Thank you for all the reviews! And to Kokoleeks, you are correct! Negan is sloppy. I was always annoyed with the show because everything about Negan was sloppy. He made no sense to me. But what really got me was the sheer number of times that Rick and the gang could have easily gotten rid of him. He was always out in front showboating. I know he could not die because he was an integral part of the story, but Jeez, give me a break. What I tried not to do with this story was to NOT write Rick sloppy. He was sloppy with Negan on the show, made me mad. I would yell, shoot him NOW. Stab him NOW. There were just so many openings. But I digress. And on with Chapter 8! Enjoy!
Ch 8- The Chief, The Speech and the Two Narcissists.
"Negan, why are you doing this?" Michonne asked calmly. She did not want to get an already unstable Negan riled up.
"Why am I doing this? Why? Because Rick took my fucking life Michonne! You should be mine; the Captain job should be mine, the kids should be mine! I wanted to get more of them little fuckers, but unfortunately you were only with the one kid when we got you. But that is okay, me and you can make more," Negan grinned.
"You are insane!" Michonne stated with certainty holding Abigail tight. "I can't have more kids anyway," she lied.
"You seem fertile as hell Michonne, you have nine kids, so I am sure that is not the case," grinned Negan as he gave her body a once over.
"It's true," said Abigail, "I see mom crying sometimes when she looks at the triplets because she knows she can't have any more of us."
Michonne stared at Abigail, impressed with her skills at backing her up on the fly. 'This kid is a genius,' Michonne thought to herself. Michonne almost celebrated but then remembered their unfortunate circumstance of being held by a psychopath. She noticed Negan's scowl on his face, but he quickly covered with a big, wide shit eating grin.
"Well, we will just have to keep trying and trying anyway," Negan winked at Michonne," And if not, I will just send my men to scoop a few more of em up! It will be fun turning them all against Rick."
Michonne and Abigail both looked around noticing their surroundings with Michonne specifically looking for anything in case they had to fight their way out. Negan noticed.
"Dwight," yelled Negan, "Go get the kid and put her over on the other side of the room, it will keep my feisty lady over there more inclined to not try anything to escape. I can see the plan forming in her eyes, and I LOVE IT! But alas, I cannot abide it. She won't leave without our daughter," smiled Negan.
Michonne knew right then that Negan was not just crazy, he had totally lost his mind. She noticed and shivered when he used the word OUR when referencing her daughter. Michonne was disgusted, she grabbed her daughter tight, but Dwight was able dislodge Abigail from her and place her on the other side of the large room right next to a table with phones and other equipment. With Abigail crying for her mother, Negan ordered Dwight to tape both their mouths shut. Michonne prayed that Rick would come soon.
Rick was not sure who to trust with the information he found out, or how high up the cover up goes with Negan, but he needed a higher up in order for his plan to work. He was hesitant about going to anyone in his current precinct since this is where Negan was employed for years. He had to decide if he wanted to go to Chief Morgan or not. Ultimately, he had to trust that the Chief would be on his side, especially after him advocating for not only unpaid leave for Negan, but to also terminate him from the force. Also, he did not have the time to look for anyone different, and it had been three hours since they had been taken. So we went straight from the kidnapping scene to the command center to see Chief Morgan.
"Rick, what are you doing here. You are in no frame of mind to handle this, trust me, we are doing everything we can to get your wife and kids back," said the Chief.
"I appreciate the sentiment, but I will be damned if I sit back and just watch, I need to be out there and find my family," fumed Rick.
The Chief nodded and Rick asked to speak to the chief privately and moved to his office. "Chief, look, I have a theory and I need you to not only hear me out but to support it," Rick said anxiously wringing his hands over and over.
"Ok, go on," said the Chief.
"I am positive that it was Negan that took my wife and daughter, you know the background that he has with me and my wife from the investigation," Rick said.
"Rick, honestly that was my first thought and my gut told me that its Negan also, and now we have some proof. Both the fingerprints on the phone and the blue van matched to two associates of his, a Dwight and a Bud, so we have enough proof for us to go in the direction that it was Negan. So what's your plan, I'm in," said the Chief. Rick went on the tell this plan to the Chief and when he got to the end Morgan agreed. "So let's do this now, said Rick, we can't wait. We need to flush him out now and figure out where he is holding my wife and kid."
"I pray this works Rick," expressed the Chief.
"It's all we got, so I have to hope for the best," returned Rick.
Within the hour Chief Morgan contacted the Governor's office to ask for help since Blake already personally stated he would support the investigation in any way possible. Phillip Blake was on edge about helping the police, he knew what happened and what Negan was doing and he wanted to stay out of the whole mess, but he had already publicly agreed to support the investigation, so he had no choice. He also needed to keep make sure he was kept informed of every single detail in case he needed to play some damage control. They asked the Governor to make a statement written by Rick and Morgan and the Governor immediately agreed, always a willing participant to any press that would make him seem like the hero that he thinks he is. Thirty minutes later the Governor was standing on the front of the Georgia Capitol building ready to give the prepared speech that would play on repeat throughout the rest of the evening and longer if needed. They needed to make sure Negan heard it, and with him being such a narcissist, they were sure he would be watching.
