Bethany Sutton Chapter 14

The address given was a secluded one, which Michonne was glad for, because it meant less risk that an innocent bystander would be harmed or that the police would be called in.

She, Andrea, and Jacqui pulled up to a house set off of one of the many back roads that Georgia had to offer. They climbed out to the sound of tortured cries. They assumed it was Shane making those sounds and when they reached the back yard they discovered they were right.

“I’ve been waiting months for this moment, you fucking piece of shit,” Negan said.

Shane lay on the ground, curled into a ball, while Negan repeatedly kicked at him. Jacqui nudged Michonne in the side.

“I see two,” she whispered. “One on either side of the yard.”

“Take them out,” said Michonne, nodding at Jacqui and Andrea. “I’ll get Negan.”

Andrea and Jacqui took out the two guards with head shots. The men fell and Negan stilled, looking around for the source of the shooters when he saw his men lying dead at their posts.

“Martinez! We got company!”

“We’ve got this,” whispered Andrea.

“I’m going to circle around,” Michonne answered, and left to move toward the front yard. She encountered a man exiting the front of the house. She tried to fire but he kicked the gun from her hand and made to swing at her. He was a huge man with a shaved head and tattoo sleeves on each arm. He was so pale, with reddish white eyes, he could only be an albino.

“Name’s Tiny.”

“How very inappropriate,” she responded.

“What’s yours, cutie?”

“None of your damn business.”

“Shame. I’d like to have had some fun with you before I beat you to death. I just might still.”

“No funnin’ is gonna happen between us,” she said. She pulled a knife from her belt and took a swing. He brought his hand up to block the blow and the scalpel sharp blade slid through his hand like butter. He didn’t cry out but he looked at his blood spilling from his wound with a look of disbelief.

Michonne pulled the blade back and used his surprise to her advantage by driving the knife straight into his forehead. His body fell to the ground, jerked a few times, and went still. Michonne put her blade away, grabbed her gun, and circled around back while Jacqui and Andrea exchanged gunfire with men who emerged from the house.

In the back yard, Andrea nailed the final assailant but not before he fired off a round that put a searing pain in her right side. She fell to the ground while Jacqui trained her gun on Negan, who now had Shane on his feet and pressed against his body, using him as a shield.

“Well, ain’t you cold as ice, Pretty?” Negan said, watching Jacqui keep her eyes and her gun trained on him and ignoring Andrea, who lay on the ground sweating and grunting in pain. “Not even a glance for your partner.”

“Let Agent Walsh go,” Jacqui said.

“You’d make a fine addition to my team. Whatever they’re paying you, I can triple it.”

“Slavery ended a hundred fifty years ago so I’m not for sale.”

“Take the shot,” Shane said.

“I can’t risk it,” Jacqui answered.

“I said, take the shot, Razor.”

“I’ll take the shot only if Ringleader gives the order.”

“That’s your little code name? Razor? Why is that?” Negan asked. He was obviously stalling for time.

“She’s got razor sharp eyes and a steady hand. She can make the shot,” Andrea said.

“Hold the shot,” Rick’s voice said through the earpiece that Jacqui, Andrea, and Michonne were wearing. “Hold the shot. Take him alive if possible.”

Negan slid behind Shane even more, trying to narrow his head and his body with Shane’s, but Jacqui knew she could nail him. Her fingers itched to pull the trigger but she didn’t. She followed orders.

“You’ve got incoming,” Rick said. “I can see them on the Satellite feed. Two trucks.”

“We need to end this, now,” Jacqui said. “We’ve got incoming.”

Negan began to laugh. “My boys are gonna eat you bitches alive.”

“Let him go.”

Michonne had snuck up behind Negan and put the gun to his head. He froze for a moment before releasing Shane.

“Slap these on him,” she said to Jacqui, who holstered her gun and put cuffs on Negan. Michonne grabbed Shane, putting an arm around him. He kissed the side of her face.

“I never should have let you go.”

She rolled her eyes. “God, he’s beaten you silly.”

“No, I mean it. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. I’m back with Rick.”

“Oh… My bad luck.”

They reached the truck, with Michonne having to help both Andrea and Shane, while Jacqui put Negan in the bed of the truck. Shane held a gun on him in case they needed him hostage to escape any pursuit, but they were gone in the opposite direction before Negan’s men reached the driveway to the house.

Shane looked at Negan. “You’re under arrest, motherfucker.”

.

Daryl sighed and rested his head on Beth’s shoulder. She stroked his hair, feeling him soften inside her. He held her against the wall as though she weighed nothing. Warm water from the shower rained down on them as they caught their breath and smiled at one another.

He’d walked into the shower with her to scrub her back and things quickly got out of hand.

“Now we actually need to get clean,” she said, laughing.

“Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.”

“Don’t ever be sorry for giving me mind-blowing orgasms.”

“Deal.”

They did the job of washing one another, running their hands over each other’s bodies, their eyes rarely breaking contact.

“I’d better get this,” she said, taking the washcloth and cleaning between her legs. Daryl gave her a roguish grin.

“If you insist.”

They came down to breakfast to find a new face mixed in with the familiar ones sitting around the table. She was a beautiful black woman with a sharp sense of style and keen eyes.

“What took you guys so long?” Rick asked. He looked up from his coffee, noted their hair wet from the shower, the ruddy glow to their faces, and said, “Oh. Never mind.”

“Daryl, Beth, this is Jacqui. Jacqui, our clients, Beth Greene and Daryl Dixon,” Rick said, introducing them.

