A/N- I know it's still a much later update than you guys wanted, but then look at the length of this chapter! It just refused to end, I swear. Anyways we find out almost everything there is to be found out this chapter, so please forgive me for the length and please do let me know what you think! REVIEW tc...

Chapter 10

She could hear faint voices, very low but they seemed to be getting louder and louder every second. A ripple of fear spread over Caroline as she realized that the voices belonged to her kidnappers and from the sound of it – they were arguing. Instantly she could identify the voice of the younger man, his voice was soft and calming, and right now it sounded scared, worried and downright pleading.

"She has to die."

Caroline shivered involuntarily when she heard those words, as clear as day, a small sob stifling in her throat as she pushed the fear away and pressed closer to the bars of her cell, trying to hear more.

"I know she does," this was the voice of the younger man, the one whom she believed no hoped, was trying to help her, who had said he would help her, "I know she does but please... don't do this."

"I won't have any more of this, she will die."

"Ok fine." Caroline could hear the defeat in the voice of the younger man, and they seemed to be standing just by the entrance of the cells. And then when she heard the next words out of his mouth, her blood went cold.

"I'll be the one to do it. I'll kill her."

"For the third time Klaus," Dexter snipped irately, pausing his fingers from typing away at the laptop and clenched his jaw, "Literally breathing down my neck will not make me work any faster." His last few words coming out in a hiss with as much venom as a pissed off cobra as he titled his head to the side, looking at Klaus from the corner of his eyes. Klaus, who was quite literally breathing down Dexter's neck; his face two inches from the other and a characteristic frown on his face as he watched Dexter work, merely turned to look at his friend with a sneer and straightened up, folding his hands over his chest and continuing to sneer in protest.

Katherine watched the interaction wondering whether to laugh or roll her eyes. Deciding on neither, she instead urged Dexter to get back to the matter at hand – finding a name and picture to go with their killer. Something Dexter had been trying to do for the past half hour, which was just too damn slow for Klaus and his impatience.

"None of the newspaper articles have his name?" Katherine asked to confirm once again, and by the disdained look that Dexter gave her it was clear that the blood guy was not pleased by her apparent ignorance on the topic.

"He was a kid, they wouldn't have disclosed his name," Klaus stated, taking to pace behind Dexter as a method to sate his impatience, "Are you looking at police records?" he added, coming to stop right behind Dexter's chair.

"No, It's too old a case. I'm looking in social services and I just found it." Dexter declared, a small smile crossing his face as he pushed the laptop back to let Katherine take a look, while Klaus resumed his previous position of breathing down his neck.

"His name is Mikael Smith," Dexter read, "With a 'k'. M-i-k-a-e-l."

"Job? Address?" Katherine inquired, looking up at Klaus who was frowning in concentration.

"It's like he disappeared 20 years ago." Dexter said, running a hand through his hair and pulling the laptop back to him.

"Disappeared? Like what dead? It can't be –" Klaus began angrily, his eyes blazing as he tried to grab the laptop to read himself.

"No, more like in hiding," Katherine interrupted him, raising her voice loud enough to make Klaus hear her. Nodding slightly he moved back and started to pace again.

"He has no paper trail for the last 2 decades, nothing – no license, no gas, electric, credit, bank accounts. Nothing just nothing." Dexter huffed, leaning back in his chair with a defeated sigh.

"What was his last paper trail?" Klaus asked, a permanent crease line appearing on his prominent forehead.

Rubbing his eyes and moving forward in his chair, Dexter read, "He signed a birth certificate. He has a son; 'baby smith', the kid didn't even have a name when he signed it."

"How old is that kid now?" Klaus asked; a sudden skip to his step as he walked to the other side of the table and sat down beside Dexter, his eyes lighting up suddenly.

"20-ish." Dexter answered before adding "Why?"

The way Klaus raised his brows and looked from Katherine to Dexter, as if waiting for them to catch up with whatever he had. When they finally did realize whatever Klaus had; Dexter sighed again and leaned back in his chair while Katherine's mouth fell open in a soft gasp.

"Father and son killing together. That is some fucked up shit." Dexter exclaimed, letting out a small dark laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

"He would be the perfect age to be the second killer," Katherine commented more to herself than the two of them, "And he might share the sentiments of his father – recreating what happened to his grandmother."

"Doesn't make it any less fucked up." Dexter snorted.

