Author's Note: I'd like to thank phnxgrl, TORONTOSUN, Chkgun93, and ElizabethMe2 for their reviews. Over 100 reviews for this story! Thank you guys sooooo much for continuing to read and review; it always makes my day to hear what you guys have to say!

Here's the next chapter. We're starting in Alex's perspective. Enjoy!

Chapter 39

Minutes earlier…

"Alex, come in here. I may have found something."

Alex went into his bedroom. "You found d'Estrees?"

He nodded. "She checked out of The Plaza half an hour after your visit and checked into The Muse. You remember that one."

"Zoratti, yes, I remember. Massage tables are heavy."

Sloan chuckled. "Well, after that, she went to Q3. I found a purchase on her credit card from the restaurant, so I'm assuming she ate there. It might be where she met The Gentleman. I was going to try hacking into their surveillance feed and accessing the archived footage to see what we can see."

She nodded. "If we're lucky, the restaurant has audio too."

"Not likely, but I'll check. Give me a few minutes."

"Yeah, sure." Alex returned to the main room and finished cleaning her knives. It had been a while since she'd spent that much time cleaning every nook and cranny of the blades. They could sometimes get surprisingly dirty in the least expected places. Once that was done, she quickly gave each a quick re-sharpening. Satisfied, she set about tidying the whole kit up.

"Got it!" Alex rejoined Sloan to see what he'd found. "There's no audio, but we have video."

"That's them. I really wish we could hear what they were saying." There was a knock in the door. "Who on earth could that be?"

Sloan switched screens and pulled up their security feed. "Looks like a food delivery guy. We didn't order anything, did we?"

Alex straightened up. "No, we didn't. Check the external cameras."

"All clear. Maybe he has the wrong address?"

"Maybe." Alex headed for the door. "I'll get rid of him." She opened the door.

The man was the first to speak. "Your delivery from Chop Chop."

Alex tried the brush off. "I'm sorry; I think you have the wrong address. I haven't ordered anything."

"1631 Walton Ave, apartment 4D?" He looked confused.

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

The man pulled a receipt out of the bag. "I'm just sent to deliver the food. This was the address I was given, here's the food."

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

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

Alex froze. The cops know. She realized what was happening; this man wasn't a deliveryman, he was an undercover cop who'd been sent in to verify that she was home. Most likely, he was wired, which meant that a SWAT team could be listening in and would also know that she was home. Soon, they would have the building surrounded and would move in to arrest her. They had to leave right now.

But first she needed to get rid of him. "How much?"

He handed her the bag. "Here you go. It's already been paid for."

"Thanks." She shut the door and headed straight for Sloan's room. "Grab what you need! We have to go! Now!"

Sloan had already grabbed his go bag and was shorting out his system. "I saw the SWAT team 30 seconds ago. Your go bag is already in the tunnel."

Alex sprinted back out to the living room and grabbed her knife kit. "Make sure to add this to it."

Sloan had moved the bookcase in his room away from the wall and set his bag in their rabbit hole. "Sure. Here's the petrol." He handed her a gas can they kept hidden in the tunnel. "I'll help in a second."

Alex grabbed the can and started drenching the main room. Sloan joined her a few seconds later with another gas can. Her can emptied out and she dropped it in the kitchen before heading to her room and grabbing her engagement ring box. There was no way she was leaving that here.

Sloan was heading for the tunnel when she emerged. "The cops are outside. We need to go."

She took the lighter from him and handed him the ring. "I'll catch up."

He nodded and disappeared into his room. Alex spread a bit of putty on the pin of the lighter so it would stay lit when she let go. Just as she finished, the door was kicked in. Alex flicked her thumb across the wheel as they swarmed in. They quickly came to a stop at the sight of her holding a lit lighter in a gas soaked room and realized that the place was ready to go up.

Alex noticed Beckett behind the SWAT team as one of them lowered his weapon slightly. "Alexandra Stevens, drop the lighter!"

Alex smirked; okay, if you say so. "Very poor choice of words." And she dropped the lighter.

As the gasoline ignited, Alex made a break for Sloan's room. The SWAT men were retreating, but one of them managed to get a shot off before she was out of their sight. Alex flinched as she felt the bullet graze her side just above the hipbone. That's going to leave a mark. She entered the passage and closed the bookcase to prevent the fire from entering their escape route anytime soon.

Sloan was waiting for her fifty yards down the tunnel and handed over her go bag. "You're bleeding."

"We don't have time for that now; we got to move."

They hurried down the narrow, Prohibition-era tunnel, navigating the twists and turns with ease. Alex was sad to lose that house, but of all the safe houses to be living in when the cops came to call, this one was the best one. They went down the last flight of stairs and swung the faux furnace in the basement of the building at the other end of the block out of their way to exit the tunnel.

Alex paused long enough to sit down and bandage her injury while Sloan opened the second tunnel that would get them beyond the police line. He helped her stand when she was ready and they continued on their escape. On the street above them, the sound of fire truck sirens let them know that they were still close to the scene, so they ignored the first two exits. Looks like they would have to travel the entire length of the tunnel to reach safety.

