Beckett sighed and stretched her arms, trying in vain to relieve her body of the tension that had been building all day. Paperwork had never been fun - although in the early days of her partnership with Castle it had acted as a deterrent against him showing up at the precinct despite his obvious crush on her. But now that she was captain and the number of forms she had to fill out had skyrocketed, it was even more of a chore.

Her eyes fell on her computer and she melted slightly at the desktop background photo of herself and Castle on their wedding day, and her hand instinctively covered her belly.

For him and for her, she could write these damn reports.

After maybe five more minutes of work, she heard a quiet rap on her door. Looking up, she saw it was Ryan standing right outside her office. He looked energized, motivated.

"Come in," she urged, waving him to her desk. The detective hastily complied and slid her a photo clipped to what appeared to be a report.

"Megan Bailey. She's a receptionist in Dr. McCormick's practice. Unmarried, no family around. Her sister passed away when she was thirteen, but other that that she had a fairly normal childhood, as far as I can tell. However, when we dug into her adult life, it became more concerning. She was recently arrested for assaulting her OB-GYN. According to police reports and witness statements, when she found out she was infertile, she went into a rage and gave the doctor a black eye."

"Infertile?" Beckett's eyebrows pinched in concentration as her mind latched onto the word. If there was anything she'd learned in all her years catching criminals, sudden life changes, especially tragic ones, could lead a person to make horrible decisions.

"Yeah," Ryan confirmed, flipping the paper upside down so he could scan it again. "It was about two months ago, actually, right around Christmas. Do you think that's significant?"

Beckett grabbed the document. "I think it's definitely something to look at. Her first victims led completely different lives from the ones she's killing now. Both women are at a good childbearing age and Rachel just had a baby. Lanie didn't find any history of pregnancy on Makenzie's body, but given that she had a long-term boyfriend it's very possible they were thinking about starting a family too."

Ryan paused, forehead wrinkling in consternation. "So... you think that infertility was the trigger for her to switch her victim type?"

"It's possible. Does...does she look at all like the woman who abducted you and Espo?" Her voice softened considerably by the end of the sentence, and she didn't want to make eye contact. The memory of those terrifying hours searching for her boys still chilled her, the possibility of having to tell their families they were never coming home a horror she'd never forgotten.

"We never got a good look at her, either of us. The sketch artist did her best with what we gave her, but the person she drew could've been anyone." The detective sighed and began to fidget with his hands.

"Would... you guys be comfortable going to her place, talking to her? And getting a warrant to search as well? You're both the most qualified to do this but I won't make you if... if it's too much." She trailed off, waiting nervously for Ryan to shut her down, to tell her that she was asking a lot of him, of them.

But she was pleasantly surprised. "No, no, we'll do it," Ryan blurted out. "If it's her, then someone's got to take her down. And who better than us?"

Sometimes Kate forgot that she wasn't the only one so deeply driven to find justice.


Megan Bailey lived in a perfectly average part of the city, in a modest apartment building cushioned between a plethora of businesses. Ryan and Esposito were able to navigate traffic with ease to reach it, both eager to speak with this woman and see if she was really the person who had tormented them not so long ago.

"Ready, bro?" Esposito asked as they both exited the vehicle, slamming their doors with punctuated authority.

"Yup," his partner replied, walking towards the apartment building door, signed warrant in hand. The two entered and flashed their badges at the doorman, who informed them that their suspect lived on the fourth floor and pointed them towards the elevators. Not willing to wait, however, the boys elected to take the stairs and were very quickly at Megan's door.

"NYPD!" Javier announced, knocking with a little more energy than usual. "We're just here to talk."

Silence, even when the detective knocked again.

"We're coming in!" he bellowed after a tense minute of waiting. He took a step back, his partner scurrying to get out of the way, and kicked the door, which violently swung open. They entered, weapons raised out of precaution.

The entire apartment was dark, not a single light left on. Ryan flicked on a switch in the kitchen while calling out once more for their suspect. They split up, checking each room for signs of their suspect or anyone else who may have been living there. After a few moments it became apparent that the apartment was currently uninhabited.

"Ryan, come here! You need to see this!" Espo called out after a couple minutes of searching. His partner bolted from what appeared to be Megan's home office and joined him in the bedroom.

