A/N - Thanks for the great response to last chapter! :) I love hearing your thoughts. I have a rough plot worked out, but as always I am always open to hearing any ideas or suggestions you might have to make it better.

I have also decided to add both Daryl and Beth's POV in to the chapters. Hope that works for everyone.

Beth nervously twisted her hands together as she wandered into the front entrance to the sheriffs office, her heels clicking noisily on the hard floor as she juggled her purse and the small tray of donuts she'd just purchased in her slight hands.

Stopping at the reception desk, she swept her hair away from her face, glancing at the top of the dark haired woman sat behind it.

"Can I help you?" she looked up and asked, her face was serious, but her eyes not un-friendly.

Beth recognised her immediately as Tara Chambler, the trainee deputy who had been on duty the night before when Beth and Glenn had been trying to get home. Tara was fairly new to the town, and Beth hadn't seen her before this summer.

Staring back at her with big blinking blue eyes, Beth asked hesitantly, "Is Dar…..I mean Deputy Dixon available?" She corrected, biting down on her lower lip.

"I'll just try his line," Tara replied with a faint smile.

An awkward silence followed, as Tara picked up the phone holding it to her ear for a few seconds, before placing it back down.

"There's no reply from up there, so I'll just go up and see if he's free," Tara said, "If you could just sign in, and then wait over there," she gestured with her hand, to the small seating area to the right of the desk.

"Thanks," Beth replied, smiling back as she wandered over to take a seat, a little embarrassed by the noise her heels were making on the floor in the quiet room. She tugged at the hem of her short denim blue coloured dress, wishing she had worn her flats to work that day instead of the cute little nude heels she had decided on for some reason that morning.

She crossed her slim toned legs together and brushed at her hair again with her fingers. Glancing at the big clock on the wall she saw it was exactly midday, the room was so quiet she could hear it ticking and a sudden rush of nerves hit her at the thought of seeing Daryl again as she thought back to the night before. Had she made a fool out of herself?

She had stayed up chatting to him for a while after she had returned from her drunken night out, she wasn't sure exactly how long, but she knew she had been pretty merry after all the tequila with Amy. Which had given her the confidence to go and talk to him the way she had. To ask him questions about himself, questions that had probably made him feel awkward. Beth cringed slightly when she remembered how she had been telling him all about the guys in the bar trying to hit on her too, before she had started quizzing him on what he enjoyed doing outside work. He must have found her so annoying, and it must have bene so incredibly obvious she had a crush on him.

He was probably used to women crushing on him though, seeing as how damn sexy he was in his uniform, Beth thought -manly, brooding and sexy, making her go a little crazy. Despite her quizzing, he hadn't given much away about himself though, which had just made her even more intrigued by him.

At least she hadn't gone into too much detail about her disastrous love life, it could have been worse Beth thought, biting down on her thumbnail. She had a tendency to tell people her whole life story after a few too many drinks.

Whatever Daryl thought of her though, she was here on official business now, Beth reminded herself. He had asked her to stop by and give a statement. Now that they had actually found a body, probably Lizzie, it was more important than ever that she tried to remember everything she possibly could to try and help catch whoever had been responsible for the poor girl's death. It was pretty alarming to Beth, that there was a potential killer at loose in their community. Which reminded her, she still hadn't been able to get hold of Amy to fill her in. She had tried her the night before and first thing that morning, but there had been no reply.

She pulled her phone clumsily out of her purse to check for messages, causing her lipgloss, compact mirror and sunglasses to all come falling out, tumbling across the floor. Scooping down to pick them up, she stuffed them back in to her purse with shaking fingers, hoping no-one had seen. Before she glanced down at her phone to see there was now a message from Amy. 'Call me!'

...

Daryl was sat at his desk, eyes down, quietly staring at his screen. But nothing was really going in. He'd been up most of the night. After he'd left the crime scene he'd gone back to his apartment to try and get some rest before coming back in to the office, but he'd hadn't been able to stop thinking about the murder.

The marks on the girl had been so unusual, like something or someone had gone completely wild on her. It worried him. He had feared something like this was going to happen. He might be terrible at showing it, but Daryl wasn't a total asshole like his brother, and he wouldn't like to think of anyone else in their small town meeting that same kind of fate.

