Safe House Six was on Lake Glory, on the far side, almost
directly opposite the Lakeshore Country Club. It was set far back into the
trees, nearly half a mile. The gate and the fence that surrounded the property
were electrified and monitored with cameras. They were greeted by a
harmless-looking man named Axel. He had the air of an alcoholic who lived and
worked to get his next drink.
“Is he the groundskeeper?”
“That’s Cobra,” Michonne said. “Don’t let his looks fool
you. The man is a master with a knife and he’s got almost inhumanly fast hands.
He could bitch-slap Jet Li three times before the man knew what hit him.”
“So he’s not an alcoholic?”
“Nope,” Michonne said. “He just looks harmless. Which is why
we need him out front. He’s the gatekeeper. He’ll let us know if anyone is
approaching.”
The trees were heavy, towering over the neatly paved drive
that led to the house. Beth was expecting a quaint little cabin. What she saw
was a rambling three story brick house with real shutters that would cover the
windows.
“This place is a fortress. It doesn’t look like it from
outside, but it is,” Lori said.
Four dogs, two pit bulls and two Doberman Pinschers, came
running from around the house upon hearing the truck approach.
“Let us get out first,” said Andrea. She smiled brightly at
Daryl. “I’m gonna have to crawl over your lap, stud.”
“Be my guest, Sweetheart,” he said, winking.
Beth tried not to feel jealous at their flirting. She
trusted that it was harmless, that neither of them would fool around behind her
back, but she knew Daryl could see she wasn’t happy with the way Andrea slid
across his lap to get out.
“I’d never touch her, you know that, don’t you?” he
whispered in her ear. “We’re only joking. She’s that kind of woman, who likes
to play.”
Beth nodded. “Don’t make a habit of it.”
He winked and then had her slide over his lap, too. He
landed a kiss on her neck as she went, and it sent a bolt of sexual energy
straight to her pussy.
“I heard the shots inside the club,” Beth told him, taking a
moment to look into his piercing blue eyes. “I was scared for you. I know it’s
soon, and I don’t want to scare you off, but I love you, Daryl. I’ll die if I
lose you.”
She kissed him quickly and then jumped out of the truck. She
was unaware she’d left him breathless with joy. She’d actually said it. She’d
told him she loved him.
And he loved her too.
His clients had fallen for him before. He’d never felt
anything in return for them. Now he’d found someone that he loved and that he
knew for certain loved him, despite his flaws. It was time, he knew. It was
time to be with her, completely, and stop holding back.
.
“Some guard dogs,” Andrea said, shaking her head. They’d
sniffed at Daryl once and then rolled over to present their bellies for a rub,
which he’d happily obliged. Beth, on the other hand, had to be carefully
introduced and would still need to be careful around them since they’d growled
deep in their chests.
“Caesarea’s the worst,” Lori noted. The female Doberman was
salivating over Daryl.
“You’ve got a way with females of all species, Dixon,” said
Andrea, and then shooed the dogs away.
Inside Beth and Daryl were given a tour and also a handout
that detailed every room and hiding place in the house. They were shown a panic
room and how to access it from any floor.
“There are red buttons in every room of the house,” Michonne
explained. “Hit one and the house goes into lockdown. The shutters close, the
dogs are released, and every door and entrance locks. Every one of us will be
notified of the emergency, no matter where we are on the planet. Go into the
panic room and don’t come out until one of us summons you.”
“So, are you guys sharing a room or do you want separate
rooms?” asked Michonne.
“Sharing,” said Daryl. He didn’t miss Beth’s smile.
Rick arrived at the safe house at seven o’clock, just as
they were sitting down to dinner. He’d disposed of Bradwell’s body and truck
before taking another of his vehicles, a Jeep Wrangler, back to Flower Street.
He saw the place crawling with unfamiliar cars so he went up to the unit Lori
normally occupied when she had a client to watch in 2B. From there he pulled up
the cameras on Lori’s computer and watched the feeds from every unit in the
building.
