Author's Note: I'd like to thank phnxgrl, TORONTOSUN, and Caskett47 for their reviews. Caskett47 and TORONTOSUN: We shall see... This chapter is also fairly graphic with the violence at some points, just a warning in advance. This chapter starts soon after the last one left off. Enjoy!

Chapter 32

Castle and Beckett pulled up to the scene to see more blue-and-whites than were at a normal scene. Their lights were flashing, illuminating the façades of the brownstones up and down the street. The couple exited the car and approached the front door where Ryan and Esposito were. Esposito was leaning against the wall looking angry and sad at the same time. Ryan was talking to him softly, trying to comfort his friend and partner.

Beckett was concerned. "Esposito, what happened?"

"Ike Thornton, my old partner. She killed him."

Ryan turned to them. "We already saw everything. It's a bloodbath in there."

Gates came out of the house. "Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle, you should see this."

Beckett and Castle went inside. Near the security monitor, a guard had throwing knives in his thigh and throat. His hands were covered in blood and blood had pooled under his body, the spaces between the tiles serving as canals to spread the blood farther than the original pool. Lanie was asking a uniform to call in more vans to transport the bodies back to the morgue.

Gates led them to an area past the blood pool. "This is one of the better ones. Dr. Parish thinks she's figured out the order."

Lanie came over. "This man was number two. Number one is outside."

Beckett's brow creased. "I didn't see anyone."

"Out back." Lanie led the way. "I'm assuming he was first so that Alex could get inside."

"You're sure Alex is the one who did this?"

"She was caught on one of the security cameras. I saw a little of it when I arrived."

"Fair point."

Lanie gestured to the first victim. "He was pithed."

Beckett cocked an eyebrow. "Come again?"

"She stabbed him at the base of his skull with an awl."

Castle's brow was creased in thought. "That sounds like something you do in a science class when you have to dissect a frog."

Lanie nodded. "Yeah. It's a quick and effective way to kill someone. So he was first. She went inside and killed the man you already saw."

They followed Lanie back inside and up the stairs to the next victim's body. He had throwing knives in his shoulder and throat. Unlike the one downstairs, the knife in this one's throat was to the hilt. Blood here had soaked into the carpet and a streak ran down the wall, marking how he had fallen.

Beckett pointed to the knife. "She stabbed him with the knife."

"That's my guess. After she killed him, she went into the office."

Lanie opened the door and Beckett gasped. Ryan's assessment that this was a bloodbath was correct. Three people were dead in here and one of them was Candace "Hard Candy" Robinson. It had been years since Beckett had needed to interact with AUSA Robinson. Word is she had a shot at becoming a US Attorney soon with the way her cases had been going.

Beckett shook her head. "When are the Feds going to be taking over?"

"I've agreed to give them copies of everything we get and in return they'll keep their distance." Gates looked Beckett in the eye. "I don't need to warn you that with this murder, Alex may not be our case for much longer."

"I understand, sir."

"Find her. Arrest her if you can, kill her if she leaves no other options. We can't let her continue killing. She's taken enough lives as it is."

"Yes, sir."

Gates left and Beckett turned to walk the scene. Robinson's body was near the door. A trail of blood said she'd been stabbed by the desk and crawled to where she was now. One guard was to the side of the desk and the other was on the opposite side, a couple feet back. The guard who was next to the desk had a throwing knife in his eye. Beckett recognized him as Ike Thornton and quickly looked away. The other guard had a stab wound to his arm and a throwing knife in his neck.

Beckett turned to Lanie. "Javi mentioned that Ike had been killed by Alex."

Lanie looked at the guard with the knife in his eye. "Yeah, he was pretty choked up about that. I think he helped get Ike into private security gigs. Now he's dead."

Beckett turned to Robinson. "Her throat's been slit. That's not Alex's normal M.O."

Lanie nodded. "She left her signature on her back."

"Why kill Robinson?"

Ryan came in. "Uh, Beckett? The 911 call was just forwarded to me. You need to hear this."

He pushed play on his tablet. "911, what's your emergency?"

A male voice came on the line. "This is Trent Baxter. I'm a bodyguard for AUSA Robinson. One other bodyguard is down, deceased. We need backup right away. I'm going inside."

"Sir, please stay on the line. Who is the deceased?"

"Robert Lakensen. He was protecting the back entrance." There was a squawk as a walkie-talkie was activated. "Ike, get inside. Bobby is dead. Robinson might be in trouble."

The walkie-talkie squawked again as Ike responded. "Copy that. Gregory, Jackson, please respond."

Static as no one responded. "Let's move!"

The 911 operator tried to get Baxter's attention again. "Sir, please provide more information. Where are you located?"

Baxter rattled off the address as he went inside. "Damn it. They got Gregory. James Gregory is dead as well."

Javi's friend's voice was in the room. "Downstairs is clear."

Baxter spoke into the phone. "Sweep of the downstairs area is clear. We are moving to check upstairs."

The 911 operator came on. "Understood. Officers and paramedics are on their way. Proceed with caution."

