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Rhodes’s plummy voice described the picture. “This was taken right outside President Darcy’s estate of Pemberley in the Hamptons. Witnesses say the presidential limo was about to enter the Pemberley gates when it backed up. The door opened, and the president beckoned Ms. Bennet inside. Although she seemed hesitant at first, he took her hand and pulled her into the car.”
Darcy’s hands clenched into fists, but he resisted the urge to punch something.
When the Grant News studio returned to the screen, Wickham was shaking his head slowly as if terribly concerned about Elizabeth’s “plight.” “Lydia and I questioned whether Elizabeth Bennet truly wished to get into the presidential limousine of her own free will, or if she felt she had no choice.” The congressman’s oily insinuation left no doubt which option he
believed.
“Elizabeth Bennet has not emerged from Pemberley since,” Rhodes intoned ominously.
“But the thing that got me really worried was the recording,” Lydia said, right on cue.
Nails bit into Darcy’s palms. He knew Lydia was a dupe here, but he still felt betrayed by how readily she had taken to the role of his accuser.
Rhodes nodded sympathetically. “I can understand why.” He turned to the camera. “We have an audio recording that was captured by witnesses a few minutes after Elizabeth Bennet entered the limo. It records a conversation between an older woman and the Secret Service agent at the gate.”
Darcy winced, knowing what they would hear.
A scratchy audio recording played while the transcribed words appeared on the screen. “You need to help me! My niece went into Pemberley with the president and hasn’t come out. We haven’t been able to get in touch with her. Her name is Elizabeth Bennet…”
The muscles in Darcy’s jaw hurt, and he wanted very badly to throw something. They were taking the most wonderful night of his life and portraying it as something tawdry and sinister.
Rhodes appeared onscreen again. “Lydia Bennet has identified the woman on the recording as her aunt, sixty-two-year-old Madeline Gardiner. She and her husband, Thomas Gardiner, had accompanied Ms. Bennet to greet the presidential limo as it arrived at Pemberley. Shortly after that recording was made, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner entered Pemberley and—like their niece—haven’t been seen since.”
Only Rhodes could make a day at the beach sound ominous. Darcy gripped the arms of his chair, fighting the impulse to pound his fists on the desk. They were implying that he was some sort of serial kidnapper. It was a ridiculous suggestion. However, experience had taught Darcy that many people would swallow the insinuations whole.
“You can’t possibly be suggesting that the president kidnapped your sister,” Rhodes said to Lydia.
Lydia shrugged expressively. “I don’t know what’s going on. But I do know that Lizzy doesn’t like the guy. He insulted her at a state dinner a few months ago. It was all over Twitter. And now suddenly, she’s spending the night with him? That doesn’t make sense to me.”
Darcy closed his eyes, wanting to shut out the spectacle of people using his love life for political purposes. It was an excellent strategy on Wickham’s part. He didn’t need to make them believe the kidnapping accusation; he just needed to muddy the waters enough so that the voters didn’t know what to believe. No doubt he hoped to use the subsequent loss of confidence in Darcy to fuel his own political ascendency.
Wickham cleared his throat, drawing attention to himself. “And then there was the information about the Bennet family’s company.”
“Yes.” Rhodes looked at the camera again. “Congressman Wickham brought us some very interesting information.” He turned back to Lydia. “Did you know that your family’s company, On-a-Stick, Inc., recently received a contract from the USDA worth more than $5 million?”
Lydia grinned with every appearance of guilelessness. “Yeah, Dad was so happy about it. The company wasn’t doing so well, so the contract really made a difference.”
Darcy suppressed a groan. Lydia’s filter was even less effective than Georgiana’s.
Rhodes had a concerned expression on his face, but no doubt he was jumping with glee inside. “Do you think your sister’s sudden interest in the president might have something to do with the contract?”
Lydia’s mouth dropped open; she was an excellent actress. “You mean President Darcy gave my family’s company the contract in exchange for her—?” She clapped both hands over her mouth. “OMG! That would be terrible.”
Darcy hadn’t thought it was possible for his muscles to grow tenser, but he felt like a tautly stretched rubber band ready to snap. While the rational part of his brain dispassionately observed the clever political maneuvering behind the scheme, the rest of him seethed at the insinuations and insults. He had an uncharacteristic desire to wrap his hands around Wickham’s neck—and squeeze.
Wickham shook his head in a grotesque parody of reluctant concern. “I didn’t want to believe it either, Blake, when I first made the connection, but the evidence is hard to deny.”
What evidence? It’s two pieces of unrelated information.
“Indeed,” Rhodes intoned, “but I’m afraid we have some more disturbing footage to add to it. We were looking through our archives and found this footage shot by Grant News outside President Darcy’s private quarters on Air Force One.”
The screen shifted to grainy footage of the door to the presidential suite. It opened with a jerk. The image of Elizabeth stumbling out was a little blurry, but Darcy could see that her hair was disordered and her expression was distraught. She slammed the door behind her, rushing down the hallway and out of the camera frame.
A news cameraman would never have been allowed in that location; the network must have hidden a camera outside the presidential suite. “Shit,” Darcy breathed, fear was beginning to crowd out his annoyance. That shot did appear pretty damning.
“What the fuck?” Caroline squawked from behind him.
The screen shifted back to Rhodes. “The woman has been identified as Elizabeth Bennet. This incident occurred on Air Force One two months ago when the president was returning from Paris.” He turned back to Lydia. “Her behavior in that footage certainly supports the idea that she doesn’t like the president.”