“He didn’t hurt anyone, did he?” Beth asked tightly.
“No. I’ve got video feeds to all the units and I watched him
question people. He presented himself as a policeman on a case. Nobody was
spooked. He did search all of our apartments.”
“Wait,” Daryl said. He paused in the middle of loading
mashed potatoes onto his plate. “You have cameras in our apartments?”
“I own the building. I’ve got feeds in every single one of
them. I don’t look unless I absolutely have to, so you can relax. I haven't been
perving on you and your clients.”
“I don’t care if you watched or not, but I do care that you’re
a shit landlord, Grimes. You never fix anything,” Daryl groused.
Rick nodded. “I can’t argue there.”
“We’ll never be able to use the Flower Street property as a
safe house again,” Michonne pointed out.
Rick nodded his agreement.
“Has he identified any of us?” asked Lori.
“I don’t know. I walked right past Negan and he didn’t look
at me twice,” said Rick.
“Daryl, I took the liberty of moving your money to our
accounts in the Cayman Islands,” Michonne told him.
“Why am I not surprised?” he said, cutting into his steak.
“I did it just in case Negan tries to go after your money,
and he did. Your assets are safe. Before you can get sore about it, you should
know they tried to freeze your accounts an hour ago.”
“They used me to get to Beth, didn’t they?” questioned
Daryl.
“It looks like,” answered Rick. “You’re a target now. Then,
you already know that after the attack at the country club.”
“We saw how you handled those men,” said Michonne. “Where
did you train?”
“I’ve picked up a few moves over the years. Merle taught
me--my brother!” he said, considering Merle for the first time. “Will they do
anything to him?”
“They tried to kill Beth’s father and sister to flush her
out. It stands to reason his brother would be a target to flush Daryl out,”
said Michonne.
“I’ll contact Shane. Merle’s in prison so there’s not a lot
we can do by way of protection out here. I’m sorry, Daryl.”
Beth suddenly stood up. “I’m not hungry. I think I’ll go lie
down.”
Daryl put his knife and fork down and was going to follow
but Lori put a hand on his arm. “Let her be for a minute. She needs some time
alone.”
“You’re sure?”
Lori nodded. “Take my word for it.”
.
Beth lay in bed and watched the sun fade away. Daryl emerged
from the shower to climb under the sheets with her. He tried to spoon with her
but she turned on her back so she could look up at him.
“Lori said I should give you time alone. I hope she was
right. I was going to follow,” he said.
“She was right. I did need the time alone.”
He stroked her hair. “I know this is hard on you. I wish I
could make it all go away.”
“If your brother dies it’ll be my fault,” she said.
“Is that what you’re worried about? Merle is tough as nails,
baby. He can handle himself. Trust me.”
“You’re not worried?”
He considered lying to her for her sake, and decided against
it. He didn’t want lies between them. “I’m worried but I know he can handle
himself. No matter what happens this isn’t your fault. All this shit was dumped
on you.”
“Some part of you will blame me--”
“Beth, I knew the dangers of getting involved with you and
made the choice to be with you anyway. I won’t blame you for anything. I swear
it. Put those worries out of your mind.”
He took a deep breath. She’d told him she loved him earlier.
He hadn’t said it back. Now, he was going to say it to a woman literally for
the first time in his life.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you too.”
He kissed her. Daryl’s body trembled from a mixture of longing
and fear. He felt almost like a virgin, going into bed with a woman for the
first time. In fact, it was a first time experience. He was going to make love
to the woman he truly loved. He’d never done that before.
The kisses turned passionate and deep. Beth wore only a
nightshirt that she’d borrowed from Lori and Daryl quickly relieved her of it.
He was already naked from the shower.
“Get the covers off,” Beth said breathlessly. She flicked on
the lights. She wanted to see him and she didn’t want anything encumbering
them.