One hour later...

Beckett sat on the back of an ambulance holding an oxygen mask to her face as she watched the firefighters extinguish the blaze. Castle was on his phone with his mother, reassuring her that they were okay. Ryan and Esposito were sitting on the neighboring ambulance with oxygen masks too. Like her, they'd been helping get everyone out of the building after the fire had been set. A couple members of the SWAT team had already been transported to the hospital to get treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns. The rest had ignored the paramedics and spread out with a group of uniforms to search the area for Alex.

One of the EMTs came over to Beckett and quickly checked her out. "You should be okay now. Try not to talk too much or cough. And don't be surprised if your voice sounds a little raspy when you talk."

Beckett nodded. "About how long will that last?"

"A few days at the most. Just take it easy. If your voice starts getting worse, or it starts getting really hard to breath, go to the ER. If you're planning on going back in there after the fire is out, wear this," he handed her a dust mask, "it'll help keep smoke and ash out of your lungs."

She nodded her thanks and he moved to check out her partners. She made her way over to Castle, but didn't interrupt as he started to end his call. The residents of the building were grouped together across the street and down the block a little ways. Paramedics were moving through the crowd, checking people out and treating injuries.

Castle's call was wrapping up. "I promise we'll be careful. Bye, Mother."

"Have you spoken to Alexis?"

"Your voice sounds raspy; you sure you're okay?"

Beckett coughed. "EMT said that'd be normal for a few days."

Castle nodded as he pulled her into his arms. "Yeah, I've already talked to her. She's glad we're okay." He wrapped his arms tighter around her. "You smell like smoke."

Beckett smirked into his shoulder. "Imagine that."

He laughed. "I'm glad you and the boys made it out okay."

"Thanks for directing the residents to safety."

"I didn't like being away from you. I was worried you might not make it out of there."

Beckett gave him a kiss. "But I did. So stop worrying. I'm just glad we got everyone out of there."

The boys made their way over to their friends. "Mind if we cut in?"

"You guys sound like Kate."

Esposito shrugged. "I'll take a raspy voice over crispy barbeque any day."

Beckett smiled. "Cheers to that."

Ryan brushed some ash off his shirt. "So we found Alex, but she got away. Again. Any ideas where she might head or how she got away?"

Castle looked up at the buildings in their immediate proximity. "The buildings here either look really old or brand new. I'm guessing the older buildings could be Prohibition Era. Maybe her apartment was connected to an old bootleg tunnel."

"Kevin!"

The group turned to see Jenny running toward them. Ryan left them and met her halfway, wrapping his arms around her and letting her know he was okay. Esposito left Beckett and Castle a moment later as he spotted Lanie searching the crowd for him. She didn't see him until he had almost reached her and she threw her arms around his neck, pulling him into a passionate kiss. Ryan and Jenny were kissing now too, her cheeks shinning with tears.

Beckett turned back to Castle. "I should give my Dad a call. Let him know I'm okay."

He squeezed her hand. "Okay. I'll give you a few minutes."

Beckett pulled out her phone as he walked away and punched in the familiar number. "Hi, Dad."

"Katie, what happened to your voice? Is everything okay? Where are you?"

"I'm fine Dad. We tried to make an arrest, but the suspect set the place on fire. We had to help evacuate the building. I'm fine. Everyone got out safely."

"And your voice? That's from the smoke?"

She nodded even though he couldn't see her. "Yeah, the paramedics already checked me out. I promise, I'm fine."

"Good. I'm glad to hear you're okay. So, I'm guessing the suspect got away. Do you know where she'll go?"

Kate heard what sounded like a news report in the background. "You've turned on the news. I guess it's already public."

"Sorry you missed her again, Katie. You'll get her; just like you got Bracken for killing your Mom."

"Thanks, Dad." Kate coughed. "I should go. I'm not supposed to do much talking right now."

"Thanks for calling. Take it easy."

"I will."

"I love you, Katie."

"I love you too, Dad." Beckett ended the call as Castle rejoined her. "Hey."

"Hey." Castle pulled her into another hug. "Was he worried?"

She nodded against his chest. "The voice isn't helping things much. Alex's escape is already all over the news, by the way."

Castle looked up and hastily let go of Beckett. "Gates is here and she doesn't look happy."

Gates strode over to them. "How'd she manage to get away? What tipped her off?"

"My guess is when the undercover used Brebnor's name, she realized we were here. I wouldn't be surprised if they both have several aliases."

Gates nodded. "And Brebnor isn't the one they're using right now." She looked up at the building. "She sure made a mess here."

Beckett glanced around at the firefighters beginning to pack up their equipment. "It looks like they got the blaze out."

As if he'd heard Beckett, the fire chief came over to the group. "Detective Beckett?"

"I am."

"My men are doing a safety walk-through of the building right now. If everything is safe, we'll let your team in to take a look at the crime scene. Shouldn't be too long now."

"Thank you."

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