Author's Note: I'd like to thank MaineCastle and Chkgun93 for their reviews. I'm glad you guys enjoyed the case! Just as a reminder, when I started writing this story (part one of The Shadow Fox trilogy), it was toward the end of Season 3 when Alexis was considering attending Stanford with her then boyfriend Ashley. Even though she is attending Columbia on the show, in this story I have her attending Stanford. Enjoy!

Chapter 17

Simon Barner yawned as he unlocked the door at work. As much as he loved the life of being a nightclub owner, he'd never really been able to fully adjust to the hours. Not for the first time, he wondered if he should sell Aphrodisiac and get a normal nine-to-five job. He smiled as he shook his head. There was no way he could take a nine-to-five job. Sure, it might have been a more stable way to support his wife and their kid, but the life he had now was so much better. He had just turned thirty and was already almost a millionaire.

Simon locked the back door behind him and flipped on the lights in the back room. For the next hour he checked the inventory, ordering more of the items that were running low. A bottle of vodka was missing, but he found a note from the bartender explaining that she'd accidentally knocked one over and telling him to just take it out of her paycheck. He smiled; Rachel was too honest for her own good. Simon wrote off the accident, leaving Rachel's paycheck untouched.

Satisfied with the state of the back room, Simon moved to check on the bar and main room. He opened the door to the bar area and froze. Hanging from the light truss over the middle of the dance floor was a woman he recognized and she was very clearly dead.

Beckett closed the car door. "Why would it be a problem if Alexis wants to transfer to a school closer to home?"

Castle fell into step with Beckett. "Don't get me wrong, I would love for her to be closer. I just don't think it would be good for her education."

"Why not?"

"There might be classes that won't transfer, none of the friends she's made there will be transferring with her, and depending on where she ends up going, her degree might not be taken as seriously as a degree from Stanford will be."

Beckett stopped in front of Castle. "Rick, here's the thing. That's not your call to make. Alexis is an adult now. You have to trust her to make the right decisions for herself."

Castle sighed. "I know. And I do trust her. But I still worry that her future could be hurt if she does transfer closer. I'm her father; I want the best for her."

"I know, and I love you for that," Beckett gave him a quick kiss, "but this is her choice. She needs to be the one to make it, not you."

Ryan leaned out the front door of Aphrodisiac. "Hey guys, you're going to want to see this."

Beckett and Castle entered the nightclub and stopped. A woman's body was hanging upside down from the ceiling, a rope tied around her ankles and the lighting truss she was suspended from. The victim's hands were tied together and to her belt behind her so they wouldn't be hanging. Under her was a pool of blood in the middle of the dance floor. Lanie was walking around the victim taking her usual notes, being careful not to step in the rather large blood pool. Off to the side, Esposito was talking to a man who was looking a little sick.

Leaving the man in her partner's capable hands, Beckett headed toward her friend. "What is going on here?"

Lanie shook her head. "I'm not sure yet. T.O.D. indicators are contradicting the evidence here at the moment."

"What do you mean?"

"Liver temp suggests that she was killed hours before the nightclub closed, but the scene suggests she was killed right here."

Castle was looking at the victim. "Could the liver temp be lower because her blood is on the floor and not inside her?"

Lanie shrugged. "It's possible, but the number just seems a little too low. Anyway, C.O.D. for now is exsanguination due to a sharp force injury to her throat."

"Do we have an I.D.?"

"According to the man my husband is talking to, this is Oksana Sokolova. You'll have to talk to Javi for the details."

Beckett nodded. "Thanks, Lanie."

"You got it."

Beckett and Castle went to talk to Esposito. On the way, Beckett paid closer attention to the man, letting her first impressions paint the picture. He had the same stunned and sickened expression she usually saw on people who had discovered the body of someone they knew. So he knows Oksana personally; what else does he know? Esposito saw them coming and excused himself.

"His name is Simon Barner. He discovered the victim after he completed inventory around 7pm. Evidently he knew her."

