November
R eina Ellis rushed out her back door. Her neighbors were still leaving her alone for the most part, since she’d told nosy Mrs. Newhouse that her cousin was a DEA agent. She wished she’d thought of it sooner. She wanted to hit the ATM and get some cash to keep in the house on her way to the community college bookstore, as she’d be going right by the bank. She had decided to get another book for the English class she was taking as an online class this semester. It was listed as optional, so she hadn’t purchased it originally, but after just the first week of taking the class, decided it might be helpful.
It was Saturday morning and besides a little housework and laundry; she planned to devote most of the weekend to her schoolwork with hopes of getting ahead in the reading, after this trip to the bookstore. The sun was shining, and the temperatures were in the upper twenties, not terrible.
Her mood was still somber as she continued to worry about Lilly. She couldn’t help but wonder what Jimmy knew that he couldn’t tell her. And it was also his tone of voice when he’d said he just didn’t know if Lilly was okay or not. He was being honest. He didn’t know which scared her more. Certainly, if Lilly was okay, that could have been figured out quickly.
She withdrew two hundred dollars from the ATM that was at the far end of the drive-up banking lanes. After stuffing it into her wallet, she pulled forward to the stop sign that emptied into the parking lot of the bank. Just then, a man and a woman exited the bank. Her eyes fixed on the woman, Ashley Carona. Her hair was worn long, falling onto the lapels of a black leather jacket. Her face was full of makeup, but it was her, Reina was sure!
She momentarily froze, watching the pair cross the lot. The man was good looking, a fit body, a clean-shaven face, a black full head of hair slicked back. As they reached the front of a black SUV, he removed the sunglasses he’d just slipped on when they exited the bank, and he pointed them at Ashley Carona as his other hand grabbed her by the upper arm. He had a terse expression on his face.
They climbed into the front seats of that black SUV; the man driving. The backseat windows and rear window were tinted black. Reina regained her senses and rolled forward. The man pulled forward through his spot and crossed the lot, heading to the far exit. Reina stayed back a few feet, but followed. She was easily able to fall in a couple of cars back when the SUV pulled out onto the street.
The SUV took a turn onto the interstate highway. She followed, fumbling to get her phone from her purse. She dialed Jimmy.
“Hello?” he answered on the second ring.
“Jimmy, I saw Ashley Carona. I’m following her right now,” Reina said as soon as he answered.
“You’re doing what? Where are you, Rae?” He pointed at Lambchop and snapped his fingers to get his attention. They were at the hangar, loading their gear onto the Lear. The others were on the plane.
“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.”
Lambchop had already dialed Ops. Brad ‘Circles’ Dupont was on. He relayed the information. “Shepherd needs to get a hold of St. Vincent and get her license plate number and, in the meantime, get a hold of the Iowa State Highway Patrol and give them the exit she took. Not far off, it is the scene of her car accident. And Wilson is still on the line with her phone. Run a trace to locate her phone. Also, have them put an APB out on the black SUVs plates.”
“Roger that, Lambchop. Will take care of it immediately.”
“Get back to both me and Wilson when you have anything to report.”
Wilson kept the phone to his ear, straining to hear whatever he could through the phone. The line was still open. The call had not terminated. He’d listened to Lambchop on the phone with Ops. “Who’s on?”
“Circles took the call.”
Wilson felt good about that. Dupont was an experienced Ops Analyst.
“Is her phone line still active?” Lambchop asked.
“Yeah, I can’t hear anything, though. I hope she’s okay.”
“You mean you hope Ashley Carona and her companion didn’t cause the accident to do her harm,” Lambchop said, as though he could read Wilson’s thoughts.
“Yeah, that,” Wilson confirmed. His thoughts were overwhelmed as unfamiliar emotions assaulted him. He realized the depth of his feelings for Rae. He’d taken for granted her friendship, but the thought of her no longer being there to bring a focus outside of the job left an emptiness he couldn’t reconcile.
The others stepped off the plane. Their gear was secure. Wilson and Lambchop filled them in on what had happened and why Wilson still clutched the phone to his ear.
“I’ll tell the pilots we’re going to hold off departing until after law enforcement is on scene and can give us a report,” Lambchop volunteered.
“Thanks, I appreciate that,” Wilson said.
The minutes passed slowly. Wilson kept the phone to his ear, waiting. Finally, fifteen minutes later, he heard the faint sound of sirens through Rae’s phone. They grew louder until he was sure the siren was beside Rae’s phone and then it cut out. He waited, his heart pounding. Even though he didn’t want Rae to be hurt, he hoped a cop would get on and say Rae was there, unconscious from the accident, but okay. Somehow, he knew that wouldn’t be the case.
“Hello?” he yelled into the phone.
A few minutes later, a voice came through her phone, a male voice. “Hello, this is Iowa State Trooper Dorant.”
“My name is Wilson,” he said. “Special Agent, DEA. I was talking with the owner of that car when I heard a car accident occur. Is she there? Is she okay?”
“No one’s here, Agent Wilson,” the trooper said.
“The car should be registered to a Reina Ellis,” Wilson said. “Can you confirm the plates are registered to her?”
“In a moment,” Dorant said. “First, I do need to confirm your credentials. Give me a call back number and I’ll contact you on my mobile. This phone is nearly dead.”
“She’s not there,” Wilson told Lambchop after the trooper had disconnected the call.
Seven minutes later, Wilson’s phone rang an incoming call routed through the Iowa State Highway Patrol per the caller ID. “Wilson,” he answered.
“Thank you, Agent Wilson. This is Dorant. Thank you for allowing me to follow my procedure. I can now release information to you. I can confirm the plates on the car are registered to Reina Ellis of Cedar Rapids.”
“That’s who I was on the phone with when I heard the crash. That’s her phone.”
“There’s no sign of her or anyone else,” the trooper said. “The airbag deployed in the crash. Besides her phone being on the floor of the vehicle, when I got here, the driver’s side door was open, and her purse is sitting on the passenger seat.”
“I have a license plate number that one of my colleagues has requested an APB on. That vehicle, a black SUV, may have had something to do with the accident. The driver of that vehicle may have forcibly taken Miss Ellis after.” He read the license plate number to the trooper.
“And you suspect that why?” the trooper asked.
“I’m sorry. I’m not at liberty to say. But be advised that if you find the occupants of the SUV, they should be considered dangerous.”
“We’ll be in touch if we have anything to report.” The trooper had been looking through her purse as they’d talked. “Also, Miss Ellis had just made an ATM withdrawal of two hundred dollars less than an hour ago. The money and receipt are in her purse.”
“Unless she’s injured and wandered away from her car, she didn’t leave it willingly,” Wilson said, becoming more concerned about Rae.
“We’ll conduct a search of the immediate area for her as well,” the trooper guaranteed.
With that, the call was disconnected. Wilson relayed everything to the five other members of the team who stood nearby.
“Let’s get airborne. Shepherd has approved us diverting to Cedar Rapids,” Lambchop said.
“Thanks,” Wilson said, truly touched that Lambchop had reached out to Shepherd to ask.