Page 44 of Operation: Valiant Angel

A knock on her window startled her out of her thoughts and made her jump in her seat. A policeman in uniform stood beside her car. She rolled her window down at his prompting.

“Is everything okay, ma’am?” he asked.

“Yes, why?” she replied, fighting to catch her breath from the surprise by his window knock that got her heart pumping hard in her chest.

“You’re parked in front of the crime scene. Did you know the deceased?”

Her gaze darted back to the burned-out building surrounded by fencing. She didn’t see any crime scene tape. “Crime scene? No, I didn’t know it was. I was here to visit someone I knew in the house next door, but evidently, she moved.” She pointed to thedark house she’d recently exited the same way she’d gone in. She wondered if that neighbor across the street had called the police on her. “I was just calling her to see where she moved to.” She held her phone up to the officer.

“May I see your license, proof of insurance, and the vehicle’s registration, please?” he asked.

“Sure, but why?” she asked, reaching for her purse on the passenger seat beside Lilly’s painting. She didn’t see how he tightened his grip on his gun as she did. She pulled the requested documents from her purse and then the glove box. Her adrenaline spiked. She knew the Marshals had provided her with all valid documentation that was supposed to hold up to any scrutiny, but a part of her was fearful something would be off that would make the officer suspicious.

“Please remain in your vehicle while I run these,” he said.

In her rearview mirror, she watched him return to his own car, which she only now realized was parked behind hers.

A few minutes later, he returned to the spot beside her car. He handed her license and the documents to her through the window. “I’ll let you be on your way,” he said. “Have a good evening.” He nodded and then returned to his squad car.

Without delay, she turned the engine over and then signaled before she pulled back onto the quiet residential street. She shook all the way home from the encounter. Thankfully, neither of her nosy neighbors greeted her as she arrived home. Both Lorraine Newhouse and Bruce had left her alone since she’d told Lorraine her cousin Jimmy was a DEA Agent. The past few days had been wonderful.

She made herself a can of soup for dinner and considered what she should do next, if anything. Was it just a coincidence that Ashley and Lilly’s next-door neighbor was killed in a fire thatwas being investigated as a crime right before they moved? Did Ashley own the house, or were they just renting it? Maybe it hadn’t been Ashley’s choice to move. They could have been evicted.

After she drove herself crazy with considering it for over an hour, Reina picked her phone up and dialed the one person who could probably look into Ashley and Lilly Carona and their disappearance.

“Hi Rae. Is everything okay?” Jimmy Wilson asked when he answered her unexpected call. They did talk on the phone sporadically, but the timing of the call was always discussed via text prior to the call. He’d never received a call out of the blue from her before.

“Yes, is this a bad time?” she asked.

“It’s fine. I have a few minutes,” he assured her. He was in his office at HQ getting ready to deploy on the next DEA Partner Mission with Delta Team plus Jackson. He and Alpha Team had returned to HQ earlier that morning, having flown out of Baltimore on the agency Lear after solving the CIA referral case involving Bianchi. “It’s nice to hear from you.”

“It’s nice to hear your voice,” she said, regretting that she’d said it as soon as the words slipped out. “Jimmy, I need a favor. I’m sure it’s nothing and I’m just overreacting, but I think someone’s in trouble. There’s definitely something odd going on.”

“What do you mean, Rae? Tell me what happened.”

She recounted the events of the day. “Had Lilly’s Lovie not been in the dryer I don’t think I’d be this worried. I don’t know if you know anyone with kids, but their nap and nighttime Lovie isn’t something any mom would just leave behind when you move,” she said. “And the whole fire and crime scene stuff, that just really freaked me out, not to mention the cop running my ID.”

“Well first, I’m sure you’re okay with the cop having taken your ID and documents. Any identity set up by the Marshals passes muster. So, don’t worry about that. And I have to agree with you regarding the fire and their move. It’s one hell of a coincidence, unless their house was damaged and they had to move, but then, it would be temporary, and they probably wouldn’t have cleared everything out.”

“Jimmy, she’s a single mom. There is no way in hell she would have paid for an entire week’s childcare and then not used it or even ask for it back.”

“Okay, let me turn this over to our Digital Team, and they can look into this woman and her child.” After he said it, he knew he should not have told her the team name or any function at the agency.

“Thank you. I’d appreciate it. I just want to make sure they’re okay.”

“Send me what you have, and we’ll look into them. It might take a few days, but I promise I’ll get back in touch with you when I know something,” he guaranteed.

She sent him the pictures of the forms she had taken on her phone. “Okay, just sent it.”

“Got it, thanks. So, besides this, all is good?” he asked.

“Yes, I suppose so,” she said.

“What’s up? Talk to me,” he urged her.

“It’s nothing, really. This thing with Lilly and her mom, you know, I doubt anyone missed me when I flew out of Norfolk with you last year. I could have been dead, and no one would have known or cared.”

“Rae, don’t say that. You matter. You were instrumental in helping to bring down that drug ring. We wouldn’t have cracked it without you.”

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