No one was disputing that.

"Remind me again while we're just sitting here doing nothing?"

"Because we are waiting."

"Waiting for...?"

"Dexter to find out more about Mikael and find a way to reach him, or the son."

"Right," Katherine mumbled, sighing again and lightly banging her head against the wall behind her.

For the past hour her and Klaus had been quietly sitting on the floor of his motel room; her propped up against the wall on one side and him opposite her. She dwindled with her fingers and tied her hair ten times while Klaus did nothing but stare at his hand, only talking when she let out a frustrated huff and asked him something. His ability to look so unfazed while doing absolutely nothing was quite shocking, she'd thought he would be the kind of person who couldn't sit still for more than ten seconds.

"How are you ok with doing nothing when we just got a huge lead?" she finally asked, pushing herself up with her hands and straightening her back.

Klaus closed his and cursed under his breath, looking up from his hands in his lap to an utterly bored Katherine Pierce, "I've had to do that a lot these past few days. The loss of the badge imposed a lot of restrictions on me, many a times I've simply had to sit like a statue and wait for Dexter to get back to me."

Crinkling her nose in thought, Katherine nodded after a while, following his gaze as he returned to look down at his hand, and that's when she noticed it. He wasn't looking at his hands, he was looking at something in his hands, from her position it looked like a photograph of sorts and she didn't have to ask whose photo it would be.

"Remind me again why you're here?" Klaus asked suddenly, a slow smirk creeping up on his face indicating that the boredom was getting to him and he was going to spend his time mocking her.

"I mean, I can't go to my office – at this point Finn will probably throw me in jail just to keep me away," He added, a tinge of mirth coloring his voice as he ticked off the reasons on his hand, "I can't go to your office because I will be bombarded with questions I have no interest answering. But you, why are you here? Why don't you go back to the station?"

"Because," Katherine began heavily, "I've been coordinating with the captain and Elijah and Bonnie through texts, I don't need to go in."

Klaus full on smirked and raised his brows at her lame reasoning until she let out a moan of frustration and threw her hands in the air, "Ok fine, I don't like lying to their faces. The captain has done a lot for my career, I wouldn't be where I am if it wasn't for him – and I've already lied to him enough for one lifetime."

"I never pegged you as a person who has any issues with lying," Klaus quipped, his eyes twinkling brightly, he was obviously enjoying himself.

"I don't," Katherine responded, "I however do have an issues lying to save your bony little ass."

He couldn't control the small laugh at her reply and nodding solemnly almost impressed with her quirk, "Anyways," he breathed, "I'm sure you'll clear that right up once I find Caroline."

"I will," Katherine fiercely concurred, "I will tell the truth after we find Caroline."

"We?" Klaus snarled, leaning forward menacingly, "I think it's time you go back to your precinct Katherine, send your minions on a goose chase. Let me and Dexter handle finding Caroline and Rebekah."

Katherine eyes turned to slits as she mirrored his actions, leaning forward as her lips curled in anger, "I have risked too much to back out now Mikaelson. I could lose my job, my badge, everything I have worked so hard for – so you better understand that I will not stop now. I deserve to be standing right there with you when we find Caroline. If I'm going to stand to lose so much then I'm damn well going to find that girl."

"You say that like I'm supposed to care about what happens to you," Klaus growled, his own eyes narrowing in contempt.

"A little gratitude would be nice," she hissed bitterly making him laugh and throw his head back, "What?"

"Oh! Pierce, do you know what's going to happen to me after I find Caroline?" Klaus asked after laughing for a full minute, not waiting for her to reply he continued, "I'm going to jail. I've broken more laws than I can count; I'm not an FBI agent right now and I pretended to be a federal officer, forged documents, interfered in a running investigation, oh and let's not forget that time I shot a guy..."

"That one is hard to forget," Katherine chimed in throwing him a dark look.

"And you won't conveniently forget that when you're singing like a canary will you?" Klaus jibed, "And you know what Pierce?"

"What?"

"I don't care," Klaus said, a smile forming on his face that truly scared Katherine, "I don't care that all this is going to happen. If that means Caroline is safe in her house then I don't give a fuck about what happens to me."

"And When I don't even care about what happens to me, do you really think I spared a thought to what all you've risked?"

Katherine rolled her eyes and gave him a pointed look, "Shouldn't have expected anything else." She mumbled under her breath making him smile and nod his head.