For a couple moments, the only sounds were people moving up the stairs. Beckett could picture the scene from the number of raids she had been a part of over her career. From the sounds, it seemed like the two guards worked well together. Doors opened and closed as they swept the second floor.

One cussed as they turned a corner. "Jackson is dead too. Shaun Jackson. Murderer must be in the office with Robinson."

"Sir, please wait for backup."

There was the sound of something hitting the floor. "There's no time."

"Sir…" The sounds of doors getting kicked in interrupted the operator. At the same time there was a cry of pain and then a gasp of a more intense pain. A woman whispered something that the phone's receiver didn't catch.

Sounds were a little muffled. "Let go of her now!" Baxter must have slipped the phone into his pocket before they went through the doors.

The woman's voice belonged to Alex. "I wouldn't say that if I were you. If I let go, my knife won't be acting as a plug anymore. She'd die in minutes."

Baxter sounded worried. "What do you want?"

"I've been hired to kill her." Alex must have done something because Robinson groaned. "I will be blunt. No matter what you do, she'll die. So, what are you going to do?"

"Who are you?"

"They call me The Shadow Fox." Three shots came from close to the phone, but no one fell. In fact, it sounded like the three shots had struck wood. Beckett glanced around the desk area and spotted the bullets in the bookshelf behind the desk. In the recording, soft footsteps and a gasping breath said the guards were approaching the desk while Robinson was trying to crawl away.

A whistling sound followed by a sickening squish, followed by the sound of a body falling marked the death of Esposito's former partner. A second whistling sound followed by a nearby grunt and the sound of a gun hitting the ground said Baxter's arm had been hit. He was groaning and they could hear the sounds of something getting pulled out of flesh. That's why he had a stab wound in his arm; he had pulled the knife out. Quick, light footsteps approached and Beckett almost gagged as they heard Baxter's neck get stabbed. The gargling sound of his throat flooding with blood was going to be hard to forget.

Alex took her time at this point; her footsteps were slow as they walked away from the phone and a dying Baxter. Robinson whimpered in panic. Alex came to a stop and Robinson cried out in pain. The sounds of crawling had been replaced with cries of pain and flesh being pierced swiftly. Beckett counted two stabs and then it sounded like Robinson had been turned over. She started to beg for her life, but the sound was cut short.

Through all that, the 911 operator had been trying to get Baxter to respond. "Sir? Are you there? Sir, please respond. Officers are on their way. Sir? Mr. Baxter? Trent, can you hear me?"

Alex's footsteps approached Baxter's body again and cloth rustled as she found the phone. "Leichtsinn!" The call abruptly cut out.

Beckett took a deep breath and let it out. "The 911 operator said backup was on the way. Do we know where they were at that point?"

Ryan pulled up the information on his tablet. "About three blocks away. I have the recording from dispatch."

"Play it."

"Unit 2783, what's your location?"

The driver was first to respond. "ETA one minute."

His partner was a seasoned cop and recognized Alex. "That's her. Dispatch, suspect is sighted crossing Fulton. Headed for the subway. Will pursue on foot."

The car doors opened and closed. The uniforms footsteps were heard slapping against the concrete. They were yelling at pedestrians to get out of the way and car horns blared at the delay in their commute. The dispatcher was coordinating other squad cars to assist, but Beckett only paid attention to the uniforms that were pursuing Alex. They were calling in her description, which included blood on her clothes.

The noise of the station signaled the uniform's arrival on the platform. "Lost visual on the suspect." Screams in the distance interrupted his call. "Possible sighting, going to investigate."

"She turned off the power in the tunnel. Alert MTA of train delays."

Dispatch responded quickly. "Copy that. MTA will be alerted. Do you have eyes on the suspect?"

"Negative, she went into the tunnel. Is backup nearby?"

Dispatch hesitated, probably finding out which GPS signal was nearest. "Nearest car is a minute out. Be advised that pursuit is not recommended."

"Copy that, Dispatch. Proceeding with caution."

Their footsteps echoed off the tunnel walls as they searched for Alex. Beckett was reminded of the time they'd had to investigate that murder on the ghost station. The two uniforms were silent as they walked down the tunnel. Dispatch hailed them to inform them that backup had just arrived and were coming to assist. One of the uniforms was about to respond when the sounds of a struggle interrupted him.

Beckett turned to Ryan as the recording ended. "What happened?"

"According to the report, both cops were knocked out, dragged to a safety indent and handcuffed to each other. They were found about twenty minutes later by the backup. They're okay, just a couple bumps and bruises. Their guns were taken though."

"And Alex?"

Ryan shook his head. "Nowhere in sight."

"Lanie?"

Lanie stepped forward. "From the recording, I'm able to say the Thornton was number four, Baxter was number five, and Robinson was last. As you can see, she was stabbed well before she was killed. If CSU is done, I'd like to start transporting the bodies back to the morgue."

"Yeah, that's fine." Beckett turned to look at the room again. "Alex was hired to kill Robinson. Why? And by whom?"

A/N: Questions, questions. Leave a comment with your theories. Thanks!