“Nice to meet you,” Daryl said, kissing her hand.

She smiled brightly at him. “It’s very nice to meet you, too.”

There was a flirtatious tone to her voice.

Beth shook her hand, wanting to inform her that Daryl was taken, but decided that would make her come off as insecure as she felt. Jacqui wasn’t only pretty, she was closer to Daryl’s age. She had no problem with the age gap but she worried Daryl would change his mind once the novelty wore off and the years started to pass.

They sat down to breakfast and Beth noticed the absence of a few of their own.

“Where are Michonne, Lori, and Andrea?”

“Michonne’s tending to Agent Walsh. He was hurt last night,” Rick explained. “Andrea was shot and Lori’s taking care of her.”

“She was shot?” Beth asked in alarm.

“Just a flesh wound. A few stitches and some ointment and she’ll be fine. More importantly it looks like you’re going to be okay, too. There’s been a break in the case. We’ll know more about it as soon as Shane is up on his feet.”

Beth took Daryl’s hand in hers. “Maybe this nightmare is finally about to end.”

“Let’s hope.”

.

TWO WEEKS LATER

Beth took aim with the crossbow and fired at the target. She hit the outer edge of the board. It was a massive improvement from the earlier lessons in which she failed to hit the target at all.

“Much improved, Sutton,” Daryl said, startling her.

Beth pointed the bow toward the ground. “Not by much.”

“At least no animals died this time.”

“Daryl,” she said, tilting her head to the side.

“Don’t feel guilty about that raccoon, either,” he teased. “You nailed it right through the heart. It didn’t feel a thing.”

“Daryl!”

He laughed aloud, a rare thing with Daryl Dixon, and kissed her.

“Load another bolt,” he said.

“Why, you gonna show off?”

“Me? Show off? Never.”

He helped her take aim and fired the bolt. It hit dead center on the target.

“I think you just wanna press your body up against mine,” she said quietly.

“I think you might be right,” he whispered, before kissing her lightly on the neck. He could tell something was off, however, and he stopped the kissing to turn her to face him. She let the bow hit the ground and threw her arms around him.

“Today’s the day,” she said.

“I know. You’re gonna do fine,” he assured her. “Just tell the truth. That’s all you can do.”

She nodded. The early morning fog shrouded the grounds in a dense mist. She wore a conservative black skirt suit with a white blouse. Her hair was pulled into a bun and she wore just a touch of makeup. She looked older than her nineteen years. Daryl was dressed in a gray suit. He’d trimmed his hair and looked sharp enough to be an attorney about to question her as a witness in the Cooper murder case.

“He’ll be there,” she said.

“He’s not a threat. You’ll have six assassins there and one really protective boyfriend who’ll kill a motherfucker if he tries anything. You’ll be safe.”

She nodded. “I know. I just wonder if it’s really going to be over now.”

“From what you told me, Cooper was a good man, but he’s small change compared to the other stuff Negan’s mixed up in, Beth. Your part in this is over. Whoever Negan’s mixed in with doesn’t consider you a threat now that Negan’s been captured. Come on.”

He took her hand and led her back into the house. As soon as they opened the door it was to chaos. Everyone was dressed in suits and hurrying to get ready to leave. Jacqui emerged from the kitchen with Andrea.

“You missed breakfast, Sweetie. You’ll have to wait until after court to eat,” she said.

“I couldn’t eat right now if my life depended on it.”

“Oh,” Andrea said, and kissed her lightly on the cheek before baldly admiring Daryl. “Hey good-lookin’. You sure do clean up nice.”

“Why, thank you, madam,” he said suavely, as he kissed her hand.

“When you’re done with him, Lori and I will take him.”

“That’ll never happen,” Beth said. She wanted to smile but her stomach was twisted in knots. Andrea put a comforting hand on her shoulder and then ran up the steps to hurry Lori along.

Rick and Shane called Beth into the kitchen. The smell of fried eggs and bacon normally whet her appetite but today it only upset her stomach. She belched and prayed she didn’t puke, even though her belly was completely empty.

“You might feel better if you ate a little something. Toast, maybe,” said Rick.

“I’ll pass.”

“We’re taking you to court in Savannah. They’re trying the case there because Negan won a change of venue,” he explained.

“There’s been two attempts on his life.”

“Daryl said Cooper was small change. Then why did the government come after me?”

“Negan’s been singing like a canary to save his own ass,” Shane said disdainfully. “He got in with an agent named Carstairs. Carstairs took care of the money while Negan did the hits for several higher ups in the FBI and CIA. These killings were strictly for personal grudges and gain. Four agents have been arrested in addition to Carstairs.”

“So why do I even have to testify?”

“Because you saw him murder an innocent man,” said Shane.

“What charges are being brought against him now?”

“Today we’re testifying about the Cooper murder. That’s your part in it. Then Negan goes on trial for attempted murder against Shane. We received this.”

Rick slid a sheet of paper to Beth. She read it over quickly.

The Greene family is no longer a threat.

“Who sent this?” she asked.

“We don’t know. Probably never will,” answered Rick. “The point is the Cooper murder is just a side issue. Now that Negan’s been arrested and he’s talking, you and your family are no longer on the radar.”

“So, I’m free?”

Rick smiled and nodded. “You’re free.”

Michonne poked her head into the kitchen. “We’d better leave a little early. Traffic’s a bitch. Accident on 84.”

“Let’s roll,” said Rick.

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