*Ahem, yes, this is a new chapter. I can't even offer an excuse for my complete neglect of this story. I apologize most sincerely, and I hope you enjoy this new and rather informative chapter. Happy Reading!

(Kate)

Kate stepped into her shower, sliding the glass door closed as she cranked the water up as hot as she could stand. Still disoriented and unsteady from a near sleepless night, she braced her hands against the wall and the door as she stepped under the spray. The scalding water and a few deep breaths soon calmed Kate down enough that she could stand on her own. She reached for her shampoo, the familiar cherry scent calming her even more.

She was stretching to replace the bottle when she heard his voice. "Kate…" It was barely a whisper, but it pierced straight through her heart. "Stay with me, Kate. I love you." The shampoo slipped from her numb, shaking fingers, the echoing thud from it hitting the ground startling her.

"C'mon, baby, don't leave me. Don't leave me." Her own voice mingled with Castle's, their desperate pleas from months apart meshing together into a warped conversation that had Kate huddled on the floor of her shower, gasping for breath.

"I love you, Kate."

"Castle, what's wrong?"

"Stay with me, okay?"

"Castle."

"Don't leave me, please."

"Damn it, Rick, stay with me. You can't leave me."

"Kate…Why me?"

"Please don't give up now. Not when I'm so in love with you that losing you would kill me, too."

"Why me?"

"Stay with me, Castle."

"Kate…"

"I love you. I love you…"

Kate flinched as her ringtone echoed through the bathroom. She stifled a whimper as the voices faded and her breathing returned to normal. She managed to get out of the shower and answer her phone before it stopped ringing. "Beckett," she said breathlessly, clearing her throat.

"Hey, boss," Ryan greeted her. "You gonna be in soon, or do you need a few more hours of beauty sleep?"

Kate reached for her watch, cursing under her breath when she realized she'd been in the shower for almost forty-five minutes. "I'll be in as soon as I can," she told him. "We got anything new today?"

"Nah," Ryan said nonchalantly. "I mean, Hannah Foster called to let us know she's back in the city and she'll be dropping by in about ten minutes, but other than that…"

Kate closed her eyes for a moment. "Shit," she muttered, pulling her clothes on without bothering to dry off. "Keep her on ice until I get there. I'll be twenty, twenty-five minutes tops."

"The brother's coming in with her," Ryan warned. "What do you want done with him?"

She pulled a brush through her hair, pondering the question. "Keep them separated," she instructed, "but don't make it obvious that that's what you're doing."

She could almost see Ryan nodding as he absorbed her directions. "You still think the brother knows more than he's telling?" he asked.

"I know he knows more than he's telling," Kate clarified, staring down the hall. She tiptoed through the living room where her dad was snoring on her couch. She lowered her voice to a whisper as she adjusted the throw blanket that was in grave danger of falling on the floor. "I'll see you soon."

After strapping on her gun and clipping her badge to her waist, Kate pulled on her boots and went to the front closet to grab her jacket. She hesitated for a minute before snatching her motorcycle helmet as well. Her dad really didn't like her riding in the winter, but it would get her to the precinct the fastest. And the sooner she solved this case, the sooner the voices would disappear.

(Ryan)

Ryan peered through the glass into Interrogation One, attempting to get a read off of Hannah Foster. The pretty African-American girl was nervous, but he couldn't tell if it was from guilt or the mere fact that she'd been sitting in an interrogation room alone for ten minutes. He glanced out into the bullpen where Esposito was maintaining a watchful eye over the brother, Will. Even from the observation room, Ryan could tell that Will Foster was sneaking uneasy glances at the Murder Board.

Ryan turned back to study Hannah, who was now drumming her fingers on the table. He sighed impatiently, trying not to fault Beckett for being late. However, there had been too much gossip about the case going cold for him to be comfortable with losing any more time, especially when they finally had a substantial lead.

Not a minute later, Ryan heard the sharp click of Beckett's heels entering the bullpen. Her footsteps stopped for a few moments, then started up again, drawing closer until Ryan could see her reflection in the two-way glass. He raised an eyebrow at her as she bit into a banana chocolate chip muffin.

Beckett returned his look in the mirror, swallowing her bite. "These muffins are awesome," she commented offhandedly.

"I know," Ryan replied. "Baked fresh last night."

"Did you make these all by yourself, Ryan?" Beckett teased, savoring another bite.

He hesitated. "Jenny helped," he admitted, avoiding her eyes. He didn't have to look to know that she was smirking.

"How adorably domestic," she said, popping the last bite into her mouth.

Ryan turned to face her, ready to make a smart remark, when he got a good look at her for the first time. Her eyes were bloodshot and tired, underscored by dark circles that she hadn't had time to cover up. She was paler than usual, and her collarbone and cheekbones were slightly more prominent than they'd been a week ago. Worst of all, she looked so sincerely grateful for the damn muffin that Ryan couldn't even be mad that she'd eaten the last one.

