Page 105 of Third Time is the Charm
The kiss deepened rapidly and she encouraged it. Beth knew that this was how she would make him forget that fear; this was how she would convince him that she was still there with him and that she wasn’t going anywhere.
Their kiss became their home.
His arms slipped around her back, his hands finding their way underneath the edges of the fabric of her dress to slide up her ribs, brushing over the sides of her breasts. Darcy groaned against her mouth and she felt the tenseness of his body transitioning into hard, pure desire.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The loud bangs on the door startled both of them and Darcy cursed underneath his breath.
They both knew who it was – John and the police. He’d bought them a few minutes to themselves, minutes that they’d needed to soothe their hearts and their hurt – to assure themselves that the other was ok. But, now they needed to finish this – make their statement, hear what was going to have to happen next, and finally get some closure on Caroline.
Darcy helped her stand, wincing as he put weight on his left arm.
“Darcy, what happened to your arm?” Beth asked, concerned. She’d completely forgotten about the blood that she’d seen. “Were you shot? Are you ok?”
“I’m fine – just a flesh wound; it’ll heal,” he replied. Even though it was obviously hurting him, his hands never left her – sliding across her back, down her arms to grab her hand. He led her over to the door, opening it slowly to reveal John and two different Boston cops than the ones that had been downstairs.
“Mr. Darcy, Miss Bennet, this is Officers Andre and Holmes.” John introduced them to the other man.
“Sir. Ma’am.” The first officer, Officer Andre, nodded to them both. “I’m sorry for what you both just went through, but I would like to get both of your statements on the events that happened here tonight.”
“Of course,” Darcy replied sternly, stepping back to allow the men to enter. Beth just nodded mutely, following them back into the room.
John astutely noticed the dark liquid on the sleeve of Darcy’s jacket. He reached into the bathroom to grab a towel, handing it discreetly to Darcy for him to be able to apply pressure to the wound.
“Do you need medical attention, Mr. Darcy?” The officer asked, seeing the interaction.
“No. Thank you. It was just a graze.”
The officer nodded and then continued, “First, I would just like to inform you both that Miss Bingley has been placed under arrest. She attempted to assault one of our officers as we escorted her off of the premises, so there is a very good chance that she will be held without bail pending her trial. So, there is nothing further that I would fear from her,” Officer Andre began. “And judging from her state as we took her out of the hotel, I doubt she will see the outside of a jail cell or mental hospital ever again.”
Even though she knew for sure that that news was coming, Beth was shocked by the physical relief that washed over her, hearing that Caroline was going to be locked up for good. Her body swayed against Darcy’s with the strength of her reprieve.
“Now, if you both want to take a seat, this will just take a few minutes of your time.” The officer motioned to the chairs in the room. “If you could just tell me what happened in the hallway. Miss Bennet, if you would like to start.”
Beth nodded. She took a deep breath and relayed to the officer everything that had happened downstairs – how she had spotted Caroline leaving the event room and followed her, how Caroline confronted her, growing angry after seeing the ring on Beth’s finger and pulling out her gun.
“Darcy and John came around the corner a split second before she fired and it surprised her and derailed her first shot. Caroline seemed to be startled by the whole thing so I used my broken shoe that I was holding and threw it at her hand to dislodge her gun. When it hit her arm, that’s when the gun went off. But she was still holding it, so I tried to knock her to the ground before she could take aim again.” Beth clasped her hands in her lap. “When we fell to the ground, that’s when the gun went off the second time. Mr. Darcy immediately lifted me off of her and the police and John restrained her while he brought me up here.”
“Ok, thank you Miss Bennet.” He scribbled down in his notebook what she had said before turning to Darcy. “Ok, sir, and if you could give me your account. Also, we’re holding the woman that your other security man brought to us, but I’m not sure if you’ll want to press charges against her, too.”
What other… oh, the imposter.
“I don’t think she had anything to do with this, aside from agreeing to go to a party. She was pretty afraid when we caught up to her. I think Caroline had threatened her. Either way, she was in the seat that we knew was assigned to Caroline, so John and I went to approach her – thinking that she was Caroline – when she started to run. We pursued her, which was Caroline’s goal, and when we finally caught up to her at the back exit to the room, I realized that it wasn’t Caroline.” Darcy’s hand tightened around hers as he began to relate the most traumatic part of the ordeal. “I asked her where Caroline was. She said that the woman had met her right outside this room and told her to just come in and sit down. I bolted for the entrance, immediately outside of which I heard a muffled conversation coming from the hallway. I followed the noise - John catching up to me – and came around the corner to see my fiancée with a gun aimed directly at her. The next thing I knew, I heard a gunshot and then the two of them fell to the ground. The second shot hit the wall behind me, grazing my arm.”
“Ok. Thank you both for your time. Are you sure you don’t need medical attention, Mr. Darcy?” Officer Andre asked again.
“Yes,” came Darcy’s clipped tone.He just needed everyone to leave so that he could be alone with Beth again.
“Alright. Well, I’ll be in touch if I have any further questions. The hotel is providing video footage from that area of the floor which I’m sure will corroborate your story. Like I said, I have a feeling that Miss Bingley is going to be going away for a very long time, so I hope you both can find some comfort in that.”
The policemen stood, shaking both of their hands before exiting the hotel room.
“Is there anything else that I can do for either of you?” John asked.
“I think we are ok—” Darcy began before Beth cut him off.
“Wait, what happened with the ball? Is everyone ok? Did this ruin the event?” Beth’s questions came out in a flurry, the periphery of her reality beginning to fall back into place and all the potential repercussions of what had happened tonight.