He froze. Newspapers littered the entire room, with headlines reading "Crime Wave Sweeps NYC", "Detectives Saved From Inferno", and even a clipping from page 6 featuring Castle and an obviously pregnant Beckett strolling down the street on a night out.

"She's... she's keeping tabs on us," Ryan breathed, unable to look away from the bold print.

"That's not all, bro," Espo murmured. "She's got all the articles about her victims, even the earlier ones, in this book." He handed the other detective what appeared to be a leather-bound scrapbook. In addition to the brief articles, there were pictures of each of the victims… and she'd crossed out their faces with red ink. At least, they hoped it was red ink.

"We found her," Ryan stated, calm resolve in his voice. "We got her."

But Javier shook his head. "I don't think so. She's our killer, no doubt about that, but I checked her closet. It's empty. She has a safe here too and it's cleared out, so it's possible she's carrying a lot of cash, possibly a weapon. She isn't planning on coming back here."

A chill ran down Ryan's spine and he almost shivered. "But Javi… if she's cleared out, she has to have had a reason. She must've known we were going to search this place… but at the same time didn't care enough to hide the fact that she's responsible for all this. Why leave us the creepy scrapbook and newspapers?"

Esposito sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know. Maybe she knew we were talking to McCormick. Maybe this is all just a sick game to her. We need to put an APB on her and her car. She's not escaping us this time."


When Castle drifted back into consciousness, the loft was in almost complete darkness with only the dull evening light coming through the windows. A sharp, throbbing pain radiated in his head. He'd never been hit by a truck, but he figured now that he had a pretty good idea of how it felt. Everything was groggy as he tried to recall what had happened. He groaned and went to rub his eyes, only to find his movements restricted.

It was only then that he realized his hands were bound tightly behind his back, tied to a chair that was now sitting in the middle of his living room. He tried to move his legs only to find that they were restrained as well. Escaping would be a near-impossible task, he quickly realized.

"You're awake."

Castle whipped his head up to see a woman standing before him. She was tall, maybe an inch or two more so than Beckett, with dark hair. Her face was narrow, pointed, her eyes showing no trace of empathy or remorse.

"Who the hell are you? How the hell did you get into my home?" Castle mumbled, confused. His mind felt muggy and his body felt like it was encased in sludge, the sharp pain in his head unrelenting. Despite his dulled senses, however, he had a nagging feeling that he knew exactly who his captor was.

"I don't think my name matters to you all that much, Mr. Castle. And as for how I got in, well, the lobby security doesn't really seem to be up to standards and I've been around long enough to know how to pick a lock," she replied with a slight smirk. "While your questions are reasonable, I would think your primary concern would be if I let you live or not."

Before he could say anything or scream, she leaned in and slapped a piece of duct tape over Castle's mouth. He was powerless to fend her off, to do anything but just sit there and hope against hope that the terrifying scenarios playing in his head weren't about to become a reality.

"Shhhhh," she whispered, her voice almost a croon. "It'll all be over soon."

She smiled as her captive's eyes widened, relishing in the power that his fear gave her.

"Not for you, though. For your wife. You're going to watch her die."

A strangled noise ripped from his throat as he fought in vain against his restraints. He watched helplessly as the woman in front of him dialed his wife to summon her to her death. A sneer spread across Megan's face as she put the phone on speaker, her eyes gleaming sadistically. His heart plummeted as he heard the phone connect and start ringing.

He prayed to some higher power for Kate not to pick up, but he knew it was pointless, knew that she would have her phone by her side, ready for the second he might need her. His fear was confirmed as the phone clicked on the other line and her husky voice came through the speakers.

"Castle? What's up?" she asked.

"Oh I would say there are a great many things up, Captain," Megan sneered. "I think you may want to get home; your husband isn't doing so good."

No, Castle tried to scream. He wanted to tell her that it was all a lie, that it was a trap and she should stay far far away from the loft, save herself and the baby. But he could already hear her shuffling around in her rush to get to him.

"What have you done?" Kate begged on the line, so unlike herself, so desperate. "Why are you doing this? I thought it was me you wanted."

"Ah, but I do, Captain Beckett. I want you to suffer as I have. I want you to feel your worst fears coming true. I want to see you lose everything."

And just like that the sickeningly sweet tone of her voice was gone, rage coming to the forefront.

"I would hurry if I were you, Captain."

The line was disconnected.