Disclaimer:

A/N: Thank you for the reviews through facebook, twitter and FF. I am sorry that it took forever for this chapter to get to you, but I have had writer's block with this fic. The chapter was half written when I got blocked, instead I manage to write seven chapter's into my new novel.

CHAPTER TEN

Little Italy, NY - 08:38 – Rosette's Residents

The two male detectives were seated at the kitchen table in the Rosette's house. They had called ahead before arriving at the house to make sure it was a good time. Mr Rosette said they had had a busy day so he just wanted to get this over and done with as early as possible.

Filippo Rosette was a somber man. You could tell the loss of his daughter had affected him greatly. He was only fifty-five but he looked tired. His thick black hair had grey sprinkled through it making him resemble Ray Romano. Eva had two brothers, so they lost their only girl. Kevin felt bad for the older man. He knew it would kill him and Jenny if they ever lost any of their future children. The loss of a child is a pain that no one should bare. It's like losing a part of your heart.

"I know you've already been questioned about your daughter's death by a fellow detective but we just need to run through a few ourselves," Javier told the older man, empathetically. "If that's okay?" he asked.

The older man nodded, heavy heartedly.

Javier dropped his eyes to the notes in front of him. He had Karpowski's notes from the case file to go off and compare with his own. "So Eva wasn't seeing anybody and hadn't for some time?" he inquired.

The father looked like he was going to cry, but was keeping it in. "No," he answered, his Italian accent coming out strong. "Eva was always a private girl, but could never keep anything from her mother. They were close ... she was a beautiful girl with a beautiful heart," he proclaimed with heartache. "She would give the coat off her back if you needed it ... I don't understand why someone would hurt such a beautiful soul ... oh my Eva," he cried.

The detectives gave him a moment to gather himself. It was a heartbreaking sight to see.

Autopsy – 08:41

Kate had called Lanie to inform her that she was on her way with the victim's next of kin so he could say goodbye. So when they walked through the doors of Autopsy, the victim had a white sheet on her, covered up to the shoulder blades. It would be easier if he didn't see the damage that had been done to the woman he loved. They weren't releasing all the details of the case to the families until the case was solved, which the female detective intended to do.

Sam walked towards the stainless steel table that his friend was on. He stopped by her side and his eye fell onto her sleeping expression. Her eyes were closed and she had a few cuts and bruises on her face like someone had hit her a few times.

Kate spotted the redheaded teen coming out of the office area with a clipboard in hand, dressed in aqua scrubs. She spotted Kate and made her way over towards her.

"Hey sweetie, how's your first day?" she asked the girl quietly, standing a few metres from the grieving man and victim.

"I'm still here," Alexis answered back, tentative.

Kate slung her arm around the girl's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I know this line of work is not easy, it takes a strong person to walk through that door everyday to greet the dead. I know you're a strong person, Lex. But if this isn't right for you, don't push it. Be proud that you tried something difficult, because no matter what your dad and I will always be proud of you, baby bird." She told the young woman.

Alexis looked like she was about to cry. "Thank you, Kate. That really means a lot," she told her, leaning her head on the older woman's shoulder.

Sam couldn't hold it in any longer, he was overtaken by a wave of emotion and broke down into sobs. He had heard what the older woman had said to the younger one and it just tore at his heart.

"Chloe," he whispered. "I'm sorry. I should have never sent you out. It's my fault, it's my fault." He told the lifeless body, sobbing. He was the sight of a broken man.

"It's not your fault," the teenager spoke up, taking a few steps forward. "You cannot blame yourself," she added, causing all eyes to turn onto her.

Sam looked at the younger woman through his tear-filled eyes. "If I hadn't sent her out late at night, then she might still be here."

"Might," Alexis replied. "Life isn't a guarantee, bad things happen to good people and it sucks and it's not fair. But when those bad things happen, we can't blame ourselves," she told the older man. "Chloe wouldn't want you to blame yourself for what happened to her."

Kate and Lanie were speechless.

Sam had seen all kinds of people in his line of work. Mainly he saw a lot of people that drink to forget their problem, even if it was only for a few hours. He saw people with broken hearts or falling in love. He was kinda a shrink at times. With just a few drinks, people would pour out their problems to him or one of his staff members. But he rarely saw people with that kind of heart. Chloe was one of those people. One of those people that had a crappy past but always tried to see the positive side and pick people up when all they wanted to do was fall down.

"You've got a good heart kid, never lose that." He told her, wiping the tears away with the back of his hand.

Alexis just nodded in response.

Castle Loft - 08:45 – Open Lounge Room

Rick and Holly were sitting on the couch. Holly was watching Monster's Inc while Rick typed. The Zoo doesn't open till ten, so they still had a little time before they had to leave. He was trying to concentrate on the words in front of him but the movie kept pulling his attention. He listened as Holly recited parts of the movie, it being one of her favourites.