And just as she was about to ask him something, something that had been gnawing at her since her visit to that highway bar, her phone started to vibrate. Glancing at it wearily, she let out a relived sigh when she saw it was Elijah and not the captain, "Elijah? What is it?"

"Yeah, thank you. We'll be right there."

"What?" Klaus asked, mimicking her actions as she got off the floor and dusted her pants.

"Tech just unscrambled the tape. It shows Caroline being taken."

"Alright so basically she walks in from this side." Elijah said, pausing the video and tapping his finger on the screen as a figure came into view; clearly a woman, dressed appropriately for a dingy bar, her fumbled walk making it clear that she was either inebriated or finding it quite a task to walk with her heels.

"Do you get a view of her face?" Katherine jumped in, glancing back to look at Klaus propped up in the back of the room, his face covered in darkness and his hands folded over his chest in nonchalance, as if having to watch this video for the 5th time wasn't pure torture to him.

"Yup the Tech people did some weird getting her image from her reflection off of a car window thing... whatever, but here it is," Elijah said sliding a photo towards Katherine. It was too dark in the parking lot to be 100% sure but that face certainly looked like Caroline, her body was clearly visible but only half of her face was seen in the darkness – just up until her eyes but there was hardly any doubt that it was her. And Katherine was sure Klaus would have realized if it wasn't Caroline.

"So she's walking to her car, and you see this is one thing I don't get -..." Elijah abruptly stopped, pausing the video yet again causing Klaus to grumble softly, obviously not noticing his distress Elijah continued, "We know she went to that bar right? Now that bar has a parking lot, and yet she parked here – 20 minutes from the bar. Why do that? Why risk having to walk through the highway in the night?"

Not knowing how to answer that Katherine merely crinkled her brow to make it look like she was thinking, before dramatically shaking her head and saying, "I don't know but we need to think about that, keep playing the video," she added, though her attention was more on the still of Caroline in front of her rather than the video, her mind boggled with about a million thoughts.

"And then she walks up to her car, the minivan is right next to her car, her back to it but obviously she thinks nothing of it," Elijah continues his commentary, turning back for a second to look at Klaus who hadn't shifted from his frigid position, "And this is another thing that's weird," Elijah piped up, deriving Katherine's attention towards the screen, "She's fumbling with her keys and that's when the door to the minivan slid open, I mean how did she not see that happening in the reflection of her car window? Maybe it was too dark." Elijah answered his own question, his eyes scrunching as he turned to watch Katherine watch the video intently.

A lithe, well built man jumped out of the minivan, wearing all black with a black ski-mask on his face as he moved up behind Caroline. And this time she saw him, her keys dropping to the floor as he wrapped a hand around her throat and another over her mouth and dragged her three steps back, throwing her into the van and driving away.

Within two minutes it was all over. From under the cover of her hair Katherine turned her gaze to Klaus, catching his eyes glassing over and his fists banging against the wall behind him. She could see the hurt and anger on his face, but no emotion was stronger than determination – his determination to find her, to not give up.

"No number plate on the van, but I have its make and model out, hopefully we find something from it," Elijah declared.

"That's great," Klaus quipped, speaking for the first time since they had walked into the precinct, "You let us know if you find anything." He added, tilting his head, waving his hand towards the door and giving Katherine a pointed look.

"And where are you going?" Elijah asked, a surprisingly suspicious tone tinting his voice.

"I've made a few useful contacts on the street Elijah," Klaus drawled all but pulling Katherine from her chair as they started to walk out.

She turned to give Elijah a small smile of apology before saying, "Do call us if you find anything."

"What is this place?" Katherine asked, finally breaking the thick silence that had enveloped them since they had left the precinct. Klaus hadn't said a word, simply waited for her to get in the car and drove off, not giving any explanation for his peculiar behavior or tell her where they were going.

And now as she stood outside a door in an apartment building, watching Klaus take out a key and open the door, she cracked; enough was enough, she had to know.

"This is my apartment," Klaus answered somberly, his voice far too calm and collected for her liking – angry and frustrated Klaus was one she was used to, she knew what to expect, but this – closed off and eerily stoic was something that threw her and she had absolutely no clue what he would do now.

"Why are we here?" she asked, her voice coming out a little too timid than intended.