Beckett ducked her head in an attempt to avoid his scrutiny. She glanced back at him with a tense smile. "Good muffin."

Ryan nodded. "You break this case today, I'll bring you one every morning for a month," he offered.

The smile she gave him as she walked away was a little more genuine. "Deal."

Esposito came up beside Ryan just as Beckett closed the door in Interrogation One. He started to say something, but Ryan held up a finger, silencing him before he could even speak.

Beckett was leaning against the wall by the door, perusing a thin file. She was commanding Hannah's full attention, and she didn't even seem to notice, though Ryan and Espo both knew that she did. She finally closed the file with a snap, making eye contact with Hannah.

"You're a tough woman to get a hold of, Miss Foster," Beckett remarked, standing up a little straighter.

"I know," Hannah replied sheepishly. "And I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience. I've been staying with a friend in Miami for the past month, and I don't get the greatest cell service down there."

Beckett's eyes flickered to the glass, a silent command to check Hannah Foster's alibi. Ryan won rock, paper, scissors and turned back to the glass as Esposito stalked off muttering in Spanish.

"Miss Foster, do you know why you're here?" Beckett asked, moving closer to the table.

"Call me Hannah, please," she replied, adding, "And I don't really. My brother said something about a murder?"

Beckett sat down across from Hannah, pulling Avery's DMV photo out of her file. She slid it over to Hannah. "This man was murdered almost a month ago, Hannah. Do you recognize him?"

Ryan watched Hannah's eyes widen in silent horror. "Oh-oh God," she whimpered, picking up the photo with a shaking hand. "Jamie's dead?"

Beckett paused for a moment. "Jamie?" she repeated.

Hannah nodded, a tear falling. "James Avery," she clarified. "My fiancé. You're saying he's dead."

Beckett nodded slowly. "I'm afraid so, Hannah. He was shot to death in his apartment."

"How could that happen to him?" Hannah asked incredulously. "Jamie was always so smart, so careful. I just can't believe anyone could kill him."

Ryan knew what Beckett's next question would be before she even asked it. "Can you think of anyone that would want to kill your fiancé?"

Hannah shrugged. "Not anyone specific, but…" She trailed off, shifting uncomfortably in her chair.

Beckett leaned in closer. "But what, Hannah?"

"Jamie was a good man, Detective," Hannah started. "But he did a lot of bad things. I mean, he killed people for a living. That kind of work can get you into trouble."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience."

Hannah sighed. "A couple of months ago, Jamie started getting really jumpy, paranoid. Like he thought he was being followed or something. He even started having me use the fire escape instead of the front door because of the security cameras. And then, out of nowhere, he tells me that he wants to give up the life, get out of the city."

Beckett sat up straighter. "And when was this?"

"Right around New Year's," Hannah said after a moment of thought. "Then, like a week later he came to me and told me to get out of the city. Even gave me one of his guns for protection, though he said he hoped I wouldn't need it."

"Did he say why you needed to leave town?" Beckett asked, the anticipation in her voice clear to Ryan. He understood. This was big.

Hannah nodded. "Jamie said he was taking on one last job. A big one with a big payoff. He said we might need to lay low for a while, even after the job was done. He said he'd contact me when the coast was clear. Then we could start our new life together." Her voice cracked, and she finally broke down, sobbing quietly into her hands.

Beckett let Hannah cry longer than Ryan had expected her to. Her shoulders tensed up, and Ryan even swore he saw her swipe at her eyes a few times. Eventually, though, she relaxed back into the posture she normally maintained during interrogations.

"Hannah," Beckett said gently, "I know how difficult this is right now, but I need to ask you a few more questions."

Hannah sniffled, looking back up at Beckett and nodding. "Okay," she croaked, her voice hoarse from crying.

"Did Jamie tell you who his target was for that last job?" Beckett asked.

Hannah shook her head. "He never told me anything about his marks. But from the way he was talking, I figured this one had to be pretty huge. When that writer was killed a few weeks ago, I kind of put two and two together." She paused, as though preparing herself. "Jamie killed that writer, didn't he?"

"No," Beckett said softly. "Mr. Castle was killed a week after your fiancé died. But you're not wrong; their deaths are related. Did he say who hired him for this job?"

Another head shake. "I'm not sure Jamie even really knew. Whoever it was really cryptic and elusive, I guess."

Beckett nodded, taking a couple moments to absorb this information. She then pulled two photos out of the file; the sketch of Camo Man, and the clearest surveillance still Javi had found of him. She passed them over to Hannah. "Do you recognize this man?"

Hannah nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Who is he?" Beckett asked, the anticipation back in her voice.

