Author's Note: Thanks for your reviews as always! Sorry for the delay as well!
Chapter 8- Unnerved
A slow day and Beckett's sudden request for the security camera footage for the bullpen meant that she not only had Castle anxiously hovering at her desk but Ryan and Esposito as well. She rolled her eyes as the men continued to debate the existence of ghosts and cleared her throat loudly. "Guys; are we going to watch the tape or are you going to continue your little debate you have going on?"
"We're ready," Castle replied; "Show us the ghost."
"She's not a ghost, Castle," Kate stated as she punched the keys, setting the tape a few minutes before the mystery woman had been spotted.
"Then what is she?" he asked flippantly.
"A person," she said as she eyed him. "A regular person with an outdated sense of style."
A cold gust of air blew through the room making her shiver. "I guess you still believe that's a draft too, right?" Castle asked.
"What else would it be?"
"A ghost who takes offense to your mockery of her style."
"It's a draft," Kate remarked; "Isn't it guys?"
"It's never been drafty in here before," Ryan answered, glancing at his partner to gauge his opinion.
"I'm going to have to agree with that," Esposito replied; "I've never known it to be drafty in here before."
"Whatever, guys," she said with exasperation, her eyes flicking to the screen to see if the woman had appeared yet.
"Do you know what would be cool?" Castle pondered aloud.
"I don't want to know," Kate replied.
"Wouldn't it be cool," he went on; "If the ghost is one of the victims from a cold case and she's come to help us solve her own case!?"
"Really?" Kate said; her brow arched as she glanced up at him. "Some ghost just suddenly decides to pop in and says 'hey, I want to help you solve my case?"
"Why not?"
"If she wanted her case solved; why wouldn't she have come around sooner? Her clothes aren't exactly modern…why wait several decades?"
Her fiancé smiled. "She was waiting for the right team; she was waiting for us."
"Sure she was, Castle," she quipped before glancing to Ryan and Esposito. "Are you guys buying that one?"
Ryan shrugged. "I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility."
She rolled her eyes. "I should've known you'd jump on Castle's bandwagon, Ryan. What about you, Espo? Do you think this woman is going to be the ghost of a cold case crime?"
Esposito scoffed. "Of course not."
"You don't think it's possible that the vanishing woman in green is a ghost looking for justice? Or even a ghost at all?" Castle asked.
"I didn't necessarily say that…I said she's not a cold case victim; I mean what Beckett says makes sense; why would she wait? If…and it's a big if, she's a ghost then I'd say she's here for something else."
"Like what?" Castle asked. "Why would a ghost decide to haunt a precinct?"
"You're the writer, you tell me," Esposito responded. "Maybe she's got personal reasons. Maybe there's someone in here she wants to haunt…like Ryan. He seems hauntable."
Ryan shook his head. "I don't have any dead people with an axe to grind…it's probably Castle."
"Or it could be Beckett," Castle replied; "Maybe she has a disgruntled ancestor."
Esposito nodded. "I could see that happening…more plausible than the cold case victim."
"Alright guys that's enough," Kate replied as she looked at the group.
"There she is," Ryan exclaimed as he pointed at the screen; drawing their attention back to the footage that was playing.
"That's her," Kate confirmed as she looked at the image; "I'm going to take it back a few seconds so we can see where she came from.
She backed up the recording a few seconds and when she no longer saw the woman on the screen she stopped and hit play. They all watched quietly as the figure in the green dress seemed to materialize from thin air.
"I told you it was a ghost," Castle whispered, undertones of excitement dripping from his voice.
"It's not a ghost," she said firmly.
"She appeared out of thin air," he said, pointing at the screen; "We all saw it; Ryan, did you see it?"
"He's right, Beckett; she just appeared," Ryan replied.
Kate said nothing as she took the tape back and watched the scene again…and then for a third time, instructing each of her colleagues to watch a different area of the screen to see if the woman appeared elsewhere.
"Definitely a ghost," Castle stated. "She definitely appeared out of thin air."
"People don't appear out of thin air, Castle," she remarked with exasperation. "There's probably a glitch in the tape; we'll watch and see where she goes when she left."
Kate allowed the scene to play through this time, the silence of her companions slightly unnerving her as they all waited with bated breath to see what would become of the mystery woman on the screen who so far was remaining in place, watching someone, a small smile playing on her lips at times. Soon enough the moment came on the film where Kate had rose from her chair to approach the woman and she seemingly vanished into thin air in the same way she had appeared.
