Author's note: I'd like to thank a Guest, DREAMWRITER 08, southerngirl1, and TORONTOSUN for their comments. This chapter starts right were the last one left off. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

The mood was somber when Beckett returned to the precinct. Most of the detectives hadn't known Hayley very well, but they knew the Captain did. They also knew Hayley was one of the few good P.I.'s in New York, so her loss was felt by all. Castle hadn't known what to do with himself, so he'd come to the precinct too. Now he stood staring out of Beckett's office windows, his breathing the only thing that said he was still alive.

"Castle, are you sure you want to be here?"

He shrugged. "I don't know where else to be right now."

"You could be at home, with Alexis."

"She's not at home." He turned from the window and sat in a chair across from his wife. "She went to Hayley's place. Mother's with her."

There was a knock on the door frame. "Captain Beckett?"

"Tory. What are you doing here?"

"Esposito called. He said your current analyst had a personal connection to one of the victims. Thought it'd be best to have unbiased eyes on the surveillance footage."

Beckett put her head in her hands. "I didn't even think about Vikram."

"Does he know… yet?"

"Probably." Beckett stood and headed for the analyst's office. "Vikram?"

"I heard." Vikram was sitting with his head in his hands. "Did she suffer?"

Beckett turned to Tory and Castle. "Give me some space, guys." She closed the door and sat near Vikram. "She did. For a bit. I'm so sorry."

"Did she… never mind."

"Did she ask about you?" Beckett watched him fidget. "She asked me to tell you that she cared for you. I thought she'd be fine, so I told her to tell you herself."

Vikram sniffled. "Thanks, Captain. I wish I'd come to the hospital."

"There's nothing you could have done."

"I know. But I would have at least been able to say goodbye."

"Right. I'm sorry for your loss, Vikram. Truly."

"Thanks." He rubbed his face. "I think I'd like to take a couple days off, if that's alright."

"Of course. Tory's going to be taking over for this case."

"I've gotten to know her. She's good."

"She worked here before you did." Beckett stood and gave Vikram a hug. "Take care of yourself. I know what it's like to lose people. It can destroy you. Talk to someone, okay?"

He nodded. "Thanks, Kate."

Beckett opened the door to let Tory in. She gave Vikram a hug and her condolences and let him leave the room before she sat down at his station and got to work. She promised to let Beckett know when she had everything and the Captain went back to the bullpen. Ryan and Esposito were putting the information they had so far on the murder board. One picture went up very hesitantly and Beckett knew why. This was the spot they'd found Hayley.

"What else did you find at the crime scene?"

"There was a gun thrown into a dumpster a couple blocks from the crime scene." Esposito pointed to a photo. "Ballistics has it now. CSU found a few prints on it. Hopefully we'll get a name to match. Unis and cadets are combing the area looking for more throwaways."

"All the blood has been swabbed. Obviously most will match all the victims. We're hoping some will belong to others who were injured."

"Good. Keep me posted." Beckett returned to her office and found Castle. "I wondered were you went."

"You didn't need me there to talk to Vikram, so I came back here." He was back to staring out the window. "I feel like it should rain, you know?"

"Yeah." Beckett sat at her desk.

Castle sighed. "Did Lanie find something yet?"

"Not yet. She would have texted me if she had." Her phone buzzed. "There she is. Coming?"

"Yes."

"Hey, Lanie."

"Hey, girl." Lanie wrapped her arms around Beckett. "I'm sorry." She stepped back and turned to Castle. "Come here." She gave him a long hug too. "I'm so sorry."

"Thank you."

"What did you find, Lanie?"

Lanie launched into her report, refusing to break that tone of voice. "As you know, four male victims were D.O.A. One more died en route to the hospital, so that makes five male victims. Hayley Shipton was injured in the firefight, but passed away at the hospital. Now for what you don't know."

"Yes, please."

"I couldn't do an autopsy on Hayley."

Beckett's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"When I was doing the preliminary exam at the hospital, I found this in her wallet." Lanie handed Beckett an evidence bag with an autopsy exemption card in it. "She is an Orthodox Jew. They don't allow autopsies. Technically, if her life hadn't been in danger, she shouldn't have even had a surgery."

"So… we don't have any way of knowing how she died?"

"I didn't say that. I have the surgeon's notes and the operation video. Plus they recovered the bullet. I just can't do an in depth exam. What I can tell you is that it looks like she was hit by a ricochet. She wasn't a target."

Castle was struggling to control his emotions. "You're telling me that her death was just an accident? No one is going to be held accountable?"

"Castle…"

He turned and walked out. Lanie watched his back as he went down the hallway. "I'm sorry about this, Kate. There really is no good way to break that kind of news."

"I know. He's… struggling to understand this."

"Shall I continue?"

