Author's Note: I'd like to thank Miss Decka Decka, southerngirl1, and sxcthing123 for their reviews. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 36

They returned to the precinct in time to update the board and then called it a day. Beckett would have worked late into the night if it wasn't for the errand she needed to run. She got into her car and headed in the direction of Alex's apartment. Half an hour later, Beckett knocked on Alex's door and waited for her to hesitantly open it.

"Hey Alex. May I come in?"

Alex pulled the door open wider. "Sure."

Beckett stepped inside. "Alex, we need to talk."

Alex closed the door. "The Shadow Fox is back, isn't he?"

Beckett nodded. "How did you know?"

"Your expression." Alex sat down on the couch and pulled her knees to her chest. "Your demeanor, your posture."

Beckett joined her on the couch. "You've become a good detective."

"Years of experience." Alex looked out the window. "What's the weather been like?"

"A contract killer, who has tried to kill you twice I might add, is back in town and you want to talk about the weather?" Beckett was confused as to where this conversation was heading.

Alex turned back to Beckett with a wry smile. "I haven't been outside my apartment since the last attack. At least, not unless I needed to go somewhere. And Ewan always makes sure he's with me when I do." She paused, searching for the right words. "I'm a prisoner in my own home because I'm afraid. I see him around every corner, behind every bush. Ewan has to get my groceries for me because I can't get past the front door, let alone down the block."

Beckett was surprised. "You've always seemed so strong to me."

Alex nodded. "That was before."

Beckett paused before asking. "How's your arm doing?"

Alex pulled up the sleeve on her right arm. "It's getting better. At least the stitches are finally out."

Beckett looked at the scar. Because it was still somewhat fresh, it was an angry red line intersecting the almost white scar that ran from her wrist to her elbow. Smaller pink scars covered the rest of her arm; trophies from the first time the Shadow Fox attacked her.

Beckett felt bad for Alex. "I'm sorry." Alex pulled her sleeve back down. "Alex, I should have been closer. I'm sorry."

Alex gave a small smile. "It's okay. Really. You were close enough to keep me alive. The scars I can live with."

"Then why are you a prisoner?"

Alex looked out the window again. "Because I don't want to die."

Beckett leaned back and searched for something to say. "This may not help at all, but I remember this line from a movie. 'Courage is not the absence of fear, but the judgment that something is more important than fear.' I know you are not weak. You have the strength to do anything. You just need to find the courage to not let him rule your life."

Alex smiled. "The Princess Diaries. You're right, and I'll try."

Beckett smiled. "You can do it. I've got to go. Are you going to be okay?"

Alex nodded. "I'll try. Be careful."

"Always"

Kate arrived home just as dinner was served. "That smells delicious."

Rick smiled. "I hope it tastes as good as it smells. It was your recipe."

Kate grimaced as she hung up her coat. "I was supposed to teach you how to make it. I'm sorry, I forgot."

Rick pulled out her chair. "Don't worry about it. Lanie called and told me you might swing by Alex's tonight after work. What happened?"

Kate waited until her fiancé was seated. "The Shadow Fox is back."

Rick paused before pouring the wine. "How do you know it's him?"

"Strike pattern, bruising, and Lanie's wound mold. It was his work."

He passed Kate her wine glass and started to pour his own. "Who was the victim?"

"A research doctor working for Vertanin Pharmaceuticals," Kate paused to take a drink, "and she wasn't the first member of the team who was killed. A Dr. Taylor was killed in a supposed hunting accident. I've asked Lanie to get ahold of that autopsy report. I want to know if it really was an accident."

"You think it might have been a cover-up?"

Kate nodded. "The Shadow Fox has used things to try and cover up murders before. Our first victim was robbed to make it look like a robbery gone wrong. The latest was intended to look like a carjacking gone wrong. It wouldn't surprise me if Dr. Taylor's death was supposed to look like an accident."

Rick nodded. "Sounds like you don't need me there."

Kate smiled. "To solve cases? No. But I do like you being around. How's your manuscript coming?"

Rick shrugged. "I'm finished, but I'm not happy with it."

Kate swallowed. "Run it by me."