"I don't know."

Ryan could practically see Beckett's incredulous expression, complete with eyebrow raise. Hannah backpedaled quickly. "I'm not jerking you around, I swear. I do recognize the guy. I mean, he looks really familiar. I just don't remember where I've seen him before."

Beckett sighed, standing up. "Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Foster," she said, opening the door. "If you think of anything else, don't hesitate to contact us."

Hannah looked back and forth between Beckett and the door a couple of times. "I can go?" asked.

Beckett nodded. "You can go."

Hannah left the interrogation room, and Ryan watched her make a beeline for her brother. After a short whispered conversation, Will put his arm around Hannah and led her to the elevator. Once they'd departed, Beckett and Ryan joined Esposito at his desk.

"Hannah's alibi check out?" Beckett asked, peering over Espo's shoulder.

He pulled up an email from a captain in Dade County. "Did it ever," he said, scrolling through the file. "Numerous parking tickets over the past month, a couple DUIs, and get this; she was charged with carrying a concealed weapon on the night Avery was killed."

Beckett wandered over to the Murder Board and started jotting down the information they'd learned from Hannah Foster. She circled the tentative date on the timeline where everything had started to change for James Avery. She tapped the board with the marker. "Somewhere in here, something happened that changed everything. We need to find out exactly what."

"The day someone ordered the hit on Castle," Ryan suggested.

Beckett and Espo both nodded. "Most likely," Beckett agreed. "We know that they're connected, we just don't know how or why."

"I think I can help with that."

(Kate)

Kate turned at the sound of Will Foster's voice. She tried to keep the triumph from shining in her eyes. Confirmation of her instincts felt good, felt right, after so much uncertainty. "Do you have information pertinent to this case, Mr. Foster?" she asked calmly. "Information that you've withheld from the NYPD?"

Will nodded. "Yes, Detective," he admitted ashamedly. He took a deep breath, then started talking. "Early on in January, I was approached by a woman. I was in Mulrooney's at my usual time; right after work. Mulrooney's isn't exactly known for having the most…honorable clientele."

Kate, Ryan, and Esposito moved in closer. "Who was the woman?" Espo asked.

"I don't know, exactly," Will replied. "She never told me her name, but she said she was an agent. That she worked with a lot of popular writers."

Kate's eyes widened slightly, an idea forming, but she merely nodded, indicating that he should go on.

"She told me that she had this client, a big star, but that he'd been slacking lately. She said that he was distracted and that he hadn't been writing as much." He swallowed, and then continued. "She asked if I could help her scare him."

"Scare him?" Kate interrupted incredulously.

Will nodded. "This client of hers, he worked with the police for research, but she thought he was spending too much time 'researching' and not enough time writing," he explained. "She figured that getting shot at, or possibly even shot would scare him into spending more time at home and less time with his…distraction. She also figured it would boost his books sales."

"So she hired you to take a shot at him," Kate said, her chest tightening sickeningly.

"Yeah," Will confirmed, hanging his head. "She was offering me over a million dollars to not kill someone. It was the job of a lifetime, and I really needed the money. It's not something I'm proud of, Detective."

"What happened after that?" Ryan asked, his eyes flickering to Kate.

"I couldn't do it," Will said. "I'm not that good of a shot. There was too much of a chance that I'd end up killing him. So, I went to the only man I knew that could make a non-lethal shot like that."

"James Avery," the detectives chorused.

Will nodded. "We were friends in high school. He was engaged to my sister. If I couldn't trust Jamie, I couldn't trust anyone. He agreed to do it on the condition that he could split the money with me. He needed it to disappear. So, I gave him the information and got myself out of town."

"So, somewhere between then and James' death, something went wrong," Kate mused. She was struck with an idea. She grabbed the sketch of Camo Man from the board. "Do you know this man?"

"He looks familiar," he said, giving the same answer his sister had. "I can't place him, though."

She sighed, slapping the picture back on the board a little forcefully. "Do you think you'd be able to give an accurate description of this agent to a sketch artist?"

"Of course," Will said, nodding.

"Ryan, take him," she said, watching with her arms crossed as the left.

Esposito wheeled his chair around to face her. "Why do we need a sketch of Castle's agent?" he asked. "We already know who she is."

"I know," Kate replied, shrugging. "But it'll be nice to have confirmation. I don't want to make any mistakes with this."

Esposito nodded. "Understood."

They waited in silence for Ryan to return with Will Foster. After about half an hour, they came back, sketch in hand. Ryan handed it to Kate silently, his expression closed off.

Kate felt the anger welling up as she stared at the sketch. She shook her head. "How could she do this to him?"

*Ahhhhh…finally! I'm sure you all know who the mysterious woman is, but it'll all be confirmed next chapter. Thanks for reading. Enjoy!