A/N: I am so sorry this chapter has taken so long. Life has been seriously sucking lately and it's affected my writing. I think I finally got to where I was going – or at least, I'm on my way. I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 9

Kevin pulled Lanie back into the room with the board, motioning Rick and the ghosts to stay in the hall.

"We need to discuss these names…" he began.

"Oh, please, Kevin, you know he'll just eavesdrop – just like he's been doing this whole time."

Rick came into the room, sighing in exasperation.

"I doubt my word means anything to you right now. You've convinced yourselves – or at least you have, Lanie – that I've been following all of you around for however long, but I swear on all that is good and holy that I won't listen in on you."

I know you believe Katie and I are simply projections, so we can't listen since we're not 'real' in your minds – but just in case…

Johanna gave a sardonic smile.

Just in case we are real, go outside. We can't leave the house – we couldn't listen to you even if we wanted to.

"Would that work for you, Lanie? We could even go around the block or something."

Lanie glared at Rick again.

"Fine. But only because I want to hear what Kevin has to say about what's on the board. I know a few of these names and…"

She gave her own sigh.

"I want to know what you've got. Especially what you have on Captain Montgomery. He was a good man."

Yes he was, Kate broke in. And we can explain if you let us.

Ryan pulled his phone out of his pocket and took a picture of the whiteboard.

"We'll be back."

With that, the two walked out of the house, leaving Rick and the ghosts in the hallway.

XXXXXX

After leaving the house, and moving halfway down the block, Ryan checked to make sure Castle hadn't followed them outside.

"So, pretend for a minute that it's all real – the ghosts I mean. What are your thoughts about seeing Kate again?"

Lanie raised an eyebrow.

"Please, Kevin, don't tell me you're actually considering this."

Ryan raised his hand.

"Just…suspend your disbelief for a second, Lanie. 'Kate' – he airquoted – threw me for a loop mentioning Sarah Grace. If Castle has been following all of us around, he'll never see the light of day again if I can help it. I'm just wondering – if we go along with the charade, if we'll find something worthwhile. At the very least it should help us figure out how long he's been at it.

"Hmmm… What do you think about his 'out of my league' statement with the ghost projection?" asked Lanie.

"Well, I can't help but think he knows people in the business –his mother certainly would," Kevin replied. "He might not have the knowledge to put together such amazing special effects himself, but I'd bet he knows someone who knows someone. Whether Martha Rodgers knows about the scam itself, she's probably the one who gave him the names of people in the know."

Lanie nodded.

"Though…" Kevin continued. "How the hell is he getting the responses correct? Both 'Kate' and 'Johanna' – " he airquoted again – "have responded the way a person would when trying to convince someone of something."

"He's gotten to you, hasn't he?" Lanie asked.

Ryan shrugged.

"Maybe it's wishful thinking," he replied. But if she were alive again – even just for a moment…"

Lanie nodded in understanding.

"So, to answer your question," she said thoughtfully; "It would be a gift to be able to talk to Kate again, tell her about Jim, Javi and me, and about Jamal and Liliana. I suppose I should let you tell her about Jenny, Sarah Grace and especially Nicholas."

She smiled sadly.

"You think I don't want to believe she's here? How in the hell would we tell Jim? Not to mention Johanna."

"That's true," said Ryan. "I don't want to hurt Jim with this – at least until we find out more."

He pulled up the photo of the whiteboard he took earlier, and put on his cop persona.

"I recognize a couple of these names. Raglan and McCallister. As well as Captain Montgomery and the senator, of course. Three of them are definitely cops – Bracken, Hal Lockwood, Vulcan Simmons and I'm assuming Joe Pulgatti and Michael Smith aren't. I've never heard of Michael Smith, have you?"

"No. Sounds like an alias, if I've ever heard of one," said Lanie.

"Agreed. I'm not sure who Pulgatti is – though the name seems familiar. We've got to get Javi in on this. Lockwood is a hoodlum for hire. He escaped from a courtroom during a sentencing hearing. He's underground now, no one has seen hide nor hair of him for a couple of years. Vulcan Simmons was a drug runner up in Washington Heights 20 years ago. I believe he was one of the guys Johanna was after, specifically. Raglan was killed when he called Jim saying he had info on Johanna's murder. McCallister went to prison for corruption, though I don't know the details. The captain testified against him."

"Did Montgomery ever talk about it?"

"Never. It was a few years after Kate was shot, and both Javi and I asked him about it, but all he said was 'it's over and done'. It's one reason I want to hear everything that Castle – and his 'ghosts' have. We have ways of verifying things that Castle doesn't. Javi just told me he had meetings all week, did he give you an idea when he'd be free?"

"Meetings the rest of this week and all the next, is what he said to me," Lanie answered. "We can explain everything as best we can to him, but we've got to get him here. The whole thing is unbelievable, he'll think we're pranking him – probably out of revenge at his halfway living at the precinct."

"And that'll just piss him off," grinned Ryan.

"And be justified," retorted Lanie.

Ryan looked at his watch.

"Let's head back. See if Castle can convince us."