Klaus swayed on his feet for a second before turning around to face her, making her raise her brows in question. His face confused her even more; she was used to fury, condescension and sarcasm in his face – but this, this she was not use to. He looked... guilty. And all these unusual changes in Klaus were making her quite weary.

"In the photo, Caroline's photo," Klaus clarified and Katherine was glad to see that his voice was back to the formal police-cop tone, "She was wearing this blue shirt, and I know that 4 days before she went missing she came to keep that shirt here. I hadn't stayed in my apartment for weeks, I was practically living with her. Now if she wore that shirt the day she was taken then..."

"She came here to get it something," Katherine finished for him and watched as he nodded his head, turning around to look around the apartment, "What do you think you're going to find here?"

"I don't know," Klaus shrugged as he walked into the bedroom and opened the wardrobe, bending down to ruffle through the mess in it, "But she was here maybe a few hours before being kidnapped, so it's worth a shot. Maybe we'll find something, maybe we won't."

"Mmhmm," Katherine mumbled as she sat down on the edge of the bed and watched Klaus stand up to look at the top shelves in his wardrobe. This was the time she decided, her suspicions were almost confirmed by that tape – she had just needed to get Klaus alone where Dexter wouldn't be around to save his friend, she needed to push him far enough so he'd have no choice but to tell her the truth, or admit to it.

"Klaus," she began, clearing her throat when he didn't respond. He made a small guttural noise as a response as he continued searching in the heap of clothes for some miraculous clue or lead, "I've been thinking Klaus."

At this he turned around and raised his brows inquiringly, an almost amused expression flitting over his face, like he was trying very hard not to hit back with some witty, sarcastic comment. Katherine could feel the anger rising from within her at his expression, but suppressed it and continued talking, "What Elijah said was right. Why would Caroline park her car in that parking lot when the bar has one? Why walk all that distance in the night? It makes no sense, and I didn't think anything of it in the beginning."

"And then there are the clothes she was wearing," Katherine said, pausing for a second to remove the still picture of Caroline from her bag, all the while watching Klaus from the corner of her eye; he had gone rigid for a second when she talked about the photo, but then resumed his hunt in his closet, "She looks dressed for a bar like that, all but her top. I mean look at this, she's wearing shorts that could practically pass for underwear, hair all styled, face is all dolled up, red jacket and then this old, tattered, dirty blue shirt. Even in a photo I can tell this shirt is ancient. Why would she wear this? It doesn't make sense."

Katherine waited for a second and watched as Klaus bent down to retrieve a box from deep inside the closet, but his movements stopped when she stopped talking, and despite his adamant stance at not responding she could see the shift in his body language. Taking a deep breath Katherine continued,

"It didn't all click until you told me why we came here. I think that Caroline parked her car in that parking lot purposely, Klaus. I think she did it because she knew there was a camera in the store opposite it, I think she knew that when you found her car you'd notice the camera and get the tape, I think she wanted you to see what happened, and I think she wanted to lead you here, back to your apartment." Katherine whispered, her voice unknowingly dropping a few decibels as if she was afraid of anyone else listening.

Klaus was almost frozen by now, not a single muscle in his body moving as he remained in his position, even as Katherine spoke again, "And I think that's why she wore that blue shirt – because she knew you'd come here when you saw that. And I think you don't want me to see that phone you just slipped into your jacket."

Klaus jerked onto his feet when Katherine made that last statement and moved towards the window, still keeping his back to Katherine as she took a deep breath and began talking again.

"There were something's that I found out at the bar that I didn't tell you about. I couldn't tell if you already knew and were just playing me, or you were as unaware as me. But now I'm leaning more towards the former. You see, Caroline did go to that bar, every single night for two weeks before she was kidnapped, but the bartended told me something that baffled me, something I just couldn't understand... until now. Caroline was brunette, she wore a wig or colored her hair – thankfully its too dark in that video or Elijah would have recognized it too."

Katherine waited for a second, contemplating if Klaus was even listening to her, but from the way his hands gripped the window ledge it was clear he was, and he was not happy with her realization, as if he knew what it lead to.

"And then I showed the barman photos of not just Rebekah but every other girl who had been taken, and you know what he said Klaus, hmm?" Katherine jibed, slowly getting off the bed and taking a small step towards him, her voice laced with so much emotion that it even surprised her, "They all went to that bar, and then I checked the dates. Each of the girls went to that bar days before they were kidnapped. You know what I think Klaus? I think that's the killers joint. I think the younger guy stalks, charms and seduces the victims and then asks them to see him at that bar. Mikael probably lurks in the back determining if the girl fits the pattern and then he kidnaps them. And I think Caroline knew this, I think you knew this. And I couldn't understand why Caroline would wear a brunette wig and visit that bar... until now."

