Mia was beside herself the next morning as she entered the precinct. She was agitated and nervous. What she thought would be fairly easy, especially considering she had her mother and the great Richard Castle backing her up, turned out to be fairly trying.

The last thing Mia wanted to do was come face to face with the man that had murdered Sara, even if Tony hadn't held the weapon-he was the reason she was dead. He was also the man who'd tried and failed to lure Mia into his web, and she knew he resented her because of it. Although the teen knew that there would be a room separating them, and that he would never see her through the two-way mirror, the thought of seeing him again made her stomach turn. Just the thought of him made her feel sick inside, made her feel dirty.

As if reading her thoughts, Kate took Mia's hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "I won't leave you alone. I promise." The detective told her daughter. Mia nodded; she still felt a nervous twist in her stomach.

"Besides, there is somebody more important for you to see first." Kate added, opening the door to the precinct break room.

Her eyes teared up immediately when she saw Emmanuella. The younger girl jumped from the chair she'd been seated in and flew at Mia. Her arms wrapped around the teen's neck as she squeezed.

"I'm so sorry I didn't get away." The younger girl sobbed, thinking back to the rainy night she'd been caught. "I thought I'd never see you again." Mia simply squeezed harder. She knew exactly how Emmanuella felt. She struggled with her own regret and guilt over how they'd been separated.

Mia took a long look at her only true friend in the world. Emmanuella looked good. She looked clean, her hair hung behind her head in a French braid and she wore clothes that appeared to be new. They were certainly a lot nicer than anything that either of the girls had previously owned. Emmanuella smiled broadly,

"You'll never guess who I found." She spoke, motioning to her older sister. It was then that Mia noticed that there was someone else in the room. She was tall, thin and worn-looking, but also had a warm and loving feel about her. Mia could tell that she liked the young woman already. She was leaning against the back wall quietly, giving the girls the space they needed.

"You found your sister." Mia stated. She didn't need the confirmation. It was clear that the woman was related to Emmanuella. They had the same high cheek bones and the same chin. She had to be the long-lost sister Emmanuella spoke of. Mia was glad to see that she looked to be clean and sober.

The woman smiled, her black hair was tied back and she was wearing some sort of uniform with a restaurant logo on the front. "I understand that you took care of my baby sister. You fed her and kept her safe from harm while I could not." She reached for Mia's hand and took it.

"I'm Marina. Thank you for keeping her safe so that she could come back to me." The young woman, who didn't look to be too much older than Alexis wiped the tears that fell onto her cheeks with the back of her other hand. Mia smiled, glad to see that Emmanuella was no longer alone in the world.

Mia turned around when she sensed her mother and Castle approach, smiling at the sensation of having them there to support her. She then turned to hug her young friend again. It would seem that they'd both found their families.

"I already talked to Marina." Emmanuella stepped forward, glancing knowingly at her older sister before continuing, "and if you want- you can come and stay with us." The young girl offered, smiling hopefully to Mia. Marina nodded to confirm that she was content with her younger sister's offer to Mia.

"Actually, I found my family too." Mia admitted softly.

Emmanuella looked interestedly to Rick Castle. She knew the author and the detective had said they knew where Mia's birth mother was, but she honestly believed they were just making it up. The only reason she led the man to Mia was because she knew her friend had been desperate to find the author in the past. The likelihood of actually locating Mia's mother from a signed book seemed tiny at best.

Emmanuella looked to Mia expectantly and she nearly fainted in the next moment when her friend reached behind her to take the hand of the detective. It didn't take the girl long to catch on to the meaning of Mia's gesture.

"Holy shit!" Emmanuella stated, slapping her hand across her mouth. The three adults in the room looked to the young girl with amusement.

"No! " The ten year old looked positively scandalized.

"Seriously? Your mom is a cop?" Emmanuella grabbed Mia's wrist and pulled her into the corner. Soon they were both laughing.

Beckett smiled as the two girls began to chatter away. It seemed the two girls had a lot of catching up to do. She looked at her watch and sighed. It was nearly noon and she knew she couldn't put off what they'd come in to do for much longer.


Both Mia and Emmanuella inhaled nervously as they walked quietly into the observation room, waiting for the suspect to be escorted to the interrogation room on the other side. Part of her wanted to put it off, but Mia knew that the sooner they identified him the faster this would all be over.