"Well, I've created a character based on Alex. The only thing wrong with that is I'm not sure if she'd be okay with it." He paused to take a bite. "It's a small character, so I could easily cut it out if I needed to. What I'm really not happy with is the resolution."

"Why not?"

"You know when you're watching a TV show and it gets cancelled in the middle of the season, so the writers have to Houdini an ending?" Kate nodded. "That's what I'm feeling with the ending I wrote."

Kate smiled. "You'll figure it out."

Rick shook his head. "That's just it, I'm not sure if I can. It feels incomplete and nothing I've tried has changed it."

Kate reached across the table and held his hand. "You are the one who usually finds a way to get us out of tough situations when I can't. You can do the same with your book." Rick finally cracked a smile. "I mean, come on. You're not a ruggedly handsome, bestselling author for nothing."

"Thanks." Rick went back to his food. "How'd I do?"

"It's delicious."

Beckett arrived at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building, which houses the FBI's New York Field Office, early the next morning. After going through the security checkpoint, she spoke with a guard in the lobby who directed her to the 23rd floor. She thanked him and boarded the next elevator.

The elevator made several stops along the way, but she finally arrived at the right floor. "Hi, I'm Detective Beckett. I'm looking into the death of Dr. Anita Mahra. I understand she came here with some information. I'd like to speak to the agent who took her statement."

The secretary at the front desk smiled politely. "Let me see if I can find out who talked to her." She typed for a couple seconds. "Looks like the case agent was Special Agent Robert O'Connor. Unfortunately, he's not in yet today. He should be in soon; would you like to wait for him?"

"Yes, please."

Agent O'Connor arrived a few minutes later and showed Beckett into his office. "Detective, I must admit I'm a little surprised to see you. I got the distinct impression that you were not pleased with my presence yesterday."

"I would imagine you know the saying about how well cops and Feds get along." O'Connor smiled and Beckett took a seat. "I'm here about the information Dr. Mahra brought to you. I'll admit I was a little surprised to find out you were the one who interviewed her."

O'Connor hung his coat on the back of his chair. "I just conducted the interview. My supervisor then determines whether or not the Bureau will act on it."

"Do you remember what you talked about?"

O'Connor shook his head. "You have to realize, we get hundreds of tips every day. Most of them don't mean a thing. I handle a lot of those interviews, so it can become hard to remember who said what sometimes."

Beckett nodded. "Can you tell me how to get to your supervisor's office?"

"I could, but it wouldn't do you any good." Beckett was about to protest, so O'Connor elaborated. "He's in DC; left last night and probably won't be back till late Thursday evening. The earliest you'll be able to see him is Friday."

3 days. "Your interview with her would be on file, am I correct?"

O'Connor straightened his tie. "Uh, no, it wouldn't. See, if no file was opened, then the interview wouldn't be kept. Anything else you need to know? Because I really have to get to work."

"No, that's it." Beckett stood and added, "For now," before she turned and left.

Esposito looked up as she walked in. "Any luck?"

Beckett hung her coat on her chair. "I found out that O'Connor was the Fed who interviewed her in the first place."

Ryan scoffed. "Funny, he failed to mention that."

Esposito nodded. "Did you find out anything at least?"

Beckett shook her head as she checked her "while you were out messages." "Nope. He was about as vague and unhelpful in his office as he was on the scene." Beckett updated the board. "Where are you guys on the carjacking angle?"

Ryan met her at the board to explain his notes. "Her car was found in Washington Heights. The parts had been stripped and there were no useable prints, mostly smudges."

"So it could have been a carjacking."

"Not unless the doer can be in two places at once." Ryan pointed to a picture. "This is the guy responsible for the carjackings in that area. Robbery thought it was a whole team of guys doing the robbing and stripping; turns out it was just one. Two nights a week, this guy would steal three cars each night and take them back to his warehouse. He used the rest of the week to strip those six cars for their parts. You know how they caught him?" Beckett shook her head. "A taxi driver put it together. He recognized him as a fare he had sometimes twice a night. He read about the robberies, matched his fares and discovered the pattern."

"And he's not responsible because…"

Esposito answered. "Because he got picked up the night before while boosting a ride. He's still in lockup."

Beckett nodded. "So he has an air-tight alibi. What about the dead co-worker?"

