Beth almost jumped clean out of her skin when her phone rang. She stared at it warily even though only one person had her number. The phone rattled where it sat and Beth snatched at it after realising she'd merely been watching it.

"Hello?" she said hesitantly.

"I need you to get down to the bar." Not even a perfunctory greeting.

"What are you talking about?"

"Shit's gone down and I need a second pair of eyes," Daryl was practically whispering into the phone, speaking fast.

Beth had a hundred questions but she could tell he didn't have time to answer them yet.

"You can drive right?"

"Yeah-"

"Take the keys to my truck. Hurry."

The phone disconnected and Beth blinked at a wall while her brain caught up with what she'd just heard. It was only mid afternoon and she had expected Daryl to be gone for a while longer. Beth hastened to grab the keys wondering exactly what Daryl meant by shit having gone down. It must not be life threatening or he never would have requested her presence.

Beth jammed her feet into some shoes and ran down the stairs. She hadn't driven since she had been closeted away. It was muscle memory but Daryl's truck was a difficult beast to wield around the roads.

It was due to luck that she remembered the streets to the bar and she was stunned by the sheer amount of cars and bikes out the front. Beth hastened across the street and pushed open the door. It was standing room only and Beth felt very conspicuous. Which was the opposite of what she was supposed to be. She didn't know why Daryl had suggested she come here and now.

Her protector spotted her across the room and came to meet her. His expression was focused and determined. "Go sit with Karen for now. When it's natural, I want you to see what you can hear from Pete and Martinez." His tone was brisk and businesslike.

Beth nodded wordlessly. He squeezed her elbow and went back to the animated discussion. This was not how she had anticipated seeing Daryl after what had happened earlier. She had expected him to shuffle home awkwardly and dodge any relevant conversation but she had intended to wear him down.

The Daryl she just spoke to was definitely not thinking about kissing her. Beth squashed her disappointment. It was a temporary setback. His confession to her was monumental and no matter what happened now, Beth couldn't unhear it.

She spotted Karen across the crowd and wove her way between the bodies to get to her. There seemed to be a core hub of men actually working but the others were there for moral support, ready for orders at a moment's notice.

Karen's smile was tight but she stood and hugged Beth anyway. Beth glanced around the room. "I heard something went wrong, I came to see if everything is alright."

"Our boys got robbed," Karen explained.

"What got taken?" Beth gasped.

Karen cut her eyes to Beth. "I don't know how much you understand 'bout what goes on here."

"Enough," Beth answered quickly.

"Martinez wasn't real specific but I would say a lot of inventory."

Beth wanted to clarify whether it was weapons or drugs. Both gave her chills. Maybe it was the third mysterious item that was never named. Beth only had guesses as to what that was. Maybe illegally traded art but she didn't know why they'd be obscure about that. It could also be organs, which were sometimes trafficked to wealthy individuals.

"I'm sure they'll figure it out," Beth reassured Karen.

"It's a warning," Karen mused, biting her thumb nail.

"Like a threat?"

"Like a sign, like we've used up all our good luck."

Beth had never seen Karen twitchy or nervous before. "It'll work out," Beth stated again.

Beth spotted Martinez and Pete standing further away at the bar than everyone else.

"I'll get you a drink, Karen. It'll settle your nerves."

"You're a darling," Karen said, patting her arm.

Swallowing to disguise her own anxiety, Beth rose and made her way to the bar. She felt like her heart might leap out of her throat as she edged closer to the two men. The back of her neck prickled and she knew without turning that Daryl was watching her.

"We can't fix this, we're dead." Martinez told Pete that with none of the hysteria a normal person might have. It was just a simple fact to be stated.

"I hated this anyway," Pete spat bitterly.

"We talked about this, man."

"The reality was ten times worse. Maybe we should just go to the police. Cut deals."

Beth couldn't believe what she was hearing. What had induced such a crisis of conscience in two career criminals?

"That ain't an option. We're too big a target in our own right."

"Just makes my skin crawl, and now we're tracking 'em down again. Maybe they escaped."