She was standing right behind him by now, half of his face visible and she could clearly see him gulp in nervousness as he stood straight, pushing himself off the window ledge and rubbing his palms together.

"Do you know what I think Klaus?"

He turned to face her then, his eyes glassy and cold as he spoke, his voice hoarse and indicating that he was on the verge of tears, "What do you think Katherine?"

Her brows furrowed as she framed the words in her head, wondering if she really was about to say what she was, if this had actually happened.

"I think Caroline got kidnapped on purpose," she let her words sink in and watched as Klaus closed his eyes in anguish and rested his hip against the window sill, all the energy draining his body and the emotional and physical trauma of the past few days finally showing on his face, "I thinks she fit herself into the killers pattern so he would take her. I think she left you these clues along her way hoping you'd find them. I think she got tired of waiting for the FBI to find the killer and waiting for you to find Rebekah. I think she finally cracked and took things into her own hands."

A deathly silence hung over them as they stood rooted in their positions. It was a startling conclusion, but it seemed the only one that could explain all the weird circumstances of Caroline's kidnapping. As surreal as it was, it was the only thing that made the most sense.

"Please tell me you didn't know?" Katherine pleaded, wanting desperately to know that Klaus hadn't used Caroline as bait, because that would shatter her respect for the man – yes she despised him and everything he stood for, but she had to respect him for his determination.

Klaus whirled on her, the sorrow and guilt disappearing from his face to be replaced with unbridled fury, so much anger that it made her take a step back as he yelled in her face, "Do you really think I would let Caroline get kidnapped if I knew about this? I'm insulted Pierce. There's a lot of bad things I've done, thing I'd still do – but intentionally hurting Caroline is not one of them."

"Sorry, sorry," Katherine muttered realizing her mistake, but she had to ask, she had to see his face when faced with the accusation, it was the only way she'd have peace of mind, "I'm sorry Klaus, but think of this from my point of view. It was a valid question."

Klaus didn't say anything, only huffed angrily and let out a small chuckle as he walked to and fro, hitting his palm with his fist as if to release his pent up emotions.

"When – how did you find out?" she asked a while later unable to take any more of his silence.

He stilled in his incessant pacing and looked at her, his brows crinkling as if he was wondering what and how much to tell her. Finally with a sigh, he began to remove his wallet from his jacket, "Right after they found that Colton girl, two weeks before Caroline went missing – she changed, something snapped in her, she wasn't Caroline anymore. There were times when I barely understood what she was talking about, and she was obsessed with finding clues to get to Rebekah, she was consumed by... wanting to just know if her sister was dead or alive. She just needed to know what happen happened to Rebekah."

Exhaling heavily, Klaus handed a letter to Katherine; a letter written by Caroline to Klaus, "The night she was kidnapped we were supposed to meet for dinner. She was late, two hours late, Caroline is never late – I knew something was wrong. And when I came home I found that letter and I knew what she had done."

Katherine took her time reading the letter, running her fingers over the blotches that marked it, making it clear that Caroline had been crying when she wrote it.

I'm so sorry to do this to you. But if I had told you what I was doing, you wouldn't have let me out of your sight. I have to do this. I need to do this. I'm sorry Klaus.

I love you.

Yours forever,

Caroline.

"I'm sorry," is all Katherine could say as she looked from Klaus back to the letter in her hands, her mind clouded with too many emotions. She didn't even know Caroline and yet she felt her heart tug reading the letter. It pained her to see the torment Caroline had to go through, worrying over her sister and having to make the tough decision of giving up her life and leaving behind a man she loved just to get some peace of mind.

"Let's see that cell phone," Katherine said suddenly, clearing his throat and blinking away the water in her eyes. This was no time for emotions and crying, they had a cell phone that Caroline had left for Klaus, hopefully containing something useful, "Where did you find it?"

"In the box where she used to keep that blue shirt," Klaus replied, shaking his head and focusing on the task at hand as he pulled out the cell phone and moved to stand next to Katherine so they could both look at it.