Daryl kissed down the length of Beth’s body, taking time to
enjoy suckling her nipples while he slipped his hand between her legs to gently
slide his fingers over her swollen clit. She moaned and tangled her fingers
into his hair as he moved lower. He thirsted for her as a dying man thirsted
for water. He lapped greedily at her moistened folds and breathed in the heady
scent of her womanhood.
Beth gazed down at Daryl, his eyes, smoky with lust, met
hers as he circled her clit with impossibly fast, expert strokes of his tongue.
She could feel herself approaching climax. She wanted to draw it out, enjoy it
longer, but he’d found her spot with his long, thick fingers and she cried out
as she crested the peak of her lust and tumbled bonelessly back down. Her
instinct was to lie there, immobile as she tried to gather her wits from the
most intense orgasm she’d ever known in her life, but she wanted to bring him
pleasure as well.
There was a moment in which she wished she’d gotten that
video on how to fuck like a pro. She wanted to please him but she’d never blown
a man before. She didn’t have the first clue how to do it properly.
“I don’t know how to give a blowjob,” she said. “I want to
try.”
“Later,” he said. “I want you too much. I need to be inside
you.”
“I want you,” she whispered.
She felt herself moistening again when Daryl kissed his way
back up to her lips. He claimed them hungrily and positioned himself at her
slick entrance.
“Yes. Now, please,” she whispered.
This was what Beth had been longing for--the joining of
their bodies. He slipped inside, encountering little resistance since she was
completely open to him. They were a perfect fit, body and soul. Daryl gripped
Beth’s hip and pulled her up before sinking all the way in, eliciting a long
moan from her.
“Oh, God…yes…”
Beth encouraged him to move and he did, slow and gentle at
first, with her lying still beneath him. As his pace increased her hips came up
to meet his. This, Daryl thought, must be what heaven is like. He’d never
experienced sex this way before. He loved the woman beneath him, he loved her
heart and soul, and sharing their bodies was, literally, an awesome experience
for him. He’d never been a vocal lover, unless it was requested by a client,
but now he couldn’t stop himself from vocalizing his desire.
When the climax came Daryl thought that nothing in the world
mattered. He forgot the danger they were in. He forgot that his entire life had
been changed, some ways for the worse, mostly for the better, by meeting and
loving the woman he was no joined with. When he came it was so intense, with
pleasure and with love, that Daryl felt tears sting at his eyes and his breath
hitched.
“I love you,” he panted, and she wrapped her arms around
him. “God, I love you, Beth Greene.”
.
Heather Headley
played on the stereo. Her voice poured from the speakers, pure and sweet,
lamenting that she’d met a man who broke her heart and how deeply she wished
she wasn’t in love with him. Lori sat on the bedside with a scotch on the
rocks. She drained it before setting the glass on the bedside table.
“It must be bad
if you’ve broken out Heather Headley,” Andrea said, emerging from the bathroom,
naked from her shower.
Lori offered a
wan smile. She wanted it to be bright and happy for Andrea’s sake but she
couldn’t fake it.
“Don’t smile if
it’s not in you. I don’t need you to fake being happy for me,” Andrea said,
sitting down next to her. “If you’re sad, be sad. If you’re angry, be angry. Be
what you feel. I’m here no matter what.”
Lori let the
tears fall.
“It’s about
Michonne and Rick getting together, isn’t it?”
Lori nodded.
Andrea ran her
hand comfortingly over Lori’s back and let her cry.
“Why can’t I get
over him completely? It’s over. I know it but there’s this…”
“You love him,
Lori. You can’t help that. He’s the father of your child. You gave him your
most important gift--your heart. It’s not your fault he took it knowing he’d
already given his to Michonne. There are times I want to kick his ass and times
I want to just hug both of you.”
Lori wiped the
tears away as she lay down. She regarded Andrea for a long time. The woman was
everything a person could ask for in both a friend and a lover. She was
understanding and undemanding, and Lori was scared to death she’d hurt Andrea.
“I don’t deserve
you, Andrea.”