"You suppose to be typin, not watching the movie." Holly scowled, turning her eyes on her father.

Rick turned his eyes on his youngest, a smile twitching his lips. This kid was too cute for her own good. "I was typin," he defended.

Holly narrowed her eyes on him and crossed her arms.

"Okay, I was watching a little bit of it. But can you blame me, it's a good movie," he proclaimed.

The little brunette placed a finger to her chin and tapped it, as if she was thinking about the question. Rick was holding back the chuckle that wanted to escape.

"You got a point," she replied, turning her eyes back on the movie.

Autopsy - 08:49

Sam said his final goodbye to the woman he loved, placing a kiss on her forehead. A moment passed before he turned around and walked towards the detective, soberly. "Can I have her necklace back when this investigation is over?

Kate looked at the older man, puzzled. "Necklace?" she inquired.

He nodded. "Her Leo pendant, I gave it to her for her twenty-first birthday because it is her star sign. And exactly like her. Leo's are usually generous, kind, and openhearted, they find it hard to believe ill of others. These people are usually very patient and long-suffering, but if once roused, they know no fear and do not even know when they meet defeat, or acknowledge it when they do. She was all those things and more."

Kate took a moment to process his words before turning her eyes on Lanie. "She wasn't wearing any jewelery, was she?" Kate couldn't remember any jewelery on the victim at the crime scene.

Lanie shook her head. "I don't remember any jewelery on the victim when she came in."

The teenager dropped her eyes to the clipboard in her hands and began scanning the items that were marked as evidence. "Nope, I didn't document a necklace or any jewelery. Are you sure she was wearing it?" Alexis inquired.

Sam nodded, seriously. "Yes, she hadn't taken it off since I gave it to her," he assured them.

Kate chewed on her bottom lip and mauled over everything she knew about the case so far. Missing Jewelery? She knew she had to get back to her desk and go over every little detail. The body was found at seven am this morning but according to Lanie, she had died around four am. That was four hours unaccounted for, which didn't include the three days she had gone missing.

"Just find her killer," Sam pleaded before walking away and out of the room.

Kate planned to do just that. She wasn't going to let a third woman lose her life. If one more did, they would be dealing with a serial killer and that was the last thing they wanted. Every time there was mention of one, Rick got a little jumpy. She blamed Jerry Tyson for that.

"Wanna catch up for lunch, later?" the teenager asked the older woman.

Kate was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the question. A smile touched her lips as she turned her eyes on her 'unofficial' step daughter. "Of course Lex, Remy's at noon?" she answered.

Alexis lit up. "Yeah, that'd be great. See you at Remy's then," she told her.

Bullpen – 08:55

Kate was sitting behind her desk and was going over the crime scene photos that had arrived in her inbox by the time she had gotten back. There was no jewelery on the young woman in any of the photos, which meant it was taken from the girl while she was missing. Most likely her killer had it as a keepsake. Her computer pinged, indicating that she had just received a new email; she looked at the sender and then opened it, clicking on the attachment. She had requested a copy of the 911 call that Sam had made.

Kate opened the audio clip and turned up the volume of her computer as she listened to it.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"I think someone has taken my friend, she's missing." Sam told the woman in dispatch.

"Keep calm, sir. How long has she been missing and where was she last seen?" the female voice asked, calmly.

"An hour, it's been an hour. I know that doesn't seem like an alert but she isn't answering her phone and hasn't been seen in the last hour. She was only went two blocks to the grocery store. I asked the owner, he knows her and me ... he said he hasn't seen her..."

"Calm down, Sir. We cannot file a missing person's report until 24 to 48 hours. Sir, I know you are worried but maybe she just ..."

"No, do not tell me that she has probably gone for a walk and forgotten her phone or tuned it off. Chloe hates to worry people. She always calls me back. I am telling you that something is wrong ... she could be dead by the time you even bother looking!" he proclaimed, fear filling his voice.

"I will send some officers to your location and you can tell them of your concerns, where is your location?"

"Thank you, 169 East Broadway. Sam's Bar," he answered.

"I'm sure she is fine, Sir," the woman finished before hanging up.

Kate let the call float around her mind for a few minutes before scooping up her cell and hitting speed dial 1. She waited for the call to connect. A moment passed before she heard the familiar voice of her heart, speak.

"Hey beautiful, everything okay?" Rick greeted through the phone.

Kate couldn't help but smile at the nickname he had given her. She let out a sigh. "It's this case I got this morning. I just wanted to hear your voice."

A moment passed before he spoke up again. "Tell me about it? Maybe I can help," he suggested.