"Check the calls," she said and watched as Klaus scrolled through an empty logs and contacts window, he moved onto the messages next without her asking. A small squeal erupted from her throat as she all but grabbed the phone from his hand as he scrolled down the screen, "There's a saved draft; open it," she instructed, "It's addressed to you," she noticed looking at Klaus' number typed in the 'to' section.

"Lulu, Caryn and Brynne – dorm no's and phone numbers," Katherine read the message that presumably Caroline had typed and frowned as she turned to look at Klaus, who bore a similar expression on his face, along with an annoyed one, "What does that mean?"

"No clue," he huffed and closed the window to move on the the menu of the cell phone, opening the images before Katherine could ask like he knew she would.

"Who is that guy?" Katherine asked, looking at the solo picture in the phone – a young guy, with sandy brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, a well defined jaw and a cocky smirk on his face, "Have you ever seen him before?"

"No," Klaus shook his head only to jump away from Katherine when she let out a shriek.

"I know that man," she said hurriedly.

"Who the kid?" Klaus pointed at the young man in the photo.

Katherine shook her head and tapped her finger on the man half visible behind the young boy, "The guy in the back, he's the bartender at that bar. I just spoke to him – and this, this was taken at the bar," she added excitedly, "Caroline took this photo at the bar, Klaus this means..." she trailed off aimlessly, realizing there was no need to voice her realizations, from the way Klaus's eye lit up, it was clear he had come to the same conclusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked as he typed away at the phone furiously.

"Getting the photo to Dexter," he replied distractedly, "He'll try to get a name and address."

"But shouldn't we send it to the FBI? Get the posters out? I mean this is the guy Klaus..."

"No we can't do that," Klaus snarled, "If they know we identified them they might get scared and... no, we find his name and deal with it ourselves."

Katherine nodded still unsure but knowing that there was a chance, albeit small, that if the men realized they had been caught they might get scared, kill the girls they had and try to run away. And Klaus wasn't having any of that.

"But this is extraordinary..." Katherine exclaimed, a small laugh aiding her statement, "I mean I don't mean to rub it in, but Caroline did good. She gave us the face of the younger kidnapper."

"I know," Klaus lamented, a sad yet proud edge to his voice, as if he was proud of Caroline for her tact but sad that she had to do it in the first place, "And we're that much closer to finding her."

"So what am I supposed to do with this then? Dexter asked across the phone making Klaus roll his eyes and grumble under his breath.

"Just run him through every database we have, Dex. Just get me a name and hopefully a way to find him."

"Alright," Dexter sighed and Klaus could hear the shuffling around of papers and the sound of Dexter's laptop being switched on, "Where did you get his photo though?"

Klaus startled for a second, his eyes drifting over to Katherine who had resumed her position on the edge of the bed. Her eyes narrowed in doubt when she saw him look at her, hurriedly he shook his head and replied, "They unscrambled the tape from the market."

"And? It had Caroline in it?"

"Yeah, it uhm... showed her being kidnapped," Klaus lamented trying to keep his voice as calm as possible but was certain Dexter would have picked up on the emotions, "She left me a message in it, bought me to my old apartment. She left me this phone, she'd taken a snap of the guy in it."

"Damn that Caroline," Dexter exclaimed in a huff and Klaus couldn't help but agree, "Wait, where is Katherine?"

"She's right in front of me," Klaus said skeptically, extending his hand in a reflex.

"You told her?" Dexter's voice carried in a slow disbelieving whisper.

"No," Klaus stated, moving one step back as Katherine stomped towards him, frustration clouding her features as she demanded he put the phone on speaker, "She figured it out."

"Hmmm," Dexter observed, the surprise evident in his voice, "She's not as dumb as I thought."

"Don't let her hear you say that," Klaus couldn't help but chide back and almost lost his footing as Katherine all but grabbed the phone from him, "Mother of God!... fine," he relented, shaking his head and turning the phone on speaker.

"Ok well he's not on the sex offenders list," Dexter declared before Katherine could yell at him.

"Why they hell did you check the sex offenders list first, Dexter?" Klaus asked incredulously, as if questioning his friend's sanity.

"The guy, along with his father, kidnaps and kills women while recreating the death of his grandmother – there is no way in hell he is not a pervert."

Before Klaus could rebuke his theory, Katherine jumped in authoritatively, "Check the juvenile records."

