[Recording]
Day Eleven.
My "work" for today involved meeting Castle for coffee in a cafe a few blocks away so that we could begin our 'interviews' while the boys searched the loft to see if they could find the intel Hunt handed off to him. Their findings lined up with our surveillance footage from the loft: the only thing Castle brought home with him from the party was a pile of books to sign, and Alexis's homework. To be honest, we don't even know exactly what we're looking for, but we do know that Castle was handed something, and several other interested parties will also be trying to get their hands on it, so our mission has as much to do with protecting the Castles as it does to do with recovering the intel.
The interview with Castle was a little surprising. To be honest, I'm not really sure how I feel about it. Gaining the trust of an asset is never an easy process, but with Castle... as shallow and childish and full of over-the-top charm and innuendo as he is, I hadn't realized how insightful he can be. There was a moment where he took my cover apart piece by piece and told me to my face that it was clear that I was "too ordinary" and that there was something going on with me under the surface – and he provided evidence based just on our brief interactions. It was all a little unnerving. I've never had an asset do that before, and it means I'll have to work harder at my cover to be sure nothing slips through. I shut him down fairly quickly, of course, but I'm worried that, by doing so, I may have inadvertently encouraged him. He doesn't strike me as the kind of man who is used to hearing the word "no".
The man is insufferable. I've never not been able to handle an asset before – usually it's one of my strengths as an agent, but Richard Castle gets right under my skin... and not in the Sinatra way.
[End recording]