Page 42 of Operation: Valiant Angel

“Yeah, like seriously,” Bianchi agreed. “So, Vinny Aiello Senior plays errand boy for the family, retrieves the brief case from my dad with a threat, and just like that, my dad’s working for the Palumbos. And get this, Aiello gets a monthly kickback from the family that he shares with the three dumbasses he recruited to be his muscle when he went to the school to confront my dad. He could have kept all of it. My dad didn’t need four guys to intimidate him. He would have handed it over to Aiello had he been alone.”

“Darrow, Keeler, and Kent,” Wilson said.

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Bianchi asked.

“His three buddies from high school,” Wilson replied. So, that’s what the money exchange had been for.

“Does your dad make anything from his involvement?” Madison asked.

“No, but he gets to gamble all the time, which he likes. And he’s doing it with someone else’s money, which is a bonus. They let him win early in the game if his cards shake out to win, but he knows the money has to go to the house at the end of the night.”

“Does he want out?” Garcia asked.

“Nah, he has nothing else to do with his time.”

Wilson’s gaze locked with Cooper’s. Cooper looked as astonished by Bianchi’s lackadaisical attitude as he was. He waited a beat for Cooper to say something. “Coop?”

“Yeah, there’s a crime here, but nothing for us to follow up on.” He stood. “Brad, today’s your lucky day. We’ll make sure Bashar doesn’t follow through on releasing any info on you. If your dad ever wants out, contact me.” He pulled a card with his name and phone number only on it and handed it to Bianchi. “Good luck to you.” He presented his hand, which Bianchi shook.

“Good luck, Brad,” Madison said as she too stood.

“You’re an over performer at work,” Garcia said. “They should be paying you more. Mention that on your next review.”

“Yeah, sure,” Bianchi agreed.

“Don’t discount your right to be happy or push it off to later. Be careful but get back out there,” Wilson told him, not sure where the sentiment had come from. He wasn’t one who should be giving anyone relationship advice.

Then the four members of Shepherd Security filed out the door.

Kilo

Reina got to work on Monday morning to find that Lilly Carona was no longer enrolled at the preschool. The center’s director, Kimberly Cargill, entered the classroom and asked Reina and the classroom teacher if anything had happened with Lilly on Friday. Neither woman could think of anything. And Lilly’s mom had actually been on time to pick her up the entire last week.

“Well, Lilly’s mom gave no notice. She just left a voicemail over the weekend saying that Lilly would not be returning to our school. And she paid for the entire week in advance last Friday, as usual. The unused days aren’t refundable, not that she even asked about a refund in the message, which I find very odd.”

“Has the check cleared yet?” Kay asked. “Maybe she knows she’ll be bouncing a check.”

“Maybe,” Kimberly agreed.

Reina found this beyond odd. Ashley Carona was a single mom, as far as Reina knew. Wasting that amount of money was not something she would do. “Were you going to call her and ask if something happened you need to be aware of?”

“Why would I open that can of worms?” Kimberly asked.

“It’s better to let it lie,” Kay agreed. “I, for one, am glad we won’t have to stay late waiting for Lilly to be picked up any longer.”

While both Kay and Kimberly agreed there was no reason to question the sudden withdrawal from the school, Reina was suspicious of Ashley Carona’s motives and concerned for Lilly. But maybe she was just transferring her own traumatic childhood onto Lilly.

Later that morning, Reina slipped into Kimberly’s empty office. She knew the filing cabinets where the student files were kept were not locked. She wanted to get a look at Lilly’s. Maybe she’d drive by her house, just to take a look to see all was okay. Maybe she’d call Lilly’s mom and ask if everything was alright. She wasn’t sure yet.

She located and pulled Lilly Carona’s file. She heard Kimberly’s voice in the hallway. She was approaching. Reina quickly tucked the file into the back of her pants under her sweater.

“Reina, what are you doing in here?” Kimberly asked, startled to see Reina standing in her office.

Reina clutched her forehead. “I just needed a quiet moment. I just took some Tylenol and am trying to dull a headache.”

“I hope you’re not coming down with the flu, too,” Kimberly said.

Reina knew it was making its way through the school, both students and teachers were coming down with it daily. “I hope so, too,” Reina said. “Can I take a few more minutes in here where it’s quiet and give the Tylenol time to work?”

---