Beckett nodded. "Alibi?"

"He said the club shuts down at 4am and he usually locks up at 5:30. Said the club was empty at that point and he went straight home."

"Anyone to verify?"

Esposito nodded. "He said his wife. I'll make sure to check."

"Good, do that now. I don't want him calling her and getting her to alibi him if he wasn't actually there." Beckett went over to Barner as Esposito headed out to make the call. "Mr. Barner, I'm Detective Beckett, this is Richard Castle. We just have a few questions for you."

"I just told that other cop everything."

"I know; this is just procedure."

Barner sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"I understand you knew the victim. What was your relationship?"

"She was…uh…my girlfriend. And yeah, my wife knew about her. It was part of our deal. We're married, but we both have someone else on the side. Condoms were necessary when we were with the other person and everyone had to be tested regularly." Barner looked like he was trying to justify something.

Castle couldn't help himself. "Why have that kind of marriage?"

"Because of this job. Oksana was usually here when we're open so the other girls wouldn't try throwing themselves at me as much. And I always had her when I needed a…release. For my wife, if she was feeling a little lonely while I was at work, she had someone to keep her company."

Beckett glanced at Castle. "And your wife was okay with this…arrangement?"

"Absolutely; she's the one who suggested it so she wouldn't have to worry or wonder. As long as I don't switch to a new girl every week, she's fine with it."

"When was the last time you saw Oksana?"

Barner leaned back in the booth. "Two nights ago. She wasn't here last night, which is a little strange, but not unheard of. Usually she'll text or call me when she won't be here. Last night she didn't."

Beckett noted the change in Oksana's pattern. "In the last few days, did she seem upset or scared? Any changes in behavior?"

"Not really. A couple weeks ago she mentioned that she felt like someone was following her, but she was never sure."

"Did you ever see anyone strange hanging around?"

Barner shook his head. "No one in particular. When she was here, guys were always buying her drinks and chatting her up, but no one caused any trouble. She just had to tell them she was the owner's girl and they'd usually back right off."

Beckett handed him her card. "If you think of anything else, give me a call."

He nodded. "I will."

A uniform escorted Barner out and Beckett turned to Castle. "We are not having that kind of marriage."

"Agreed. I've already been in that situation, only it was one sided and I didn't know about it right away. Meredith and I didn't last long when that was going on, not that I'm complaining. My life has been infinitely better after she was gone." Castle looked thoughtful for a moment. "I can understand why Barner and his wife would have that kind of relationship though."

Beckett nodded. "I guess. Nightclub owners do tend to have a lot of groupies willing to do anything for special treatment. If this 'arrangement' kept the marriage working, I'd understand it too. We're still not going that route."

Back in the bullpen, Beckett stared at the crime scene photos on the murder board. The scene was strange; she was the one with the "thing for the freaky ones," as Esposito would say, because they required more and revealed more, but this case was one of the strangest for even Beckett. It was up there with the likes of 3XK's attempt to frame Castle and the haunted DVD case. Their victim was found hanging upside down with her throat slashed in the middle of the nightclub owned by the victim's married boyfriend.

So who was the target? Was Oksana killed to send a message to Simon Barner? To punish him? Or was Oksana the target? If Oksana was the target, why stage her body that way? The questions kept circling in her head without any clear answers. I'm gonna have to wait till the evidence starts coming in, maybe then I'll get a direction. Castle handed her a coffee and then turned to contemplate the board too.

"It almost feels like Tyson is striking again."

Castle mulled that over for a moment. "He would be twisted enough to do something like this, but I'm not sure. What's the motive?"

"He's a sick, twisted bastard."

He grinned. "You're normally more composed than this, detective. I'm the one who normally jumps to conclusions. Though, in this one case, I concur."

"What's your theory?"

"You're asking for my theories right now? I'm surprised. Are you feeling well?" Castle lifted a hand to Beckett's forehead as though to check her temperature.

