Author's Note: Welcome to the sequel to The Shadow Fox. If you're new to the story, I suggest that you read The Shadow Fox so you don't get confused. It might seem a bit long, but it's worth the read. For those of you who were with me in the first installment, there's been another time jump. The last case was in late October, and this one starts five months later, so we are now in March.

Chapter 1

Beckett stood staring at the board. Five months. Five months since she had shot Alex in the shoulder. Five months since Alex dove into that minivan and disappeared. Beckett was surprised by the silence. Five months without a whisper of where she might have gone. True, Alex was probably still recuperating from her injury, but there was a nagging suspicion the Alex may have died. Impossible, we should have found a body if that was the case. No, Beckett was sure Alex was still alive.

Beckett was also sure that Ewan Brebnor was involved; after all, he'd disappeared when Alex had. Beckett was sure that the blurry photo they had of the minivan's driver was Brebnor in disguise. Beckett wanted to kick herself. Both Alex and Ewan had been right under their noses the entire time. That was what frustrated Beckett the most. The Shadow Fox had been hidden in plain sight, in the perfect position to keep an eye on the case. Play the victim card well enough and no one suspects you're really the killer.

And Alex's portrayal of the victim had been absolutely perfect. She didn't go for something that wasn't life threatening like Monica Wyatt; she went for the real thing. If Alex needed to have defensive wounds, she was willing to get covered in them. The scars that had covered her forearms proved it. If she had set out to be an actor instead of an assassin, Alex would have been able to take Hollywood by storm. But that would never be a possibility now. Alex was now on the FBI's most wanted list. She would have to have major plastic surgery to avoid being recognized. Whether she went with the surgery or not, there was no doubt that she would have a few new identities by now.

Beckett's thoughts went all the way back to the first case. Alex had been dating the first victim, Brian Watson, when he was killed. That's why there were no signs of forced entry. And the third victim, Angela Crawford, had called Beckett, trying to tell them who the Fox was. Unfortunately, she'd been killed before she could say Alex's name. Before Crawford, it was Jason Caldwell, where Ewan had transported the rope to the roof under the cover of spare parts, a bad case of claustrophobia, and poor handwriting. Victim four, Crystal Peterson, had been murdered about a month later. She probably had just been followed, so Alex knew her schedule and when the best time to strike would be. The fifth victim, Kirill Andreievich, must have known Alex was the Shadow Fox, which explained why he had to die before Beckett could get to him. During that kill, Alex had probably been injured, which explained why the place had been doused in bleach. Victims six and seven, Colleen Maguire and Ivan Neski, had gotten too close to figuring out the truth. The research team was simply a cool half million. Beckett shook her head; Alex had killed 12 people in just eight months.

Beckett was concentrating so hard, she jumped when Castle said her name. "Kate?"

"Hey."

"What's up?"

"Oh, just trying to figure out how we never figured it out."

"Still? It's been five months. We couldn't figure it out because she was so good at hiding the truth."

Beckett shrugged. "I guess." She returned to her desk. "I just can't shake the feeling that we should have heard or found something by now."

"She's injured, she will have gone to ground." Castle sat down in his chair. "Are you going to turn this case into a rabbit hole like you did with your mom's case? Because it's not worth that."

"Castle, I thought she was a friend. And then I found out that she was a contract killer. I sat in her apartment, comforted her and gave her advice. I just…I feel so stupid that I couldn't see what was right in front of me all along."

Castle grabbed her hand. "Stop beating yourself up. You'll find her. And when you do, you'll do the right thing and arrest her."

"I know." Beckett smiled at Castle until her phone rang. "Beckett…"

Beckett pulled up outside the abandoned warehouse with a feeling of trepidation. The call that came in half an hour ago had said that the body had obviously been there for some time, which meant that, depending on the conditions inside the warehouse, the body could be quite smelly. Beckett had made sure to prep a handkerchief with her perfume before they left, just in case. Castle stepped out of the car as Esposito and Ryan pulled up.

Lanie came out of the warehouse. "Don't worry about the smell; this one's been exposed too long."

Beckett fell into step with her friend. "How long would you estimate?"

"Well, without running some tests, I can't really tell. She's over here." Lanie led the way to the body. "There's no I.D., so all I can tell you is the victim is female, approximately 5'6", shot in the left shoulder. The lack of blood near the body suggests she was shot somewhere else and bled out before she came here. And I'd guess from the voids in the dust that there was a generator and some machines, probably heaters, around the body that have been removed. Someone really tried to make it hard for us to figure out what happened when it happened, or who this was."

Beckett caught sight of the body and froze. The body was resting on a makeshift table in the center of the room wearing the same outfit Alex had been wearing when she was shot. The color and length of the hair also matched the last known description of Alex.

"Lanie, could the lack of blood be from someone cleaning up?"

"That is a possibility. The table setup looks like someone tried to patch her up, but wasn't successful. I'll have CSU check to make sure."

Ryan and Esposito had also noticed the clothing. "You're thinking this might be Alex?"

Beckett nodded. "Same clothing, same hair length and color, same injury; this could be her."

Esposito nodded grimly. "We have her DNA on file from when you shot her. We can run that against a sample from this Jane Doe to see if it is."

Castle was looking at the body, confused. "Why leave the body here? Why not dispose of it where it will never be found? Or bury her for that matter?"

"Does it really matter? They failed to save her; why take the body when there's nothing more you can do?" Beckett paused as a theory hit her. "Then again, if you're not going to take the body, why bring in a bunch of machines to accelerate the decomposition process and then take those machines away later?" Beckett turned to the first responders. "Who found the body?"

