Author's Note: I'd like to thank TORONTOSUN, southerngirl1, Chkgun93, and phnxgrl for their reviews. We're starting up right where the last one left off. Enjoy!

Chapter 38

Beckett and Castle arrived at the alley to find a few blue and whites blocking the mouth from the few looky-lous in the area. Lanie was leaning against the wall waiting for them, and CSU techs were busy taking photographs and collecting evidence. Lanie saw them and pushed off the wall to meet them.

She sighed as they got close. "Any chance the killers of this city could take a break? I've had enough bodies in the past couple of days to last me a few months."

"Is it gruesome?"

Lanie gave Castle a look. "Blood and guts don't bother me, Castle. It's the number of bodies who've found their way to my slab that bothers me."

Beckett smiled; she knew the feeling. "What do you have for me?"

"Single gunshot wound to the back of the head. Body's over here." Lanie led the way. "Blood spatter on the walls suggests the victim was killed here and then thrown into the dumpster. There's no I.D. besides the name badge."

Beckett pulled out the photo of the missing Plaza employee when they arrived at the body. "Victim's name is Cody Shaw. He worked for The Plaza. Alex was spotted there little over an hour ago. Ryan was sent the hotel's surveillance footage."

Lanie looked like she deflated a little. "Am I about to get another call about a body?"

"I hope of not. We're running out of boards." Beckett looked down at Cody's body. "Dirt on the knees, blood spatter low on the walls; he was kneeling when he was shot."

"He was executed." Castle looked out toward the street. "He was killed in full view of the street."

"Maybe. There could have been a car at the mouth like the blue and whites. That would have blocked a visual. Did anyone hear anything?"

One of the uniforms stepped forward. "My men canvassed the area. No one heard anything."

"So they might have used a silencer." Beckett looked around the alley. "No cameras."

"What's that?" Castle was pointing to something resting in the lift tracks of the dumpster.

Beckett came over to look. "Looks like a card." She took a glove out of her pocket and picked up the card. "Well, this is better than a brand. The Gentleman is responsible for this man's death."

Castle looked at the card to see the monogrammed letter "T.G." "Think we'll get fingerprints?"

Beckett shook her head as she dropped the card into an evidence bag. "He's too careful to make that kind of a mistake."

Lanie gestured to her assistants. "I'll get started on the autopsy; let you know what I find."

"Thanks, Lanie." Beckett handed the evidence bag to a CSU Tech. "We should probably get to The Plaza and see what Ryan found."

Esposito was waiting for them in the lobby of The Plaza when they arrived. "Did Strasse come here too?"

He shook his head. "No, I struck out following her trail. Ryan called and sent me here. The bartender remembered seeing her and said it looked like she was waiting for someone to arrive. He didn't see her leave, and no other attendants remembered seeing her."

"So who called in the sighting? Cody?"

Ryan had just arrived. "Security when they re-watched the video. And I noticed something interesting when I watched." He handed Beckett a still. "Here is Alex getting onto elevator four. Here's the shot from inside the same elevator." He handed her a second still.

"She's not in the elevator." Castle looked up. "The video was looped?"

Ryan nodded. "We don't know what floor she got off on or where she went. Security is checking on the guests now to make sure everyone is okay."

Beckett nodded. "Are the rest of the employees accounted for?"

Esposito nodded. "Manager confirmed. Here he is."

The manager came up to the group. "All the guests are accounted for. Have you found Cody yet?"

Beckett nodded. "Unfortunately, he was murdered about three blocks south of here. Is there a way to see what he looked up when he spoke to the Shadow Fox?"

"Yes." The manager led them into an office and pulled up Cody's last log in. "He looked up the information for Jacqualine d'Estrees. She had a 'Do Not Disturb' order, so I doubt Cody told Ms. Stevens which room she was in."

"I'd still like to talk to her. Which room is she in?"

"I'm afraid she checked out half an hour ago." The manager stood. "The maid service will have turned over the room by now, but I can let you take a look. We haven't filled the room yet."

"Thank you." Beckett and her team followed the manager up to room 1236. He let them in and stood back as Beckett and the boys moved in to clear the room. "Clear." She holstered her weapon. "We'd like to have CSU come in to print the room; shouldn't take too long. We'd like to have evidence that Ms. Stevens was in this room."

The manager nodded. "As long as it won't take too long; we have a reservation for this room tomorrow."

"It won't take more than a couple hours." The manager left and Beckett turned to her team. "You two stay with CSU and tell me what they find. Castle and I will return to the precinct and try to track down d'Estrees."

"You got it."

Castle hit the button to call the elevator. "Why would Alex be interested in d'Estrees if she wasn't going to kill her?"

Beckett shrugged. "Maybe d'Estrees had hired her to kill someone, but would only tell her who the target was in person."

"Maybe." The elevator arrived and the couple boarded it. "By the way, I was hoping we might be able to set a date soon."

Beckett smiled. "I have a couple in mind actually. I'd just like a few more days to decide. Deal?"

Castle smiled as the elevator reached the lobby. "Deal. Are you still leaning toward the Roosevelt?"

"No, I'm not leaning anymore. I'm positive that's the location."

He nodded. "Good. That was my favorite too."