She bit down on her bottom lip. What if he worried about a serial killer? Kate knew that he was always a big help, even when he was sitting in the chair beside her desk. "The murder victim is twenty nine and olive skinned. She was found in Central Park, placed near the bridge. She was in a white dress and her hair was brushed. No jewelery was found on her but her boss and best friend claimed that she should have been wearing a Leo pendant. She hadn't taken it off since he had given it to her. She was starved to death and Lanie believed that it took her three days to die. Her heart was cut out, Rick."

Silence filled the air and a long minute passed before he spoke up.

"What are you not telling me?" he asked, concerned.

Kate knew he would pick up on that. She let out a sigh and confessed. "She's not the first one."

09:10

Kate had gotten off the phone only a few minutes ago and was now going over the previous victim's case file, hoping to find an answer. Rick had told her how he was taking Holly to the zoo. She hoped that he could find out what was really bothering their daughter, something was making her want to stay home.

The elevator pinged and a moment later her co-workers walked off it and through the bullpen towards her.

"They pretty much told us everything they told Karpowski when she interviewed them," Javier delivered, crossing his arms. "Was the vic's next of kin any help?"

Kate let out a sigh, running her fingers through her hair. "Not really, you mentioned how the vic was wearing a Leo pendant he had given her when she disappeared but there was no jewelery on the vic when ..." she began explaining, stopping mid sentence when she noticed the look on her boys' faces. "What?"

The two male detectives shared a look before turning back to the brunette.

"Eva's mother swears that her daughter was wearing her silver heart signet ring when she went missing but one wasn't found on the victim," Kevin shared. "You think the killer is keeping keepsakes? Well beside their hearts?"

Bronx Zoo - 10:13 – Wildlife Sections

Rick and Holly were walking through the Zoo and looking at all the wildlife around them, they were heading in the direction of the tiger exhibition. Holly was amazed by all of the animals and Rick would tell her fun facts about them as they passed.

They stopped in front of the Gorillas. They watched as two baby gorillas were play fighting with one another.

"Why are they're hurting each other?" Holly spoke up, worried.

Rick turned his eyes from the baby gorillas to her. He squatted down to her level and assured her. "They're play fighting, sweetie. It's what they do. I promise you that they're not hurting one another," he told her, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

Holly chewed on her bottom lip, turning her baby blues on his. "Are you sure?"

Rick smiled at the girl. "I'm sure, Angel. Gorillas are very expressive. They sometimes greet each other nose-to-nose and embrace. Just like humans, they show aggression by pressing their lips together and giving a stern stare. When they are afraid, their eyes shift nervously."

Holly watched the young gorillas play-fight some more before she spoke up.

"Other kids pick on me because I'm adopted," she confessed, whispering.

Rick turned his eyes on the blue eyed, brunette. She had said that so quiet that he didn't quite hear what she said. "What was that, Angel?"

Holly turned around and faced her father, dropping her eyes to the ground and repeated louder. "Other kids at school pick on me because I'm adopted."

Rick's eyes widened with shock. "What? Who is picking on you, Angel?"

Holly shifted her feet. "Just some kids, they say that I was adopted because my first mommy and daddy didn't love me," she divulged, a few tears slipping.

Rick couldn't believe what he was hearing. Who would say that to a child? He squatted down to his daughter's level, placing a hand on her shoulder and taking her jaw with the other, lifting it up so her eyes were looking into his. "Sweetheart, you know that is not true," he told her, gently.

Holly nodded. "Mommy loved me," she told him. "But a bad man took her from me."

Rick nodded his head. "Yes, she's in heaven watching over you. We could never replace your mother, but that doesn't mean we don't love you just as much."

Holly wiped the tears, nodding.

"Holly, did somebody hurt you yesterday? Is that how you got that scrape on your knee?" Rick carefully asked his little girl. "You can tell me, it's okay to ask for help when somebody is hurting you," he told her.

A long minute of silence passed, it looked as if the little girl was thinking about it.

"Sally Lisbon pushed me and I fell over and hurt my knee. She said she heard her mommy say on the phone that nobody loves me and I was only adopted so you can sell more books," Holly confessed in one long breath.

Rick was stunned, before it turned to outrage. How dare someone say that around a child? About a child? About his little girl! He was fuming. Rick turned his eyes onto his little girl, giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze.

"Sweetheart, that is not true. Your mother and I adopted you because we love you, don't ever doubt that. You are as much {as} ours as Alexis is," he assured the little girl, brushing the tears from her eyes.

Holly lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the writer's neck, hugging him. "I love you daddy," she told him.

Rick was proud. She finally called him Dad. He was over the moon about that, but still very angry about what those people were saying about her. He would make sure he got to the bottom of this.

