The dinner disappeared quickly after that. Daryl instantly started asking Maggie questions while pulling out his ancient flip phone to type something. Annette practically jumped to her feet, packaging up some of the food for her children to take with them. She ignored her eldest daughter saying they probably wouldn't have time to eat anything, even if they wanted to, that is. Maggie was still talking and Daryl was still typing when Beth stood to help her mother. Sam clambered up behind her to grab a paper bag from a drawer near the fridge. He must spend more time here than I thought, she said to herself. It occurred to her that she had yet to find out where Sam was living in this small Georgia town. Strange.

The bustle of the kitchen was broken by the shrill ringing of the detective's cell phone, who swiftly walked from the room and out onto the front porch to answer. Sovay looked away from the retreating man to glance around the room. From the two women at the counter, to her friend, and finally to the man of the house, who stood and approached his oldest daughter. She watched as the father placed his hands on the girl's shoulders and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "Be careful, Maggie. I don't want you getting too far into this ugly business."

The young woman gave the old man a small smile, one full of affection and respect. "Don't worry about me, Daddy. Daryl's the one who needs lookin' out for."

"I heard tha'," the man in question growled, as he walked back into the house. His stance was not at all relaxed, giving her some clue as to what was talked about in the call. "Gotta go."

He waited as Maggie kissed her father on the cheek and walked over to her stepmother, trading the same for the bag of food. She gave Beth's hand a quick squeeze, and spared a small wave for Sam. Sovay watched as Maggie turned back towards the doorway, and then take a double look when the woman's eyes fell on herself. As if she hadn't noticed her sitting there before. She saw as her eyes flicked to her adopted brother's and then back to her own, clearly recognizing her from that morning in the station. She had a quick moment of panic, wondering if the officer would mention the event from earlier in the day. She guessed that the woman had been informed about her visit with the detectives.

But Maggie just threw her a smile and Sovay gave one in return. The the rookie police officer led the way from the house, Daryl seeming intent on following after her. He stopped his movement towards the door when Mrs. Greene cleared her throat in expectation. The man turned his head and peeked at the older woman from beneath his overgrown bangs before striding towards her. Soon they stood face to face, and Sovay, once again, saw all the differences between Dixon and the Greene's. He bent down, as he stood almost a full head higher than Annette, and placed a tentative kiss on her cheek, before pulling away quickly.

The ordeal was almost as astonishing, if not more, than his participation in the prayer. He shook his discomfort off quickly though, and turned towards Beth to ruffle her perfect hair, enticing a screech from the girl. Something similar to a smirk crossed his face as he turned away, his eyes finding Sovay, still sitting at the table. He didn't acknowledge her in any real way, just bore his gaze into hers in the few seconds it took him to pass by her, and then he was gone.

No one moved while the sound of footsteps retreated, or while the sound of a motorcycle engine pulled from the back of the house and disappeared into the dusk. In fact, there was quite a pause in the time after the pair left. No one in the party seemed to know what to do exactly.

Eventually Mrs. Greene recovered her Southern etiquette and sat her remaining daughter back in her seat before doing so herself. She smiled politely at Sovay and said something about this not being the first time a member of the family was pulled away in the middle of a meal. Apparently it happened often, having three, and then four, grown children around the house. But Sovay guessed that this was first time it had happened under these circumstances.

They tried to fall back into the rhythm before the interruption, to no avail. And yet the polite conversation continued, Mrs. Greene asking her if she was staying at the bed & breakfast while she was in town. When she affirmed, the Greene's went on to speak of their decades long friendship with Dale and his late wife.

She attempted to listen for awhile, but soon retreated into her mind, consumed within her thoughts. Did he know why she was here? Was it really him, again? Why? she pondered. And most pressing on her mind, Why did she miss having those eyes lingering on her?

Daryl couldn't decide if this was just as bad, or worse than the first one. He'd seen some nasty shit in his day, but this week was quickly moving to the top of his list. He looked down at the poor girl, barely even out of her teenage years, if that. She was butchered. There's no other word for it. Butchered and sewn back together in the wrong order, just like the Peletier girl. He didn't want to look, but he couldn't tear his eyes away. He needed to memorize this, every detail. Because if he missed something, if some small piece of this horrible puzzle passed through his gaze, he would be to blame if the killer got away.

Logically he knew this wasn't true, knew it wouldn't really be his fault. But every hit, every kick, every punch and ugly word ever thrown at him contradicted his rational mind. He knew it wouldn't really be his fault. Except it would be.

He was so engrossed with his inspection that he didn't hear his partner walking up behind him. Rick had been the first commanding officer on the scene, but had been busy speaking with witnesses and the first cop to arrive. The former sheriff didn't say anything as he took a place standing next to Daryl. He knew that the man was taking in the scene just as he was, neither of them wanting to missing a single thing. The pair stood like this for a few minutes, ignoring the hustle and bustle going on around them.

When he did finally look up from the horror, that which was now firmly imprinted on his mind, he saw that Michonne and Tyreese were just arriving. Maggie was talking to the medical examiner and his technician, and that new kid, Zach, he thinks, was trying to corral the reporters who'd somehow heard about all this. It could've been anyone really, who'd called the TV stations. Unlike the last crime scene, which was a fairly isolated area of town, this girl had been dumped in the alleyway outside a local bar in the middle of town. Any one could have seen her. And yet no one had seen anything, he guessed.

"Y'kno' 'ho she i' yet?"

From the corner of his eye he saw Rick nod his head. "Eliza Morales, 18. Her mom's a friend of Lori's. Babysat the kids for us once."

Daryl was definitely surprised. Fucker got a local girl?! he thought. And then, Shit, does Beth know this girl? He hid any uneasiness he felt to focus on the situation at hand, and ran his palm over his face. "Shit man, sorry." Rick just nodded his head again and continued to stare at the body at their feet, so Daryl went on. "Tim'o' death?"

"'Bout 8 hours ago," the withdrawn man replied. "Hadn't ev'n been reported missin' yet."

The redneck shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was going to be a shitstorm. "'N'thang on tha firs' girl yet?"

Michonne chose this moment to walk up on the partners, and overhearing his question, she replied. "Bob just finished when we got the call to come here." She paused throwing a look at Grimes, noticing his aloofness before continuing. "Sofia Peletier died from asphyxiation due to strangulation. 85% of the physical damage was done post mortem and most of the rest were defensive wounds. She fought back." She glanced at Rick again, clearly concerned about his demeanor. "Rape kit was positive, but there was no DNA."

Hearing this Rick moved suddenly, finally turning away from the remains, and began pacing.

"Rick?" Daryl knew that his friend was thinking of the poor child who'd been discovered a few hours ago, even more so than the first. He knew that this going to tear a piece of Rick away that couldn't be replaced.

The man in question ran both hands over his face before turning halfway back towards the others. "Gotta go notify her parents. Tell Stookey to rush this," he said looking directly at Michonne. She nodded and walked away. Then looking back at Daryl he spoke again. "Eight hours ago Martin was with us," and Daryl nodded. "Sam wasn't. Go talk to him. Im'ma call Lori, have her meet me at the Morales place."

He nodded again. Dixon knew that making death notifications was one of the worst parts of the job, but he guessed making them with your ex-wife would be even worse. The men split up and Daryl headed towards his bike, pausing a moment after straddling it to dial a number on his phone. He was going to track down Keyes, but first he was going to call Herschel and tell him to lock Beth up in her room and throw away the key.