"Daryl," a female voice suddenly said.

He looked up through the long hair falling into his eyes, to see it was Tara.

"There's a blonde in reception to see you," she announced loudly, tilting an eyebrow.

"Err..right," he mumbled, jerking his head.

Looking up from his screen, he noticed Shane was looking over at him, Tara wasn't exactly discreet and Shane's eyes widened with a faint smirk. This was a first, it was normally random women turning up to see Shane, not sullen and quiet Daryl.

…

Walking in to the main reception area, Daryl noticed Beth immediately. She looked up as she saw him, her blue eyes shimmering, taking him back instantly to the night before when they had talked for a while and she had looked at him with those blue eyes as though he was some kind of rockstar. No-one had ever looked at him quite like that before. He'd put it down to the booze, she'd been out partying and was clearly a 'happy drunk', different to most girls he'd known, who just turned loud and obnoxious after one too many tequilas.

But looking at her now, she had that same sparkle in her big blues, and it made him twitch slightly as he approached her.

"Hey," he said, his tone a little awkward. Normally he wouldn't be so informal, but he felt as though they were on first name terms now, seeing as she had stayed up and hung around talking to him for a good part of the previous night back at the edge of the crime scene he was guarding.

"Hey," she replied, in that goddamm sweet as honey voice of hers, Daryl thought, watching her as she stood up to greet him.

Unable to stop his eyes from sliding over her profile, he saw she was dressed in a short blue dress and heels, her light blonde glossy hair was tied neatly back with the front falling down across her flawless face. She looked gorgeous. Too gorgeous for the likes of him to be hit with all sorts of uncontrollable thoughts he knew he shouldn't be having.

"How's it going?" he asked in a low voice, as their eyes met properly.

"Good thanks, I just came by to give my statement, if you're not too busy," she explained, her lips curling up shyly into a little smile. Wondering if from his blank expression he'd forgotten he had asked her to do that.

"Right, sure," he responded with a nod. "Can do it now, I've got some time," he mumbled.

Beth continued to smile. He looked tired, the bags under his eyes were more visible and his hair was more tousled than usual, falling down across his eyes, but he still looked sexy in his uniform, the fitted shirt accentuating his muscular chest.

"This way," he said, gesturing with his head for her to follow him.

"I umm…brought you some donuts, I thought you might be hungry having been up all night," Beth said walking along beside him, suddenly regretting it as the words came out of her mouth and she saw his deadly serious face. She had asked Andrea hypothetically that morning, if someone had done you a favour, two in fact - what would be a polite way of thanking them without making a big deal out of it? Andrea had smiled knowingly and suggested that normally small gestures were appreciated the most, such as a coffee, or slice of cake or pie.

"Thanks," Daryl mumbled, turning to take the small white box from her.

"Maybe it's a myth cops sit round eating donuts all day," Beth added with a nervous laugh.

A small smirk appeared on his face as they walked through the building, "Aint a myth," he muttered in a low rough voice, glancing sideways for a second to see her breaking in to a more relaxed smile, causing the dimples on her pink cheeks to appear.

Walking past his desk, he quickly put the box of donuts down, before stopping at Rick's empty office, "We can go in here," he said pushing at the door, holding it open for her. Glancing back into the room to see Shane looking up from his desk curiously again at the sight of Daryl escorting Beth through the building.

Daryl looked away, ignoring Shane as he held the door open.

Beth brushed past Daryl's out stretched arm as she walked by him, getting a waft of his scent, he smelled good, deep and musky, like some kind of masculine shower gel or aftershave.

"Can I get you some coffee or something?" he asked, as he followed her in, closing the door.

"Nah, I'm good thanks," Beth replied politely.

"Have a seat," he went on to say, pulling a chair out from behind Rick's desk, flicking his hair back and away from his eyes.

"Thanks," Beth said, sitting down tugging at the edges of her short dress.

"Okay, so I just need you to tell me everything you can remember about seeing Lizzie that day. Be as accurate as you can, okay?" He said, sitting opposite her, grabbing a pen, rubbing the side of his nose, his voice taking on a new authoritative tone, whilst remaining reassuring as he looked over at her.

Beth gulped and nodded, feeling a little self conscious under his gaze.