"Step right in here." Detective Ryan instructed the suspect. The girls watched as the lights came on and the familiar man seated himself at the table. They both felt vulnerable. Even though they knew that Tony couldn't see them both girls were filled with the urge to run.

Beckett whispered softly to both Mia and Emmanuella. "We've already got Sara's killer. We need to get the videos; we need to tie Tony to the crime. If we can do that, if you can confirm you know him and tell us what you know about him we should have enough to tie him to child pornography, solicitation of a minor and sex trafficking too."

Mia nodded resolutely, proud that she could play such a pivotal role in bringing the man to justice. She swallowed back her fear, determined that Tony would never have the opportunity to prey on another child again.

"Yeah. I know him. He offered me money to strip at his club. He tried to pay me to take off my clothes and take naked photos too." Mia confirmed by gesturing toward him. "That's definitely the man Sara was stripping for… Amber too."

"Allowing a seventeen-year- old to strip will do it. As long as Amber testifies along with you, we've got him."

"17?" Mia questioned in confusion. "Amber isn't 17, she's 15. Put that sick son of a bitch away for luring a 15 year old, not a 17 year old." Mia's voice sounded much older. She was filled with conviction and Castle could swear she was channeling Kate Beckett, and possibly Johanna Beckett at the same time.

Evidently, Amber had lied about her age. Kate understood that it was most likely out of fear. She squeezed Mia's shoulder, filled with pride over her daughter's dedication to finding the truth. Castle stood quietly in the corner observing the exchange, also struck by the similarities Mia shared with Kate. They weren't just physical, but behavioral as well. Both women were bold and tenacious. They sought out truth and justice above all else-even and especially when it would have been easier to run away. The writer was filled with pride.

He was startled from his musings by a sudden opening of the door,

"Yo, Beckett. We've got a problem." Esposito spoke.

Ryan remained in the interrogation room with Tony, waiting on confirmation that he'd been identified by Mia as the man who'd tried to solicit her; the man who'd hired Sara and Amber as strippers.

"Evidently, the Kitty Kat Club mysteriously caught fire." He spoke with mild disbelief.

"The club burned down?" Kate spoke incredulously.

"Was reduced to ashes. Fire Marshall is investigating. It will be a while before we know the cause, but apparently some sort of explosive was involved. In the mean time all of Tony's computers, all of his equipment is gone. ..All the damned evidence we wanted a subpoena for is toast." The anger and frustration was evident in the detective's voice.

"Son of a Bitch." Kate spoke bitterly. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her anxious colleagues.

"That's ok. We've still got a positive ID, and we've got witnesses willing to testify."

"Actually, no…" Now Gates interjected, stepping out of her office to join the conversation. It was clear she'd come to deliver more bad news.

"We've got another problem." Captain Gates interjected, approaching Kate and speaking with a low voice. The older woman was trying to keep the girls from hearing her news "It's about Amber. She's gone."

"What do you mean she's gone?" Kate exclaimed back in shock. Amber was their central witness. She'd seen Sara's murder and could testify to being solicited, coerced into pornography and to witnessing Tony's attempts on Mia.

"Her social worker called this morning. She ran away- left a note that she had to get something. There was something that she needed. She promised to come back, but that was hours ago and nobody has seen her."

Kate ran her fingers nervously through her hair, fear and desperation began to grip her as she felt the case she'd built against Tony slipping away. She turned to look at the murder board, grasping for any hope she could.

"We've got to find her. We need to get her back to safety now."

"Where would she have gone?" Esposito piped up.

Once again on the same page, Castle and Beckett both shouted in unison,

"The abandoned building!" They both knew Amber would go back to their flat in Alphabet city.

"You mean the abandoned building that Tony and his goons know they've been living in?" Esposito clarified with urgency in his voice.

"If Tony's guys get wind she's back on the streets they'll kill her!" Castle stated ominously.

"Why would she go back there?" Kate exclaimed, her hand rubbing her temple as she paced nervously.

"She'd want to get her stuff. She only has one picture of her parents and it means everything to her." Emmanuella chimed in unexpectedly.

It was apparent that the girls had overheard.

"Don't worry." Emmanuella spoke confidently, "Mia's gone to bring her back."

Panic filled both Castle and Beckett as they looked around.

Mia was nowhere to be found.