The Governor walked to the podium standing on the steps of the Georgia Capitol building. He paused, for effect once he reached the microphone and wiped a pretend tear from the corner of his one good eye. He took a deep sigh, then began his televised speech, that was sure to be full of drama and faux concern.
"Good afternoon to all of our great Georgia residents. Today is a very sad day, as one of our police Captain's family is in peril and we need each and every one of you to help fix the wrong that has occurred. The police Captain's wife and daughter have been kidnapped," he yelled into the microphone with extra flourish for effect. "We need your help in identifying the scoundrels that committed this horrendous crime, so if you know anything or seen anything please call the hotline listed on your screen right this very minute. Now, I am going to talk directly to the kidnappers. YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY WITH THIS!" He was in full blown drama mode now, always ready to make a spectacle for what he considered his fans rather than his constituents. "I want you to know that you are despicable human beings that can redeem yourselves by stopping what you are doing right now and letting that family go. I will make sure that you get a fair deal, but only if you comply right now during this speech. "
If he could get the kidnappers to release the family during his speech, then he could take credit for the recovery and his reelection would be all but sealed, he thought and almost smiled at the realization before remembering where he was and the somber and dire tone he was supposed to be displaying. So he went into full blown dramatics and slammed his fist on the podium and continued "and if you choose not to let them go, you will experience the full might of my office, the Atlanta PD and the FBI will reign down upon you and you will NEVER see the light of day again once you are caught. I will make sure of that!
And now, the most important part of Rick and Morgan's speech was about to begin, because how do you bring down a raging narcissist, well by shattering their fantasy, revealing their insecurity, challenging their superiority, and embarrassing them. Rick hoped and prayed that what they learned about Negan in his file would force him to come out in the open, but they bet all they had that he would for sure reach out to Blake. So Rick and Morgan, with the enormous help of the police psychiatrist, wrote the speech to not only catch one criminal narcissist and get his family back safe, but to also catch another one-eyed megalomaniac running the good state of Georgia. And what better way than to use one extreme narcissist against another. So the governor continued on.
"Only the lowest of the low would kidnap and woman and child, which means you are worse than nothing, BECAUSE YOU ARE UNINTERESTING! What you are doing is cowardly, and like every other coward who cries when they don't get what they want, you cry and stomp your feet like a child, you will NEVER GET WHAT YOU WANT! NOT IF I CAN HELP IT!" (Shattering the fantasy) He added to make sure everyone listening knew that he was in charge because Governor Blake had a very high opinion of himself. "And here is a little secret, we know who you are, so it is just a matter of time before we find you because we are better than you. You are weak and insignificant, and we are strong and because of that we are hot on your trail. (challenging their superiority) SO COME FORWARD NOW! YOUR FANTASY IS OVER! You will never have the family you want and the fact that you think the police Captain's wife and daughter can give you that family is ludicrous! Your desire to have a family by any means is shattered!" The kidnapper won't have his fantasy, thought Blake to himself while pausing his speech for more dramatic effect and trying to hold back his smile, but after this he would surely have his fantasy of being the big superhero he always wanted other people to see.
Negan was watching, of course because this was all about him, how could he not watch. But Negan was angry, how dare that man say those things about him, after all he did to help him get to where he was! Negan was seething, and Michonne noticed and smiled to herself. She knew her husband had a hand in the speech.
"You already lost, you can't take this man's family, you will lose just like you lost your job, Fired from it! (embarrassing them) and…the Governor stumbled, going back over his speech in his head he realized the police already knew who the kidnapper was. FUCK. The speech they gave him was written specifically for Negan. He was starting to panic a little, he wondered if they were on to him, but surely not.
"We know who you are." Said the Governor slowly.
"You desire to have a family, a wife, children, by any means necessary, but you can't and will never have the family you desire (revealing their insecurity)," stumbled Blake, "You desire to get your high ranking job back, but you won't, You will never have any of those things." (shattering the fantasy)
The governor started to shift at the podium. He remembered talking to Negan after his termination, convincing him that there was nothing he could do to help him and Negan vowing his revenge. Phillip Blake ignored his antics thinking that he was all talk. "Shit" he thought. He had to think of a plan now to save his own ass. But he could not stop the impassioned speech now, it would look suspicious. He had to keep going and then would have to deal with Negan and his dimwitted gang swiftly after the speech was over.
"We are coming for you", he finished his speech, "you have already lost your job because of our ineptitude and stupidity (the governor knew that would embarrass Negan, damn), don't lose your dignity and your life! Come forward now!" The governor gave a tense nod to the cameras, and quickly walked back into the capitol.
When Rick and Morgan took their plan about the Governor and the speech to the FBI, the agents assigned to the case knew they hit the jackpot and struck gold. The agents shared that the governor has been under investigation for a while, but they could not prove any wrongdoing. Dating back to when he was Mayor of Atlanta, Blake was granting illegal and immoral favors, covering up the crimes of his friends and family, embezzling funds, and a plethora of other criminal activities too worse to mention. So they immediately got a warrant to tap the Governors phones and to access all his phone records for the last two years. While Blake was out making his speech, they were inside his office tapping his phone, cell phone and home phone. They had an undercover detail assigned to follow his every move. They were about to get two criminals for the price of one.