"Take your time," he said kindly, trying to put her at ease. A slight tingling sensation spread across his insides as he studied her pretty face. Daryl had taken numerous witness statements before, but never one from someone that had quite had the effect she was having on him now. He looked away from her, brushing his hair to one side, flustered and a little annoyed with himself for allowing the young blonde to make him feel this way.

"Can go back at the end and change anything you're not happy with," he added patiently.

Beth blinked and looked back at him. He was good at this. She was ashamed to admit now, she had wondered along with everyone else for a while, why Rick had given him the sheriffs deputy job. He hadn't seemed much like a people person. But here now she could see under the right circumstances, when he felt valued or of use, he was good at interacting and could be a great people person.

She watched as he filled out a few details on the form, her eyes falling on his toned biceps.

She looked away and down at her hands, trying to clear her mind completely of any thoughts of Daryl's muscular arms, and take herself back to the day she had seen Lizzie out in the woods.

Drawing in a deep breath, she started.

"I remember it was a particularly hot evening and I had taken my horse Ruby out for a ride in the woods, same as I try and do most evenings after work. It was one of the things I missed the most about home when I was away in the city, y'know being in the peaceful outdoors, on my own with nature, able to think clearly…"

She paused for a breath, glancing at the top of Daryl's dark scruffy hair, from where he was head down scribbling.

"You remember what time it was?" he questioned, as he stopped writing, ignoring her last sentence.

"Bout six, maybe just after," Beth answered seriously too.

He nodded, writing it down.

"I remember seeing her stood by the river on my way out. I wasn't sure who it was at first, I thought it was a little strange that someone was out there alone. But as I got closer and saw it was Lizzie, I presumed she had just wanted some quiet time away from everything. It's not that unusual, I guess, to want to take a walk out in to the woods on your own every now and then…" She hesitated again, looking over at him for his reaction.

He shrugged in response, growing up he'd spent most of his free time out doors on his own, but he wasn't so sure he'd recommend it for a young seemingly unstable girl like Lizzie Sammuels though. Even before it looked like there was a killer in their midst, he knew from his upbringing that there were some pretty unpleasant characters lurking around.

After a few more seconds, Beth took a deep breath and continued.

"I stopped to ask her if she was okay, she ignored me at first, it looked like she was playing with something on her arm, possibly a rodent of some sort. Then I was about to leave her to it, when she turned and looked at me, she had this really strange look in her eye, and she said, 'I have bad dreams, really bad ones, but I always forget them when I wake up,'…"

Beth paused again to compose herself, her eyes filling with emotion, taking her by surprise. Thinking back to that encounter now it was clear something had been wrong with Lizzie. Beth should have done more, she thought. She should have told someone. Now it was too late.

"She say anything else?" Daryl asked.

Beth shook her head, her voice cracking slightly, she replied, "No, she turned away then and she looked lost in her own thoughts again….When I came back probably about half an hour later, she was still in the same spot, but this time there was a guy with her."

"Can you describe him?"

Beth looked away concentrating, "He was pretty ordinary looking, he had darkish hair and eyes, light stubble maybe, a baseball cap, white t-shirt and jeans, around 6ft, maybe around 30," she described carefully.

Daryl was silent, writing everything down, before he stopped, putting his hand up to his mouth, rubbing his chin, "Anything else?"

"I didn't stop, it looked like they were having a private conversation he was doing the talking, she was just looking at him intently listening to what he was saying with this strange look in her eye. That's all I can remember, I didn't catch what they were saying, I'm sorry," Beth added.

"It's okay," Daryl responded, turning down to scan his writing.

"If you could just read through to check this is right, then sign it. Or if you want I can read it to you?" Daryl explained, showing her the statement.

Beth just smiled and shook her head, "S'okay," she replied, glancing over it quickly, his handwriting wasn't the easiest to read but she got the general gist of it.

She nodded, looking back to him, as he quickly handed her a pen, brushing the smooth skin on her hand with his rough fingers and causing a jolt of electricity to rocket through her as she took it from him and signed her name at the bottom.

Glancing over at him with her long fluttering eyelashes. She smiled a bit.

Daryl returned her smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners, it was a kind and genuine smile. One that made Beth think back to their conversation the night before.

