of course, Zac had flirted with me at school.
But most guys did because of my royal connections and all.
“He didn't single me out or anything. He was flirtatious with everyone, I think.”
“I doubt he thought he’d be able to land the high-fae princess. I mean, obviously,” Henry muttered. "But he might try."
His comment stunned me. Yes, the title was mine.
But I couldn’t see what difference it made when I was among classmates at school.
It seemed like many of the guys I knew tried making a connection at one point or another.
They were anything but bashful. In fact, I struggled to know who cared about me, and who just liked the idea of a girl with a title and money.
Henry could've dated anyone he wanted, and I assumed he wasn't interested in me because he never so much as flirted. “Am I really so unapproachable?”
Henry started to reply, but Darcy bounded into the room with a piece of paper in his hand.
“Here we go, a list of everyone currently in or around the house. We also had the security team look over the footage around the house. The victim rode Luna in from the woods, where there are no cameras. He was already injured when he got here, so we obviously have no footage of the shooting. But the timeline of his coming back lines up with when you heard the sound in the woods.”
"Did anyone else return from the woods?" I glanced at the extensive list in Darcy’s hand. “Since our cameras pick up sound as well, I think any other gunshots in the area would’ve been apparent. We can rule out anyone who was here at the house and didn’t leave this afternoon."
Darcy handed me the paper, which I shared with Henry and Dan. “Some unidentified person was out on a four-wheeler near the gardens and stables. It was likely just a groundskeeper, but we’ll need to verify that before ruling out everyone we assumed was here.”
I read over the list.
Guests:
Lizzy Bennet, Journalist
Henry Cyprus, Research Assistant
Daphne De Fleur, Art Dealer
Cousin Bradford Phillips, Historical Author
Mr. and Mrs. Milo Longfield, Business Owners
Farley Arnold, Entrepreneur and Neighbor
Staff:
Annie Plant, Medical Technician
Sylvia Lee, Housekeeper
Harriet Boarder, Housekeeper
Estelle Aubert, Housekeeper
Rose Dubois, Cook
Dorin Zhao, Chef
Oscar Huber, Butler
Andrew Weber, Butler
Dan Kamau, Security
Leo Auer, Security
Oliver Benali, Security
“Quite the list.” Henry looked overwhelmed.
But it wasn’t so bad, really. We usually had at least that many people at Pemberley.
Though my uncle was the interim leader of all fae, Darcy and I were the heirs to rule, which meant our home was more than a place to live.
It functioned as a command center, meeting place, and social hub for countless fae around the globe.
“Thanks. So if anyone who’s not on the list pops up, we should contact security. Where did Lizzy go?” I asked.
“Oh, she’s with Leo in the main hall—I’m keeping security with her. She wanted to call her sister or someone.” Darcy studied the door a little too longingly.
“You like her,” I teased. “A lot.”
My brother’s cheeks flushed. “Is it that obvious?”
I nodded. “Yes. I’ve known you my whole life. I can tell.”
I loved my brother, but seeing him half-mooning and half-mortified over a girl was hilarious. He always took himself so seriously, but underneath it all he was a boy with a crush.
I turned to Henry. “We’re sworn to secrecy.”
He looked just as uncomfortable as Darcy and I laughed at the two of them.
“Georgiana, you just wait. One day some guy will have you all tongue-tied as well.” Darcy smirked and glanced at Henry for a split second. “But we’re getting off topic. If you look over this list, there are only a few people we don’t know well.”
I looked over the paper once more with him. There was a column of notes next to each of the names. I assumed Oscar had jotted things down as he collected information.
“Let’s see. Mr. and Mrs. Milo Longfield are tourists.
The notes say they’re building a house and wanted to see Pemberley’s layout.
Bradford Philips is our second cousin, obviously, and is researching our genealogy.
Daphne Jordan is an art collector. She knows we’re not selling any pieces currently but still wanted to stop by, probably hoping to talk us into selling a piece.
Mr. Arnold is a neighbor,” Darcy explained.
“You were able to get this information quickly.” Henry nodded.
“Well, we have our security team. I know you want to talk to the guests, but please keep someone from the team with you. We don’t know who we can trust.” Darcy quickly glanced at me, Dan, then Henry.
Lizzy appeared in the doorway, and Darcy straightened his shoulders.
“I called my family so they would know not to send out a search party. Sorry to impose on you.” She gave a slight shrug. Her expression was one of defeat in realizing she really was trapped for the night.
“You’re not imposing at all.” Darcy brushed off her comment, playing the role of knight in shining armor. “Our security team can take care of everything. If you’d like, we do have some interesting pieces you could add to your article. I can show you. We also have an extensive library.”
He seemed to have forgotten our conversation and Zac altogether as he led Lizzy out toward the gallery with Leo following them.
I stepped into the hall to observe the trio disappearing down the corridor. Then I returned to Henry and the trying-to-be-invisible Dan. “I’m glad she’s here. Darcy’s going to be too distracted to stop me from looking into things.”
“Well, you still need to be careful.” Henry frowned. “If you’re going to investigate, I’d like to help. I’d hate to see you get hurt again.”
“I would be happy to tag along as well,” Dan said. “Darcy would prefer someone from security watching over you.”
The last thing I wanted was someone to babysit us, but Dan would certainly report to Darcy if I acted suspiciously or sent him away.
“Right, of course. How about I call you when we decide to talk to the guests? Maybe we’ll look around for clues first,” I said, keeping my expression plain and bored. "We won't do anything risky."
“All right.” Dan looked suspiciously between me and Henry. “Please be careful, miss. I will be close at hand.”
He’d probably covertly follow us all afternoon, but at least this way he’d have to give us a little breathing room.