"S'unlikely though. Besides even if they did, we gotta find them. If he thinks I've lost control of my territory, he'll drag me out and replace me. I don't need to explain to you what that'll entail."

Beth's mind raced. Escaped? Weapons and drugs don't escape. She wasn't provided anymore information because Pete spotted her then. She was close enough to be suspicious.

"Hey Beth, when did you get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago, I've been sitting with Karen."

Both men nodded, accepting her excuse easily. She hadn't believed Daryl when he insisted she was innocent enough to overlook but she had the proof now. She looked young, looked sweet and these two men discounted her as anything but Daryl's girlfriend. It made Beth able to flash a wide sympathetic smile at the pair of them.

"Are you two alright?"

"We'll be fine," Pete hastened to assure while Martinez continued brooding.

"Well if I can do anything," Beth finished off before ordering Karen a wine and a soda for herself. Returning with the drinks, Karen scarcely said anything. Her eyebrows were pinched together and she looked like she was trying to fit the last piece into a puzzle. Very much what Beth was doing herself.

The men had all hunkered in again and were discussing in low voices. People came and went, whispering information to Pete or Martinez. The whole time Daryl was watching, his hooded gaze missing nothing.

Beth's stomach was starting to ice over and it wasn't just because something was obviously very wrong. Pete and Martinez were more than angry, they were spooked and Beth didn't want to meet the man that could scare them. Also she was doing the math in her mind and she was starting to figure out what that third mysterious commodity was and it chilled the blood in her veins.

It was people.

She desperately wanted to be wrong but it made too much sense. The extra care they went to when concealing it in their records, Pete's moral objections, Karen's silence, Daryl's reticence to tell her. He may have wanted to shield her from it but she knew now.

Beth was feverish. Disgust and panic battled inside of her and all she could think of was running. There was a roaring in her ears as she hastily pushed to her feet and mumbled some pathetic excuse to Karen. She slipped through the melee of people. She was almost at the door when she collided with a chest.

Beth glanced up; expecting it to be Daryl but it was a man she only vaguely recognised. She had caught glimpses of him at the party but Daryl hadn't spoken to him so Beth had no real point of reference.

"Where you going in such a hurry, sweetheart?"

Beth wanted her reply to be blunt and cutting but she forced a sugary smile. "I'm just getting out of the way."

"You ain't in nobody's way." Nothing that he said was threatening but his tone rose her hackles. She didn't like the way he wasn't even looking at her face. His eyes hadn't risen from her cleavage.

Beth straightened her shoulders. "My boyfriend doesn't like it when I get in the way of his work." She spoke more forcefully now.

"That's right, you're Daryl's girl." He sized her up properly now. Beth didn't think he'd actually forgotten, more that he didn't care.

"That's right," Beth confirmed. She thought that would be the end of it but the man reached out and seized her wrist. His fingers were like pincers, squeezing tight in a display of dominance. Beth kept the pain hidden, unwilling to show him any weakness.

"You ever wanna know what a real man feels like inside of you, just give me a call."

"Let me go," Beth snapped, jerking her wrist in the hope he'd release her. He pulled it in tighter, making her stumble. He didn't smell like alcohol but his pupils didn't look right either.

"We're just chatting, sweetheart. Having some fun."

"Let her go or lose the hand!" a rough voice interjected.

The man holding Beth cut his eyes from Beth to Daryl. His face was composed but his stare was icy. Beth would have been afraid if she was his target and obviously this man was wary too. He reluctantly unhooked his fingers and Beth was able to reclaim her wrist which had now turned a mottled red.

Daryl took that in and his eyes darkened. "I swear to god, Mitch. You so much as look sideways at her, they'll be finding bits of you all over Georgia."

Mitch wisely kept his mouth shut even if he wanted to retaliate. Daryl didn't much look like he was in the mood to deal with disobedience.

With one last frown, Daryl placed a hand on Beth's back and guided her the rest of the way out.

Once outside in the fresh air, Daryl examined Beth properly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, eyes clouding with concern. He reached a hand out to her and Beth shied away. She normally thrilled in Daryl's touch but she wanted space right now.