Before either could say anything further, they were interrupted by a loud knock at the door and they both looked over to see it fling open abruptly, "Rick needs you," Tara said to Daryl, poking her head into the room.

Daryl was on his feet quickly, "Gotta go," he said almost apologetically to Beth, "Tara will see you out."

…...

"You lived round here long?" Tara asked, making small talk as they made their way back to the reception.

"All my life," Beth replied.

"I just moved here last year, my sister married Phillip Blake, he owns Woodbury Enterprises," Tara explained cheerfully.

Beth nodded, she knew who Phillip Blake was. He owned the largest cooperation in their small town and employed half of it, including Beth's friend Noah, and Zach the date that never called her back. He had a reputation for being pretty ruthless too, and Noah had said everyone called him the 'Governer!".

"I'm just staying with them until I can afford to get my own place," Tara continued talking quickly at Beth. "There isn't much to do around here, but I quite like it. Everyone seems friendly enough."

"It's not too bad," Beth agreed, with a friendly smile.

"Well, we'll be in touch if we need anything else,' Tara finished as they arrived back at the reception.

...

Back at her desk, Beth was trying to concentrate on her work, but her mind kept drifting back to Daryl. Just thinking about the enigmatic 'rough around the edges' sheriff's deputy, made her insides flutter uncontrollably. She couldn't help but still wonder what he thought of her too, he was so difficult to read, he always seemed so guarded. But Beth pondered what it had meant when he had looked at her and smiled the way he had, his rough touch lingering just a little longer than it should have done on her arm. She felt a little dizzy as she thought about his touch - What it would be like to feel it some more? What he would be like as a lover?

An email flashed up on her screen, snapping her out of her fantasy, it was from Amy - 'Where are you? Call me?'

Seeing as it was a pretty quiet afternoon, Beth grabbed her phone from where it was placed on her desk to call her friend.

"Where have you been?" Amy asked frantically, picking up immediately.

"Working, and I could ask you the same thing," Beth was quick to reply.

"Well, I was calling to give you the gossip on last night," Amy said excitedly now, blurting out, "I did it with Randall."

"Oh," Beth responded.

"Listen, I can't really talk now, I have to get to work tonight, but tomorrow lets go for cocktails and I'll tell you everything," Amy continued.

"I err.." Beth said hesitantly.

"Oh and Beth, Randall's friend Dave really likes you, we could double date," Amy gushed.

"I don't really think he's my type," Beth dismissed.

"Well, whatever, we'll find you a man soon too," Amy said hurriedly.

Beth rolled her eyes from the other end of the phone, she knew Amy meant well, but Beth was sick of her trying to fix her up all the time with guys she really had zero interest in. Beth wasn't one to just date someone for the sake of it. She had only ever had one serious boyfriend and had never been in love. She had waited all this time to find someone special, so that had to mean something.

"Y'know they found a body on our land? There were people up there searching the area last night when I got back," Beth quickly changed the subject.

"Oh my god, yeah, aint if awful, the whole town is talking bout it, makes me sick to the stomach to think there's a killer on the loose," Amy replied. "Whoever the sick freak is, I'm sure Rick will get him though," she added, "Listen, I really gotta go, we'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Beth replied.

Throwing her battered old iphone back on to her desk, Beth turned back to her emails. When she heard the entrance door to Andrea's small doctors office opening. She looked up expecting Andrea's next patient, to see a tall dark haired man that she didn't recognise instead. He was wearing an expensive looking suit and he flashed her a charming smile as he walked towards her.

"Can I help you?" Beth asked, smiling politely back.

"Well, hopefully, I can help you," the man replied in a smooth confident voice. He looked around late 20's, was clean shaven, very handsome and walked with an air of confidence that said he was very sure of himself.

"Gareth Evans, TMS," he said, still smiling, handing Beth an expensive looking business card, and she caught his eyes for a brief moment, they were a deep mesmerising shade of golden amber. She took the card from him and she instantly realised he was a pharmaceuticals rep, her smile fading quickly. Andrea had a policy about not accepting drop ins from reps.

"I know what you're thinking, pharmaceuticals, ugly business, pushy salesman," he said with a genuine smile now. "But I'm not here to try and con you, at the end of the day our industry is very necessary and saves lives I think you'll agree. So, I was wondering if your boss would be available to hear about some exciting new developments?"

