Page 32 of Operation: Valiant Angel

“So, you’re not just like assigned to the Chicago area?” She knew that wasn’t the case as she’d met him in Norfolk and when she flew back with them, she learned their home base was some place in the Chicago area. She knew they weren’t a regular unit of federal agents. She knew several of them were DEA and others were FBI. She didn’t buy that they were just a federal task force of multiple agencies, as she’d been told. But she was smart enough to not ask more.

“No, it may be our home base, but we do get deployed to various areas when the job is there,” he said, phrasing it carefully to not give her any info she shouldn’t have.

“It’s amazing to me to hear how all this goes, given which side I was kind of on for so long, LOL.”

Wilson laughed aloud. “Yeah, I bet. It’s a whole different world that most people don’t know about. Just like I’m sure the world you were a part of was the same. Most people aren’t privy to the world you lived in.”

“Yeah, I’m sure my coworkers at the school would be shocked to learn what my life was like before, not that I’d ever tell them.”

“Yeah, that would be a really bad idea, LOL,” he wrote.

“LOL, I know. I can never tell anyone who I really am. That’s why I do like talking to you. You know and know how much my life has changed. Our conversations can be real, with no explanations of anything needed.”

“I like that we talk, Rae. I wish, though, that I could be as open with you, but the classified nature of my job makes that impossible.”

“I know and I understand,” she wrote. “I guess that puts us both in the same position when it comes to any possible relationship. Neither of us will ever be able to be completely honest with a potential partner. Kind of dooms any relationship, don’t you think?”

Wilson didn’t know how to respond to that. He’d really never thought about it before, because he’d never thought about a person as a potential partner, never wanted that type of relationship. Even as his teammates married and had children, proving it was possible in their job, he still didn’t see himself in a committed relationship, didn’t see himself wanting one.

“I don’t know. Many of my teammates have successful relationships. But they can tell their significant other some about the job after she’s passed a background check when their relationship becomes serious, so it’s not quite the same as your situation.”

“Oh, really? I guess I just assumed you could never tell anyone what you do,” she said.

“Not everything, but more than you’d think,” he replied. “And there are some things I wouldn’t share, wouldn’t want to either burden someone with how horrible something was or how scary a situation was. I know my team mates never share the close calls. They don’t want their wife or girlfriend to worry about them every time they’re out working more than they probably already do.”

“That makes sense,” she agreed. “If Garcia had a wife, I’m sure he wouldn’t want her to know how close he was to me when I got shot and have her worry it could have been him.”

Wilson wouldn’t correct her assumption that Garcia wasn’t married. He was sure Rae would be shocked to hear that he was married and had a son. “Yes, none of the team members share that kind of thing.”

There was a lapse in their texting that lasted nearly a minute. “I should probably try to get to sleep now. My alarm is going to go off way too early.”

“Before you go,” he tapped out, “I wanted to say that I think you should not assume you can not have a successful relationship because you can’t share anything about your past with someone. If he’s the right person, the good person you are will be enough for him. He won’t need to know everything about who you used to be.”

She thought about that for a minute and suddenly felt emotional. She wanted to debate him, insisting that if someone didn’t know her past, they wouldn’t truly know her. She’d feel like she was not being honest. And the fact that he was urging her to be open to a relationship with someone proved he didn’t think about her in romantic terms at all. That made her sad. She knew she shouldn’t think of him in those terms, but she couldn’t keep herself from having feelings for him beyond appreciation and friendship.

As if she thought he could read her mind, she then felt embarrassed for the thoughts she had. He’d never indicated he thought of her that way or had any intentions beyond friendship. It almost made her feel guilty that she was attracted to him and wondered what it would be like to be with him.

“Okay, thanks, Jimmy,” she tapped out, realizing she’d waited too long to reply. “I better try to get to sleep now.”

“Okay, sleep well. I’ll talk to you later,” he tapped out.

Hotel

Wilson reported to Shepherd’s office at zero nine hundred for the pre-mission briefing on the next CIA Referral Case. He was assigned in Sloan’s place. On the team that would be deploying were Cooper and Madison, Garcia, Doc, Michael Cooper, and himself. Six team members had become the normal staffing level for most of these cases. It was what seemed to work best.

He learned that Delta Team members Lambchop, Mother, and Sherman plus Echo Team members Roth and BT, and Bravo Team lead Flores, had left earlier that morning on a low threat DEA Partner Mission. The CIA mission would not deploy until the afternoon when the company jet returned from delivering them to Kansas City. With five complete teams, the juggling of staff and assignments had become difficult for Wilson to keep up with. The rest of his team, Charlie Team, were still on the next PGP Install.

“You’ll fly out on our Lear at thirteen hundred,” Shepherd began. “Baltimore, Maryland is your destination. We have not been given access to the CIA’s recordings of what exactly was picked up leading to our mission regarding our target, one Bradford Bianchi, as I was told their investigation is ongoing, however,what we do know is that Bradford Bianchi is not a principal in their case.”

“Did they even tell you what we’re supposed to be investigating on him?” Doc asked.

“The only direction we were given was that his communications with a Saudi businessman aren’t benign,” Shepherd replied.

“The Digital Team has dug into him and didn’t find any red flags. Known email and phone numbers show nothing concerning, so I have no idea what the CIA means by not benign,” Garcia said. “He works overnights, Tuesday through Friday at MRG Enterprises. It’s a large freight transfer facility at the Port of Baltimore, mostly dry bulk goods coming in on international shipping containers. Their audits have all been clean. In his job function, emailing and talking with international customers is in his job description.”

“Baltimore is known for its organized crime syndicate. Is this guy connected?” Cooper asked.

“There are no signs of it,” Garcia answered. “Bianchi’s forty-two years old with no record, doesn’t seem to have relationships with people who are known or suspected of criminal activity.”

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