AN: Keeping this short and sweet since I left everyone with the cliffy last chapter. Thank you so much to the tremendous amount of support I got from the last chapter! I can't tell you what it means to me! Thank you DarylDixon'sLover, heatherrk, Joise, Katiegirl99, Carowen, Trixeviv, laughing at my boredom, An Amber Pen, 2carlaa, upsydaisy2, BetaGirl09, suzisnowflake, rckyfrk, UltimateBethylFicList (I can't tell you enough how you need to follow her on tumblr… so please, just do it! ) C. , and Mirsa. You all rock!
Chapter 16
Daryl raised his hands in surrender the second he took in the situation before him. Zach's eyes were wild as he looked at Daryl. He'd seen looks like this countless times before. He was completely out of his mind and nothing anyone said could rationalize the situation to get him to let her go. Daryl knew, though, that he had to try. He had to stall in hopes that someone would show up. There were too many people around to not draw attention to the situation.
"Beth, honey, I don't know what you think you are doing but it is about time to say goodbye to him." Tears streamed down Beth's face and her eyes latched on to him.
"Let her go, Zach."
"She's not yours!" Zach screamed as he pulled her head back further and pressed the knife harder to her skin. Daryl could see a thin line of blood run down the side of her neck.
"You're right. She ain't." Daryl tried to sound as calm as possible. Beth looked absolutely terrified and he had to convince himself to keep his eyes off of hers otherwise he could end up getting her killed. "I can't let ya hurt her though." Daryl tried to reason.
"I could never hurt her." Daryl noticed several people surrounding them with their phones to their ears. He could only hope that someone was calling the police. If he could just stall him for a few more minutes she'd be fine. "You knew she belonged to me! What kind of man does that?" Beth's eyes were closed tight; he could see her entire body trembling in fear. Zach released her hair and put a hand under her chin and forced her head back on his shoulder. Daryl could no longer see her eyes with her head tilted up to the sky. He was almost thankful for that. Almost.
"Put the knife down." Daryl's resolve was failing him as he watched the knife shift back and forth slightly against her creamy white skin. He was scarring her and she'd carry those scars both inside and out for the rest of her life if this didn't stop. To Daryl's surprise he saw tears streaming down the boy's face.
"Zach, you're hurting me." Daryl could hear her voice shake as she tried to play into his concerns for her. His eyes flashed to her face for a moment, then back at Daryl.
"It's ok, baby. I'll get you out of here and away from him. It'll be just you and me like it was meant to be." He pressed his lips to her cheek and Daryl's fists clenched until his nails dug indentions into his hand. He needed an opportunity to get to his gun, to get the upper hand on the situation. He didn't know how much longer he could stall until the police got here. He blindly took a step forward, his hands still raised at his side.
"GET BACK!" Zach screamed as he pulled the knife away from Beth's throat to point it at Daryl. Beth tried to struggle against his hold to break free but as soon as Zach realized his mistake, the knife snapped back to her neck, her skin pulling apart just slightly beneath the blade's edge. Beth's whimper caused Daryl's hands to shake and the internal war he was struggling with swung in the direction of just risking it all to grab his gun and put one between his eyes. "We need to go, baby." He shot Daryl a sickening grin as he backed away with her still pressed firmly against his body. He released his hold on her chin and wrapped his arm around her collarbone. Her head dropped level to his. The look she gave him made him feel like his soul was shattering. He could see the tense look flick across her face every time his fingers moved against her body.
As Zach continued to back away further flashing lights caught his attention and he looked to his right to see police officers pulling up on the street. His head snapped back to Daryl and then down to the woman in his arms. His voice sounded broken as he muttered "If I can't have her, no one can."
Everything seemed to slow for Daryl. He could see the muscles in his arm tighten as he prepared to pull the knife over her neck. The officers were too far away to stop him in time and soon Beth's life would be slipping away at the hands of a madman. Daryl reacted in the only way he could. He quickly reached for the gun tucked in the back of his pants and raised it to Zach's head.
"That's where yer wrong." Daryl sneered and fired a bullet that hit him right in the left side of his neck. Screams resounded through the park and the officers trained their guns on Daryl. Once Beth was free from Zach's grasp, he tossed the gun down at the officer's instructions and rushed to her. She buried her head in his chest and sobbed. He ran his hands over in her hair, over her back, and up and down her arms in a soothing motion while whispering to her. He ignored the voices trying to talk to him, the sounds of the paramedics arriving to try to save Zach's life, and anything else that didn't relate to the blonde girl in his arms.
She finally lifted her head to look at him. He knelt down and gently placed his fingers under her chin to get a look at the wound on her neck. The cut wasn't deep but her fair skin was still marred by the knife. Anger bubbled up in his chest and he wished he could go over to the man being lifted onto the gurney and put a round in his head and his heart. The bastard didn't deserve to live.
"Excuse me, but we need to get statements." A young dark haired man in uniform said with a deep Irish accent. His partner looked over Beth and then yelled for one of the paramedics to come over and examine her. Daryl instinctively tightened his hold on her, not ready to let her go just yet.
"Can I get ya names?" The officer asked.
"Daryl Dixon and Beth Greene." He replied.
"Ay, thought she looked familiar." He replied. "I'm Detective O'Connor an' this is Detective Murphy. Can ya tell us what happened here?" A paramedic stepped up and gently tugged at Beth. She gave Daryl a feeble look and turned to the man standing next to her. Daryl watched as the medic began dabbing at her neck to clean the blood around the wound. He kept his eye on her as he spoke.
