A/N: This is a continuation of the my Castle AU. Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Castle series or the characters. This story is based solely on the entertainment of the readers.

Castle: Chasing Ghost

Prologue

Upper East Side

Manhattan, New York

The young women out walking her dog before she had to leave for class at Columbia was shivering in the early morning chill. The early fall cold front had dropped the temperature in the city at night to just above freezing. She was wishing now, that she had put on her sweat pants instead of her yoga pants, and secretly wishing for her dog to finish up doing its business so they could go back inside. She heard her phone ring with a text message, and reached into her jacket to get it unaware she accidently dropped the leash. As she smiled at the text message from her boyfriend, she noticed the leash wasn't in her hand. She saw her dog turn down an alley, and raced to catch up to it.

"Shirley, what are you doing?" The young woman asked as she finally caught up to her dog and picked the small dog up. As she pulled her hand away, she noticed a red substance on her hand and looked down and saw the body lying there. She screamed nearly dropping the dog.

Kate and Rick's Loft

Soho, New York

Richard Castle sat at the kitchen island, drinking coffee and eating a Jimmy Dean's breakfast bowl that hopefully his wife wouldn't smell it on him before she came out of the bedroom for her tea and morning breakfast consisting of fruit and a granola cereal. That all she could keep down most mornings. Alexis came downstairs and to the fridge grabbing the orange juice pouring herself a glass. After setting the orange juice back in the fridge, she saw what her father was eating.

"Oh dad, no, tell me you're not sneaking that around Kate." Alexis stated as she leaned over the counter and saw the breakfast bowl. "I know it's tough, but come on, she'll smell it on you."

"Sorry, but I need a little bit of a kick start in the morning some days, and not the fruit and granola kick." Rick answered his daughter with a smile as he passed over a fork full to her which she gladly accepted. "You're not complaining."

Before Alexis could answer, Kate's voice came from the bedroom that stopped Castle's heart. "Castle are you eating eggs and bacon out there?"

"What if I said no?" Castle replied back as he and Alexis quickly downed the rest of the breakfast bowl.

"You are because I can smell it." Kate told them coming out of the bedroom and towards the island dressed in her work outfit for the day. Though she could still fit into most of her clothes, she realized that soon she would have to find maternity clothes for work. Kate arrived at the island and set the K-cup tea in the machine. She looked at Castle and Alexis. "Please, Jimmy Dean Breakfast bowl, eggs and bacon."

"How did…." Castle started to say but his phone went off saving him from his pregnant wife stare. "Russell, do we have a body?"

Kate smiled as she picked up the box and held it to Castle who smiled slyly as he got to his feet. He ended the call. "Thought I threw that out."

"Where's the body?" Kate asked as she sipped at her tea as Alexis poured herself a bowl of cereal.

"East 73rd and York Ave." Castle answered getting up from the island and moving towards the bedroom. He heard Kate following behind him. "Thought you had a meeting with the community leaders."

"I do, but not till nine." Kate said as she stood by the door watching Castle getting dressed. She smiled as Castle quickly button up his shirt. "Besides all I really get now is what you guys brief to me. Just want to come by and look in once again."

"Well its your detectives, your team, your precinct." Castle remarked coming over and giving her a quick kiss. "You can do anything you want basically."

"Not quite." Kate replied with a smile on her face. She grabbed Rick's hands and gave them a squeeze. "Besides, it's been a quiet week, so paperwork is really light."

Rick smiled as he shook his head. "There it is. Captain Beckett is bored at the office."

"Go, you're going to be late." Kate stated with a laugh as Rick started towards the door with her following close behind. "Have a good day Alexis."

"You too." Alexis replied with a smile on her face.

East 73rd and York Avenue

Manhattan, New York

Castle and Beckett walked towards the crime scene enjoying the day that was slowly warming. They saw the news vans and associated vehicles that generally come with a response to a crime scene.

"Captain Beckett?" A reporter shouted near the scene tape. She started running towards them.

"We don't know anything yet, and will release a statement as soon as we do." Kate told the reporter as they neared the tape.

The reporter pulled out her "Well what about a unnamed source that says your team contacted an international terrorism task force to help bring down that ISIS cell a couple weeks ago?"

That comment nearly stopped Castle and Beckett in their tracks but they slowed their walk a bit. Kate thought of her wording correctly. "If they did so, it was during the course of the investigation, and entirely in the purview."

The reporter walked stride for stride with the pair. "Not according to my source. They stated due to the commissioner, the deputy commissioner and ESU commander withheld case files. It took a former detective of yours and ESU officer to identify an officer that was killed that was trying to stop the cell."

Kate stopped outside the tape. "Again I reiterate, that if my detectives contacted this task force, it was with in their scope of the investigation."

Castle and Beckett ducked under the tape and towards the crime scene. Castle looked back towards the reporter who was still outside the tape. "How did she find out?"

"Don't know, we left the task force out of the official report." Kate stated as they walked up to where the body was located. "That was also requested by 1PP to keep the task force out of the reports."

"You talking about that reporter?" Ryan asked getting nods from Castle and Beckett. He shook his head as well. "She accosted me to as I walked up, asking about Javi's task force and did we talk to them about the ISIS case."

"Same here." Lanie stated as she stood up from examining the body.

Russell walked over from talking to a couple of uniforms. "Triple. Right after Ryan, but I didn't say anything."

"Wonder who the unnamed source is?" Castle said out loud.

"Could be anyone at 1PP. You didn't make that many friends up there Captain." Ryan said as they stood near the body.

"Well let's not focus on the reporter, and focus on our victim." Kate told them with everyone nodding. She looked at Lanie. "What did you find out?"

"30 year white male, shot 3 times in the chest with what looks like a 45." Lanie stated as she pointed at the body. She looked at team. "I'll know more when I get him back on my table, but one looks like impacted the heart. Liver temp put the time of death between midnight and four am."

"That size round would turn the heart to hamburger." Castle remarked getting a lot of nods.

"Any identification?" Kate asked as she gingerly knelt down near the body. Her pregnancy was making it harder to do that.

"Canvas hasn't turned up anything yet." Russell remarked as she looked at the scene. She looked at the way body was positioned. "Dr. Parrish, did anyone move the body?"

"Nope. He is the way we found him." Lanie answered.

"The way he laying, it looks like he was he was shot from down the alley." Russell stated. She started down the alley. She looked around the area. She bent down near a dumpster. "I got a camera here."

"Might not even be our victims." Kate remarked as she was helped up by Castle and Lanie. "Thanks."

"Who found the body?" Castle asked.

"Girl over there walking her dog." Ryan mentioned with his head towards the pale women holding her small dog outside the taped off area. "She tossed her kale smoothie over there by the dumpster after she called 911."

"Talk about contaminating a crime scene." Castle quipped that got Lanie laughing. He saw Kate's look on her face. "Kate why don't you head to your meeting before you lose what you have in your stomach."

"Good idea." Kate answered who started towards the tape. She looked at Russell. "Keep me updated."

"Yes ma'am." Russell replied with a smile on her face as she came back towards the body. She looked at Castle. "Ryan let's make sure we bag the camera."

"Got it." Ryan answered as he motioned over a couple of uniforms.

"So the question is, who is our victim, and what was he doing here?" Russell asked as the coroner team picked up the dead body and placed him on the gurney.

"The other question is, if the camera is his, what was he filming." Castle asked.