Dreams of Future Past
Chapter 38
She can't stop touching her mother's ring, the reminder that she still hasn't found the man behind Lockwood. Ryker is flirting with her, but she's not at the prison for a date. What? Lockwood is in the general population! He'll be after McCallister just like he was Raglan!
Her heart is pounding as she runs, the prison guards trailing behind her. They're too late. McCallister is dead. Lockwood is just standing there with his hands up. Why not? He has nothing to lose. How many life sentences can he serve? What more can the law do to him? She would flay the skin from his body an inch at a time if she could, but she has no power to punish him.
The man holding Lockwood's leash can be the only real target for her fury, and now she has a new trail to follow. Someone had to engineer Lockwood's transfer. She's going to find out who.
She tells Lockwood his boss can't hide from her. He's in a cage, but he still smirks at her, calls her sweetheart. He insists she's got it backward. She's the one who can't hide. She can feel her blood chill as she takes her seat in the courtroom, next to Castle.
Those cops in front of her don't look right. Their pins, they're chrome! The ones the N.Y.P.D. wears are brass. Something is rolling down the aisle. She shouts for Castle to get down, covering him with her body. The room is vibrating, and her ears are ringing. She can barely hear Castle tell her he's all right.
She finds the empty shackles. Lockwood is escaping. She fires at the helicopter. It's futile. Lockwood's gone, and so is her best connection to her mother's murderer.
The boys have something. Lockwood made collect calls from prison. They were never accepted until that week. Esposito knows what Lockwood meant - military jargon for continue mission. What mission? He'd already killed Raglan and McCallister. Castle thinks it's the third cop, the only one left who could identify the man who hired Coonan. Could he be right?
There are no clues from the chopper. It was stolen, and now it's been washed down with bleach. Lockwood would do that - or have his men do it. Her trail gets wiped out at every turn. But why is there a trail? Why is the puppet master making his move now?
Ryker was the mole at the prison. He arranged Lockwood's transfer. Why? His record was spotless. Everyone at the prison respected him, even the prisoners. His financials hold the answer. He was drowning in debt - debt that a fifty-thousand-dollar payoff would wipe out.
The debt wasn't all that was wiped out. Ryker is dead. He had no idea whom he was dealing with. The bullet in his head was just another blast of the dragon's fire. God damn it! Who is the f***ing dragon?
There is nothing but dead ends. No. It's always Castle who finds another angle, and he's doing it again now. They uncovered Ryker by running his financials. Lockwood's boss must have done the same. Who could do that? Another cop? There must be something in that she missed. Her frustration is is flowing from every pore in her skin. She can't let herself be exposed like that. She needs to go through the files again but she needs to do it alone.
Why is Castle at her door? He's telling her the old reports he and the boys were going through were altered to cover up the identity of the third cop. He could have told her that on the phone, but that's not why he's there. He's trying to talk her off the case. No! He's the one who pushed her to pursue her mother's murder in the first place. Why is he doing this? He says she's going to get killed. He wants her to think about the people who care about her; her father; Josh.
What about Castle? Why does he care? Is he really just her partner, her friend? Almost dying in his arms. The kiss! He's right, they never talked about any of that. He doesn't know what they are to each other either.
It doesn't matter. She can't let it matter. It's her life.
What life? He's accusing her of hiding in her mother's murder like she hides in relationships with men she doesn't love. He claims she could be happy, but she's afraid. Is he right? Can't he see? She can't reach out to him or anyone else she could love until the wall her mother's murder built around her heart is knocked down.
She can't face him any longer. She can't let him behind her barrier, not now. She orders him to get out before she even realizes she's forming the words. Now she really is alone, more than she's been in three years. But it's better that way, isn't it?
She tells the captain she wants Castle gone. What? She didn't expect him to say yes. But he says he just let Castle stay because he was good for her. And he agrees with Castle that they can't win the war, but if she wants to fight the battle, he will stand with her. At least someone will. Whatever happens, she is going to fight.
Castle keeps calling. She can feel her chest tighten as she looks at the 23 missed calls on her cell phone screen, but she can't answer. She can't let him ask her to stop again.
Is that another call from Castle? No, it's Montgomery. He's got something! He wants her to meet him at the helicopter hanger. Could he have found evidence in the chopper that she and the boys missed?
The airstrip looks deserted. Where is the captain? A text from Ryan. Montgomery's the third cop! Her world is spinning around her. How could he be? He's been her mentor - supporting her all the way. He's the one who understands her battle. It that because it's always been against him? But if the third cop isn't her captain, why is he holding a gun?
Roy insists he isn't going to jail. He can't put his family through that. He says he was a rookie when everything went wrong. Raglan and McCallister were his heroes. Oh God, it was an accident, but he's the one that shot Bob Armen, and it led to her mother's murder! He's been trying to redeem himself ever since, as a cop - and with her. If she's his redemption, why is he turning on her now?
Who killed her mother? Why won't he give her a name? Isn't he there to kill her anyway? No, she's just the lure. He's still protecting her. No! She doesn't want Roy to give his life for her. She forgives him. There has to be another way. But his crime is not hers to forgive.
He called Castle! Roy tells him to get her out of there. She never knew the writer was strong enough to lift her like that: hold her like that. This is not the way she wanted to be in his arms.
She can't let Roy die. She should be standing with him, the way he said he'd stand with her; the way he's standing up for her now.
Her captain killed Lockwood. He killed them all. The last shot echoes through the hanger. Castle lets her go. It's too late. Roy is dead. He gave his life to save her. Castle kept her from trying to save Roy.
Castle, Ryan, and Esposito all agree that no one outside their immediate family needs to know that Roy Montgomery was anything less than the slain hero his funeral will honor. Castle will help bear Roy's coffin. Evelyn will get the flag. Kate will give the eulogy, repeating the words that gave her strength. It will be over. It will all be over.
She hears Castle's anguished cry the same instant the bullet burns into her chest. She can feel him tackling her to the ground, but it's too late. The life is draining from her body. "Stay with me Kate, please. Stay with me, OK? I love you. I love you, Kate." His words reach her as she sinks into darkness.
It's the same darkness that looms below her now, but this time, there are no words of love to cling to. Castle isn't there.