Lanie snorted skeptically.

"He can try."

XXXXXX

Both Rick and Kate were pacing, while Johanna stood stoically.

How can you be so calm, Mom? Kate asked. I'm coming out of my skin! She realized what she'd said. That is, if I had any, she said a little lamely.

Johanna laughed.

9 years as opposed to 19, she replied. I've waited so long; I can wait a little longer.

She saw the look on her daughter's face.

Not that 9 years isn't more than enough time to wait for answers, Katie. Besides, I'm trying to conserve energy. I've been getting stronger, but I don't want to push it.

I hadn't thought of that, Kate nodded. Hopefully you can continue to manifest. She turned to Rick.

Just out of curiosity, would there be a way to 'project' a person to make them seem like a ghost?

"I'm sure there are computer programs that could do it, but you'd have to have a really high end computer. And the cost to make it realistic would be prohibitive unless it was a studio making a movie."

You're rich, aren't you? Kate teased.

"Not that rich," he laughed, then sobered. "Surely Lanie and Kevin must know this – unless they don't go to movies." He snorted at that. "My books are doing well, and while Mother has been nominated for several Tony's, we're not loaded. We're comfortable, and honestly we probably could afford to move back to Manhattan if we wanted to."

He looked around the hallway, and noticed Kate and Johanna's shock at that statement.

"But this is home," he clarified. "We may not entertain, and we've never been particularly friendly with the neighbors, but I can't see us leaving anytime soon. Certainly not until I've – we've helped you two."

Kate smiled. Not in relief, but the clarification helped.

Johanna turned to the hallway door.

So, what have you decided?

Both Rick and Kate spun around – well, Rick spun, Kate floated.

Lanie and Kevin stood staring.

"What?" asked Rick.

"I think I might be convinced," Ryan said slowly. "I mean I suppose you could have had someone watching to see when we came back, but still…"

"Yeah," Lanie agreed. "You wouldn't talk to projections expecting an answer. That was a real conversation."

"Now who's eavesdropping?" asked Rick.

Castle!

"Kidding! Kidding!" Rick held up his hands in supplication. "I'm grateful something persuaded you to the truth – although I certainly understand your skepticism."

He gestured to the room that held the whiteboard and all its information.

"Shall we?"

XXXXXX

Over the next 10 minutes, Ryan repeated everything he had told Lanie earlier, going into a bit more detail with a few of the names.

Wait. Raglan was killed? Kate asked, a little surprised.

"Yes," Ryan replied. He'd contacted your dad saying there was something he wanted to tell him about your mom's death…er…your death, Mrs. Beckett, sorry."

Johanna nodded her head in understanding.

It's all right Detective Ryan. I get that this is awkward at best. So Raglan was feeling guilty?

"That's the impression Jim said he got from the few minutes they spoke before Raglan was shot."

Who shot him?

"A sniper. Never caught," Kevin answered.

Was the sniper shooting through the city ever caught?

"Yes, Javi shot him," Lanie broke in. "He received a Commendation—Integrity medal for it."

So, I'd say that proves it, Mom.

Kate turned to the others.

At least to us, she clarified. We always assumed that either the sniper who shot me was trying to hide his real target – me, or Bracken used him as a cover for his own sniper.

"Wait, wait, wait," Ryan broke in. "You're saying Senator Bracken is behind all this? Both your murders?"

Yes. Johanna said simply. She turned to Rick. And you're the one who turned us onto him, even before you knew about us.

Rick looked surprised.

"I don't understand," he turned to the ghosts in confusion. "How could you have discovered anything through me if I wasn't looking?"

I didn't say you weren't looking, Rick, just not looking for that.

I'd been watching you for a long time, Rick – you know that, I just never told you how long.

"So, how long have you been watching me?"

Pretty much since you moved in. You were young, but you were already writing and researching. If I'm remembering correctly, you had just gotten the opportunity to write for the school paper. "This just doesn't happen to a freshman; I've got to make sure I do everything right." I remember you saying that to your mom. It was the first inclination that maybe – someday – you could help us.

"I'm glad I got there."

Finally, Kate said with a smirk.

"You wound me, Detective," Rick teased right back.

Anyway, let's get to it. Johanna said with a smile of her own. You kids can flirt later.

Kate blushed and Lanie snorted.

"Girlfriend we need at least one bottle of wine and a pint of ice cream each for the conversation we're gonna be having…"

She broke off, stricken, realizing what she had just said.

"Kate, I…"

Tears glistened in Kate's eyes.

I hear you Lanie. I expect you to bring it all and indulge. I'll just join in the imbibement vicariously.

"I hate to break up the reunion – really, I do," said Kevin. "But Johanna's right. The senator being behind this is a huge bombshell. We have got to get Javi here. Preferably sooner than later."

He turned to Lanie.

"How long do these meetings run? Do you know?"

"He's usually out by 5 or 6 – the head honchos want to go home too, but it's been as late as 8:00. Why?"

