Author's Note: Sorry for the length of time between chapters, but I have exciting news: I published my first novel this past week! It's called Bounty and it's available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle format. Check it out!


Kate Beckett covered her mouth with the palm of her hand. The mention of Jerry Tyson's name created a rumble in her stomach that made her think she was about to be sick. Thankful she wasn't standing, because her knees felt so weak, Kate tightened her grip on Ricki's hand and locked eyes with her.

"Castle…"

"Tyson was here," Ricki admitted, squeezing Kate's hand when her eyes widened. "Just before you came home. He told me he was behind the whole thing. That he wanted to bring me down, make me take the fall for Tessa's murder, then kill me in prison before you had a chance to prove my innocence."

Kate's mouth hung open, her brow scrunched into a frown. "Castle, that…"

"Makes more sense than the idea that I could murder anyone, let alone cheat on you?"

Kate's shoulders slumped, and again both of her hands found Ricki's. The detective scooted closer to her fiancée, a sad smile spreading on her face as she shook her head. "Yeah," she whispered. "Sorry."

This time, Ricki frowned. "For what?"

"For having even the slightest doubt."

"Kate," Ricki shook her head, "If the evidence was as sound as Tyson made it seem, then I understand. I would've had some doubt, too. But tell me this: did you come here tonight to arrest me?"

A rueful smile crept onto Kate's face. "No." She squeezed Ricki's hand again, leaning in until their foreheads were touching. "This is the first time this whole thing has made any sense. But there's still one thing I don't get."

Ricki gave Kate a quick peck on the lips. "What's that?"

"How did he manage to get you in that security footage?"

"Well, we know Tyson's notorious for having partners or using doubles," Ricki mused before a knowing smile crept onto her face. Ricki got up and crossed to the island in the middle of her kitchen. She grabbed a folded-up newspaper that had been lying on the counter, scanning it before returning to Kate with a knowing smile on her face.

"And I think I just figured out how he did it," she added, handing the paper to her fiancée. "Look at the ad on the bottom of the page."

Kate read aloud as her eyes scanned: "Celebrity lookalikes, pay by the hour." She looked up at Ricki with a quirked brow before reading again. "J.K. Rowling, James Patterson…Ricki Castle."

Ricki beamed. "Ten bucks says we call that number, they'll tell us someone booked my lookalike around the time of that security cam footage."


Midtown…

Just as Ricki had predicted, the celebrity lookalike service had booked a Ricki Castle lookalike in the timeframe of the damning security footage. It took a bit of convincing and even a bit of threatening on Kate's part, but the company had given them the name and contact information for the woman who had portrayed Ricki, and the pair were set to meet her at a coffee shop in Midtown.

"Ms. Jenkins?" Kate offered a fake smile when the woman turned her head. "I'm Detective Beckett, NYPD, this is Ricki Castle. Thank you for meeting us."

The other woman's smile grew, and she held out her hand for a shake. "Oh, no problem. It's nice to finally meet the person everyone says I look like."

Ricki frowned and cocked her head to the side. "No offense, but…I don't see it."

Amelia Jenkins laughed and shook her head. "Well, not from straight-on, I don't. It's more of a…people see me from the side or from behind and they think I'm you."

"Perfect for security camera footage," Ricki leaned in and whispered.

"What was the nature of the job?" Kate asked.

"Just walk into some jewelry store with a girl on my arm," Jenkins shrugged. "I was given a cashier's check for $12,000 and asked to buy her a pair of earrings."

Kate reached into the leather-bound notepad she was carrying, producing a head shot of Tessa Horton and sliding it across the surface of the table. "Is this the woman you went to the store with?"

Amelia studied the photo with a furrowed brow before nodding. "Yeah. Yeah, that's her."

Kate returned the photo to her notepad before producing another one – this time, a mug shot of Jerry Tyson. She slid that one across the table as well. "Was this the man who set up the job?"

Amelia's brow furrowed even more and she shook her head. "Not sure. The agency called to give me the job. I don't know who contacted them."

Ricki frowned. "Did they tell you why they wanted you to do this?"

"They said it was some kinda Candid Camera-type thing," Amelia explained. "That girl was supposed to be under the impression that she was being woo'd by bestselling author Ricki Castle, but at the end, they'd pull back the curtain and she'd realize she was being punked."

Ricki visibly blanched as Kate shook her head. "And you agreed to that?"

