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Her stomach churning, Elizabeth finally took a seat in a molded-plastic chair underneath the television so she wouldn’t have to watch it. The rest of her family—her parents, Kitty, Mary, and Jane—had been talking in hushed tones when she arrived. But all conversation ceased the moment she entered the room.
Elizabeth pretended not to notice. “What are the doctors saying about Lydia’s condition?” she asked her parents.
Her mother dabbed her eyes. “She won’t be well enough to audition for Fast and Furious 32, but maybe in time for Fast and Furious 36.”
Elizabeth nodded, unsure if this represented a good or bad thing.
“They think recovery won’t take too long if she works hard at the physical therapy,” Jane said.
Her father grinned. “She seems like she’s in good spirits. You know Lydia, always putting a good face on everything.”
“She’ll be back to her bubbly self in no time!” her mother exclaimed.
Nobody was talking about the Darcy-shaped elephant in the room—the reason they were all there. Elizabeth couldn’t take it anymore. “Dad, you need to issue a statement saying that we believe Will is innocent.” The words burst out of her.
Her father rubbed his forehead and didn’t respond.
Elizabeth pressed forward. “We all know that Will didn’t have any interest in hanging out with Lydia. We never saw him use drugs; he took weekly tests for God’s sake!”
Kitty scowled. “You’re saying that the family should proclaim the innocence of a man who has a history of drugs and car crashes?” Despite her jealousy of Lydia, Kitty had often been her partner in crime and had been devastated by the accident.
“There’s no reason to think Will was in the car with her,” Elizabeth argued. “George Wickham makes a lot more sense. Lydia was spending time with him, and he has a history of drug dealing—”
Mary regarded Elizabeth sharply. “How do you know that?”
She sighed, knowing how it would sound. “Will told me—months ago. His family had some run-ins with George.”
“That’s awfully convenient,” Kitty sneered.
“I’m sure George was high at Charlie’s party,” Elizabeth added.
“Did you see him take anything?” Mary asked.
Elizabeth shook her head. How could they believe Will had anything to do with this? “Lydia hung out with George; he even told her he’d cast her in his movie. Will didn’t—”
“Lydia idolized Darcy,” Kitty said fiercely. “She would have done anything he asked.”
Elizabeth pushed hair impatiently from her eyes. “But he didn’t want anything from her—”
“A witness saw him!” Kitty yelled. Everyone in the room flinched. “The witness identified Darcy,” she continued in a lower tone of voice. “How do you explain that?”
“I don’t know,” Elizabeth conceded. “Maybe George paid the guy off.”
“That does seem like a bit of a stretch,” her father said. The doubt in his eyes was crushing. Nausea roiled her stomach. How could everything go downhill so quickly? First she had been responsible because of her association with Wickham and now closeness to Will was damning her. Would she always be at fault somehow?
“Look!” Jane pointed to the television. Elizabeth twisted around so she could read the screen: Breaking News: Police Sources Say Darcy Does Not Have an Alibi.
Damn. Why, oh why hadn’t Darcy spent that particular afternoon in a very public location surrounded by a lot of people? It would have been far more convenient.
Elizabeth turned to her father. “If we stay silent, then it looks like we believe Will is guilty, too.” She could hear the pleading tone in her voice.
“What if he is guilty?” Kitty exclaimed. “We don’t want to let him off the hook.”
Elizabeth sprang from her chair. “He isn’t!”
Kitty surged to her feet as well. “How do you know?”
“I just do!” Will wouldn’t touch drugs, but Elizabeth couldn’t tell them the truth about the incident in Palm Springs.
