Author's Note: I'd like to thank phnxgrl, southerngirl1, TORONTOSUN, and Caskett47 for their reviews. Caskett47: sorry about the week off, but it was necessary to complete this set of chapters. Thank you all for your patience. This "episode" is going to be short, but I'm already working on the next one. Enjoy!

Chapter 28

Beckett had spent most of the workday catching up on paperwork and going back over the Shadow Fox case files again. It had been almost a month since Alex had killed Francis Locken. In that time, four bodies had dropped with Alex's signature, each displaying a tiny amount of the rage Locken had been privy to in his final moments. She had also been seen on surveillance videos in the area of the crimes; those tapes were always a punch to the gut. Alex's entire wardrobe reflected the way she was acting now. She dressed in black or colors close to it, modest to a fault still, but the designs and cuts were more edgy. There was a cuff on her left wrist with a symbol on it, similar to a family crest, that they hadn't been able to identify yet. A necklace was also around her neck, but the pendant was always tucked beneath the neckline of her shirt. Beckett was almost afraid of this version of Alex.

Beckett checked the time on her phone. In an hour, she'd be off and headed back to the loft and her fiancé. She smiled as she went to get a refill of coffee. Castle had finished with his latest book and all the subsequent meetings after that. Tonight he had planned a romantic evening for just the two of them. No case, no book, just them. It was supposed to be a sort of pre-wedding honeymoon, at least for one evening. They would be getting married at the end of June, which was just over two months away.

Her phone ringing broke into Beckett's happy thoughts. No, not right now. She pulled it from her pocket and checked the caller I.D. It was dispatch, which meant a body had dropped. Beckett was tempted to toss her phone in the sink and turn on the faucet, but that would be unprofessional.

"Beckett. I'll be right there." She ended the call, poured her coffee into a to-go cup, and strode into the bullpen. "Saddle up boys, we got a body."

Ryan grabbed his coat. "And here I was thinking I was going to get to go home early tonight."

"Yeah, your evening plans aren't the only ones ruined. Castle had something planned tonight." She raised her phone to her ear as they all headed for the elevator. "Hey, Castle. I'm going to have to cancel tonight."

"We got a body? Text me the address."

"You're not disappointed?"

"Our evening plans can be rescheduled. A body needs our attention right now."

"Okay, Castle. I'll see you there."

Beckett pulled into a space near the crime scene and parked her car; Javier and Ryan's car was right behind her. From the location of the police tape, the scene was actually in the alley, not the building. Beckett got out of the car and headed for the tape, pulling on a pair of gloves. Lanie was crouched over a body with a clipboard on her lap, doing her customary preliminary exam. CSU was taking photos and collecting evidence while uniforms took statements and kept the crowd away from the scene.

Beckett paused at the tape and took a look at the crowd. It was larger than you would typically find at a crime scene in this part of town. This area was well known for drugs and junkies. For this scene to attract a crowd, the victim had to be well known. Beckett turned back to the scene and paused to honor the dead before she ducked under the tape to see what Lanie had.

Lanie stood as Beckett approached. "The media is going to have a field day with this."

"Why, who's the victim?"

"Her name is Carley Martin."

Beckett shook her head. "I don't know who that is."

"You might know her as Tarmin."

"Sorry."

Castle walked up to them. "Tarmin is an up-and-coming pop star; Alexis texted just after your call. The news of her death is already online, apparently."

"Oh good, so 1PP is going to be breathing down our necks." Beckett cleared her throat. "Do you have a cause of death?"

Lanie crouched again. "Prelim says this wound to her neck. From the blood spatter, I'd say she was killed here. None of this is going to keep the media from reporting her death may have been drug related."

"Could it be?"

Lanie shrugged. "This is a known drug area, but I don't see track marks. I'll have to run a tox panel."

Ryan came up to them. "So the canvass is drawing a blank so far. No one saw anything or heard anything, which is sounding like a neighborhood code. I'll check cameras in the area and see if I can find anything."

Beckett nodded. "If you find the victim on one, find out who on the video was nearby and get a statement from them. Do we know where she was living or staying?"

Ryan pulled up the information on his tablet. "Dispatch just said a missing person report came in a couple minutes before her body was found. No file was opened because she was only missing for an hour."

"Who tried to file the report?"

"Her bodyguard."

Beckett copied the address to her notebook. "I'll go talk to them when we're done here. They'll probably blame us for not responding sooner. Lanie, do you have an approximate TOD?"

"Um, from the way the blood on the ground is starting to get tacky, I'd say about half an hour ago."

Beckett wrote that down too. "So before the missing persons call."

"I'd say yes."

Esposito came over. "CSU is deploying teams to dumpster dive in the area; see if they can come up with a murder weapon. They were wondering if they should be looking for a knife or a gun."

Lanie bent over the body to take a closer look. "There's some sort of black soot around the wound as well as black flakes. Tell them to get creative."

