Dreams of Future Past

Chapter 11

The wind is picking up. There is a storm coming in. If she doesn't get blown loose, her fingers will eventually slip as the surface she clings to becomes slick with moisture. There is nowhere to hide. There will be no future; no Castle. There is nothing left but the past.


It's typical for a full moon. The monthly parade of characters is herded through the bullpen. Castle is grinning so widely that the popcorn almost falls out of his mouth. He's no doubt choosing what of the moonlight madness to use in his next book. Next book. How many of them will he be writing? There had never been enough for her. There still wouldn't be, even if he had to stay with her to write them. Or especially if he had to stay with her to write them? No. That's stupid.

The ringing of the phone is a welcome break in her train of thought. Castle is backsliding. Instead of looking at the body, he's tapping on the fish tank, spouting some sci-fi imagining about putting electrodes on the fish to get a fish eye view of the murder. She wishes she could. It would be a lot easier than the plodding path she has to follow with witnesses and timelines. But she's stuck with real police work.


When Castle finally looks at the body, he immediately notices the incorrect grammar in the words scrawled on the face. Of course, he would. He's a writer. But does he have to obsess over it? He reminds her of Mrs. Ossining, her seventh grade English Language Arts teacher. Even now, the thought of a red pencil is fearsome. That is just making Castle's rant more annoying.

What distracts him is even more maddening. She would rather he was staring at a misused word than at Lanie's boobs. What is it with that anyway? Should Martha have breastfed him? She drags her mind back to the victim, Ashley Cosway. She's a therapist. Did someone silence her to avoid a revelation of some secret? Don't therapists take an oath? Considering what she told hers after her mother's murder, she hopes so.


Castle is talking to the boys a lot. What's that about?

She calls Castle in on the interrogation of the friend Brandy Rossi, who'd had dinner with Ashley. Not just a friend, a lawyer! And Ashley talked to her about a restraining order. Castle looks too gleeful about that. Something is going on.

She has to talk to the husband. She always needs to talk to the spouse. Jason Cosway is sure that Ashley would never share any of her patients' confidences, not even with him. Kate's relief has nothing to do with the case.

Castle almost dances into her with coffee. Again, with the grin. What is he so excited about?


Castle closes the door when he's talking with the boys. They are up to something, something they don't want her to know about. Other cops are acting strange too. She'll figure out what they're hiding but figuring out who murdered Ashley Cosway is more important.


Castle is acting hyper, and not just because the suspect has a cleaver in his hand. He is pushing the questioning like he has a hot date. Does he? And Castle is too disappointed that Ross has an alibi and too excited when he questions Evan Hinkle.


Castle is really acting nuts, leaning over the suspect and barking questions like a character in a bad cop movie. He's disgusted all out of proportion that Evan has an alibi and starts correcting the unfortunate patient's grammar. But Castle is right about irony. At least now they know that Jason Cosway was less than forthcoming. The man had a screaming argument with his wife. The spouse as a murderer. It's a homicide cliché. People hurt the ones they love. Maybe because people they love can hurt them. Another reason not to ever let her feelings get the best of her.


So that's it! Whispering and taking money. Castle has corrupted the bullpen and turned it into a gambling den. And he has the gall to say he's taking orders for Girl Scout Cookies! She wishes he was. Right now, she could really use a box or five of Thin Mints.

Castle is trying to apologize, but Jason Cosway that scum, has an insurance policy on his wife. That is worth throwing a hundred dollars into the pot.

What the hell? The boys are watching a game. That's not just a game. It's Jason Cosway's alibi. Sh*t!


The boys are ahead. They have a clue about New York's Holy Grail, a rent-controlled apartment. Where is the hell Castle?

Lanie wants to talk to both teams. With Perlmutter? Saltwater? Both bodies were near salt- water? Castle's silliness about the fish tank is worth something now, even if he jumps to his clue about a clownfish because of a kid's movie. The killings are connected, and the connection is right in Ashley's office.


The salt water wasn't from the tank, but the whole team has a new target. It could just be a coincidence. Castle proclaims loud enough for half the city to hear him that there are no coincidences. Wesley Grovner is slimy, but with that tracker on his ankle, he couldn't kill anyone. Argh! Now Castle is claiming it's a coincidence.


They are at square one. No amount of staring at the murder board is changing that. They need a new start with fresh eyes. She tells the boys, "You take our murder, we'll take yours."

That's all Castle needs! Could it really be that simple? Could Jason Cosway have traded murders with Eric Marx?


The bet is back on! Whoever gets a confession first wins. No one said from whom. But she and Castle have Jason Cosway. He's the alpha. He's never going to break. She and Castle will need to work together to find another way. And for their plan to work, the boys can't be in on it.

Ryan and Esposito are full of it, claiming they won the bet. She and Castle got a confession. It doesn't matter that they got it from Eric Marx.

No way is she shaving her head. Parting with a hundred bucks would hurt enough, but not that. Then there are all the people in the bullpen who put money on her. No way is she going to fail in front of them. There has to be a way to settle this.

The way the sports metaphors were flying, it has to be about a game. Castle is a loss with most sports, but he can shoot! The boys have no idea what Castle showed her on the range. She isn't about to tell them.

Esposito loves the idea. She can already see the smirk on his face visualizing Castle bald and in a dress. Well, it would be a funny picture. But she's not about to lose her hair too.

They set up the targets. Esposito can't get his jaw off the ground when Castle puts all his bullets in the 10 ring, but he matches his performance. It's up to her and Ryan. And she is the better shot. She and Castle can afford to be gracious. They'll give up on the shaved heads. The boys won't have to wear dresses in the bullpen. But they're going to put them on in the locker room. And Castle has a top of the line video camera.

A/N How they settled the bet was never in canon. But I thought that Kate could use a fun memory. And I can see Kate and Rick enjoying the video together - with lots of popcorn.