After a few minutes Dexter let out a whelp of triumph making both Katherine and Klaus look at the phone lying on the bed in anticipation, waiting for Dexter to speak.

"Ok his name is – Kol Smith. He was arrested at the age of 15 for trying to shoplift in a sex shop. Ah ha! I told you he was a pervert. Released in 6 months. No address, no job, only thing he has is... wait..."

Klaus and Katherine shared a look as Dexter suddenly went silent and all they could hear was shuffling of paper.

"Wait wait wait..."

"Goddamit what Dexter!" Katherine half yelled startling Klaus, who had an almost impressed look on his face.

"I think I know where Mikael keeps the girls..." Dexter said lamely, as if talking more to himself than them.

"Wh-what? Where?" Klaus sputtered, anger and fear slowly rising within him.

"Kol has a property on his name, the only thing he has – and it says it was given to him by his father. Now these two, they're recreating the murder of their mother/grandmother right?" Dexter asked, and from his pause it was obvious he wanted an answer.

"Yeah," Katherine began, "All the girls – other than Caroline look similar to Lauren Smith, they're killed the same way, dressed in their bikini's like her, and put in her coffin before they are killed."

"So then why not also kill them in the place Lauren Smith was killed?" Dexter said.

"What?"

"There are no records of that house being sold, and what if it was given to Mikael and he gave it to Kol. It would fit their pattern, hold and kill the girls where Laura was killed."

"Where is the house? We need to check it out." Klaus said, a sudden skip in his step and hope in his voice. Katherine nodded next to him, her hands wringing together in anxiousness.

"I texted it to you," Dexter said, "And Klaus this house is deep in the woods, so far in you'd probably never know if a small bomb went off in there. And guess what? It's only 20 minutes from that graveyard we went to."

"Where Laura Smith was buried?" Katherine asked, her eyes wide and amazed.

Klaus only nodded as he disconnected the call and began to lead Katherine out.

This could be it, he could feel it. He could feel the hope set into his bones and prayed that it didn't disappoint.

"What do you mean there's nothing there?" Dexter inquired, sighing and shaking his head at yet another failed attempt.

"I mean there is nothing here," Katherine spit back, angry, tired and frustrated at the turn of events, one eye on Klaus' frozen back as he looked off into the woods, she returned to snapping at Dexter, "No house, no Mikael, No Kol, no Caroline. There's nothing here, literally – it's just grass and dirt."

"I can't believe it," Dexter replied and despite her anger Katherine could hear the sadness in his tone, "I was so sure they would be there."

"Yeah I know Dexter," Katherine added in a softer tone, knowing how the man felt. She had felt that too, but it had all gone to waste and right now, she was worried about Klaus. He'd been so full of hope that she could practically see it radiating off of him, and now he stood 5 feet away from her, his back to her and standing over the place where the house should have been, looking down at the ground as if willing it to burst open and give Caroline back to him.

"Klaus," she said so softly she was surprised it was her voice, "We should go back, there's nothing here – we'll come back when it's light to see if we can find anything, but... but it's a dead end Klaus, we should go back."

Her pleas were met with stoic silence as Klaus bent down, lightly running his hand over the slightly damp earth, picking up a twig from the floor and cracking it in his fingers. She moved towards him slowly, standing ahead of him and felt a wave of pity wash over her when she saw his face. He looked so small and defeated that she couldn't help but want to comfort him, but not knowing how to do so she called out his name again.

Klaus nodded as he looked up at Katherine, getting to his feet and turning away from her, looking into the darkness of the woods as he felt a similar darkness grip his heart. He had been so sure, so certain – that this was it; that this was where he would find his Caroline, where he'd finally be at peace again. But like every other time, it had led to nothing, only more clues and heartache.

"Klaus"

He didn't respond to her call, still buried deep in his self-pity and sorrow, so much so that he didn't recognize the shift in her voice.

"Klaus..." but this time he did, he could hear the sudden fear and lowering of her voice as he turned around to look at her.

Katherine looked pale, white as sheet as the phone trembled in her hand, "Dexter said... Dexter said that they found another girl in the woods."

All the blood drained from his body as Klaus somehow managed to ask, "Who is it?"

"You don't want to know."

In case you don't know what to say to that long and confusing chapter, just follow my lead –

Dear Tanya,

How dare you end on cliffhangers like they're your birthright?

How dare you lead us to another dead end?

How dare you not reveal who the girl is?

Just how dare you?