Author's Note: I'd like to thank southerngirl1 and ChellGallifreya221B613 for their reviews. I love that people are still finding this story! Thanks! This chapter also starts out non-case related, but it gets back to the case quickly. Enjoy!

Chapter 21

When they returned to the loft, Rick pulled out his laptop and called Alexis. Kate slipped her ring out of her pocket and put it back on.

Alexis' face appeared on the laptop's screen. "Hi Dad, hi Kate."

Castle was so happy to see his little girl. "Hey, Pumpkin. How is school going?"

Alexis heaved a dramatic sigh. "I'm getting swamped with papers. I can't remember when the last time I got a full night's sleep was. Creative writing is going well though."

"You better be; I'd be very upset if you weren't doing well in that, especially since that's what I do for a living." Rick smiled. "How about the anthropology class?"

Alexis shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think I'm doing okay, but who knows. I know I'm passing my Chemistry class, I just don't know what the final will be."

"So where are you now?" Kate was looking at the decorations behind Alexis. "This doesn't look like your dorm."

Alexis smiled. "Yeah, I'm staying at Amanda's parents over the weekend. Someone set a part of our dorm building on fire with a curling iron, so we've had to find alternate living situations while they sort that out. We should be back in the dorms next week."

Kate was confused. "Amanda?"

Alexis quickly explained. "Amanda Asvekar. She's the one getting married after finals are over. She is so excited to be getting married. She keeps reminding us that final fittings are next Friday; I'll get to see if my dress is ready."

Kate glanced at Rick. "Speaking of marriage…"

Alexis squealed. "You're engaged?"

Kate held up her hand. "For about a week now."

Alexis leaned forward to look at the ring. "Who's the lucky guy?"

Rick's mouth dropped open. "Hey…"

Alexis and Kate laughed. "Just kidding, Dad."

Rick pouted. "That is so not funny."

Alexis grinned. "I'm sorry. But it was too good an opportunity to pass up."

Rick smiled. "I have taught you well, haven't I?"

Alexis nodded. "Yep. Anyway, congratulations! Dad, may the third time be the charm. When are you going to tie the knot?"

Kate glanced at Rick. "We haven't decided yet. And right now everything is hush-hush, so don't go telling everyone."

Alexis smiled. "Yeah, don't worry, I won't go sharing. Have you told the precinct yet?"

Rick nodded. "Yeah, we got together for a private party at the Haunt. And we got a surprise too. Ryan and Jenny are expecting another baby. They're due sometime in August."

Alexis grinned. "That's great! Tell them congrats from me. Hey, have Lanie and Esposito set a date yet?"

Kate shook her head. "Not yet. At least they haven't told us yet. They're waiting for confirmation from the venue, so they know when they want it to be. But they won't tell us where the venue is either."

"So how are things going with Amanda's wedding?" Rick was curious about what his daughter was up to. "Dress fitting is next Friday, what else is going on?"

Alexis shrugged. "Pretty much everything is done; we're just getting the finishing touches done. Mandy is keeping us busy with that. How's Gram doing? I talked to her last week, but we've been playing phone tag ever since."

Rick laughed. "Her school is doing well. Apparently enrollment is up and they're all very enthusiastic."

Kate nodded. "One of the students just got a role in an off Broadway production. Martha was very excited about that."

Alexis smiled. "Good. How's her play doing? Did it get to change venue?"

Rick shook his head. "No, it ended a few days ago."

Alexis was looking away from the screen. "Okay, I'll be right there." She turned back to the screen. "I've got to go. Mandy needs me to help her with a couple things. I'll talk to you later. Congratulations. I love you guys."

Rick and Kate smiled. "Love you too. Bye Alexis."

The screen went blank and Rick shut the laptop down. Kate went to get a glass of water. When she turned around, Rick had a confused look on his face.

Kate leaned across the bar. "What's wrong?"

Rick shrugged. "She didn't say anything about Ashley."

Kate shook her head. "Rick, I think they broke up. Remember how she wouldn't say much about him the last time she called?"

Rick nodded. "Their relationship was on the rocks wasn't it?"

Kate nodded and came around the bar to sit next to him. "Now the relationship is over, but it's painful and she doesn't want to talk about it. She's a growing woman. She'll figure it out."

Rick leaned in for a kiss. "You are so smart. How did I get so lucky?"

Kate smiled and returned the kiss. "I had to arrest you. Remember?"

Rick got a mischievous look in his eyes. "Care for an encore?"

Kate returned the look and stood, leading Rick into their bedroom.

