When they arrived at the precinct Ryan and Esposito were already there, looking irritated.

"The tech guys finished with the laptop..." Ryan started the sentence.

"But it was worthless anyways, there is nothing on there that is important. Typical teenage stuff; book reports, projects, stuff like that. Nothing worth killing someone over." Esposito finished.

Beckett huffed as she sat down at her desk.

"Seriously? Why would someone pay Trevor fifteen thousand dollars to erase a computer with nothing on it? We have to be missing something."

"Tech spent days on that, you really think they missed something?" Esposito asked. Beckett knew they were all frustrated by the lack of leads in the case, so she let the sarcasm slide.

"That's then only thing that makes sense. If we are assuming that the person who killed her is the same person who paid Trevor, then our biggest clue had to have been on that laptop. Why else would someone pay so much to have it erased."

"What if," Castle started. It was the way he started most of his theories and everyone turned their attention to him, "Victoria removed what was on the laptop before she died? That book we found, we assumed it was to hide a diary, but what if it wasn't. What kid would go though so much just to hide a diary? What if she made a copy of whatever was on her laptop and was hiding the CD in there?"

Beckett tilted her head slightly as she looked at him and contemplated this theory.

"Maybe... But that still doesn't get us any closer to a suspect. We have no idea who found whatever was in that book."

"Maybe no one found it. Maybe she gave it to someone. Sydney and Haven both seemed like they were hiding something. Maybe we should talk to them again?"

"Well, it can't hurt. Road trip?"

"Can I drive?"

"Yea, right. I'll even let you carry a gun."

"Hey, it was worth a shot. If we end up having to use the siren, can I at least flip the switch?"

His comment got a laugh out of all three of them. It was little moments like that when Beckett was glad he was around. He managed to lighten the mood most days just when they needed it. Their job was stressful, and at times emotional. Castle managed to make it a little more fun. She grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair and headed towards the elevator.

"Come on Castle. Ryan, Esposito. Check the parents financials, see if anything pops. That fifteen thousand had to come from somewhere, it doesn't hurt to look into the people closest to her. Check Tony while you're at it. Have the lab double check that book for prints. I know they already did it, but tell them to go over it with a fine tooth comb. I also need the shoe size of the print that was on the rug."

"On it." Ryan and Esposito answered together.

"Thanks guys."

Beckett and Castle headed towards the elevator. Ryan and Esposito headed in different directions to work on the tasks Beckett had given them. Beckett had a renewed sense of determination. Castle could see it in the way she carried herself. He smiled at her as the elevator doors slid shut.

"What are you smiling at?"

"You."

"Why?"

"You're beautiful when you're focused."

She rolled her eyes and looked away from him so he wouldn't see the blush making its way up her neck. He reached over and squeezed her hand.

"Don't doubt yourself. You're going to catch the son of a bitch that did this."

She squeezed his hand back briefly before pulling away as the elevator doors opened.

"We."

"What?" He followed her out of the elevator, confused.

"You said I am going to catch the son of a bitch that did this. You're right, but it's not just me. We are going to catch the son of a bitch who did this. Of that I have no doubt."

Haven wasn't at home, her parents said she had gone back to school. They decided to stop by Sydney's house before trying the school. Sydney had stayed home and she was hesitant, but let them in. They followed her into her bedroom because she said she would prefer to be there other than anywhere else in then house. She sat on the edge of her bed. Beckett sat next to her, towards the end of the bed and Castle sat in a fuzzy purple camping chair that was in the corner of the room. Sydney pulled a blanket around her and clutched a stuffed giraffe to her chest. Beckett looked around the room. The walls were plastered with pictures of Haven, Trevor, Victoria and Sydney; some were framed and some were just stuck to the walls. Some had caption stickers on them, others had sharpie messages scrawled on them. Kate glanced at the mirror and saw the message Sydney said Victoria wrote there. She turned to Sydney and spoke softly, choosing her words carefully because the girl looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown.

"Sydney...I know this week has been awful, but I have a few more things I need to ask you, okay?"

"Yea..." Her answer was hesitant, as if she wasn't sure her voice would come out when she spoke.

"I need to know if you can think of anything at all that Victoria had been upset about, even if it was months ago and she seemed like she was over it. Even if it seems small and insignificant."

Sydney shook her head no.

"No there is nothing she was upset about or no you can't tell me."

