Chapter 3

The next Wednesday the neighbors all noticed an airport cab depositing a middle-age woman in rather casual dress arriving at their door just before lunch. Probably a relative or an old friend here to see their new digs they thought. When Rita took her outside for an extensive tour of the war zone in the front yard, everything seemed to fit their expectations.

Boy, were they wrong. The guest was none other that Ann from Ann Arbor. A pseudonym that many agents would know by reputation only. Her real name and home base were a tightly held secret. Her recruitment was a pure accident. An HR type who had a brief tour in the field went to an open mike night at a tiny comedy club where she did twenty minutes of seamlessly changing from one American stereotype to another with astonishing accuracy. He was totally mesmerized by her convincing personas and knew with a bit of training, that skill could make her quite useful in certain situations.

A few nights later he brought a a more senior entourage who saw the same thing he did. Vetting was started, and an approach was made soon afterward. She was totally surprised by the offer and accepted unconditionally. She would be trained for both pickpocket and pick-locket operations. The former just took a bit of training with some sketchy freelancers. Those pros had been held in high regard until recently. Now though, any contact with those kinds of sketchy characters had fallen into disfavor because the association would look bad if publicly revealed. To avoid that, a third party had become involved who kept very vague and inconsistent records. Hard to prove what you can't find was a surmise all could live with.

Mastering the pick-locket ops took a bit longer. It was a technique that the Italians had perfected always using a women who could mix with anyone just long enough to accomplish the task without becoming memorable. The bump and fake surprise were similar to what pickpockets had done for eons. The wrinkle was the tiny device firmly tethered in the palm of her unseen hand. It contained a tiny very sharp clip and catch device which harvested the hair from the back of the head as her open palm swept to the mark's shoulder trying to steady herself from what appeared to be an innocent collision. It took but a few seconds, and after a startled fake apology in the desired twang, she was off with her precious cargo ready for collection.

Today she was hear to be briefed on a mission from two people she only knew by reputation. The callous observation Rita had carelessly tossed out had now become something of an obsession for Jackson. She thought he was taking her remark far too seriously; he felt otherwise.

The ensuing argument was surprisingly heated, but not unprecedented. They both agreed that any link to Richard Castle or his extended family was a vulnerability. She felt the lone example with Alexis was just a lucky one-off. Let sleeping dogs lie was the best course of action.

He argued that Castle and his extended family deserved to have this threat nullified if at all possible especially now that an innocent newborn had been added to the mix. None of them signed up for the opaque motivations of the spy game, and this little caper might put them out of harm's way once and for all. In the end, her concern for the baby persuaded Rita to agree. Though she had none of her own, she was repulsed by the notion that young children could ever be pawns in the brutal games she was good at.

Because of her ancillary role, Ann was not really like most agents working within a network. She was what was called a plug-and-play asset. Ops needing her expertise summoned her usually on short notice, provided a minimal brief, and watched her execute with no contact after her goods were transferred.

So when she rang the doorbell on that rather sultry Wednesday, she assumed quite wrongly that this little op was no different. Jackson and Rita were infamous for pushing boundaries, and this was a classic example of their audacity. Because of the implicit silo nature of all ops, both were sure they could bury this where no prying bureaucrat would ever find it. Yes, it was an improper use of resources, but what was the worst that could happen? Publicly flogging two loyal senior operative already on their way out seemed like a lot of bother for very little reward.

The meeting was cordial and succinct. They introduced the mark, Rich Castle, without divulging anything about Jackson's connection to him. The place would be a rather large bookstore just north of New York City where he had agreed to do an extended reading and book signing.

These local excursions were a compromise Castle had reluctantly agreed to at Gina's behest. Ever since Kate's pregnancy had been confirmed, his attentions had turned to all things family, and his team over at Black Pawn were concerned that his absence from public view was negatively impacting their fees. He could care less, but Gina was persistent in pointing that she would hold him to his contract obligations. Kate sided with Gina, and that was that.

The actual mission was really about the easiest she had ever been assigned. She actually lived just south of Albany which meant for the first time she could drive to her op. It was eighty plus miles one-way on the Thruway, but she would go on back roads to avoid those intrusive toll and license plate readers that the Thruway gods had installed years ago. The drive down had a few congested spots, but nothing that delayed her punctual arrival just after the bookstore opened.

Armed with dark glasses and a big scarf, she entered the store and watched how the rather enthusiastic employees cleared and set up the space for the famous author. Plenty of seats suggested they were expecting a large crowd, and that suited her just fine. The target arrived shortly thereafter with a big surprise. Apparently, his wife, Kate Beckett and new baby, Lily, had opted to tag along. The manager was gleeful and instructed his staff to pull a couch nearby the podium for the additional guests of honor.

Anne was not pleased by this unexpected guest. Katherine Beckett was both a veteran detective and trained observer. She just might notice something, and that meant she had to bring her 'A' game when showtime came. The reading and formal Q and A session lasted about an hour. Anne thought the book might be worth a shot and vowed to peruse a copy someday soon.

Right after the formal part of the program ended, the mingling began. Anne was happily surprised to see that a sizeable contingent of the audience surround the detective and engage her about all things motherhood. The crowd obstructed Kate's view of her husband which would make Ann's slight-of-hand much less dangerous.

Meanwhile, the hardcore Castle groupies swarmed the podium, and she followed just a bit back from the vanguard. The bump and clip she executed was textbook, and her apologies sounded quite sincere in a noticeable Western New York accent. Nothing memorable was the result she aimed for, and she exited the store feeling quite pleased with her performance.

The collection part was meticulously planned by Rita. Anne was instructed to drive about ten miles to another strip mall that contained a large food store, a brew pub, and a coffee shop. She parked and went into the food store and grabbed a couple boxes of cereal. Her purchases really didn't matter; the bag did. With her purchase in-hand like any other shopper, she left and discreetly deposited her catch device inside. Then, it took a few moments to locate Rita's unlocked car and casually deposit her flimsy store bag inside like it was her own vehicle.

After securing Rita's car, she walked back up to the entrance of the brew pub appearing to peruse the posted menu before passing by the outside tables of the coffee shop where Rita was sitting sipping some highly over-priced concoction. She waited for the discreet nod, returned to her own car, and drove away happy to have done her part. Her report would be short and forwarded only to Jackson. No other mention of today would be forthcoming from her. She had a need-to-know kind of job, and it was a rule she would scrupulously follow.

A/N Hopefully this moves the story along as some have wished.