Beckett and Castle arrived at the precinct early the next day to find a forensics report on her desk. Ryan was just arriving as well, and Esposito hadn't gotten there yet. Beckett shrugged out of her coat and sat down. She picked up the report folder and found a single sheet of paper inside. Most of the report dealt with gunshot residue, metal fragments, and dirt, but CSU had found a single hair at the scene as well. DNA results were a match to Alexandra Stevens.

Ryan had just reached that part of the report too. "Alex was in Andreievich's storage unit?"

Esposito walked in. "What about Alex?"

Beckett held up the forensics report. "Forensics just got back and they found Alex's hair in the storage unit."

Esposito sat down. "I thought she was in Seattle."

"Call Hardy and Drew and find out when she left." Beckett's phone rang. "Beckett. Oh hey, Lanie. What's up? Now? Okay, I'll be right there." Beckett hung up. "Lanie wants to see me. See what you guys can find out. I'll be back in a bit."

Castle stood up. "What should I do?"

Beckett looked at Castle. "You're a big boy; I think you can come up with something."

Beckett entered the morgue to find Lanie wasn't there. "Lanie?"

Lanie's voice came from the back room. "In here. Be right out."

Beckett took a seat off to the side as Lanie emerged. "What'd you find?"

Lanie sat down with a laugh. "Oh, I didn't call you here to talk about the case."

Beckett looked confused. "Okay, so what did you call to talk about?"

Lanie shrugged. "You tell me. Castle, you, that big rock around your neck. How is it that the day before yesterday, we can talk about my marriage plans, but you say nothing about your engagement?"

Beckett grinned. "You know, Castle asked me the same thing after we left that day. So I'll tell you what I told him. I just didn't want the news to travel down the grapevine and end up in the newspaper before I was ready for all that."

Lanie shook her head. "I should smack you. You were engaged a whole week before you said anything. I told you the next morning."

Beckett nodded. "I know, and I'm sorry. I should have told you."

Lanie nodded. "Apology accepted. Now, what are your plans?"

Beckett shook her head. "Lanie, we just got engaged. Castle and I haven't even begun to plan anything. But I do know that I'd like you to be my Maid of Honor, if that's all right with you."

Lanie smiled. "I would be delighted to. Now, because I'm such a good friend and I always tell you things when I know them…"

Beckett interrupted with a laugh. "You and Esposito were dating for eight weeks before you said anything. We knew before you told us, but the point is that you didn't tell us for weeks."

Lanie held up a hand. "Fair enough, we didn't say anything about us dating, but after you knew, I've made it a point to let you know the important stuff. So, I just want you to know that the venue called this morning and confirmed. Javier and I are getting married on July 30th at the Conservatory Gardens. The ceremony will be in the French Garden."

Beckett hugged Lanie. "Congrats! Lanie, that's perfect. It's going to be beautiful."

Lanie nodded. "I know. But don't tell everyone just yet. Javier and I are going to announce it over lunch at the precinct."

Beckett smiled. "I promise. But I'm not going to be there at lunch today."

Lanie looked crestfallen. "Why not?"

Beckett patted Lanie's hand. "I'm meeting my father for lunch so that I can talk to him about my engagement in person. I mean, he knows I'm engaged, I just want to let him see the ring and everything."

Lanie smiled. "That's so sweet. Okay, I'll just tell them that I told you when you told me about your lunch with your dad today."

Beckett smiled. "Great idea. Anyway, I should get back. Congrats Lanie, I'm so happy for you."

Lanie hugged Beckett again. "Thanks. You too, by the way. Have fun with your dad."

When Beckett got back to her desk, Beckett was greeted by a surprise.

Esposito was waiting by her desk for her. "Alex didn't get transferred to Seattle. She's been working a small time case in the Bronx. We asked her to come in. She's waiting for you in I1."

Beckett raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Okay. I'll go see what she has to say."

Alex sat up when Beckett and Castle came in. "From the fact that I'm sitting in the box, this isn't a social visit."

Beckett sat down. "No, it's not. What can you tell me about this man?" Beckett pushed a photo of Andreievich across the table.

Alex leaned forward. "Big and scary. Don't want to meet in a dark alley. Not Shadow Fox. Why?"

Beckett almost smiled. "His name was Kirill Andreievich. He was Shadow Fox's latest victim. Ever seen him before?"

Alex shook her head. "Nope, and I wouldn't want to. Shadow Fox managed to kill a beast like him?"

Beckett put the photo back in the folder. "Yeah."

"Wow." Alexis looked surprised. "But there's something that I don't get. Why am I here?"

Beckett leaned forward. "Your hair was found in a storage unit that belonged to one of Andreievich's aliases. I'm trying to figure out why that is."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Are we back to thinking I'm the Shadow Fox?"