After a long hug, he clasped her hand in his and smiled. "How about we find those tigers?"

Holly grinned from ear to ear.

Bullpen – 11:50

For the last few hours, the three detectives had been going over every little detail of both cases, trying to find a connection between the two victims. They were still waiting on the autopsy report for Chloe but had everything else and were comparing them to Eva's. The murders and crime scenes were identical. Both were in their late twenties and had sun kissed skin. Both were beautiful and would almost pass as sisters.

An hour ago Rick had called Kate and informed her of why their daughter had been acting the way she was. Kate was furious and planned to have a word with that child's mother in a few hours, along with the principal. No one makes her child feel like she's nothing and get away with it. She was doing her best to kept her focus on the case.

"The only similarity I see between the two, are their looks and age," Kevin shared from his desk. "They come from different backgrounds, have never met but live only a five minute drive from one another. The two may have never met but their killer has met them both. Chloe worked at a bar and Eva helped with the family restaurant. The connection has to be there."

Kate was pulled from her thoughts by the chirping of phone, looking down at her phone it and realizing the time. She had to leave soon so she could make her lunch date.

"Beckett," she answered.

A moment passed before the medical examiner spoke up. "Hey sweetie, Chloe's blood work just came back and scopolamine was found in her system."

Kate searched her brain for that word. "GHB," she reported, shuffling through the papers in front of her. "Found it," she announced as she picked up the autopsy report on Eva and flipped to the blood work report, her eyes scanned the contents. "Eva had GHB in her system also," she told her friend.

A moment passed before Lanie spoke up. "Yeah, I remember. The drug is known for sexual crimes but neither victim was sexually assaulted."

Kate had been coming to the same conclusion. "Thanks Lanie, I have to get going but if you find anything else let me or the boys know."

"You got it, girl. Alexis just left to meet up with you for lunch," she informed her.

Kate stood up and reached for her jacket. "Talk to you later," she answered before hanging up and putting on her jacket, turning her eyes on the boys. "I'm meeting Lex for lunch. We'll break and dive back into this after lunch."

Both detectives nodded and began getting up as Kate walked towards the elevator.

Remy's – 12:15

Alexis was sitting in a booth and waiting for her lunch date to arrive. She checked the time again and was getting a letter concerned. She had sent her a few messages already and no reply, that was unlike Kate. Alexis knew she was probably being silly but she was still worried. She flipped open her phone and dialled her number, listening to it ring out before going to voice mail.

"Hey Kate, it's Lex. We're still on for lunch at Remy's, right? Anyway call me back."

Alexis was growing concerned. She hit speed dial and waited for the number to connect before talking a mile a minute. "Hey dad, um I'm meeting Kate for lunch at Remy's but she didn't show, so I've sent messages and still no answer. I called her and it went straight to voice mail. She said Noon and it's now twelve fifteen ... Am I being paranoid?"

Bronx Zoo – Children's Zoo

Rick waited for his eldest to take a breath, his eyes not leaving Holly who was following a wallaby. "Most likely, maybe she got caught up in the case. You know how she can be. She gets so focused on something that she forgets everything around her, including the time and eating. Just pop into the station, I am sure everything is fine." He told his daughter naturally.

A moment passed before she answered.

"Okay, I'll call you later. I might be home late, depends on how long they need me."

Rick watched as Holly was giggling and hopping around. "Look daddy. I'm a wallaby," she proclaimed. He waved to her. "Is this your internship? Kate mentioned that you might have found one?" he inquired.

"Yeah, I might have. I'll tell you all about it tonight ... gotta go ... bye," she told him before hanging up.

Rick knew that she was hiding something from him, but he would just get it out of her later, over a game of laser tag if necessary. His mind drifted to Kate, it was unlike her not to return missed calls or messages. He hit speed dial 2 and waited for it to dial, going straight to voice mail. That was odd.

"Hey Beautiful, just checking in. Oh and could you give Alexis a call, she's a little worried because you're meant to meeting her for lunch. Love you and talk to you later," was the message he left on her voice mail. He scrolled through his contacts and hit dial, listening to it ring.

"Esposito?" the Hispanic detective greeted.

Rick didn't take his eyes off the little brunette as he spoke to his friend. "Hey Espo, have you seen Kate? She was supposed to meet Alexis for lunch and I tried calling her but it went straight to voice mail."

"Daddy look," Holly called.

"Um, she left here over twenty minutes ago, bro. I'll see if I can track her down and call you back. I'm sure her phone is just dead or something," he assured the writer.

Rick mumbled a response before hanging up. He was now worried. Where was Kate?

So that's chapter ten, let me know what you think?

Reviews are appreciated.