"They were offering me five grand more than the asking price." Amelia shrugged. "My father's in hospice care, and I really needed the money."

Ricki and Kate exchanged a look.

"But here's the strange part," Amelia leaned in, her hands wrapped around a steaming mug of coffee. "They never filmed the 'gotcha' part. In fact, there were no cameras at all. I asked, and they told me they'd just use security cam footage, really hit home the 'voyeuristic aspect' of it."

"So what did you do?" Ricki asked.

"I went through with it," Amelia sighed. "I wouldn't have if I didn't need the money so bad." She tore her gaze away from the two women seated across from her, chewing on her lower lip. "What's this all about?"


That night…

Much of the drive back to Ricki's loft from the precinct had gone by in silence. While Ricki was now officially cleared of suspicion in Tessa Horton's murder, tensions were still high at the Twelfth – partly because Detective Esposito couldn't lose the stink eye and partly because Ricki told Captain McNulty that she was considering legal action over unlawful searching of her computer.

Not that Kate blamed Ricki; the fact that Esposito practically convicted her from almost the get-go was a sore subject among them all – Detective Ryan had even gotten a shot in once the investigation rightly turned to Jerry Tyson.

But as Kate drove them back to the loft, her squad car approaching a bridge, she could tell something else was bothering her fiancée. Ricki Castle was never one to brood, yet that was exactly what she was doing as she stared out the passenger's side window. Kate chewed on her lip, briefly wondering if she should pry.

Never mind the fact that were the situation reversed, Ricki would pry.

"You okay?" Kate finally asked.

"Tessa Horton is dead because of me," Ricki said softly, still staring out the window.

"Castle—"

"Tyson killed her to destroy me," Ricki insisted. "That freak's obsession with me cost an innocent person her life." The writer's voice shook and Kate could see the tears brimmed in her eyes, even in the dark of night.

"Castle—"

"I know what I said when we first met," Ricki continued. "I was flippant and I made that crack about psychopaths and mystery writers, but dammit!" Tears were starting to fall. "I should've never gone to meet Tyson in the first place. I should've found another way to do that research."

Kate reached over and grabbed Ricki's hand. "Ricki!"

Ricki blinked and swiped under her eyes with a sniffle.

"It's not your fault," Kate said, shaking her head and giving Ricki's hand a squeeze when the writer opened her mouth to protest. "It's not. Okay? You are not to blame for Jerry Tyson, and you are not to blame for what he did to Tessa Horton."

Ricki sniffled and shook her head. "But he's gonna get away with it."

"No." Kate shook her head. "He won't. It took me more than a decade to bring down the bastard who killed my mom, Castle. You really think I'm gonna let some half-baked psychopath slip out of my grasp?"

For the first time that day, Ricki cracked a smile, even through her watery eyes. The two women squeezed hands, the car stopped as a partition leading to the bridge had lowered. The draw bridge was open and a cargo ship was passing through.

They sat in silence again, Kate's thumb running soothingly back and forth over Ricki's hand. The cargo ship passed and the draw bridge lowered as Kate gripped the steering wheel tighter and prepared to start accelerating once the partition lifted. The car slowly began to roll again, and Kate kept her grip on Castle's arm.

"You'll see, Castle," she assured, "We'll get him."

Before Ricki could respond, though, both she and Kate were jostled forward in their seats as something rammed into their vehicle from behind. Kate locked the brakes, yet her tires skidded across the pavement, and she glanced into the side mirror to see a black SUV attached to her rear bumper, pushing the car along the road out of her control.

"Beckett…"

Kate cast a brief glance Ricki's way, her hands working the wheel back and forth as best she could, her foot now mashed against the accelerator in hopes of dislodging her car from the SUV. But their bumpers stayed locked until the SUV swerved to the right and the momentum sent the police cruiser careening head-on into a concrete barrier just on the other side of the bridge.

The car smashed into the barrier, bits of concrete flying free as sheet metal crumpled and airbag deployed. Kate's head snapped forward, the seat belt the only thing keeping her face-planting into the airbag. Once the car came to a complete stop, steam poured from under the hood, and both Kate and Ricki were trying to gather their bearings.

Ricki glanced over her shoulder with a groan, just in time to see the driver's side door of the SUV open, a shadowy figure emerging. She cringed as she turned to glance back at Kate, noticing their hands were still clasped together – which was impressive, given the force with which they had hit.