"I don't want to sound like a broken record; but it's definitely a ghost," Castle said once more. "That's not a glitch."
Kate re-watched the scene again; annoyance flicking within her as the woman did indeed appear to vanish into thin air. "It has to be a glitch in the system," she remarked.
"A glitch?" Castle repeated; "A glitch that just conveniently happens when the woman appears and when she disappears…I think not."
"You're free to think what you want but I'm telling that it has to be a glitch," Kate said firmly. "People don't just vanish into thin air."
"People don't," Castle said; "But ghosts do."
"It's not a ghost!" she exclaimed in a hushed voice.
"I don't know, Beckett," Ryan said, his eyes still on the screen; "You have to admit, it does kind of seem ghost like."
"If she was a ghost how would she be on tape? We've all seen paranormal shows; aren't they usually orbs on film?" she asked.
"Not always," Castle replied; "People have actually caught ghosts on film just like this one…Google it; you'll see pictures and videos."
"All easily tampered with," Kate remarked.
"Who says they've all been tampered with?" he asked; "This tape hasn't been tampered with and there's clearly a…"
"Don't say it," she said firmly.
"Then you're leaving me no choice again but to say there's an apparition American on it," he replied.
Kate glanced at Esposito, hoping to find a voice of reason. "Castle's right," Esposito said, dashing her hopes. "I've seen shows where the ghost has clearly been caught on camera or in a picture…I guess it depends on what kind of ghost it is."
'What do you mean what kind of ghost it is?" she asked in exasperation.
He shrugged. "Some ghosts are orbs; some look like regular people…I don't know; I have heard of it happening though."
"So you're joining Scooby and Shaggy and saying this is a ghost?"
Esposito smiled. "I'm saying it might be time to think about changing your name to Daphne."
"Can I drive the Mystery Machine?" Castle asked.
"No," Kate said sharply. "There's no ghost and no mystery to solve. It was probably some nut who stumbled in here and realized where she was and decided she better get the hell out of here."
"Then why isn't her arrival or exit on the tape?" Ryan asked.
"I told you, there's a glitch."
"The tape doesn't seem glitchy to me," Esposito replied. "I think you're just afraid that she's here to haunt you…who did you piss off, Beckett?" he teased.
Beckett glared at him. "No one…if there's any justice in the world or whatever realm she supposedly came from; she's here for the three of you; but she's not a ghost, I'm sure of it."
"Everyone who thinks it's a ghost, raise your hand," Castle said.
The three men raised their hands. "Three to one, Beckett," Castle said; "It's a ghost."
She blew out a breath of exasperation. "Ryan; go have the footage for every exit to this floor pulled…I want the footage of the entrance of the building too; we're going to find the woman in green on it, I guarantee it."
"Okay," he replied; "But what if we don't?"
"We will," she said with conviction; an odd feeling fluttering in her stomach that she was desperate to ignore. "We'll find her…there's a logical explanation for all of this."
Two hours later, Kate was running low on logical explanations. The security footage retrieved from the other cameras yielded no sight of the woman who had appeared on the first tape. It didn't make any sense; she had to have gotten in and out of the building somehow...there had to be an answer, she thought to herself, feeling slightly uneasy that she had seemed to be the woman's target for whatever she had been there for.
'Well?" Castle said; his tone gloating; "We didn't find her."
"I'm aware of that, Castle," she replied. "But I'm sure there's still a logical explanation."
"All the cameras glitched at the same time?" Ryan quipped; a grin playing on his lips.
"Maybe they did," she retorted sharply. "Can you prove they didn't?"
"No but it doesn't seem plausible."
"Yeah well it seems plausible to me that there was either a glitch or someone has been tampering with the cameras," she remarked.
Esposito eyed her. "Why would someone take the trouble of tampering with the cameras just to come in here and stand and do nothing? That doesn't make any sense."
"Since when does anything ever make sense?" Kate asked; "This is New York; people do stupid things all the time for no reason; we all know that."
"Yeah but this…this just seems different," Esposito replied. "Maybe she really is a ghost; stranger things have happened."
"Not to me," she remarked; "She's not a ghost."
"Kate," Castle said with a grin; "Just admit defeat, come over to our side and admit it was a ghost; you'll feel a lot better."
"No, I won't. You know it's been a slow week around here; how do I know the three of you haven't staged this as some sort of joke?"
"We didn't stage this!" Esposito exclaimed; "And if we did; we wouldn't do it here where Gates could come back early and chew our asses out."
"Yeah," Ryan agreed; "And besides; I don't think we'd even know how to pull off something like that…how would we make her disappear before your eyes?"
"Maybe you hired some sort of illusionist," Kate remarked.
Ryan laughed. "Right, who's paying that bill?"
Her gaze slid to Castle. "Don't look at me," he exclaimed; "I didn't set this up; I didn't pay for any illusionist; why would I do that?"
"Because you're bored and it's the kind of thing you'd like," she replied; "And Ryan and Esposito would be all for it."
"Kate; we didn't set this up," Castle said seriously. "If we were going to pull a prank on you, we'd do it elsewhere, not here."
She hated that they all looked so honest about the whole thing; it would be much easier if they looked guilty and she could chalk this all up to a prank. "Fine; you didn't do it…but there's still an explanation."
"Yes; we keep telling you the explanation," he replied; "She's a…"
"Shut up!" she exclaimed.
"You're a little touchy today, Beckett," Ryan remarked; "You don't have a ghost at home too, do you?"
"No; but there might be some here in the precinct if you three don't knock it off."
"Hey don't get mad at as because mystery woman showed up and scared you," Esposito teased. "Well protect you…unless she gets too angry then you're on your own."
Kate rolled her eyes and turned attention back to her computer, replaying pieces of security footage; her attention always coming back to the one that the woman appeared on. The men continued to prattle on about reasons for the ghost's visit and she began to feel more and more uneasy every time she replayed the tape.
The amused voices around her and the odd chill that kept wrapping around her made her aggravated; she hated not having an answer to something. She hated when she couldn't easily explain things away. She didn't like this…she didn't like it at all. She clicked off the footage, tired of watching it…the ongoing discussion of ghosts from the men behind her grating on her nerves and she had enough. She shoved her chair back and got up.
"Where are you going?" Castle asked as she shoved her phone in her pocket.
"To the bathroom," she replied; figuring it was the one place she could get away from them.
"Let us know if there are any ghosts in the ladies room," Esposito remarked.
She didn't bother to respond to the remark; merely walked away with a heavy sigh, her eyes taking in every inch of the room to see if the woman was hidden in a corner…she wasn't…and she wasn't sure if she should be relieved or concerned.
Kate casually made her way down the hallway; the sound of her heels against the floor filling her ears as she tried to shake off the unease that the security camera film had produced. It wasn't really a ghost like the guys thought…it couldn't be; could it?
"It scares you, doesn't it?" a woman's voice murmured from behind her.
Kate whirled around to confront whoever had snuck up on her but there was no one there; the hallway was empty…nowhere for someone to hide…there hadn't been any sound of footsteps hurrying away. A shiver slid down her spine as she tried desperately to convince herself that she had imagined the voice; that there was a logical explanation for the woman's appearance and disappearance on the film.
After doing one last scan of the hallway in both directions, Kate began to continue on toward the bathroom; telling herself that Castle had just gotten into her head with his fascination with ghosts.
"Don't be afraid of the unexplainable," the voice whispered again. "Ours is not to question why."
She could feel goosebumps forming on her arms, the sudden chill in the air as she once again turned and looked around, seeing no one. Her hand fell to her gun as her eyes scanned every inch of the area.
Soft laughter floated in the air. "Don't be silly; you don't need a gun."
"Who's there?" Kate asked; her voice coming out soft and strained instead of strong and firm like she had planned.
She received no answer; no one was around, there was no sighting of a mysterious woman in old fashioned green silk. She began to walk again, grateful that none of her colleagues were around to witness what had to be some kind of breakdown or hallucination that she was currently dealing with. Too many of Castle's ghost stories were surely to blame…maybe she was stressed too and hadn't realized it. There were logical explanations for all of it, she was sure of it…there had to be a logical explanation, she kept repeating to herself as she finally reached the bathroom door.
"Call your mother, she misses you," the voice whispered once more.
The comment startled her as her gaze darted around once more, a knot forming in her stomach. What the hell was going on? Was this some kind of inner voice like her conscience? Why was her mother suddenly brought up? A knot formed in her stomach and she pushed open the ladies room door and hurried inside; hoping that soft voice that had plagued her the whole way down the hallway wouldn't follow her inside.
Kate searched the bathroom to ensure she was alone and then she drifted to the sinks and glanced in the mirror. She didn't like what she saw in her reflection…unease; worry…a hint of fear now that her mother had been pushed into her mind. She didn't like her features to showcase her unease and worry…liked the fear even less. Her hand trembled a bit as she reached into her pocket and took out her phone, her finger hovering over the screen as she debated making the call. Finally she gave in and woke up her phone…and a moment later she put it to her ear and listened to Johanna Beckett's line ring.
"Hello," Johanna said as she answered on the third ring.
"Hey," Kate replied.
"Is something wrong?" her mother asked.
"No; I just…," she started to say before trailing off and changing course. "Were you around the precinct today?"
"No, why?"
"I caught sight of someone who resembled you but before I could get to her she was gone; I thought maybe you stopped by for something and changed your mind at the last minute for some reason."
"No," Johanna replied; "I've been home all day. I've been working on some things your father gave me for that case he's been helping Zach with…I kind of think he's itching a little to go into the courtroom with Zach as second chair."
"Well he could," Kate said; "His license to practice is still current; that's mandatory in this state."
"I know; I might have to put a little bug in Zach's ear."
Kate was quiet for a moment. "You're sure you've been home all day?"
"Yes, Katie; I've been working on this file since nine this morning. If I was going to stop by the precinct I'd call first…I learned my lesson about dropping by unannounced."
She cringed a little, recalling her birthday the year before when her mother had dropped by the precinct without warning…gift in hand, proclaiming it was the only way since she had been turned down not only for lunch but a breakfast invitation as well. She hadn't been pleased with her mother's appearance that day; nor had she been happy with the gossipy comments that had been made about the visit. She was afraid that she had made her distaste about unannounced visits abundantly clear…her mother hadn't shown up without an express invitation since then…in fact; she didn't even come to visit her unless she called before leaving the house and texted once she was in front of the building to make sure it was still fine to come by; and it suddenly dawned on her that her mother didn't visit all that much at all.
"Katie; you still there?" Johanna asked; her voice breaking into Kate's thoughts.
She shook her head, shaking away the unpleasant things she had been thinking. "Yeah; sorry; I got distracted. I just thought maybe it was you…it would've been okay if it was, you know."
"I'd call first unless it was an emergency and then you'd know I was there because I'd make myself known," her mother replied.
"Nothing's wrong?"
"No; everything's fine…the doors are locked, I checked both after your father left for work. I was in the office for awhile but then I moved into the kitchen so I could turn on the TV for some background noise. No one's been around; no one's called except for Jim to let me know he got to work safely. Scarlett's asleep by my feet."
Kate rolled her eyes at the mention of the cat. "How is the little fur ball?"
"I don't like the way you say that, Katie."
"It's just a joke, Mom."
"No it's not; you don't like her and she knows it; that's why she won't let you pet her much when you visit. She knows you're just trying to make it look good."
"I like Scarlett just fine," she replied. "She's the one with a problem; she thinks you're her mommy and she doesn't want me around you…because she doesn't get that you were my mother first and you always will be."
"Oh my God, your father's right, you are jealous of her."
"I am not jealous of a damn cat!"
"If you say so," Johanna replied, a touch of lightness in her tone.
"I'm not."
"Okay, you're not," her mother remarked; "Now what's going on with you today? Is something wrong on your end?"
Kate sighed and raked her hand through her hair. "No; nothing's wrong."
"I'm not trying to start anything but you kind of seem like something is wrong."
"I'm just…out of sorts today," she replied; figuring it was the best answer she could come up with at the moment. "It's been a slow week and people are annoying me."
Her mother laughed softly. "Well don't worry I didn't make any special trip to join the club of people annoying you."
"I'd rather it be you," she admitted. "At least you're reasonable…most of the time."
"Well, sweetheart I try to be as reasonable as I can for you. Who's bothering you today? It isn't Rick is it?"
"He's done his share of annoying for the day."
"I see…send him home."
"I can't do that."
"Why not? When your father annoys me I send him out to play with Jeff."
Kate laughed a little. "I have known you to do that…and he always goes."
"He knows it's better that way…too much annoyance could lead to him sleeping alone and he doesn't like that."
"The send them away plan has its merits," she agreed; "But what do I do about Ryan and Esposito…they work here."
"That one is a little harder to solve…I guess you could find some task that requires them to relocate to a different part of the building."
"We're kind of lacking on tasks at the moment besides paperwork."
"Well…then I guess you could threaten them with bodily harm."
"They never seem to take that threat seriously; maybe I'll just take the rest of the day off," Kate remarked; the idea appealing. She could always do her paperwork at home.
"You could do that; it's a little after two now; it's not like you'd be cutting out too early."
"Maybe I will; maybe my mind will settle down."
"What's on your mind that's got you out of sorts, Katie?"
"I don't really have an exact thing," she replied; "It's just stupid little annoying things…you know how sometimes they just add up all of a sudden and drive you crazy?"
"Yeah," Johanna replied; "That's called PMS; take the rest of the day off, go home, count your days; I guarantee you that's the culprit."
"That does sound logical," Kate agreed, perking up a little at the thought; "And hormones do affect us oddly sometimes, don't they?"
"Yeah; they do; they're a pain in the ass…especially when people are adding to the problem. Get some rest, eat some ice cream, watch TV; tell Rick you need a little time to yourself; you'll feel a little better in the morning."
She nodded even though her mother couldn't see the gesture. "I think I will…I might have a burger and fries before the ice cream though; I am kind of hungry even though I ate lunch."
"See, definitely PMS; munchies are a part of that," Johanna laughed. "You need to eat and vegetate; let those hormones sort themselves out before you hurt someone."
"Good point," she agreed with a laugh. "I'm going to go pack up some work and head home to my place; Castle probably won't be happy but I think maybe I do need a night to myself right now."
"Take all of those you can get before you're married, Katie," her mother told her. "Trust me on that; no matter how much you love them, once in awhile when you're exasperated, you miss the days when you could just leave and go home to your own apartment."
"Let me guess, those are the days you send Dad out to play with Jeff."
"You're learning the ways of wives already, I'm so proud."
She smiled. "I had a good teacher."
"I just hope I haven't forgotten anything to warn you about," Johanna remarked.
"If you did, I'll be sure to let you know when the time comes. I'll let you get back to work now…call if you need me."
"Alright, Katie; you can call if you need me too…I'll be home until about six then your father and I are going out."
"Where are you going?"
"Were going out to dinner with Jeff and Maggie. I'll text you and let you know we got back alright."
"If you don't I'll text you later tonight to make sure," Kate replied. "Have fun."
"I always do. You have fun with your 'me' time and don't feel guilty for it."
"I won't," she murmured; pausing before adding, "I love you, Mom."
"I love you too, Katie," Johanna remarked. "Let me know you got home safely."
"I will," she promised before saying goodbye and ending the call. She put the phone back in her pocket; the knot in her stomach eased knowing that her mother was safely tucked away at home. She was glad that she had called and checked; glad that her mother had offered up an idea of why she was so out of sorts; a look at the calendar would probably confirm that she was the victim of out of whack impending period hormones; that was what was causing her to doubt her sanity, hearing that strange new inner voice pop up. She was just hormonal and in need of some alone time. She was fine; she'd leave early, take it easy as her mother suggested and by tomorrow she'd have a logical explanation for why the woman in green had appeared and disappeared the way she had. She'd be fine.
It was all very logical she thought to herself as she continued to stand at the sink…and yet the sound of her mother's voice had sent a longing coursing through her. They hadn't seen each other in a few weeks…and once November had set in their phone calls had gotten shorter and the time between them longer. There was an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach…one that made her want to go home; but not to her apartment, home to her mother; convince her to put away whatever it was she was working on and settle down in front of Temptation Lane with her. But she couldn't do that; not on a whim anyway. Her mother was busy with her work and soon she'd put it away so she could get ready for her evening out. She'd visit her another day. It was just that odd mood sweeping over her and making her want to go right that second.
"Damn hormones," Kate muttered as she pushed away from the sink; her mind made up to head home early.
As she pushed open the bathroom door, she thought she heard a soft giggle but she didn't see anyone around that might have made the noise. She shook her head; she definitely needed to go home.
In the hallway but unseen to Kate's eye; Sarah stood watching her, a smile on her lips and a gleam in her eye. "We're just getting started, darling; Ice cream and television won't cure you of me."