Esposito held up two files. "These just got here. Where do you want to start?"

"I'll take this one." Beckett took the autopsy report and headed down to see Lanie.

Lanie didn't even look up as Beckett walked in. "I haven't found anything that proves the Fox is innocent of this one."

Beckett smiled. "I'm not here about that. Well, not completely. I've got an autopsy report from a case in Maine I want you to look at."

Lanie's interest perked up a notch. "What's the Maine connection?"

"Co-worker." Beckett handed the file over to Lanie. "Dr. Victoria Taylor was killed in a hunting accident while on vacation with family."

"And you're not sure it was an accident." Lanie took the autopsy and crimes scene photos out of the folder and spread them out to take a look. "Was anyone ever arrested?"

"Not that I know of. Mahra's co-workers mentioned that the police couldn't tell who fired the shot." Beckett turned to the coroner's report. "It says she was shot from about 4 feet away."

"Standing up or lying down?"

"Um," Beckett scanned the document, "standing."

Lanie scoffed. "Idiots."

"Why's that?"

"Look." Lanie pushed the photo of the crime scene after the body had been removed to Beckett. "See the little pellets in the ground? She was shot after she was on the ground. And despite the lack of stippling, I'm guessing the shot was from less than two feet."

Beckett looked from the photo to her friend. "How can you tell?"

"Buckshot is pretty lethal because it spreads out after it is fired. When it hits a target from a distance, the shot is spread out a lot and imbeds itself in the target with a wide distribution. When it is fired from close range, the shot is still clustered fairly close together and in some cases can rip right through the target."

"So?"

Lanie pointed at the photo again. "These pellets went through her body and embedded themselves into the ground. This was no accident."

"It was murder." A possibility struck Beckett. "Could the killer have used buckshot to cover up the real cause of death?"

Lanie looked up. "Like a stab wound to the kidney?" Beckett nodded. "Absolutely, and if that is the case, her already compromised abdomen would make it even easier for the pellets to go right through her. If the killer is the Shadow Fox, and he used the buckshot to cover-up the real cause of death, he was smart enough to remove the evidence of stippling. That's why the M.E. messed up. I'm going to talk to the Medical Examiner's office up there and see about exhuming the body for further examination."

"Let me know what happens with that."

Beckett returned to the bullpen. "Lanie says Dr. Taylor's death was no accident. What have you guys found?"

Esposito hung up. "Not much. No one saw what happened and there wasn't enough forensic evidence to identify her potential killer."

"Nothing?"

"No fibers, prints, DNA, nothing." Esposito wrote it up on the board. "Apparently the family is less than thrilled about that."

Beckett glanced at the case file. "Where is the family?"

Ryan hung up his phone. "She's not married and doesn't have any kids, but her parents live in White Plains. They're on their way back from Maine now; should be able to meet with us some time tomorrow. Here's the address."

"Good." Beckett turned to look at the board. "We should…"

"Detectives, my office." Gates was frowning as she stepped away from the door. "Is it just me, or are you investigating a murder that happened a month ago well outside of our jurisdiction?"

"Sir, Dr. Taylor was part of Dr. Mahra's research team." Beckett was cut off before she could explain.

"So?"

Beckett was surprised. "So, I think it's connected."

"You think." Beckett nodded. "Well, I think that you don't need to add more to your plate. You already have one body. Don't make it two."

Esposito stepped in. "Captain, Dr. Mahra was killed less than a week after going to the FBI with information. We know the Shadow Fox was involved, so Dr. Mahra was most likely killed because of that information. We have to look into the possibility that Dr. Taylor was killed for the same reason."

"Dr. Taylor's death was ruled a hunting accident…"

Beckett interrupted. "Not according to Dr. Parish."

"Excuse me?"

"Dr. Taylor was murdered. The buckshot was an afterthought, most likely used as a cover-up." Beckett knew she was on thin ice now.

"Solve your case." Gates looked each of them in the eye before continuing. "Drop the Taylor case."

They mumbled, "Yes sir," and returned to their desks.

A/N: I did my best researching the properties of buckshot, but it is hard to get consistent data. Any predictions about what is going to happen? Drop me a comment and we'll see who is right!