Sydney's eyes flew to Beckett's, they were a mixture of shock and terror. Beckett realized she hit the nail on the head and had to be careful or the girl would never talk to her. She moved slightly closer.

"Sydney...I know you don't want to tell us something that you think will get Victoria in trouble, or something that you swore you would never tell anyone. She was your best friend, but she was more than that wasn't she? She was your rock. The one person you could go to with anything and she was always there for you. She could always make everything seem okay and she never made you feel stupid about your feelings. And you think that now, by telling us things she never wanted anything to know, that you are betraying her somehow."

As Beckett spoke Sydney's precariously controlled bubble of emotions burst. The tears started streaming down her face and she buried it in the stuffed giraffe.

"I miss her so much. She wasn't supposed to leave me! She swore she would always be here for me, no matter what!" Her words were muffled by the stuffed animal but Beckett could still hear the anguish in them. She reached over and softly rubbed Sydney's back until the girl had stopped sobbing so violently.

"I know you miss her, and I know you're angry at her for leaving you. But Sydney, it wasn't her choice to leave. Someone did this to her, and the best way to help her is to tell us everything you know. The only way we can catch whoever did this is if we know everything, otherwise, we don't have a chance."

Beckett let the weight of her statement settle with Sydney. The girl was on the verge of telling them something. One push in the wrong direction could make her clam up and not speak at all. Beckett shot a quick look at Castle who was sitting silently in the fuzzy purple chair. His eyes were focused on Sydney, but she could tell he knew better than to speak. Sydney took a deep, shaky breath and then started to speak; her voice, at first, was hardly louder than a whisper.

"She told me…five or six months ago…that she found out her dad isn't really her dad."

Beckett tried not to let the shock register on her face.

"Did she tell you how she found out?"

"No…just that she knew he wasn't, and she wanted to know who was. She said she had a plan to figure it out…but she never told me what it was."

"Did anyone else know?"

"I don't know. She told me not to mention it to anyone, and I never did. She might have told Haven, or Trevor, but I have no idea. A few months after that she was telling me that she found out her dad wasn't who she thought he was. She seemed…sad. I asked her what she meant and she never really said. She just said that he wasn't the same person she thought, and that her life wasn't the only one he had messed up."

"Did she act any differently after she told you those things?"

"No. She seemed like she was working though whatever it was. I never asked her about it because…well…she didn't really talk about stuff like that very much an I didn't want to push it, ya know? Now I wish I would have."

"Sydney, did Victoria give you anything recently? Anything at all? A gift maybe?"

"Um…no. Oh, wait. A few months ago she burned a CD for me and Haven. It was a mix of all of our favorite songs from the summer. She borrowed my copy about a month ago. She said her itunes messed up and she wanted the songs back. She gave it back to me about a week ago."

"Can you find it for me?"

"Uh, sure…"

Sydney got up and dug through a few of her desk drawers before bringing back a CD case. She handed it to Beckett. She opened it slowly and there was a CD labeled "Summer Mix" on top. She pulled the CD off the middle holder and there was a blank, white disk underneath it.

"That wasn't there before." Sydney said, sounding surprised.

"Any idea what might be on it?"

"No, not at all."

"Do you mind if we take it?"

"Will you give it back…if its…personal?"

"If its not important to the case, I will personally bring it back to you tomorrow. I promise."

"Then sure, take it."

"Thank you Sydney. Can you think of anything else we need to know?"

"No…that's all I know. Haven might know more, or Trevor. Victoria…was protective of me. I think that's why she didn't come to me with her problems. She was so used to me coming to her with mine."

Beckett smiled sadly at Sydney. She could tell the girl was really reeling from the loss of her best friend.

"You've been a lot of help Sydney. If you need to talk…about anything…please call me."

"Thank you Detective Beckett. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Does it get easier? The hurt? You said you know what it feels like to loose someone. I can tell it was someone who meant a lot to you…and I just want to know."

Beckett blinked at the girl, a little surprised at the insight she had.

"Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't. There will be days when it is easier, a lot easier. Then there will be days when it hurts again, just as bad at it does today. What you learn, is that you can make it though. Even the worst days. I know right now it doesn't seem that way. But you can."

Sydney looked at her, contemplating her words for a while before smiling.

"Thank you…for telling me the truth."

Kate smiled. "Of course."

Castle got up and wordlessly followed Kate to the car. He brushed past her briefly, placing his hand in the small of her back as he did. Kate subconsciously leaned into his touch and he let his hand trail around the side of her hip as he moved past her to open the front door.