Thanks to baileyxann and the many reviews. Going to give the boys a little break some stuff will be explained in this and the next chapter. Enjoy. Sorry its been so long for updates lost computer and it took awhile to get a new one lost most of my chapters to this story.
Disclaimer: First chapter
Chapter 7
Bob looked at all three men in front of him before walking over to Andrea.
"Where was she found?" Daryl asked, interrupting Bob before he can explain.
"Which one?" Rick crossed his arms, looking down at the bodies below him.
"Andrea, " Daryl replied. Rick sighed before leaning against Bob's desk. He stared at Andrea's body before looking back up to Daryl.
"Michonne found her on the steps of the police station this morning," Rick said. "We didn't know she was missing until Michonne looked through missing persons reports and saw that Amy had filed one on her a couple of days after Andrea called things off with Shane, but according to Amy, Andrea wasn't breaking up with Shane- she wanted him to take the next step and have her move in with him. Shane was the one to call things off because he didn't quite let Andrea explain herself. Apparently, everything came out mixed up when Andrea was trying to talk to him. " Rick shook his head after running a hand through his hair. "How am I going to explain this to both of them?" he asked himself softly. Daryl and Merle watched him for a moment before he gave a deep sigh and straightened up. "Go ahead Bob, what did you find?"
"Well, as you know, this is 38-year-old Andrea Coleman, Civil Rights Lawyer. Cause of death was drowning in her own blood due to lack of oxygen," Bob explained as all three men looked at him in surprise.
"She drowned and suffocated?" Ricked asked and Bob nodded as he tiled her head up for them. "How's that possible?"
"Well from what I can tell," he said as he pointed to a small needle mark on her neck. "She was injected with something that busted her blood vessels and caused her to drown in her own blood. The lack of oxygen part, I can't explain; it's like her throat closed on her as her lungs filled with blood. So, I can't really be for sure about what killed her until I can test what she was injected with."
"She die the same way?" Rick asked, pointing to Dawn on the other table, and Bob nodded. "What's her story?"
"Dawn Lerner, 42-year-old fired nurse. She was found in the hospital parking lot after killing Hershel Greene with an overdose of morphine." Bob said, pulling the sheet back to expose her arms. " There is one thing different with this one than Andrea. I found DNA under her finger nails that wasn't hers. So, we'll be able to send that to pathology and figure out who saw her last."
"Good, hurry up and get that to the lab. We need answers now." Rick said as he walked out. Daryl and Merle watched him before turning back to Bob.
"What about that stuff that could have caused this?" Merle asked, looking to Bob as he used a syringe to draw blood from both of the cold bodies.
Bob labeled both vials and looked back up to the Dixons, "All I can say gentlemen is: if this is what I think it is, I need to figure out an antidote fast, or we are in a world of trouble."
Beth awoke in her bed at the apartment and felt her eyes. She could tell they were puffy and probably red from her crying. She got up and headed to the bathroom to splash water on her face. When she had dried her face, she started toward the living room, but stopped when she saw a strange woman she had never met and Sophia there instead of the Dixons.
"Oh good, you're awake. I made some soup and green tea for you. It's the only comfort food I know," the woman said before standing to shake Beth's hand. "I'm Carol, Sophia's mother; I know we never officially met. I'm Merle's old' lady, as he would say." Carol laughed as Beth took in her appearance. She had grayish brown hair in a pixie haircut and wore a beige, cashmere drapery cardigan over a white shirt and black tights with white flats. Beth nodded a greeting to Sophia before turning to Carol.
"Where are Daryl and Merle?" she asked as Carol brought over a tray to the couch, full of a bowl full of soup and a cup of hot green tea. Beth took a seat as Carol sat next to her.
"They got called in by Rick," She answered." Merle asked me to stay here with you until they got back. If you ever want to talk about what happened, I'm here. Even if you want to call me I'll listen," Carol said softly, offering her condolences. Beth nodded as she took the cup of green tea and sipped it.
"H-Have you ever lost someone?" Beth asked, and Carol nodded slowly.