"My boss is busy, she has a policy about not seeing anyone unless by prior appointment, I'm sorry," Beth said apologetically.

"Well, perhaps you could tell her I stopped by then, maybe we could put a date in her diary for when she's less busy," he responded smoothly.

"I'd have to check with her first, if you'd like to call back," Beth responded, trying to get rid of him.

"I'm sure you could make an exception, put something in now," he negotiated, still smiling, his tone persuasive but not pushy, "She can always call and re-arrange, it's just I have something I think will be of great interest to her and I'd hate for her to miss out."

Beth bit down on her lip, flustered, she could tell this guy was used to getting what he wanted. But his good looks, exceptional manners and expensive clothes, wouldn't work on her.

"I really am sorry," she said firmly.

"That's okay, I understand. Your boss is lucky to have you. A receptionist as attractive and smart as you, is very rare indeed," he said sincerely.

Beth blushed, feeling uncomfortable, she wasn't used to getting compliments like that. Even if she knew he was only trying to win her over to get a meeting with Andrea.

"Like I said, I'll speak to her, so feel free to call back," Beth repeated politely, willing him to leave. Something about the way he was looking at her was making her feel a little uneasy.

"I'll be sure to, thanks for your time…..I didn't catch your name," he questioned.

"Beth."

"Beth, see you soon, I hope," he said, before turning to leave.

….

"Who was that?" Andrea suddenly said, appearing from her office with some paperwork for Beth.

"Oh, just a pharmaceutical rep, I told him about your policy, no call in's," Beth replied.

"Well, maybe I could have made an exception for a guy as dreamy as that," Andrea joked, arching a brow.

...

Daryl looked down at the body laid out on the autopsy slab. Her face was unmarked, but her light brown eyes were blood shot with deep red rims around them. Her skin was a funny shade of grey. He swallowed and blinked a few times, feeling his heart race. This wasn't the first time he had seen a dead body, but he had never seen the dead body of such a young woman before. A probable murder victim. By a murderer he knew he needed to play a part in catching.

'We got the results back from the DNA tests, it's Lizzie Sammuels," Rick announced sombrely, from where he was stood beside Daryl.

Daryl gave his Sheriff a quick nod of the head, as he continued to stare at the victim. He realised this was what he had been training for, why he had taken up Rick's offer of becoming a deputy sheriff. It wasn't just keeping people safe and restoring order. It was the thrill of the chase, just like when he went out hunting and tracking, he was always looking for that next catch.

A shutter clicked and a flash briefly went off as a photographer from the forensics team that had been called in, took a photograph of Lizzie Sammuels lifeless body lying on the cold slab. Her red eyes were still open and staring blankly at the stark white ceiling above. As well as her other injuries, there was a stab wound on her right shoulder from which dark red blood had dried against her pale skin. There was no doubt in anyones mind, this was a murder enquiry.

"I want you on this," Rick said firmly, his light blue eyes fixed on the body too. Murders like this didn't happen in his small town, this was a great shock.

"Okay," Daryl replied, giving him another firm nod.

"These marks on the body, we need to find out what caused them. You need to search the area, speak to as many people as possible. Someone must know something, if she had a boyfriend or was involved with the wrong people," Rick continued.

"Beth saw her with a man, not too long ago," Daryl said, his eyes looking away from the body and over to Rick. "I was just taking her statement before I came over here. She saw them together out in the woods talking."

"Beth Greene?" Rick confirmed.

Daryl nodded.

"Okay, well you need to take her straight back to where she saw them, get her to reenact every last thing, before we start searching the area. Make sure you don't leave out even the smallest of details, because right now, that's the only lead we've got," Rick lectured, facing Daryl now.

"I'm on it," Daryl replied.

"I meant it when I said I wanted you on this, Daryl. I want you as my right-hand man, you know this area better than anyone. I'm counting on you, Daryl," Rick continued with passion, looking Daryl straight in the eye.

Daryl's eyes widened, most of his life he had felt worthless, like a drifter of no value at all. Right now Rick valued him, and he knew no matter what he couldn't let him down.

...

A/N - Thanks for reading...Please leave a review if you can :)