"Kid's name is Zach. He's been stalkin' her for a while. They hired me after he burnt down a bar I was workin' for in Kentucky. Kid had some fucked up idea that we…" Daryl trailed off as Beth looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "He grabbed her tonight and tried to kidnap her. Then said he'd kill her if he couldn't have her an' y'all weren't gettin' here fast enough." Daryl turned his glare to the two men in front of him. "Did what I had to do to protect her. I shot him."
"We're gunna hafta take ya two to the station to get the official statement." Detective Murphy spoke up, his Irish accent just as thick as O'Connor's. Daryl was surprised he even understood him. He looked over at Beth and her eyes met his. She looked exhausted but slowly nodded her head.
"She's good boys. The cut's not deep enough for stitches." The paramedic interrupted.
"What about Zach?" Beth asked weakly. "Is he dead?"
"He's not out of the woods but he's alive. Don't know much more than that." He snapped off his gloves and headed back to the second waiting ambulance. Beth turned back and curled back into Daryl's side. Without thinking, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him. He looked over at the cops who were taking note of the scene before them.
"How long is this gunna take?" Daryl asked them.
"Shouldn't take more than an hour or so. Two at the most." Murphy replied. Daryl noticed O'Connor picking up the discarded gun and putting it into a bag.
"Don't suppose I'll be gettin' that back anytime soon?" O'Connor shook his head and tossed the evidence baggie into a duffle bag over his shoulder.
"I need to call Glenn." Beth murmured. Her voice sounded distant and far away. Daryl's grip on her tightened and he reached in his pocket for his phone only to find that it wasn't there.
"Shit. Left it up in the room." Beth patted her pocket and realized she, too, had left her phone in her haste to get out of the hotel room.
"We can get ya a phone when we get to tha station to call, ma'am." Murphy looked over at his partner. "You done?" The tone in his voice wasn't professional in the least and Daryl felt better knowing these two Irish cops seemed to have a light head on their shoulders. They didn't walk around like the others around them with a stick shoved firmly up their asses.
Daryl pushed Beth into the back seat of the car before walking around and climbing in on his side. The detectives jumped into the front seats and started to pull away from the curb. The drive to the station took about twenty minutes thanks to traffic. They walked in and the detectives led them to what looked like an interrogation room. The four took a seat and O'Connor jumped right to the point.
"So, Ms. Greene, when did this lad decide to start stalkin' ya?"
"Um… about a year ago, I think." Beth answered.
"He's got a record a mile long in several states. If he survives… he's gunna be wishin' he hadn't." Daryl seethed.
"Is that so? Well, we'll be sure to look into that." O'Connor said with a smirk. "So, Mr. Dixon, please tell again what happened there tonight." Daryl flinched at the formal acknowledgement. He could see Beth looking at him out of the corner of his eye but he stared at the men before him.
"She wanted to see the park. He showed up behind us and grabbed her, put a knife to her neck, and tried to kidnap her. When ya showed up he looked away an' I took the shot. Did what I was hired to do." Daryl clipped.
"Ay, that's the cliffnotes version of the facts." Murphy commented. Daryl gave a short nod and said nothing else. The detectives glanced at each other and nodded. "We're gunna ask you to wait here. We need to run the serial on the gun. Assuming there's nothing else tied to this gun, you're free to go. Pending a formal investigation of course."
"What investigation? He saved my life!" Beth shouted. Daryl was taken aback but her abruptness.
"Don't think they'll be any charges but we gotta go by the book on it regardless. We'll be back shortly." They two stood quickly and walked out of the room. Daryl didn't know what to make of the two Irish cops as they made their exit and quite frankly, he didn't care. He was now alone with Beth and he needed to make sure she was ok.
"Beth?" She looked over at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Y'all right?" She just nodded quickly and looked up at the ceiling.
"I don't want to cry." She mumbled.
"S'alright, ya know." He extended his arm and placed it on the back of her chair. His thumb ran down her back softly. If it hadn't been his hand he wouldn't have thought anyone was touching her at all. Her composure crumbled and she pressed her face into his shoulder, sobbing loudly. He did everything he could to keep from stiffening from her sudden emotional state.
They sat like that for at least twenty minutes. Long enough for her tears to subside to hiccups and his frustration about waiting in this uncomfortable room to reach its peak. Just as he was about to stand up and pace the room, the two detectives returned.
"The gun is clear." He slid a phone across the table. "Ma'am, I believe you had someone you needed to call?" Beth smiled gratefully at the man and took the phone to punch in familiar digits. Daryl stood as she spoke softly on the phone and moved to Murphy.
"We need ya to fill out this paperwork with where you're staying, home address, and contact information for the investigation." Daryl took the clipboard and quickly filled out the required fields and handed it back just as she ended her call. "You're free to go." Murphy opened the door to allow them to exit. Daryl placed his hand on her back and moved her out of the door.
"Glenn is going to call the label and let them know what happened. They'll want to try to suppress this as much as they can, so he's going to try and meet with them tonight. He wanted to come here but I convinced him we were fine." Her voice sounded weak and helpless and Daryl felt lower then he could ever possibly feel at that moment. He was supposed to protect her, not open up to her, kiss her, and then watch as that asshole held a knife to her neck. He'd fucked up.
They walked out of the station and onto the busy street. He walked up to the curb to hail a cab and she stopped him. "Can we walk?" Her bright blue eyes pled with him to fulfill her simple desire. After what had happened tonight, who was he to deny her anything? He nodded and together they lost themselves in the flow of the New York City crowd.
AN: You can thank Stacey for the inspiration to nod BDS. Please review! Bethyl on! By the way… you'll really want to stay tuned for 17.