"But Ed Peltier was not someone to be missed. He was very abusive toward Sophia and me," She said before looking at Beth. "But Your father, he was always so nice to me when I dropped Sophia off for her music lessons with you."
"I just-I just don't know what to do now? I mean I can't call my sister down for a funeral. I haven't even buried Shawn and Momma." Beth sighed. Carol laid a hand on her knee.
"How about we do a memorial for them for now, and then when you can call your sister to come down, we can have a proper funeral for them?" Carol suggested, causing Beth to look at her with tears starting to pool in her eyes.
"Would you help me?" she asked.
"Of course, I will." Carol smiled and nodded her head as Beth hugged her, and she rubbed Beth's back as she cried once again. Sophia grabbed the cup of tea from Beth's hand before she joined her mother comfort Beth as she continued to cry.
"I think we need to tell Beth what happened to the Governor that made him this way," Merle said, looking at his brother out of the corner of his eye. "That's what her sister found in those papers. All we knew was he was a good cop gone bad cause he blamed the department for his daughter's suicide when they did that drug bust at her boyfriend's house. The truth is in those papers and that's what he's trying to protect."
Daryl bit his thumb as he thought about it. "Will it help her though? I mean half her family was killed because of what her sister found."
"Yeah maybe you're right." Merle sighed.
"What did those papers say?" Daryl asked.
"Penny Blake was found at her boyfriend's house when the drug bust happened. Penny was arrested along with her boyfriend cause she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Philip Blake, aka the Governor, was the distributor of the drugs they had found at the house. Because of the new law the mayor had issued stating anyone found at a drug bust that wasn't directly involved with the drugs would be charged of withholding information if they knew. Penny happened to know her boyfriend was a drug dealer, so she was charged. When her father came down to release her after she told him she was innocent, the officers refused to let him bail her out, resulting to her committing suicide in her jail cell after she appeared in front of the judge and was found guilty. Philip quit the force and just disappeared, but the Governor's activities in the city skyrocketed. Philip blames the mayor and city for his daughter's death." Merle said, reading it straight off the paper while Daryl drove.
"So the man that trained us in the academy is the Governor?" Daryl asked. When Merle nodded, Daryl swore and punched the dash.
"Whatever he has planned, we're in trouble unless we catch him," Merle said as they pulled onto the street of the apartment.
They were surprised when they walked into their apartment to see Beth and Sophia asleep on the couch with a romance movie on in the back ground. Carol emerged from the kitchen and smiled when she saw them.
"They fell asleep not twenty minutes ago." She said as she watched Daryl move some hair out of Beth's face softly, as to not disturb her as she slept. He gently bent to pick her up and carried her back to her room, and Merle grabbed a blanket from the closet and covered Sophia. "He's really falling for her, isn't he?" she asked Merle softly.
"Yeah, and he's falling fast," Merle said as he came up to Carol and kissed her softly. Carol smiled as she snuggled into Merle's chest. " I need to ask you something, Carol. Things are starting to look bad with the Governor. If Daryl and I can't watch Beth, could you keep her safe? I trust you, especially since Daryl and I trained you after we found out about Ed."
"Of course. I'll train her a little of what I know in self-defense if it comes down to it," she nodded as she looked Merle in the eye.
"I hate dragging you and Sophia into this," Merle shook his head as he held Carol close. She framed his face with her hands and made him look at her.
"I knew what I was getting into when we started seeing each other. As for Sophia, I can send her to Aaron and Eric Raleigh outside of town," She said as she let their foreheads rest against each other.
Aaron and Eric Raleigh were old friends of Carol's who had tried to get her away from her ex-husband when they discovered the abuse. The final night she appeared more bruised and bloodied Aaron took his rifle and called Merle and together they put an end to Ed Peltier, after Merle had told him numerous times to lay off Carol and Sophia. They may have seemed overly friendly, but they were fierce when someone they cared about was being harmed. They also owned a small bed and breakfast just outside of Senoia city limits.
"Okay, in a few days send Sophia up there, cause I'm not letting' you out of my sight until he's caught," Merle said as he started dragging her to his room.
"Yes sir," Carol smiled coyly.