"Yes, please."

"Ballistics has all the bullets I recovered, so they'll tell you how many guns were involved."

Lanie went over the results with Beckett body by body. All of the victims had GSR on their hands, confirming that they had been shooters themselves. While they were going over Lanie's findings, the body of another one of the injured men arrived. His body showed signs of the operation he'd had before he succumbed to his injures. Lanie made sure the surgeon's notes had come with the body and the coroner's assistants left.

"Make that six male victims. And the last victim is still in critical condition. If he takes a turn for the worse, I may have his body here by the end of the day."

"Where is Hayley's body?"

"The hospital will send it straight to the funeral home." Lanie sighed. "I don't mean to sound so cold. It's just… I…"

"It makes it easier to deal with when you don't think of her as a friend."

"Yeah." Lanie handed the stack of reports to Beckett. "I know you have a job to do, but take care of him."

"I try."

"I know you do."

Castle was waiting by the elevator for Beckett. "I shouldn't have stormed out like that…"

"Castle, she's your friend. To hear that her death was an accident is never an easy thing to accept."

"Are we sure it was an accident? She has enemies."

Beckett's phone buzzed again. "Tory has something to show us."

Ryan and Esposito were waiting outside the A/V office for Beckett and Castle. "Hey, Captain. Tory says Castle may want to wait outside."

Castle bristled. "Why?"

"Hayley is on camera."

"I need to know what happened." Castle walked into the office.

Beckett shrugged and followed her husband inside. "What do you have for us, Tory?"

Tory's eyes were watching Castle. "I haven't gone through all of the footage yet, but I do have enough to show you what happened."

"Play it."

The playback opened on two groups of men acting tough and yelling at each other. There was no sound, but a cloud of smoke on one side and a man crumpling on the other marked when the shooting started. Hayley had walked into frame during the yelling, a slip of paper in her fingers. She'd glanced at the fight, but ignored it when she turned back to looking at the building numbers.

The first shot had Hayley whipping around to look at what was happening. The groups were moving apart as more guns came out and more shots were fired. Hayley was backing up toward the alley they'd found her in when her body jerked. She curled in on herself and when she straightened a little, she looked at a bloodied hand. She then stumbled into the alley and out of camera range.

Tory stopped the video. "I isolated a few frames." She pulled them up on the other screen. "It shows that the bullet that hit Ms. Shipton ricocheted off this light pole."

Castle was looking at the floor. "You're sure?"

"There were no guns pointed in her direction when she was hit, so yes, I'm sure."

Castle sighed. "I was hoping someone was responsible…"

"These guys are responsible, Castle." Esposito pointed at the screen. "They are responsible. Even if they can't be charged with her murder, they are still on the hook for her death."

"Yeah, Castle. We'll get them."

Beckett put a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Let me take you home, Rick."

Castle looked around the room and then nodded. "Okay."

First United Bank was closed for the day. Two security guards were on duty, one in the control room and one on the floor. Everything was dark outside, the false twilight of being in a city of tall buildings. The guard on the floor was getting bored. There wasn't a lot to do right now, but he had to patrol the floor anyway. He went around the room, checking that doors were closed and locked and that nothing was moving.

"Come in, Gary. Everything looks good."

"Copy, Peter. Ready to check the vault?"

"Open it up."

Peter headed for the vault and waited for Gary to unlock it. Once this check was done, the vault would be locked until 8am when the bank opened again. The light on the door went from red to green and Peter pulled the door to the vault open. He was about to step inside when he felt a sharp pinch on his neck. Before he could even question it, two hands gripped his shoulders and guided him to the floor. He was out before he reached it.

A masked woman secured Peter's wrists together and walked into the vault. She was looking for the largest box and didn't have a lot of time to look for it. Fortunately there was only one really large box. She'd stolen and made an impression of the master key a week ago and used the keys she'd made to open the box. That's when she saw what was inside. Rows of shelves with cardboard boxes on them. This security box was like a vault within the vault.

She walked down the aisle, looking for a box that was labeled HK4112013ED. On the third row, she found the box and opened it. The object she was looking for was inside. She took it out and put it in the bag slung across her back before putting the box back and getting out of the security "box". She closed the box and headed out of the vault too. She was just closing the vault door when she heard the security guard's radio squeal.

"Peter, come in. Please respond."

The women slunk into a shadow and waited. The guard, whose name was Gary according to his name tag, came running toward the vault to find Peter tied up in front of the door. Gary ran up to Peter and put his fingers on his partner's neck to check for a pulse. A moment later he felt a sharp pain at his neck. Within seconds, he was laying unconscious next to Peter.

The masked woman secured his wrists together too. "Amateurs."

A/N: I'm hoping I'm doing justice to Castle's reactions. Let me know what you think. Stay tuned!