Page 86 of Operation: Valiant Angel

“We’ll share. I think that would be best for Lilly,” Reina answered.

“Yes, I assumed so. It took almost a month before Hahna felt safe enough to make it all night in her own room,” Madison said. She showed them her room, Hahna’s, and then the guest room down the hall.

Madison let each girl pick a book from the large bookcase in Hahna’s bedroom. They all piled on Hahna’s bed and Madison and Reina each read the girls one of the books. The girls hugged each other goodnight. Reina brought Lilly to the room they’d share while Madison tucked Hahna in.

After Lilly was in bed, she stepped into the hall to talk to Madison. “I’m going to go to bed now, too. I’m so tired.”

“I bet you are,” Madison said. “No problem. I’ll probably read in my room for an hour or so, if you need anything.”

“Thank you.” She paused.

Madison could see she had more on her mind. She nodded, encouraging Reina to ask.

“Are you sure we’re safe here?” Reina asked in a whisper. “And I don’t want to bring my trouble to your door and put you and Hahna in danger.”

Madison turned her back and lifted her sweater up slightly, enough to reveal the butt of a pistol tucked into a holster at the small of her back. “I’m one of them, carry an FBI badge and credentials that I earned. I participate in the same missions as the guys, do the same job. I very easily could have been on the ground in Iowa. My team just wasn’t up for the rotation. Yes, I believe you are one hundred percent safe here. If they were tracing that AirTag, there is no way they’ll find you here, and if they somehow did, I’ve got you and Lilly. I never hesitate to take out one of the bad guys.”

Reina was impressed. She smiled and nodded. “Thank you for that. And again, thank you for opening your home to us.”

“You’re welcome. Sleep well.”

Lilly was already asleep when Reina re-entered the bedroom. Once in bed, she checked her phone. Jimmy still hadn’t messaged back. She sent him another message, telling him that she was going to sleep, but urged him to call when he could. She’d have her ringer on very low with hopes the phone wouldn’t wake Lilly, too.

The next morning when she woke up, Reina found a text from Jimmy, sent very late. He said he didn’t want to wake them. He promised they’d talk today.

***

Wilson had been paired with Jackson the night before. The two of them conducted surveillance of a man named Thomas Costa. He’d been arrested with the others five years earlier, took a plea deal, and was already out on parole. The man had a busy night, hitting several night clubs and bars in the Ironbound neighborhood, walking from establishment to establishment. They photographed everyone he interacted with. None of themwere Stella Adams or Blake Henning, even though they were tracked to this very area.

While they watched Costa’s every move, Garcia and Doc broke into his apartment and searched it for any signs he was in touch with Henning or Adams. Cooper and Tommy were at Costa’s place of employment, his brother-in-law’s garage, where he worked as a tow-truck driver and did light work as a mechanic. He had a desk there and also parked his personal car in the lot there. It was within walking distance from his apartment. They broke in and searched the desk, the tow-truck and his car.

The Marshals were running down other leads that didn’t require warrants.

It was after midnight before Wilson and Jackson returned to the hotel, confident Costa was in for the night. Wilson’s alarm went off at zero seven hundred the next morning. Overnight, the Digital Team had spotted Adams and Henning in a car on the expressway, heading towards Atlantic City. Other cameras confirmed their arrival in A.C.

Just before the team was ready to head south in the two rental cars they had, Wilson slipped away and called Rae.

“Hi, I’m glad you could finally call,” she said.

“I was busy doing surveillance work last night. Sorry. I saw that you’d called Ops and Madison messaged me that she had you and Lilly, so I didn’t worry. And then I saw your message that you were with her and okay.”

“Yes, everyone was great. Seeing that AirTag really freaked me out.”

“I bet it did. You did the right thing, calling Ops. That’s what they’re there for,” Wilson said.

“How’s it going there?”

“Nothing substantial yet. But they’re still in the area. We got confirmed sightings of them yesterday.”

“Do you know why they’re there? There has to be a reason.”

“The Marshals speculate there’s cash or something else they need or want someplace here,” Wilson said. “We just have to find them.”

“Well, don’t worry about Lilly and me. Madison said we can stay here as long as you’re gone. Oh, and Elizabeth, you know her, right?”

“Yes, Doc’s wife. Doc is here with the team.”

“Elizabeth said the person who lives next to her is about to put her townhouse on the market next week, says we can get a look at it before she lists it.”

---