"Please don't," she pleaded. There was a beat but then knowledge and hurt seeped into his stare. Beth whirled and ran for the truck, narrowly dodging traffic. A horn blared and dimly she heard Daryl shout her name but she didn't stop.

Beth didn't blame Daryl, not at all, but he was still too close to it all. She was too close herself. She knew human trafficking existed but she naively thought that it only happened other places. Turned out it was happening right next to her. Beth just wanted to be back in Senoia where things were easy and simple.

...

Daryl watched her leave and it was his first impulse to follow her. But novice as he was, he could still tell that she wanted space and time. He knew it was a risk to bring her into this but he needed information and fast. He didn't know yet if had been worth it but Beth had unearthed the worst part of his job.

When she had recoiled from him it had hurt but it was to be expected. Honestly if she had wanted to hurl abuse in his direction he would have understood and let her but violence was never Beth's response.

Daryl returned to the meeting and left his personal life at the door. There was evidence the Angels were involved but no sign of the girls yet. There was a good chance they weren't even in Atlanta anymore.

Daryl hoped they found an opportunity to escape. The Angels didn't have the means or ability to keep them or trade them. It was a long shot but maybe they'd let them go.

Hours passed and Daryl found himself traipsing from one end of the city to the other, hitting up his contacts. He even called Michonne but she hadn't heard anything over the official scanners. Those women had vanished into thin air apparently.

Every time he returned to the bar, Karen was sitting there quietly. Daryl never knew if Karen was aware of this side of the business, maybe she just chose not to know, but he was getting the sense that would change after tonight.

He checked his phone regularly hoping Beth would contact him but it remained blank and quiet. It was after midnight when he finally made it back home. The apartment was dark. It was reasonable to assume Beth was sleeping but Daryl made his way towards the bedroom anyway.

He opened the door a crack. Beth was lying on the bed back toward him. She was so still that he almost left.

"What else do you move?" her voice was soft in the dim lighting.

It wasn't a real question. After all, she had worked it out. But she wanted to hear him confess.

"Women."

"That's awful," Beth mumbled, still not looking at him.

"I agree," Daryl said, relieved there was no accusation in her. Whatever she was thinking, she wasn't assigning blame to him.

"I hate this. I hate that this is my life."

That was a little more personal, hit a little harder.

"I just want to go back in time. I want my family to be alive. I don't want to have my head filled with crime data. I don't want to be scared ever again!" she claimed emphatically.

Daryl didn't know how to respond to any of that. He wasn't a particularly wise or experienced person; he didn't know how to make things better. Daryl made to leave; he wasn't helping any by standing there silently.

"The only good thing in my life is you," Beth whispered and that stopped him in his tracks.

"I ain't so good," he rasped.

"You ain't so smart," Beth teased shakily, "But you are good."

Daryl was glad she wasn't facing him. He didn't want her to witness the flurry of emotion as it passed across his face. Acting on pure impulse, Daryl kicked off his boots and climbed into bed with Beth. Only hesitating momentarily, he wrapped his body around hers. She felt delicate in his arms and sighed prettily when he tucked her in against him.

"Can we just run away?" Beth suggested out loud, even though they both knew it wasn't possible. "Just go somewhere quiet?"

"Sure," Daryl murmured. She wasn't serious but it was eerily reminiscent of what he wanted for them. "Where ever you want."

"Don't go anywhere while I sleep," she commanded, voice dropping with fatigue.

Daryl clutched her a little tighter in response. She didn't know it but in that moment, Daryl was willing to leave everything behind and escape with her.

AN: I was going to apologise for not having them do anything super physical in this chapter again but then I though, nah. It's pretty much my thing to be asshole slow with these guys. They'll get there when they get there and there'll be some actual plot along the way. I do have a plan, nothing is done on a whim. Anyway, as always, I think you are all wonderful and amazing. Happy birthday to the guest reviewer who wanted the chapter on Thursday (I'm sorry I couldn't deliver). Review like mad, the more reviews I get, the more I feel guilty for not being able to update regularly and guilt makes me write faster.