Castle sat up. "Next time you kill someone, don't leave any evidence behind."

"If I were an assassin, I wouldn't be stupid enough to go to a storage unit my victim owned and leave my hair behind." Alex looked thoughtful. "What facility did he use?"

Beckett looked at her notes. "North Manhattan Storage."

Alex looked surprised. "Which unit?"

Beckett glanced at the notes again. "C643."

Alex chuckled. "I moved into that unit about a year ago and moved out just before I started at Bretz and Coven. Did you know that storage facilities rarely clean out their empty units? When I first got that unit, I spent two days cleaning out all the crap that was left behind; dirt, cobwebs, and who knows what else. When I moved out, I cleaned it out again. I guess I might have left a hair behind."

Beckett sat back. "What would you need a storage unit for?"

Alex smiled. "Hardy and Drew employees move around a lot. We are supposed to have apartments that coincide with our 'previous employment' and the future position. Before Bretz and Coven, I was working for a small company that helped people file their taxes. So I was in a much smaller apartment than the one I had at Bretz and Coven. Most of my stuff had to go into a storage unit because it didn't fit in the apartment."

There was a knock on the glass. Beckett and Castle stood and left the room.

Esposito was waiting for them outside. "I managed to get a hold of the ledger from North Manhattan Storage. The previous tenet of that unit was Christina Stanley."

Castle shook his head. "She lied to us."

Esposito held up a hand. "Not so fast. I called Hardy and Drew. They confirmed that before she was Jessica Gardner, her alias was Christina Stanley."

Beckett nodded. "Did forensics get back on the age of the hair?"

Esposito shook his head. "The storage unit was a controlled environment. That hair could have been a few years old."

Beckett and Castle re-entered I1. "What name did you rent the unit under?"

Alex sat back and thought. "Before I was Jessica, I was…Oh, Christina Stanley."

Beckett wrote the name down. "And where were you the afternoon two days ago."

Alex put her head on her hand. "Two days ago, I had the day off, so I went to the movies at the Coliseum Cinemas. I used my current credit card to buy the ticket. My current alias is Sara Torgerson."

Beckett wrote down the name and stood up. "Stay here for a moment."

Ryan was at his computer when they left I1. "We have a credit card purchase for Coliseum Cinemas for Sara Torgerson. Purchased at 1:15."

Esposito was on the phone. "Theater is checking their security footage." He went back to phone. "Yeah, I'm still here. She is? At 1:16. Okay, what movie did she go into? Love's Lost Secret. And what time did she leave? 4:20? Okay, thank you." He put the phone in its cradle. "Enters the theater before T.O.D. and leaves after we arrived."

Castle looked up from his phone. "That movie's only two hours long. She was there for over three hours?"

Beckett nodded. "Get there early to see the previews reel and stay till the credits stop rolling." She went back to the interrogation room. "You're free to go. Security footage clears you."

Alex stood and Beckett thought she saw a flicker of pain. But a moment later, she dismissed it as the lighting when Alex strode passed and confidently stuck out her hand.

"Maybe we can see each other in a non-case situation next time."

Beckett shook Alex's hand. "That'd be nice."

Castle held out his hand. "How about you join our poker game at the end of the month?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "I don't know how to play."

Castle feigned shock. "What? Don't worry, you can come to learn or just hang out. What do you say?"

Alex smiled. "Sure. Just let me know when and where."

Castle walked Alex to the elevator. Beckett returned to her desk and looked at the board. Forty-one hits had been matched to cold cases. Beckett sighed; the Shadow Fox angle was dead again and Andreievich's hits were almost completely accounted for. It was time to put this case to bed. Until the identity of Shadow Fox was discovered, they had nothing to go on. Beckett hated that the case wasn't completely solved.

Castle seemed to read her mind when he returned to his seat. "Hate that it's not entirely solved?"

Beckett nodded. "It's like my mother's case. I just don't want this one to take 13 years to be solved."

Castle nodded. "If there's one thing that I know about you, it's that you will solve it, even if it takes 13 years."

Beckett smiled. "Thanks. I've got to go. I have a lunch date with my dad."

Castle smiled. "I'll get lunch for the boys and see if we can't find the remaining seventeen cold cases by the time you get back."

Beckett nodded. "Pick up a little extra. Lanie was planning on coming up for a visit today."

Castle nodded and gave her a kiss. "Tell your dad 'thank you' for me."

Beckett looked up at him quizzically. "What for?"

Castle smiled. "For you."

A/N: So Andreievich isn't gone just yet. I swear, sometimes it seems like he refuses to die or something. But I promise we will be done with him next chapter. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to post a review!