“Lori--”
“No, damn it. I
don’t. I’m so scared I’m repeating the mistakes of my past, only this time I’m
Rick and you’re me. I’m so scared I’m using you to try to get over the person I
really love.”
“That’s exactly
what you’re doing,” Andrea said in a tone completely free of bitterness or
judgment. “The difference is I know what I’m getting into with you. When you
first got with Rick he held everything about Michonne back from you. God, you
two were together five years before you fully understood everything about his
past with Michonne.”
Lori nodded
miserably. “I know.”
“I want what you
have to give. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“But I’m so
fucking damaged. I’m just a pile of broken pieces,” Lori said in a hitching
voice.
“And I love
every broken piece,” Andrea answered. She straddled Lori and put Lori’s hand
over her heart. “I’ve got a special case right here. It’s made especially for
you, so I can carry all of your broken pieces so that they don’t break even
more.”
Lori sat up and
pulled Andrea into a passionate kiss. It was a kiss born of hurt, anger, and
the deepest love she’d felt since she’d fallen for Rick.
“I love you. You
have to know that.”
Andrea nodded.
“I know. I love you too.”
“Make love to
me?” Lori questioned, sounding small and sad and scared.
“Yes,” Andrea whispered,
before easing Lori back into the soft pillows of the bed.
.
Normally, after
making love to Michonne, Rick felt at peace with the world. He felt at peace
with himself. Tonight was different. Tonight he couldn’t get Lori out of his
mind. He knew her. He knew that tonight she’d cried over him and Andrea was
trying to clean up the mess he’d made of her. The guilt was deep and it hurt.
He knew he deserved it. He stared at the ceiling, feeling his heart slow to
normal, feeling his labored breathing calm. Michonne was warm beside him, one
leg thrown over him, but she wasn’t clueless to the battle inside of him. She
just didn’t know what, exactly, had him sulking in misery.
“You’re not with
me,” Michonne said. “What’s wrong?”
He considered
telling Michonne about his kiss with Lori earlier that day but decided against
it. Telling her would only cause trouble. It wouldn’t help anything and,
frankly, that was something between him and Lori. It was their business. He’d
made it clear to Lori there would be no reconciliation and that he would never
touch her in that way again. His conscience on that front was clear.
Lori wasn’t his
only concern. Beth Greene was a source of worry for him as well. He feared he’d
bitten off more than he could chew and he wouldn’t be able to save her. He
regarded Michonne, who patiently waited for an answer.
“I’m scared that
this case is going to be another Miami.”
Michonne shook
her head. “The client wouldn’t listen to our instructions, Rick. He got himself
killed. Beth isn’t like that.”
“Devereux had a
drug dealer after him. Beth’s got the fucking U.S. Government after her. Or,
rather, shady members of it. What I can’t figure out is Negan’s part in all
this. He can’t be the one in charge, Michonne. He was witnessed shaking down an
old man for a few hundred bucks. If he’s the ringleader of a larger group that
has people in the FBI and the CIA, and God only knows what other agencies, why
was he in that little grocery store killing an old man for chump change?”
Michonne leaned
up on one elbow and regarded him thoughtfully. “That makes sense. I hadn’t
thought of that.”
“He’s up to
something. They all are. The question is what? Why are these agents in with the
police chief of a small Georgia town? Especially one who basically amounts to
nothing but a petty criminal, a loan shark? What does it all mean?” Rick
speculated.
“Walsh knows
more than he’s telling us,” said Michonne. “Everything is connected like pieces
in a puzzle to make a larger picture. We just need to put the pieces together.
If we don’t we may not be able to save Beth. Hell, we may not be able to save
ourselves.”
“They found
Beth,” Rick said. He got up and pulled on his boxers and jeans. “Want a drink?”
“Screwdriver,
light on the vodka.”
They sat on the
bed, sipping their drinks, and thinking. Rick had a brandy while Michonne
sipped her screwdriver.
“I don’t know
how much they know about us. The agent Lori killed today may have gathered
information on all of us. I’m going to call a Time Out.”
