Page 55 of Operation: Valiant Angel

“I think she’s heading to the airport,” Reina said.

“Is the little girl with her?” he asked as Lambchop stepped over near him.

“I don’t know. I saw her come out of the bank and get into the passenger seat of a black SUV. The windows are tinted. I couldn’t see who else was in the car.”

“Was she alone when she came out of the bank?” he asked, already feeling concerned. He swiveled the phone, so the speaker was still pressed to his ear, but the mic was away from his mouth. “It’s Rae, she’s following the Carona woman. Notify Ops for me,” he whispered to Lambchop.

“No, some man was with her.”

He swiveled the phone back into place. “Rae, the man was probably a Marshal. I did get some info on Ashley Carona. She’s in the witness protection program, just like you.”

“He didn’t look like the Marshals I had contact with. Jimmy, this guy threw off a real dangerous vibe. I’m worried about her.”

“Rae, you need to be careful,” he said, knowing his words were falling on deaf ears. He couldn’t tell her what he knew about the woman she knew as Ashley Carona and the character of the type of people she previously associated with. “I can’t tell you why, but just take my word for it that if that isn’t a Marshal, and he’s the type of person I think he is, he’s dangerous and would hurt you without any remorse.”

“I’m back several cars. I’m sure they didn’t even see me,” Reina insisted.

“Stay back several car lengths and stay on the line with me,” he said. He knew he sounded like he was issuing her orders and that wouldn’t go over well. “Give me a running report on where you are and what’s going on.”

“I’m fine, Jimmy. Don’t you want me to try to get you a license plate number or something?”

“Rae, if you see it great, yes, read it to me. But don’t go any closer to them. I don’t want them making you. That could put you in danger.”

Reina continued to follow the black SUV and gave Jimmy the running narrative about where they were, and what the car was doing. She stayed in the same lane on the interstate even though the black SUV changed lanes continually. Traffic slowed and eventually came to a stop. There was nothing she could do when her car pulled up beside the black SUV.

She tried to keep her back pressed hard against the seat and keep her eyes straight ahead. The last thing she wanted to do was make eye contact with the man behind the wheel of the SUV, as the front windows weren’t tinted. She was successful until the traffic inched forward, and she gazed left, then right out of habit. She was slightly in front of the SUV and not only did she make eye contact with the man but also with Ashley Carona.

“Shit!” She knew her facial expression was shock. So, she forced a smile and waved at Ashley while mouthing, “Hi.”

“Shit what, Rae?” Wilson asked.

Ashley Carona didn’t smile, didn’t wave. There was an intense-looking conversation between her and the man before Reina’s vehicle inched far enough ahead of them that she could no longer see in the vehicle.

“Traffic stopped, and I ended up next to them. Ashley saw me,” she explained.

“Get out of there, Rae, get the fuck out of there now. Just get over and take the next exit.”

“I want to at least get you the plate number,” she said. “We’re stopping again and I think I can get it as they come up. I’ll stay back far enough that I’ll be somewhat behind them.” And that was what she did. She hung back, leaving a gap between her and the car in front of her. The SUV pulled up to the bumper of the car in front of it. She got a good look at the plate and read it off to Jimmy.

“Okay, you got it. Now get the hell out of there,” Wilson said. He repeated the plate number to Lambchop, who typed it into his phone.

When Reina looked up, she saw that Ashley was turned in her seat, gazing directly at her, and the expression on her face was not friendly. “Yeah, I’ll do that,” she assured Jimmy.

As the traffic started to move, she inched over to the far-right lane so she could get off at the next exit. She lost track of the black SUV. She took the off ramp, not entirely familiar with where the road she was getting off on would take her. “Okay, I’m off the interstate,” she reported once she’d cleared the exit ramp. She gave Jimmy her location.

“Are you okay, Rae?”

Had she not been so startled by the look on Ashley Carona’s face, she would have realized how worried he sounded. That would come later. “Jimmy. I’m fine. You should have seen how Ashley looked at me.”

She didn’t sound fine to him. She sounded rattled. “She’s on the run. She’s probably freaked out that someone who can identify her, saw her,” he said.

“On the run from what?” she asked.

If Jimmy answered that question, she didn’t know. The second the question left her mouth; her car was violently rear-ended,and she dropped her phone as the seatbelt tightened and the airbag in the steering wheel deployed. She didn’t exactly scream, but she was aware of the startled grunt, half-shriek that came out of her mouth.

When she regained her wits and realized what had happened, she struggled to get her seatbelt off. The airbag in front of her was deflating. She looked out the side window and saw she was along the side of the road, with a berm several feet away but beside her. She opened her car door and stumbled out, winded, dazed, and disoriented. It barely registered when a pair of hands grabbed her from behind and spun her around. She found herself staring into the face of that man who’d exited the bank with Ashley Carona.

“Rae? Are you okay?” Wilson yelled into the phone. He’d heard her shriek and the impact of metal on metal. “Rae, what happened?” He waited a beat for a reply. None came. He turned his attention to Lambchop. “That sound was unmistakable, metal on metal. I’m sure she was just in a car accident.” He paused and shook his head. “And now nothing but silence.”

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