She playfully swatted his hand away. "Don't go to your usual crazy theories place. Think like a detective. What happened in there?"

"I want to say the boyfriend was the target. The best way to hurt someone is to go after the people they love. Well, maybe love doesn't belong in their relationship, but I'd imagine he did care about her…"

Beckett interrupted his tangent. "Yeah, but they could have just left her body in the club. Why hang her upside down to kill her? What message were they trying to send?"

Castle shrugged. "I don't know. It could be specific to the killer. Maybe there's some hidden meaning that only makes sense to the killer."

"Maybe."

"Why is this one getting to you so much?"

"I don't know."

By the time Beckett and Castle went home that night, Esposito had informed them that the wife was aware of her husband's relationship with Oksana and harbored no ill will toward the mistress. She had also been unaware of Oksana's death and confirmed her husband woke her up when he got home at 6am. Ryan had called the security company for the nightclub and said the alarm had been activated at 5:24 am, then deactivated at 5:43 and reactivated at 6am.

Beckett had put Barner's picture under person of interest alongside his wife, Jeanine Barner and her boy-toy Jason Blanchard. Until financial records came in and cleared them all of hiring a hit or asking the boyfriend to do it, she wasn't willing to take them off just yet. Arrangements like this one too often ended badly. Lovers got jealous or the couple hated their partner's lover. Either way, someone in the group was usually responsible.

Alexis was busy setting the table when they got home. "Hi Dad, Kate. Dinner's almost ready."

Kate put a hand on Rick's arm. "Remember, it's her choice."

Rick hung up his coat. "So, what have you been up to today, pumpkin?"

"I walked around Columbia's campus today and then hung out with my friends. It's nice to be able to see them again."

"You're definitely transferring then?"

Alexis shrugged. "I don't know. Part of me really likes Stanford, and it would be nice to graduate from there. But I also miss home."

Rick washed his hands. "Home will always be here. Besides, you only have, what, one more year to go? If you transferred, how many more classes would you have to add before you could graduate?"

"I know. But the thing is, it would only be an extra semester, two at most. And besides, that would put me on track to graduate with many of my friends here." Alexis finished setting the table and turned to her father. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"What? No! Absolutely not!" He noticed Alexis's teasing grin and smiled too. "No, I'm not trying to get rid of you. I'm just trying to think about your future."

"And a degree from Stanford would be huge. The thing is, Dad, a degree from Columbia would mean just as much. I'm not thinking of transferring from an elite university to a community college. The transfer would be sideways, not down."

Rick nodded. "Okay, it's your decision. I just needed to know you were thinking about all the options."

"Thanks, Dad." Alexis hugged her father. "Dinner's ready."

Kate enjoyed dinner. Alexis and Rick's banter had been sorely missed for the last few months. Every once in a while, the conversation would get serious again, like when Alexis asked about their case, but the teasing would return soon enough. After dinner, they cleaned up quickly and had a few games of laser tag. Kate won almost all of the games; Alexis won the last one.

Rick was pretending to be deeply hurt. "Now Voltar will never rule the omniverse."

Kate laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "Poor baby, whatever will we do?"

Alexis was pulling off her gear. "There's always next time, Dad."

"Yeah, yeah."

Kate pulled off her gear too. " Come on. We should get to bed; lots to do tomorrow."

Alexis grabbed Kate's gear. "I'll put these away."

Rick handed his over as well. "Tomorrow night, rematch."

"Deal." Alexis accepted the gear and headed upstairs. "Night guys. Good luck with the case."

Rick turned to Kate. "I guess I should give up the illusion that I'm going to beat the cop anytime soon."

Kate pulled him close. "Maybe." She kissed him till he stopped frowning. "You're clever though. You might figure something out."

A/N: Hope this chapter helps fill some of the fluff requests. This case is a bit darker as far as the crime scene goes (I'm trying to think about the weirder cases they've had on the show). Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!