"An inspector hired by Talley and Sparks, the new owners. Said he was sent down here to make sure the building was safe."

"Where is he?"

Officer Chung pointed. "Over there. He was pretty rattled."

Beckett walked over to him. "Hi, I'm Detective Kate Beckett. I'd like to ask you a couple questions."

The inspector nodded. "Whatever I can do to help."

Beckett nodded. "When did Talley and Sparks acquire the building?"

"About a week ago. The previous owners defaulted about six months ago, so it was bank owned. As far as I know, no one from the bank has ever looked at it. I was the first inside in months. Or so I thought until I saw that body."

"When you arrived, did anything seem out of place?"

"There wasn't a lock on the door, but the chain was still in place. The padlock was on the ground. I just figured I should be ready for some vandalism that the company would have to paint over. I never thought I'd see anything like this."

Beckett thanked the man and gave him her card. After he nodded and walked away to be processed, she walked the scene and checked out the entry point before heading back to the precinct.

A few hours after returning to the precinct, Beckett headed down to the morgue to talk to Lanie. "DNA results back yet?"

"That was the first thing I ran." Lanie handed Beckett a sheet of paper. "Here are the results."

Beckett scanned the paper. "Not a match. This body isn't Alex?" Lanie nodded. "So she is still out there. The Shadow Fox is still alive."

Alex was out of breath. The bag she was punching looked like it was ready to retire. She'd been cooped up in this old safe house for far too long and was taking that frustration out on the bag. She hated being stuck here. Not that the place wasn't nice. It was actually a very good place to be stuck. It was a great two bedroom place with plenty of space for her tech man to have an elaborate six screen, top-of-the-line computer setup; the perfect thing for a world class hacker. As an added bonus, the apartment was owned outright by an identity that couldn't be linked to Alex because she had literally only used it for this location. The most that identity was used for now was to order in takeout or, occasionally, a new piece of furniture.

But it was time to get out of here. She'd spent the last five months doing nothing but home-style rehab that had turned into physical therapy and then training. She wanted to go outside, reacquaint herself with the city, and get back to work. She smiled as she practiced a few more jabs; her last job had been really easy. Victor Blackwell of Vertanin Pharmaceuticals had died of a heart attack a month into her injury induced incarceration, so that contract had been extremely profitable with very little effort on her part.

"Alex." She was forced stop when she heard her name. "We've got a live one."

Alex stripped off the boxing gloves as she walked toward the computer setup. "What is it, Link?"

Sloan "Link" Linklater, a.k.a. Ewan Brebnor, looked up. "New client. Target is one Barbara LaFountaine." He typed a few keystrokes and pulled up some information on the client on screen one. "Oh, never mind. The client is the husband."

"Who's his reference?" Sloan looked up in surprise. "Oh, come on. I don't give this address to just anyone. He got it from someone."

"Well, he doesn't mention who in his email. Here," Sloan started typing, "let me do some digging; I should be able to find something."

Alex unwrapped the tape on her hands. "I've never liked husband and wife contracts."

"You would have loathed this one then. A trophy wife was waiting in the wings. Here's a possibility. Treavon Stolk. He's an old client from when we first started working together here; hired you for the Bertrum job."

"We were using a different address back then and I haven't heard from Stolk since. Keep looking."

Sloan was still typing when screen four blacked out and the name Kate Beckett popped up. Sloan hit a couple of buttons; the name went away and The Listing popped up, highlighting Beckett's name on the billboard some assassins used to find work.

"According to this, Beckett was just posted on the New York board."

"Client is trying to keep it local. Who's the list-er?"

"Frank Sinatra."

Alex laughed. "He has a sense of humor at least. Do you know him?"

"No, but I can find out." Sloan started typing feverishly. "He's tech savvy; routed the signal through London, Hong Kong, and Berlin. There it is. He's really at an internet café in Soho. Personal computer…and he has a web cam. Hello."

A picture appeared on screen five. It showed a man wearing a business suit with a subtle 1940's influence. He was in his early to mid thirties and was very good looking. His facial features were symmetrical and his physique said that he took the time to work out. His haircut was nearly as expensive as his suit, which he had accessorized with a genuine Rolex Day-Date line watch. Clearly, this man had money.

"What's the bounty?"

"Oh, are you changing your mind about killing the cop who put a hole in you?"

Alex smirked. "No, and you know why. I just want to know the kind of riffraff this one will attract."

"Three million."

Alex gave a low whistle. "Everyone. Even the out-of-towners are going to want a taste of the action."

"Except you."

Alex nodded. "Who is this tool?"

Sloan started typing again. "The 'tool' is Francesco Zoratti. He's big in the fashion world, mostly in Europe; recently started getting into the American market. His signature is old meets new meets Italian."

"Explains the suit and nom de plume. What's his beef with Beckett?"

"I don't know yet, but I'll keep digging."

Alex straightened up. "Thanks. And let me know who claims the job."

"Sure." Sloan looked up as she walked away. "Where are you going?"

Alex pulled on a hoodie. "I'm gonna hit the streets; see what I can find out."

"Be careful."

"Yup."

A/N: The Monica Wyatt reference comes from the Season 3 episode "Slice of Death". I'm also adding/showing Alex's perspective if it has relevance to the case that the gang is working on at the time, or if she has an important storyline to follow. Let me know if you like this format. I'd like to keep using it, though if you would prefer Alex to have her own chapters, please let me know and I'll see if I can do it that way. I want to make it easier for you guys to follow, so please please please let me know your opinions. I love it when you let me know what you guys think. Thanks!