Suddenly...Gone

Chapter 14

Daryl never spent another night in the trailer he had shared with his brother. While there never had been an official moving in, he just never left except to get his clothes that now remained at Emma's. The only things he left at his old trailer were his weapons. The hunting knives, his guns, and his crossbow didn't belong at in his new home, so they stayed in the closet in his old room. Other than that his life was centered solely around Emma.

They spent every free moment together. If they weren't at work, they were with each other. To Daryl's surprise business at the shop increased as word of his mechanical skills spread. The man whose Porsche he fixed came back for them to work on another car of his, he also told his friends who started to bring their cars to Mack's and just word of mouth had them both working five days a week.

Daryl was making enough money to continue to contribute to the rent to help his brother and also split costs with Emma since he was essentially living there.

For another couple months, Emma still worked at The Devil's Brew and Daryl spent every one of those nights sitting at the bar talking to Sally. Emma was fine with him being there while she worked. However, when his hours stayed full time at the garage, he encouraged her to quit as they didn't need the money that bad and Emma was happy to. The bar atmosphere was not for her.

Time passed, and it was getting close to a year that they were together, and everything was still going strong between them. Daryl had been secretly doing some extra jobs on the side to save money. He wasn't getting any younger, and he wanted to ask Emma to marry him. This was something he thought he never would want to do, but Emma made anything seem possible.

Daryl was saving for an engagement ring. It was absolutely crazy, but the guy that never dated was ready to settle down and get married. He had already picked one out and was paying it off as much as he could. He was still a couple hundred short before he could bring it home.

One day after work, Merle approached him after he parked his pickup. "You been watching the TV at all little brother or spending all your time buried in your sweet young thang?"

Daryl took a deep breath. "Merle, I've told you for the last time not to talk about Emma that way. If you disrespect her again, you ain't never gonna see another dime of rent money from me again. Got it?"

"Didn't mean nuthin' by it, so don't get your panties all twisted. Something weird going on in Atlanta, TV is calling it a sickness, but some people are going crazy down there for no reason," Merle told Daryl.

"City people are crazy, you know that bro. You got anything else for me?" Daryl asked. He was anxious to see his Emma.

"Yeah, I need help with something. My buddy Mike, the one that moved to Memphis has a job he needs help with, and he'll make it worth our while. Can I count on you?"

Daryl automatically wanted to say no as he knew Mike only meant trouble, but he hesitated. What did worth his while mean? "What's the job and how much is it worth?"

Merle smiled. He was confident that Daryl was going to help him. "We just hafta drive a truck from Memphis to Charlotte. That's all."

"Fuck that's all. Gimme the rest."

"We just gotta do it Saturday night," Merle told him.

"Lemme get this straight. First, we need to drive five to six hours to Memphis. Then at night, we drive a truck to Charlotte, and we still gotta get back here. You can't tell me anything 'bout this is legal, bro. He's setting us up." Daryl knew he needed to say no right now, but for some unknown reason, he didn't.