Page 51 of Operation: Valiant Angel

Mike

Wilson remembered that he had to report back to Shepherd that he’d talked to Rae right before the Gustavo takedown. He’d not had the opportunity until he and Lambchop left the house the DEA was using as their onsite HQ. “I have to call Shepherd back,” Wilson said. “I almost forgot.” He pulled his phone from his pocket. Even though he doubted Lambchop knew anything about it, he had no problem making the call in front of him.

They’d left Gustavo with Espinoza.

The Shepherd Security Team was on standby. Espinoza expected they’d conduct the major takedown within the next few hours. Gustavo swore up and down he did not know the delivery schedule to the warehouse, had no clue if any product was even there. At least he didn’t deny knowledge of it. Lambchop volunteered the team to do recon at that location before warrants were obtained. Busting an empty warehouse was not on anyone’s to do list.

After talking with Shepherd and giving him the report, which was basically that Rae talking with the children yielded no useful information, he put his phone on speaker and he and Lambchop filled Shepherd in on the current status of the DEA Partner Mission.

“Can we get the Digital Team to pull schematics on that warehouse?” Lambchop asked.

“Consider it done. Okay, keep me informed, Lambchop,” Shepherd said. “If the team does recon on that warehouse, have Ops online with you.”

“Will do, Shep,” Lambchop said.

After they disconnected the call, Lambchop fixed Wilson with a questioning stare. “Rae Ella Easton?”

Wilson laughed. “Yeah, that’s basically the look Garcia gave me, too. It hasn’t been easy for her, relocating and taking the new identity from the Marshals. I never considered how lonely it would be for a person. I’ve been a friend. That’s it. She’s had a rough life and is a good person despite it.”

A smile spread over Lambchop’s face. “You’re quite insistent that you’re just a friend.”

“You know, I never thought about what the relationship was until she threw out the word friends. It really fucked with my head until I decided I didn’t have to categorize what the relationship is. I like talking with her and being there for her,” he said honestly. “I like that she knows she can confide in me things she can’t tell anyone else in her new life. I care about her and am her biggest cheerleader to make her new life a success. I’m not having sex with her and would never take advantage of her or the trust she has in me. If I’m not a friend, I’m not sure what that makes me.”

“A good person,” Lambchop said. “And yes, anytime someone leaves their old life behind and takes a new identity, it’s hard, lonely, scary, brings a wide range of emotions.”

“She said she has this feeling of waiting for the other shoe to fall, for someone to call her out that she doesn’t belong in the lifeshe’s living now. It has to be like walking around on eggshells, not a feeling I can even imagine,” Wilson said. “But at the same time, I see this incredible strength and determination in her that I respect. And this thing with the little girl and worrying about her as she is.” He paused and chuckled. “I could see her stepping in front of a gunman and taking a bullet to protect this kid.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Lambchop said. “You need to caution her to leave finding this kid to the Marshals. What do they think happened to the mom and kid?”

“Shepherd hasn’t said. But I figure it’s one of two things. Either the mom is back to her old ways or they’re in trouble, or they were found by whoever the Marshals had her in hiding away from. Either way, it doesn’t look good for either one of them. If the mom is back up to old tricks, they’ll find her eventually and she’ll go to jail, leaving the little girl with no mom. She’ll most likely be thrown into the system.”

“That’s rough,” Lambchop agreed. “As Michaela and I prepare for the arrival of our own little girl, I can’t imagine ever putting my kid into any situation that could potentially hurt her. I don’t know how any parent can. She isn’t even born yet, but every fiber of who I am is programmed to protect her from everything, every minute of every day.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s how all good parents are wired,” Wilson said. “Hell, Hahna isn’t even biologically theirs and that’s how Cooper and Madison feel. The problem is I can’t tell Rae this woman was a Marshals’ protectee like her. Well, not exactly like her. And I don’t want to lie to Rae and tell her all is okay with this kid when I don’t know it is, like Garcia thinks I should. So, I’m not sure how I can tell her to leave finding this kid to the experts.”

“From what you’ve said, she won’t. If she happens to see the kid, or someone she thinks is the kid, she’s going to check it out,” Lambchop said. “You need to tell her enough of the potential danger that just maybe she’ll call you or, in the very least, she’ll be careful poking around.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right. She’s not going to stop asking questions and I can totally see her following someone she thinks is the kid or her mom.”

“Give her the bare minimum to convey the possible danger and leave it at that,” Lambchop instructed. “Give her a call now, if you need to. I need you focused on this mission when Espinoza contacts us with the go order.”

Wilson chuckled. “You think I’m not focused? I’m wounded.”

“You’ve never not been focused. Then again, I’ve never known you to have an ongoing relationship with a woman. It can take time to figure out how to keep it all compartmentalized.”

“Compartmentalized?” Wilson asked.

“There’s a reason most can’t do this job and have a family. You can’t do it if you can’t compartmentalize. No matter how much I love Michaela and my life with her, I have to be able to completely tuck away every thought regarding her while I’m working.”

“To be focused,” Wilson commented.

“Yes,” Lambchop confirmed. “There’s no room for any distraction.”

Wilson knew that. “Rae’s not a distraction. My thoughts won’t be on her when we get the go order.”

Lambchop nodded. “I text messaged Mother while we were with Espinoza. He should have the rest of the team up to date and in the holding pattern with us,” Lambchop said, changing topics.“I’m sure Espinoza will want us to recon that warehouse. His team can’t legally go in without a warrant and he’s not going to want to go in and let the bad guys know we know about that location if it isn’t full of product.”

“If it’s empty, do you think Espinoza will want to wait until there’s a delivery to move on the network?”

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