Thank you to all for the reviews! The spring term starts for me tomorrow but before I possibly disappear for a few days again, I wanted to leave the next chapter. There's only about three left to go after this one so I hope you enjoy it! Meanwhile, I will be furiously working on Chapter 31 and trying to get it up before the end of week; reviews are most definitely welcome.

Disclaimer: Moonlight and characters don't belong to me; I'm simply a fan having fun with the characters.

Beth hurried back to Mick's car, shivering. She climbed into the passenger seat and was met with raised eyes. "Cold?" Mick asked.

"Truth? I'm a little creeped out that there's a possibly insane vampire in the area."

"That's unlikely. This whole kidnapping and robbery is too well orchestrated to be the work of a madman."

"Easy for you to say," Beth grumped. "You're sitting here, safe, in your car and even if you weren't, you could take him in a fair fight… Me, I'm just the mortal foolish enough to be walking around—even though I have a car!—a deserted area at this time of the night."

"I don't know… I would think twice before attacking you," he teased.

"Is that why you haven't yet?"

"One of many reasons," he agreed amiably.

Beth snorted. "So you're really serious about this whole stakeout thing?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"How can you be sure Shane will leave Gilly unattended? Isn't that a little reckless of him? Especially considering how far he's come…"

"He needs supplies and he won't bring Gilly with him while he's getting them."

"And you think he'll get them tonight?" She glanced at him. "You don't think you're being presumptuous at all?"

"His last robbery was three days ago and by the look of things when we were there, it doesn't seem to have been very successful," Mick pointed out. "He's going to need formula soon."

"So… we just wait it out?"

"That's the plan."

"Okay." The silence between them grew, settling somewhere between awkward and companionable, which, to Beth, made it overall uncomfortable. She kept shooting looks at Mick and she was fairly certain that when he thought she wasn't looking, he was stealing just as many glances at her. "About yesterday…" Beth began finally. She tried to meet his eyes but he quickly looked away.

"I guess congratulations are in order," he said softly.

"Actually…" She reached into her bag and pulled out the file folder. She handed it to Mick.

"What's this?"

"Just one of the reasons why I broke things off with Josh."

For a moment, a play of emotions spilled across his face. Surprise, joy, and dismay warred for dominance. But just as quickly as they had appeared, they disappeared. He glanced down at the folder. His name stared back at him, glaringly obvious. "He was keeping tabs on me."

"Yes," Beth confirmed. "He had your birth certificate, marriage license, property papers…"

"How did you get this?"

"He gave it to me although I don't think he meant for me to take it. He only wanted me to see that you weren't who you said you were."

"Thank you." Mick didn't know what else to say, didn't know what else he could say.

"Mick, you know I would never let anyone discover your secret, don't you?"

He gazed at her with sad eyes. "I wish I could protect you in the same way."

"But you do. You're my guardian angel."

"I wouldn't have to be if it weren't for me. I'm the reason you needed a guardian angel in the first place."

"Mick, stop blaming yourself. Maybe I do need protection because of you but you stayed to give it to me. You could have walked away but you chose not to."

He scoffed. "A lot of good that did. You just lost another piece of your life because of me…"

"You mean Josh?" She shook her head. "I thought we could make things work but we weren't right for each other. I know that now." She felt a lump rise in her throat.

"Beth, you went out with him for over a year. You can't tell me you have no regrets that it's over."

"Of course I have my regrets." She looked at him. "But things change and I just think it's for the best… Josh is ready for marriage, I'm not; we're not the same people we were a year ago."

"Because of me," he said. His eyes widened when he realized what he had said. "Beth, wait. I didn't—"

"Yes, because of you," she interrupted softly. She reached up and trailed her fingers across his cheek. "I tried to convince myself that I was breaking things off with Josh because it was what was best for both of us. We were growing apart, we always fought… I wanted to go back, he wanted to go forward… But the truth is, I couldn't stop wondering if there was a deeper love than what I felt for Josh."

Gently, Mick pulled her hand from his face and held it in both hands, caressing her palm absently. "Maybe there is… but not with me."I wish it was, he almost said. But he caught himself just in time. "You deserve someone who's mortal, who can give you children, who can grow old with you. And you will find someone like that, Beth. You'll see."

"What if I don't want any of that? What if—"

Mick stiffened suddenly and gave her a warning look. "Shh…"

Beth opened her mouth to protest but he placed a finger against her lips and mouthed Shane. Understanding flooded her eyes and he motioned for her to get down. As she did she saw a dark shadow flit past a nearby tree. After what felt like an eternity she felt Mick tap her shoulder and whisper, "Let's go." He was already out of the car and moved to open the door for her.

"Are you sure he's gone?" she whispered back as she climbed out.

"Yes. And I can smell Gilly's fear too. We better hurry."

The interior of the bank turned out to be just as they remembered—unkempt, musty, and in Beth's opinion, creepy. She followed Mick quietly as he scented the air and picked his way to the back. To neither of their surprise, they ended up in exactly the same room they had been in a few days ago. To Shane's credit, however, the room was considerably neater. The toys and stuffed animals, which had previously been littered throughout the room, were now piled along one wall and the empty cans that had been haphazardly shoved in one corner were now arranged in some semblance of stacks. As Mick had suspected, the few cans of unused formula that had been present were now gone, having probably joined the stack of empty cans.

"There she is," Beth murmured, eyes fixed on the far corner where Gilly lay, thinly separated from making contact with the floor by the pile of blankets she was on. She was half shrouded in shadows but Beth had seen her because of the narrow beam of moonlight streaming through the now closed window, shining on her like a spotlight. Beth started towards her.

"Beth, wait!" Mick grabbed her arm. "Remember the plan?"

"Yes, Mick. Of course I do; you only made me repeat it about ten times," she said impatiently. She tried to shake his hand off but he tightened his grip.

"Tell me. Just once more so we're clear."

"Take Gilly and drive; no matter what happens, don't stop and don't look back until I'm at Anna's," she recited.

"Good, good." Mick released her arm. "It's just that this isn't just about you putting yourself in danger… it's about what happens to Gilly too."

"Relax, Mick. I know how important this is to you; it matters to me too, you know. I won't let anything happen to her."

He nodded and Beth crossed the room, braving the shadowy semidarkness to retrieve Gilly.

Despite what she had promised Mick, Beth kept glancing back at the bank as she hurried away. She couldn't shake the feeling that leaving Mick to wait for Shane alone was a mistake. She knew she was being ridiculous though. Mick was more than capable of taking care of himself and besides, he had years of experience on Shane. So she squelched the little voices in her head and continued to put distance between herself and the looming structure of the crumbling bank.

In her arms, Gilly was beginning to stir. She made little murmurs and wiggled in her blankets. "Shh, shh," Beth pleaded. "Come on, baby, we're almost there. Just a little more, okay?" She bounced the little bundle softly and by the time she reached her car, Gilly had settled back into a deep slumber. Beth breathed a sigh of relief and opened the back door. She strapped Gilly into the baby seat Mick had given her earlier and smoothed the wisps of hair on top of her head soothingly. "You'll be home soon," she promised softly.

Beth climbed into the car and started the engine. She looked back one more time, hoping Mick would be safe. Be careful, she pleaded silently. Then she stepped down on the accelerator and steered the car towards safety.