Page 8 of Operation: Valiant Angel

“You can go home,” Kay said, breaking in on Reina’s thoughts. “No sense, both of us waiting.”

“Okay, thanks,” Reina replied. Then she went over to Lilly and helped her put the last crayons in the bin. “See you tomorrow, sweetie. Have a good night.” She gave Lilly a hug.

Reina was quick to don her heavy winter coat and gloves. She noticed how still the air was as she exited the building. The sun had dipped below the horizon and there was no moonlight, as the sky was cloudy. The parking lot was vacant and darkened. Out of habit, her senses all became alert and focused. The temperatures had been above average during the day. It had been sunny and felt warm for January when they’d brought the children out for both outdoor play times. But now, with night settling in, there was a chill that instantly invaded her, or perhaps that was just dread.

“Stop it,” she said aloud to herself. She knew that she was safe here. Her past was just that, her past. But it hadn’t been even a full year since she left that past life and became Reina Ellis. She was a respectable and upstanding citizen, preschool class helper, clean and sober. She always chuckled to herself when she thought of herself that way.

Just as she relaxed, a black car raced into the parking lot. Tires screeching, it braked hard and stopped, taking up two parking spaces in front of Reina. Reina had taken a few steps backtowards the door into the building the second it had appeared. In her pocket, her hand tightened around the taser she kept there. Her heart pounded hard against her chest.

The door of the car flew open, and Lilly’s mom sprung out. “I am so sorry I’m late again,” she said as she rushed around her car, heading for Reina and the door.

“Kay is getting her coat on and will bring her out. You don’t need to rush now that you’re here,” Reina said. She carefully looked over Ashley Carona, Lilly’s mom, to judge if she seemed impaired. She seemed harried, which would be a normal response when you are nearly a half-hour late getting your child.

“Again, I am so sorry,” she repeated, slowing her pace as she reached Reina near the door. “I can’t leave until my relief nurse arrives and I perform a turnover of the patients to her and she’s having a hard time being on time.”

“I get it. We can’t leave work either until all the kids are picked up,” Reina said, trying to not sound too harsh.

“Look, I’m doing my best,” Ashley Carona said defensively.

Just then, the door opened, and Kay Meadows walked out with Lilly. Both of them were bundled up in their winter coats, wearing gloves and winter hats.

Reina forced a smile and nodded to Ashley Carona. “Have a good night.” She walked past her, inhaling deeply. She didn’t detect the smell of booze or smoke, which proved nothing.

Reina’s car was parked at the far end of the parking lot beside Kay’s and the facility’s director, Kimberly Cargill, who was still in her office. Reina saw her through the office window. She watched the interaction between Kay and Ashley as she buckled in and turned the car over. She wondered if Kay was telling Ashley a late pickup fee had been assessed.

She also wondered if Kay ever suspected Ashley was impaired. And if she did, what would she do about it? Yes, they were mandated reporters of abuse and neglect and were supposed to notify the authorities if they suspected a child was in danger. And getting picked up and driven around by an impaired parent would put a child in danger. But Reina knew first-hand that wasn’t always the worst situation a child could be in.

Reina shook off her concern and shifted the car to drive. She tried to put Lilly Carona out of her thoughts as she drove home. Home was a tiny, nine hundred square foot, two-bedroom house she had been provided to live in as part of her relocation agreement with the U.S. Marshals. The house was in the Wellington Heights neighborhood on the northeast side of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

It wasn’t much, but she was safe there. And it was hers, free and clear. All she had to do was pay the property taxes and the utilities. The first was pretty cheap, fifteen hundred a year. The utilities were a different story. Because the house had old windows and was poorly insulated, the heating and cooling costs were ridiculous. Similar homes were listed for around seventy thousand dollars but were selling slowly. She knew the government had picked it up cheap, as a foreclosure nearly a decade earlier.

It was a short drive home. Reina’s headlights swept across the front of her white house as she turned into her driveway. The one-car garage sat back from the house, taking up much of the small backyard. She hit the button on the garage door opener, which was clipped to the visor. It rolled open. She parked and closed the door by tapping the close button mounted near the door on the side wall and then exited the garage there, turning the lock and pulling the door closed. It was only a few steps to her back door from there.

Reina’s key stuck in the lock, which happened when the air was cold and damp. She jiggled it to unlock it, glancing around the quiet and vacant back yard, another habit from her past life that wouldn’t leave. It didn’t take long to get the key to work. She relocked the door immediately as she stepped into the kitchen after she’d flipped the light on.

She hadn’t even removed her coat when there was a tap on the back door, startling her. She peeked out through the peep hole, not surprised to see her persistent and annoying neighbor, Bruce. Where had he come from? Just moments earlier, not a soul was to be seen at the back of the house.

“Damn,” she cursed aloud. She wasn’t in the mood for him. She unlocked and swung open the door. “Were you hiding behind my garage or in the bushes?” she greeted him curtly, staring straight into his brown eyes.

He laughed it off. “I just wanted to be sure you got in okay. There were a couple of random dudes at your front door a few hours ago.”

“What guys? Describe them,” she prompted without stepping back to invite him inside.

“Just two guys, a Hispanic guy in a leather jacket with short hair and a dude wearing one of those North Face fleece zip ups with long blonde hair. They caught my eye as they were hanging out at your front door. They didn’t go together, if you know what I mean.”

Whenever Reina heard leather jacket or long hair when someone described a guy, her suspicion spiked. “I’ll have to check my front door to see if they left a card or a note,” she said, trying to sound unconcerned about it.

“They didn’t. I already checked for you,” Bruce said, eyeing the inside of her house. He readjusted his tan Carhartt hat, whichmatched the jacket he wore. His face was clean shaven today, a rarity. He’d made an effort to look good for Reina. If she’d only give him a chance, she’d see he could be good for her.

“Thank you for watching out for my place,” she forced herself to say. “I have to go.” She nodded and then closed the door, relocking it immediately.

The fact that two men had visited while she was away unnerved her. The fact that Bruce skulked around her yard, and she hadn’t seen him when she arrived home, bothered her more. Bruce was harmless, just annoying. And since he watched over her place, that did make him helpful. She made a mental note to be a little nicer to him.

***

Wilson flipped his palm up to view his watch, the face worn on the inside of his wrist. He and Garcia were just finishing dinner at the steakhouse and tavern just outside of Cedar Rapids. “It’s past nineteen thirty. She should be home by now.”

Garcia took the last drink of his red wine and then forked the last bite of his steak into his mouth. “How come today is the first I’m hearing you’ve stayed in touch with her?”

---