Several bodies are found in the area of a small town. In this town lives Daryl, the killer of all those people. The investigation goes on, the profile is made, and now the police and the FBI look for a specific type, a loner type, ... Daryl's type...
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"That went alright!" Merle announces after getting in the truck, looking extremely pleased with himself.
Lumen stays quiet. I catch her looking at Merle's bruised knuckles when he gets in. She then turns her head to look at mine but she sees my eyes on her and drops her gaze to her lap, where it stayed for the rest of the ride. She seems to be lost in thought and Merle has been giving her strange glances all the way to the house. I'm not sure what's up with her either.
We are almost at the house when she turns to Merle and speaks for the first time since we left the apartment.
"You staying for dinner, right?" Her voice sounds okay but she doesn't look higher than his chest.
I park the truck but don't move to open the door. Neither does Merle. He turns in his seat as much as he can to face her. He's eyeing her for a moment and then reaches for her, making her look at him. "What is it? What did I do now?"
She shakes her head. "Nothing!"
Merle looks at me then, raising his eyebrows questioningly.
I let out a snort. "It's the guy. He said some shit back there, about how we'll treat her badly to scare her. Looks like it worked."
Her head snaps to me, her face turning red. "You heard that?"
"Yup." I confirm with a nod.
Merle starts to laugh. "You scare way too easily. Just like the first time I saw you here? You looked at me like I was going to carve you up along with those deer. Really, what do you think we'll do? Chain you to the stove and never let you leave?" he finishes, still chuckling.
She shakes her head again. "No, it's not that. I just- I really am thankful you got my books back. They mean the world to me so I didn't want to give you the impression that I'm ungrateful." She sighs. "I just didn't expect you to beat him up like that. I don't think that was really necessary."
That makes Merle sneer at her. "Is that so? What did you want us to do then? Send him a mean letter?"
She shrugs helplessly. "I guess I didn't really think about it. My brain wasn't working properly yesterday, the hangover was awful, my head hurt like hell. I was just glad someone was going to handle something for me for once and I didn't give it many thoughts. I don't know what I expected. Maybe that you'd just ask, you know because it would come stronger from you guys. I don't know..." She trails off.
Merle sighs. "These things don't work that way, sweetheart. You want something someone doesn't want to give? You have to say it clearly enough for them to listen!" He raises an eyebrow, daring her to disagree. When she remained silent he rubs his hands together happily. "Alright then, I'll just go and start with the boxes. And yes, I would love some of that dinner you were talking about." With that, he leaves the truck.
Lumen starts after him, but I grab her arm to stop her.
"You good?"
"Yeah." She gives me a weak smile. "I guess I'll have to think harder before asking you two for a favor again, huh?"