"Copy that." He turned to head back to the CSU team leader and then turned back. "With this case, should we be cancelling our dinner plans?"

Lanie smiled and stood. "Maybe we do a late dinner at home instead." She gave him a kiss before he left.

Beckett put a hand on Lanie's shoulder. "Everyone's plans are getting disrupted tonight."

"Hazard of the job, right?" Lanie signaled to the assistants. "I'll get her back to the lab and let you know what I find."

"Thanks, Lanie. Come on, Castle. Let's go talk to the entourage."

The hotel where Tarmin was staying was ten blocks away. Beckett and Castle walked into the lobby to see a stark contrast to the outside. Outside, the hotel just looked like one of the many office buildings in the city, but the lobby was on par with the luxury hotels like the Plaza.

Beckett walked up to the desk and held up her badge. "I need the room number for Carley Martin's party."

The clerk didn't look up. "Sorry, I can't let you cut the line."

Castle looked behind them. "What line?"

Beckett cleared her throat and the clerk finally looked up; seeing the badge made him tense up. "Yeah, I'm a cop. First off, there is no line right now and second, all I need is a room number. They're waiting for me."

He typed in the name she'd given him. "Room 862."

"Thank you for your help."

Beckett and Castle walked over to the elevator banks. A young woman joined them a few seconds later, her phone in her hands as though she was texting but her eyes were looking at the badge Beckett had clipped to her coat lapel. Beckett nodded hello to the young woman, who looked away and returned her attention to the phone. Eventually the car arrived and all three passengers boarded it, selecting their respective floors.

The young woman broke the silence. "So, you're a cop."

"Yes, I am."

"Are you here for the murder of Tarmin?"

"Yes. Did you know her?"

The woman shook her head. "I knew of her. It was cool to find out she was staying here, but I didn't get to meet her." The elevator came to a stop. "This is me. Good luck."

"Thanks."

They arrived at the floor and made their way to the room their victim had been staying in. Beckett knocked on the door. It was quickly opened by a man who looked like a bouncer in size but a surfer with his long blonde hair and tanned skin. He was looking at them expectantly. In the room were three young women, most likely backup singers, whose eyes were red from crying.

The "bouncer" was getting impatient. "Have you found her yet?"

Beckett didn't want to have this conversation in the hallway. "I'm Detective Beckett, this is Richard Castle. May we come in? We really shouldn't talk in the hall."

He moved to the side so they could enter. "When I called, they said nothing could be done if she'd been missing for less than 24 hours. What happened?"

Beckett waited for the door to close. "I'm afraid I have some bad news. Ms. Martin's body was discovered a few minutes after your call to 911. I'm sorry for your loss."

The girls burst into fresh tears. The bodyguard sat down looking stunned. Beckett stayed silent to give them a moment to grieve. It was clear to her that these people had lost not only a fellow performer, or employer, but a friend as well.

The bodyguard broke the silence first. "Why did the police do nothing? They said they could not investigate until she had been missing for 24 hours. If the police had done something, she might still be alive."

"Sir, there's nothing we could have done. The medical examiner estimates Ms. Martin was killed before you had reported her missing. By the time the police were notified, it was already too late."

The bodyguard looked up. "So you're saying it's my fault she's dead?"

Beckett shook her head. "Not at all. Celebrities are accustomed to having people follow them everywhere and report on everything they do. If they want to do something without the world knowing, they can become very adept at ditching their entourage and paparazzi. I'm here to figure out how she ditched you in order to leave the hotel. It will help us retrace her steps and figure out what happened."

"The food service cart." One of the girls had stopped sobbing so she could speak.

Beckett turned to the girl. "What do you mean?"

The girl glanced at the bodyguard and then continued. "It's an old favorite of hers. When room service comes to collect the cart, she slips him some money and hides under the tablecloth on the cart."

Castle stepped forward. "Did Ms. Martin have a drug problem at all?"

The bodyguard jumped up. "No! She was clean. Has been for years."

Castle quickly backpedaled from the clearly touchy subject. "I only ask because she was found in an area known for drugs."

Beckett jumped in before things got more heated. "Is there any reason why she might have gone to a place like that?"

"No. She was done with drugs. A friend of hers died in prison because of drugs. She would never relapse after that."

"We'll need to check her phone records, financials, and hotel security. It will help us determine when she left, and possibly why."

"Fine."

Castle decided to move into a more neutral line of questioning. "What was her state of mind lately? Was she nervous, agitated, stressed maybe?"

The bodyguard took his seat again. "She seemed normal to me. She was nervous before the concert last night, but that's normal."

Beckett turned to the girls. "How about you? Anything seem out of the ordinary at all?"

The girls all shook their heads. "She was fine."

Beckett handed cards to everyone. "If any of you think of something, please give me a call. Any little detail may help us catch who did this."

A/N: Who is the killer? I'd love to hear your theories! Thanks for reading!