"I'm not sure we can get too far without him," Kevin answered. "He's got his own unofficial file that needs to merge with yours – and he's going to be skeptical at best about Senator Bracken even with the evidence you've printed off, Castle," he held up the file. "Knowing him, he'll write it all off as some idiot author trying to get himself sued into oblivion – sorry, Castle."

Rick nodded at the all too likely scenario.

"Plus," Ryan continued, "we've got to get him over the shock of seeing you two," he turned to the ghosts.

He'll be more disbelieving than either of you. What do you think, Mom? Should we open that door? Kate indicated the locked door that Kevin had assumed was where Rick's projection system was.

I'm wary about that, Katie. What if the portal closes off?

Well, it hasn't in all these years,

No mortal has seen it, though.

Hmmm…

Katie, I want to go. Johanna said with some desperation. I hope Lanie and Kevin can convince Jim to come by, please, God, let that happen, but other than that, I'm more than ready. I'm not sure I could take it if it closed off before we could leave.

"Portal?" asked Kevin.

Think of Star Trek – specifically 'City on the Edge of Forever', Kate explained. It appeared in that room when I died and showed up here.

"Where does it go? What's its purpose?"

A portal to the afterlife? That's what I assumed it was when I came here. I thought Mom had come to take me with her. I was stunned to find she'd been stuck here ever since she was killed.

There was never a portal like that for me. And I can't get through Katie's door on my own. Katie had been helping push me through until I decided I wanted to help catch our killer and pulled myself out.

"Which brings me back to my question," said Ryan. "What makes you think the senator is behind all this?"

Well, there's a lot more to the story, but to answer this specifically, Castle was researching a report he was writing about the newest congressman from New York, Representative William H. Bracken.

"I remember that report," Rick broke in. "It was originally written for my political science class my junior year, but after I got my grade back, it was published in the school paper. I still have it; I saved all the papers I wrote anything in. I'll dig it up if you think it might help."

It might be interesting to read, knowing what we know now, but I don't see how it could help us with this, Johanna replied.

Rick nodded and dropped it. He might pull it out to read again on his own, but at best it was doubtful he would have had any great insight into what kind of man Bracken was at the time.

It wasn't so much the report – or even the research itself that caught my eye while I was watching you, Kate went on. It was a photo on the webpage you were reading.

She paused, looking around the room.

He was talking to reporters and Hal Lockwood was standing behind him like a bodyguard.

XXXXXX

Javi was concerned. His meetings had ended for the evening and he was in his office in the precinct. He couldn't get his mind off of where Lanie was. He knew Kevin was with her, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to whatever it was this writer had told her. He picked up the paper Castle had given his wife and decided to look the address up. If there was the slightest inkling of any weird behavior, he'd head over there now and give Castle the what for, who cared about probable cause, this was his wife he was talking about.

Hmmm…

There hadn't been anything for 15 years, but there had been some odd occurrences a few years previous to that.

He scrolled through the Ledger's archives and stopped on one story.

What? Are you shitting me? Javi was incredulous.

An exorcism. Not only that, but an exorcism that failed.

Catholic priest says Satan has infiltrated Kensington.

Father Mark Delaney has a warning for those in the Kensington neighborhood in Brooklyn.

"I know that I will be thought of as a crackpot, but I have seen the devil and it is living in a house in Kensington. This is an incredibly strong demon. I have used everything in the power given to me by the Catholic Church to rid the house of this entity. It will not leave. It is a trickster; it claims to want to leave but cannot. I urge leaders of local Protestant congregations to try a Deliverance. Perhaps you will succeed where I failed."

"Okay," Javi muttered. He scrolled further and found another story.

Pastor recommends destruction of 'possessed' house

Pastor David Cummings of Christ Pentecostal Church of New York has made a strong recommendation for Kensington neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Readers may recall a story from a month ago about an exorcism performed by a Catholic priest that failed. The priest requested what is called a Deliverance – similar to an exorcism with a few differences – to be performed to rid the house of a demon.

"This is an incredibly powerful demon," the pastor said. "It isn't possessing a person; it's possessing the house itself. The classic 'haunted' house, if you will, but this spirit is malevolent. The priest was correct when he said this spirit is a trickster. It said it wanted help to leave, but it was clearly lying. I told the owners of the house to burn the place down. I believe the entire neighborhood should be destroyed, but this specific house must go. It's dangerous to the souls of the people in it."

The captain decided to see if there were any more wild stories. He couldn't find any more, but he'd seen enough. He didn't believe in haunted houses, and clearly this had happened before Castle and his mother moved in, but something about it stuck in his craw. Maybe it was just that his wife was over there, but his concern was mounting.

He looked at his watch. It wasn't too late, maybe he'd head over there himself. He trusted Kevin to protect Lanie implicitly, even though his wife would say she could take care of herself – and she could – but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened and he wasn't there.

He cleaned up his desk and turned off his computer. Making sure he had his badge and the Beckett casefile with him, he closed and locked his office door.

"Don't stay too late, guys," he spoke to a small group of detectives discussing a case, waved and hit the elevator button.

He was going to find out for himself what the hell was going on.

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A/N2: What did you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts!