A few notes before we begin:

This chapter deals with a lot of legal issues that I do not claim to have professional knowledge about. I would like to simply ask that you keep that in mind while reading and not hold me accountable for the sentences stated throughout the story about those legal issues. A lot of things I have to research and I can't always be sure that my information is 100% correct. That being said, this chapter is also a lot longer than my others and I hope that you find it enjoyable.

I appreciate everyone's comments as always and hopefully the next chapter won't take as long. I think we've gotten through a good bit of the heavy stuff for now and we can start moving on to greener pastures filled with rainbows and unicorns. :-) As always, reviews are not necessary, but are greatly appreciated all the same. Thanks!

*I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters.

Carol remembered exactly what she was doing when she got the phone call.

She had just started a load of laundry and she was in the process of moving all of her personal things into the guest bedroom when it happened. She had been mostly sleeping on the couch because the thought of sleeping in the bed where she and Ed had slept made her queasy. She couldn't stand to be in that room anymore so she had decided she would just take the guest room instead. She was halfway across the hall with a box when the sound of the phone ringing startled her and she dropped the box in the middle of the floor. Laughing at herself as she registered that the noise was just the phone, she headed down the hall to answer it.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Carol Peletier please," A female voice responded.

"This is she," Carol replied as she leaned against the counter in the kitchen and stared absentmindedly out of the window.

"Hi Carol. My name is Andrea Harrison. I work at the law office of Harrison and Frasier here in town. I was wondering if you might be able to come by the office so that I could discuss some things with you concerning your late husband Edward Peletier?" She asked.

Carol's eyebrows shot up at the mention of Ed. She wondered what it was that the woman could possibly want. "Sure. What time?" She asked.

"Anytime that is good for you is fine for me. I'm sorry that it's such short notice. If tomorrow would be better we can schedule it then?" Andrea asked.

Carol shook her head even though Andrea couldn't see her. Even though it was almost three she knew she wouldn't sleep tonight until she knew what this was all about. "I can come today," She said.

"Okay, great. I'll be in the office for the rest of the afternoon working on some paperwork so just ask for me up front when you arrive. Do you know where our office is located?" Andrea asked her.

Carol thought about it, but she couldn't quite place the name of the office or its location. She didn't think she had ever used an attorney before. "No I don't. I'm sorry," She replied.

"That's okay. We're off of Henderson Boulevard. We're across the street from the Dodge dealership if that helps," She added.

Dodge dealership...Why did that sound familiar? "Okay. I'm sure I'll find it. I'll see you in a bit. Thanks," Carol replied before hanging up. She stood there for a minute as the location nagged at her thoughts. She frowned and picked up the phone to call the taxi while she thought about it. She hated when she couldn't remember things sometimes and it mainly happened to her during times of stress.

Hanging up with the taxi, she headed down the hallway to gather her things.

When Carol pulled up at the law office and paid the taxi driver she finally remembered why the place had seemed so familiar to her. That was where Daryl had said he worked. She brightened a little at the thought of just dropping in to say hello to him and she glanced over at the lot of cars as she entered the building.

The inside of the law office was business-like, but cozy all the same. There was an impressive sized desk at the front as she entered and the waiting area was decorated with small love seats and several potted plants. There was a flat screen TV mounted to the wall and a basket of magazines next to a table that housed a coffee pot and a pitcher of water. She shook her head. These people certainly must make enough money from cases to afford stuff like that. Must be nice, she thought.

She was interrupted from her thoughts by a perky looking blonde who stuck her head around the corner of a wall and smiled at her as she headed to the desk.

"I'm sorry about that. I had to dash to the back for a moment. What can I do for you?" The blonde asked.

Carol faltered for a moment as she tried to remember the name the woman had given her. Lord, she was having a time of it today.

"Um, oh! Andrea Harrison please," Carol said.

The blonde smiled at her warmly, "And your name?"

"Carol Peletier."

The girl stood and gestured for Carol to follow her, "Of course, Mrs. Peletier. Andrea said she was expecting you and to bring you on back," She said.

Carol followed the girl down a hallway where she stopped just outside of an impressively sized office. There was another blonde seated behind the circular desk that sat in the middle of the room and Carol raised a brow at the similarities between the two of them.

"She's my sister," The young blonde whispered suddenly and Carol turned to see the young girl studying her.

Carol smiled, "I thought you two favored. I didn't mean to stare," She apologized.

The girl waved a hand in front of her, "Don't be silly. It happens all the time. My name's Amy by the way. Don't worry, Andrea will take good care of you," Amy said.

Carol couldn't help but like the girl given her perky personality and contagious smile. The sound of someone clearing their throat had them both glancing inside to see Andrea crossing from behind her desk to greet Carol.

"I see you've met Amy," Andrea said with a smile. "I hope she was courteous," She added with a glance at the younger girl.

"Always," Amy said and Carol didn't miss the fact that the girl stuck her tongue out at Andrea before leaving the office and closing the door behind her.

Carol turned to Andrea who stuck out her hand, "Sorry about that. She loves to joke around, keeps me on my toes," She said with a chuckle. "It's nice to meet you Carol. In case you hadn't figured out, I'm Andrea Harrison."

Carol shook her hand and Andrea gestured for her to have a seat and Carol did. She held her purse in her arms and fidgeted a little as she wondered what all of this could be about. Anything about Ed automatically made her nervous especially when it involved anything with the law. She watched as Andrea typed a few things into her computer and set some papers aside before reaching for a folder on her desk.

"I don't imagine you know why you're here," Andrea said as she glanced up at Carol.

Carol shook her head, "No idea at all. In fact, I'm extremely nervous that this might mean Ed did something horrible before he died and now I'm going to be punished for it," Carol admitted.

Andrea laughed, "No, no, don't think that! Lawyers don't punish people necessarily. That's what the judges are for," Andrea joked. "Seriously, there's no need to be nervous. Actually I think you are going to be quite happy with this visit."

Carol scooted forward in her chair a little, her heart racing, "Oh?" She asked.

Andrea nodded and placed a paper in front of Carol to which Carol's eyes immediately locked onto, "This is a copy of Ed's life insurance policy. As you can see, he was current with his premiums," Andrea stated and she pointed with a pen to a section on the paper.

Carol's eyes skimmed over the sections before she looked up at Andrea with a confused expression, "I'm not sure I understand what you're doing with it. Wouldn't I normally handle something like that myself?" She asked.

Andrea nodded, "Normally, yes. There's more to it though. You see, Ed also had a will. Granted it was very much outdated, but it's there. He made this will at this office, but at the time I wasn't partner here. I'm going to get to the will in a moment, but seeing as how there is an investigation going on right now about Ed's death then I figured you might not know about the life insurance policy. I saw that the bank account was primarily in Ed's name," She explained.

Carol nodded, "Yes, it was. He controlled all of our finances. I never saw a dime," She said.

"Well, I've been pouring over these documents and from what I can tell they are ninety-nine percent certain that his death was a homicide although that's all they will tell me at this point in time. To put it in simpler terms, what it all boils down to is that Ed has you listed as his primary beneficiary on his life insurance and as the heir to all of his property such that it is. Basically, you're looking at coming into quite a bit of money soon. There are procedures that I can walk you through for the life insurance, or if you want I can handle it all on my end for a fee. As for the will, we will have to wait until that clears with probate to see about any monies due to you from it."

Carol frowned at all of the legal terms listed throughout the page. She didn't understand half of what the papers were stating nor was she sure that she was understanding Andrea right now. "I think I'm going to have to ask you to put that little more simply. A will? I didn't even know Ed had a will," Carol said. She felt foolish telling the woman that she didn't know all of these things about Ed, but she really didn't. Ed had never said a word to her about anything like that.

Andrea looked at her sympathetically, "No problem. The will states that all of Ed's things shall go to you in the event of his death, but there's one stipulation on there. You only get to keep them as long as you agree never to remarry. If you don't agree to the stipulation, then the house will be turned over to the state and put up for sale. It's a little odd, but it's all legal up to this point. I checked for some sort of loophole, but he seems to have had his bases covered. As soon as we get the death certificate from the state then we can start the process for the collection of the life insurance. If that passes smoothly, you're looking at a forty thousand dollar payout. I'm going to take a shot in the dark here and assume that you didn't know about Ed's second bank account?" Andrea asked Carol.

Carol blinked at the woman as her brain tried desperately to keep up with the flow of information. She was still reeling from the mention of the forty thousand dollars and the fact that even dead Ed was trying to screw her over with the stipulation about marriage. Granted she couldn't even think about marriage at this point in time, but what if someday she did decide to marry? That would mean she would be homeless and she wasn't sure how to deal with that information.

"A second bank account?" Carol asked blankly.

Andrea nodded, "He had another account at one of the credit unions here in town. There's three thousand dollars in it, but you won't be able to touch it right now. Since there's a pending case on Ed's death, that account might get frozen and the will that we have for him may get shoved around a bit. I know this is a lot of information to take in at once and I would be more than happy to help you muddle through everything if you would like," Andrea offered.

Carol swallowed thickly and nodded, "I don't have any money to pay you right now," She said.

Andrea shook her head, "That's okay. I can collect from you when everything is settled. Anything to help."

"Okay," Carol answered. She stood up, suddenly wanting to leave and run away from it all. It was just too much. "Do I need to do anything today?"

Andrea pointed to a piece of paper and handed her a pen, "Just sign here that you are authorizing me to act on your behalf for the life insurance and anything else I need from here on out, I can just give you a call."

Carol took the pen and signed her name to the sheet of paper, barely giving it a glance. Andrea stood and they shook hands again before Carol headed towards the doorway.

"Oh!" Andrea said suddenly. She reached behind her to pluck a business card from her desk. "I almost forgot! Here's my card if you need to contact me. It has my office and cell number," She told Carol.

Carol accepted the card and stuck it into her pocket, smiling at Andrea one last time before she made her way down the hallway to the exit. She was glad that the perky blonde wasn't at her perch and she exited from the office quickly. Once she was outside she took big gulps of air and tried to get herself under control. After a few minutes, she realized that she didn't have a ride and she would have to go back inside to Amy anyway to use her phone. Her eyes drifted over to the dealership and she paused and glanced down at her watch. It was almost five and she wondered if Daryl was still at work and if he might give her a ride. Without thinking, she headed across the street and around the rows of brand new cars until she found the garage where the sounds of conversation amid clangs of tools dropping drifted out to her. She began to second guess her decision and just turn around when one of the men inside spotted her.

"Can I help you with something ma'am?" A tall, broad shouldered man asked her. He wiped his hands on a red shop rag as he stared at her. She wasn't sure why but she froze and she stood there with her mouth hanging open blankly until a familiar voice called out to her.

"Carol?" She looked up and into the piercing blue eyes of Daryl and she almost sighed with something akin to relief. He stared at her for a minute and when she didn't respond he frowned and grabbed her arm to lead her gently into what she assumed to be his office. He directed her to a chair and she sat dutifully, more than happy for someone else to take over for a bit.

He left the room momentarily and she heard his voice speaking softly outside of the door. He was back moments later with a bottle of water that he opened and handed to her, "Drink," He commanded.

She lifted the bottle of water to her lips and took several gulps before setting it down onto the desk in front of her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have bothered you at work. I don't know what I was thinking by coming here," She rambled.

He perched himself on the edge of his desk and stared at her, "Ain't no big deal. Ya lookin' a lil' pale though. Everythin' alright?" He asked. She shook her head. Everything was not alright. She wasn't sure if it would ever be alright. He looked at her for another minute before he stood up, "Somebody bring ya by here? Ya need a way home?"

She nodded mutely. She didn't trust herself to speak without crying at the moment so she just sat there. Daryl stuck his head out of the office door and called out to someone and then he came back inside and began unbuttoning his shirt. She stared at him as he shrugged out of his shirt and she saw that underneath it he had on a shirt with the sleeves ripped off much like he wore whenever she saw him at his house. He grabbed up a set of keys and then stopped next to her, "Come on, I'll take ya home," He said.

Carol stood up and followed him out of the office as he locked it behind them. The door that had been open a few minutes ago when she had walked up was now pulled shut and they exited through another doorway. He was quiet as they walked to his truck and she waited on the passenger side as he reached over to unlock the door.

"Thanks," She mumbled as he put the truck in reverse to leave the parking lot.

He dipped his head at her, "Don't see as how it's any inconvenience or nothin' bein' that ya stay right next door," He fidgeted with the steering wheel.

She remained quiet during the rest of the drive and thanked him politely as she exited the truck and headed to her house. She could feel him watching her as she walked away, but she couldn't stop. She was on the verge of tears and she barely made it into the house before they began sliding down her cheeks in tiny rivers. She slid against the closed front door and sat right in the entranceway while she cried. It was all too much. The second bank account, the money that seemed so great but came with a stipulation she didn't want, and the life insurance that she hadn't even known about. It was as if everything had been one big secret and she wasn't even sure what to do with all of that information. Finally her sobs started to fade and she wiped at her eyes with her hands as she climbed to her feet. The knock at the door scared her and she let out a startled yelp.

She opened the door and found Daryl standing there with Roxi next to him on her leash. He had two bottles of beer in his hand and he looked a little nervous about being there. She imagined that her face looked completely horrible and she wiped at it again although she was sure that it did very little to help it at the moment.

"I, uh, was jus' wonderin' if ya might want some company. Ya seem upset an' I ain't very good at talkin' 'bout emotions or nothin', but I can listen if ya need ta get it off ya chest," He offered.

She laughed shakily, "Is that all the beer you got?"

He appeared startled for a moment and then when he saw her small smile, he chuckled a little, "No. We gon' need some more?" He asked.

Carol thought about it for a moment, "Oh yeah."