"Beckett…"

In that instant, the driver's side door yanked open and a hand grabbed Kate's shoulder. Ricki saw the detective's eyes fly open as her body was pulled out of the car, and Ricki struggled to undo her seat belt because her hands were shaking.

"Beckett!"

"Castle!" the voice called out, and Ricki's blood ran cold. "I got your girl!"

Whatever fog was in Ricki's head lifted, and without another thought, she opened the glove box and pulled out Kate's back-up piece. She briefly thought of asking Kate why there was no passenger-side airbag if they got out of this alive, but the writer quickly discarded that thought, pushing her door open and turning to point the weapon at Tyson.

"Ah ah ah," the serial killer chided, his left arm wrapped around Kate's neck and his right hand pointing a gun at her temple. "I wouldn't do that, Rebecca. Not unless you wanna find out what the inside of your girl's head looks like."

"Drop the weapon, Tyson!"

"Or what?" Tyson laughed. "You gonna put me down? You know how to use that thing?"

Ricki cradled the gun in both hands and set her jaw, hoping against hope that Tyson wouldn't be able to see her hands trembling. She wasn't good with a gun, and her nerves were shot after the car crash and because she saw that psychopath with a gun to her lover's head. She wasn't trained to handle situations like this, but she wasn't about to back down, either.

"I'm the one you want," she offered. "Let her go and take me instead."

"And here I thought you were a writer," Tyson sneered. "You of all people should know the best way to destroy a person is to take away the thing they love the most."

Kate's face scrunched in disgust at Tyson calling her a thing, and she jammed her right heel as hard as she could into Tyson's foot. He grunted in pain and loosened his grip just enough that Kate could slip free of his grasp, bringing her right elbow up to his nose and grabbing his weapon once he staggered back and cupped his hands over his face.

By the time Tyson recovered, his upper lip and fingers soaked in blood, he saw both women with weapons trained on him. He huffed a laugh and shook his head, raising his arms to his head.

"You were never gonna shoot me, Rebecca."

"Keep talking," Ricki said, cocking the gun, "and you'll see just how wrong you are."

The two women approached, their guns trained on Tyson's chest, and he took a step backward for every step they took toward him. The bridge was to Tyson's back, and before long, he was near the ledge. If he kept going, he would topple over the edge and into the river below. It would be a long fall, too – certainly not the sort of fall one would likely survive.

"Here's what's gonna happen," Kate said, gun steady in her right hand, "you're gonna disappear. You're never gonna come back, and you're gonna leave my fiancée alone."

"Now why would I do that?"

Neither woman answered, simply training their weapons at Tyson's chest, practically daring him to make them pull the trigger. The longer Ricki held the weapon, the more natural it felt in her grasp. She briefly wondered if there would be consequences if she were to discharge someone else's weapon, but with Tyson standing in front of her, Ricki couldn't be bothered.

"Trust me, Jerry, Detective Beckett's not someone you want on your tail."

Tyson shrugged. "Just another target for me once you're out of the picture."

No sooner did the words leave his mouth, both weapons discharged, spraying bullets into the serial killer's chest. He staggered back, eyes wide as the bullets tore into his flesh and blood sprayed onto the pavement. By the time Kate and Ricki emptied their respective clips, Tyson's body hurdled over the railing of the bridge and fell to the water below.

The resulting splash was distant, and by the time Kate and Ricki peered over the edge, the water was barely disturbed. The two women exchanged another glance, their free hands clasping together. Kate expelled a ragged breath, while Ricki shook her head.

Kate dropped the weapon and fished out her phone, bringing it to her ear. "This is Detective Kate Beckett, badge number 41319. There's been an incident involving a police officer and an NYPD consultant. Shots were fired."

Ricki's head wandered as Kate gave dispatch the details, and she glanced over her shoulder to look down into the water again. The surf had calmed by this point, no evidence of a human body having fallen into it moments before.

By the time Kate hung up, Ricki shook her head.

"I don't think he's dead."

"What?" Kate frowned and turned to look in the water again. "Castle…"

"I can almost guarantee once CSU and everyone else shows up, they won't find a body."

"Castle," Kate shook her head, "you know how many bullets we put into him? You know how far a fall that was? There's no way he's still alive."

Ricki locked eyes with Kate. "Then where's the body?"