Beckett pulled her phone out of her pocket as it started to ring. "Beckett."

Gates was on the other side. "An anonymous tip just came in. Another Alex sighting. This one claims that she lives at 1631 Walton Avenue in the Bronx. I've already sent SWAT, but you might want to get over there yourself."

"Thank you, sir." Beckett ended the call and started dialing another number. "That was Gates, there's been another Alex sighting today. Possibly the location of her safe house." She put the phone to her ear as they exited The Plaza. "Esposito. Have security hold the room for CSU. I need you to grab Ryan and meet us at 1631 Walton Avenue in the Bronx." She ended the call as she got in the car. "Let's go."

They pulled up to the SWAT setup three blocks from the suspected safe house and parked before they donned their vests. Beckett also checked her gun out of habit even though they wouldn't be going in right away. Today they might get lucky and arrest Alex. Beckett paused as she holstered her gun. She was actually unsure if she wanted to arrest Alex today. Yes, Alex had murdered a lot of people and should be punished for that. But she's also been protecting me and Castle for several months, and Castle's life is still being threatened by The Gentleman. And then there were all the bad guys she'd also been taking out lately. Would capturing Alex today really be the best course of action?

Beckett shook herself. I'm a cop, and it's my job to arrest her. It didn't matter how much Alex had been protecting her, she had a duty to put killers behind bars. And as much as she hated to admit it, Alex was a killer. Maybe she hadn't become a killer by choice, after all, her childhood had been stolen from her by Rathborne, but she was still a killer. Once upon a time Beckett would have been happy to call Alex a friend, but that was before the truth had come out. Now it was time for Alex to be stopped.

Castle had noticed Beckett's hesitation. "What's up?"

Beckett shrugged. "I hope SWAT doesn't kill her."

Castle smiled and patted her shoulder. "Me too."

The SWAT commander came up to them. "You Detective Beckett?"

Beckett nodded. "I am."

"Commander Martin Chamberlin. My men are ready to go in. We've sent an undercover in to confirm that she's home. He's posing as a food deliveryman."

Beckett followed Chamberlin to the lead vehicle. "Has he made contact yet?"

"Not yet. We were waiting for you. We know from the tip that the boyfriend lives there too, but we don't have a name for him."

"It's Ewan Brebnor. We think he's her tech man."

"That helps." Chamberlin picked up his radio. "Okay Desh, we have a name for you. The boyfriend is Ewan Brebnor."

"Rodger that. I'm on the approach."

"Leave the mike open."

"Copy that. Taking out the earpiece now."

They listened as Desh knocked on the door. For a couple minutes, there was no answer. Beckett was beginning to think that they had missed Alex or that something had tipped her off and she'd already run when the door opened.

Desh was the first to speak. "Your delivery from Chop Chop."

Alex had been the one to answer. "I'm sorry; I think you have the wrong address. I haven't ordered anything."

"1631 Walton Ave, apartment 4D?"

"That's my address, but I didn't order anything."

It sounded like Desh pulled something out of a bag. "I'm just sent to deliver the food. This was the address I was given, here's the food."

Alex sighed. "I understand you have a job to do, but I'm telling you that I didn't order anything."

"Um, it looks like a Ewan Brebnor was the one to place the order."

There was a pregnant pause.

Beckett shook her head. "She knows. Move your men into position."

Chamberlin grabbed his radio and walked off. "Move into position."

Alex finally responded. "How much?"

"Here you go. It's already been paid for."

"Thanks." The door closed.

One minutes later, Desh spoke again. "I'm clear. She's home. I didn't see the boyfriend."

Chamberlin had returned and held up the radio again. "Get back here. We're going in in 60 seconds and I want you clear."

Beckett waved the boys over as they approached. "My partners are here. We want to join the team."

He nodded. "That's fine, but stay in the back. I don't want you to get hurt if things get messy."

Ryan and Esposito came up to them. "What's up?"

"She's home and we're going in. You guys ready?"

Esposito checked his shotgun. "Ready. Let's go."

The group followed the SWAT team as they made their way to the building. Castle was behind Beckett, making sure to stay out of everyone's way. He knew this collar was important, which meant it was his job to make sure he wasn't the reason something went wrong. He glanced at Beckett's back. For some reason, she was reluctant to arrest Alex; he could tell when they got out of the car and geared up. Maybe it had to do with the whole guardian angel thing Alex had going on right now, but there was something. Castle decided he'd have to ask Beckett about it later.

In the hallway, the SWAT team paused, guns ready, waiting for the go ahead. Their commander nodded and the door was kicked in. The men swarmed into the apartment and Beckett moved to the doorway. She was about to cross the threshold when she noticed two things simultaneously: one, the men had come to a dead stop just a few feet into the apartment, and two, the smell of gasoline was burning its way through her nose.

Beckett glanced at the apartment floor and noticed that it was wet. She glanced up and saw Alex through a gap between two of the SWAT guys. She was just standing there, looking at the men. In her hand was a lighter, a lit lighter. She's going to burn the place down.

Chamberlin lowered the barrel of his gun slightly. "Alexandra Stevens, drop the lighter!"

Alex smirked. "Very poor choice of words." And she dropped the still lit lighter.

A/N: Uh-oh. Leave a review! Thanks!