Time Out was
code for putting their families in protective custody. He’d put them in safe
houses until the all clear was given and the case was over. This was the first
time he’d ever ordered a Time Out and Michonne didn’t disagree. It would be a
team effort and take a few days but their families had to be protected.
“You bringing
Carl here?”
Rick shook his
head. “Too hot to be around me right now. I’m having him, Lori’s parents, and
my mother taken to the Colorado residence. Carol and Glenn will respectively
decide where to move their families. What about your parents and sister?”
“I’ll send them
to the New Orleans residence,” she said. She regarded Rick. “They know about
Daryl. Think they’ll try something with his brother?”
“I thought of
that. I decided to call Abraham. He can go in and guard Merle on the inside
until this is over.”
Michonne nodded.
“Jacqui’s here. She and Jim can work on this.”
“When did Jacqui
get here?”
“She’s been here
for three days. She wanted to take a break from the Marsden case.”
“You mean Gene
wouldn’t quit hitting on her,” Rick said, smiling.
“Most likely.”
Their phones
sounded off simultaneously. Michonne looked at her screen. “777 from Walsh.”
She and Rick hurried
to finish dressing and emerged into the hallway to see that Lori and Andrea
were coming their way. From the disarray of their hair and clothes Rick guessed
he and Michonne weren’t the only ones rolling in the sack that night. He found
it hard to meet Lori’s eyes. Not that she was actually trying to look at him.
“We’ve got an
extraction,” Andrea said. She was looking at Rick with anger, which was rare
for her. He understood. Just as he’d known, Andrea was trying to clean up the
mess he’d made with Lori and, of course, Andrea was on Team Lori in their
seemingly never-ending battle.
Rick made
decisions quickly. He was the Ringleader for a reason. His strengths were good
in the field but he organized better, and he trusted his team to be able to
handle themselves. Being female meant absolutely nothing in this line of work.
These were women who didn’t need a man to ride to their rescue--they did that
job and they did it well.
“I’m in the war
room,” he said. “I’ll organize from here. Michonne, you and Andrea will
retrieve Walsh. Have Jacqui go as backup. She’s been out of the action a little
while. She needs to sharpen her skills. Lori, you’re guarding Beth and Daryl.”
“And I’m being
put on babysitting duty why?” Lori demanded, her eyes meeting Rick’s. “They’re
in a fortress for God’s sake.”
“You’re
emotional right now.”
“Bullshit!” she
said heatedly. “I’m more than capable of going into the field.”
“We don’t have
time to argue this. You’ve been crying. I believe you’d be a danger in the
field to the others. You’re staying here. If, on the off chance we’re attacked,
you’ll keep Beth and Daryl safe and guard my back. End of discussion. Move
out.”
There was no
more to be said on the issue. Andrea kissed Lori quickly goodbye and then
headed out with Michonne to suit up and gather their arms.
“What did Rick
mean Lori’s emotional?” asked Michonne.
“You’re
officially back on, Michonne,” Andrea snapped. “What do you think he meant?”
Andrea’s words
were biting and Michonne felt guilt stab strongly at her gut. If only she
hadn’t chosen to go to the army. If only she’d not gotten spooked and ran away.
Lori wouldn’t have been dragged into their problems. She wouldn’t have been
hurt.
Jacqui had their
guns lined up on a table in the armory. All that was left was to put on their
vests and go.
“Good to be back
in the action?” asked Michonne.
Jacqui smiled.
“After three months of putting off a horn-dog half my age? Yeah, it’s very good.
I’d rather risk being shot than have to slap that preppy little white boy on
the face one more time for grabbing my ass.”
Andrea and
Michonne smiled despite themselves.
“I’ve got
Walsh’s location,” said Jacqui. “Which one of us is driving?”
“You are,” she
said, and tossed Jacqui the keys.
Just be alive when we get there, Walsh, Michonne thought, and climbed into the
front passenger seat of the truck.
