Page 17 of Protecting Clove
“Well, um, she missed one. But based on her statement this morning, I guess she didn’t miss any.”
Clove wasn’t surprised, not really. Her daughter was smart, and now she had confirmation. But she didn’t want Neo treated like an adult. She might be able to understand complex thoughts, but she didn’t have the maturity.
“Ms. Cook, do you have any questions?”
“Does the district have a program for a child like Neo? She is a child, and I want her to be able to have childhood experiences.”
Dr. Nyema folded her hands on the table in front of her. “We have programs. We’ll send you home with the information for two different schools. The children have access to higher-level academics while also having recess and playtime. I think it will be a good fit. You’ll see that a few of our students stay for twelve years while other students work ahead and graduate early. We have a few alumni who have graduated from university before the age of eighteen. So there are a lot of different paths for them to take.”
Clove nodded, wondering if this really was best for Neo. Sending her to public school would help with costs, but the schools would add almost an hour’s drive time for her. She was willing to spend an hour in her car for Neo.
Her daughter sat forward, looking very small at the conference table. “I don’t think going to regular kindergartenwould be the best option for me. Already, other kids don’t know what I’m talking about, and I’m not willing to slow down learning for other people’s comfort. I want to go to this school.”
Clove reached over and squeezed Neo’s shoulder. “I hear you. I think we have to try it out. I want you to enjoy school.”
“Learning is enjoyable.”
Her daughter was so different from what she’d been as a child. She was glad there were options for Neo. Clove needed to work, and there was no way she could keep up with Neo’s educational needs. For now, it looked like they could go with public education and wouldn’t have to pay for private school. She just hoped nothing went wrong and Neo could get a great education. Now, she just needed to figure out if there was anything between herself and Bud. Maybe it was asking for too much for all areas of her life to be settled.
15
Bud was thrilled every single one of the SEALs had been quickly cleared. They suspected the insider information had been spilled by someone associated with one of the alphabet agencies. There wasn’t any hard proof, so there wasn’t more they could do.
They were flying home, and most of them were asleep when Kevlar came over and sat next to him. “Hey, how is it going?”
“Good. I can’t believe how much bullshit this was.”
Kevlar nodded. “Yeah, that was crap.”
“I know some of this stuff is above our pay grade, but I want to know what the hell happened.”
“Same.”
Trip came over and took a seat opposite them. “I want to know who shared information. This isn’t the first mission to be crushed because some bullshit person shared intelligence.”
“Yeah, Sharp’s old team was ripped apart.”
“It’s why Thario is retired.”
Rider came over and dropped into the seat next to Trip. “The things Thario does are important, but we can’t keep losing good guys. Last year, two teams lost guys because someone ambushed them.”
Bud nodded. “Something has to change.”
He wasn’t sure what would change, but something needed to happen to keep all the teams safe from someone stabbing them in the back. He had no solutions, and they wouldn’t solve this while they were on the flight home. He foresaw loads of late nights in their future.
When they landed in California, he grabbed his equipment and put away his stuff before grabbing his phone and checking his messages.
He saw he had a note from Tex. It looked like Keith had left Georgia and fallen off the radar. They needed to keep their eyes out for the jerk. Maybe Keith wasn’t headed this way, but he needed to be prepared for anything. He hoped Clove was safe. It was weird feeling things for her, though they weren’t in a relationship. Hooking up was more his style, but the thought of being with another woman who wasn’t Clove turned his stomach. He needed to figure this out before he really messed up.
16
The drive to Colorado took way too long. Keith had called the culinary school and talked to someone in the office, but they wouldn’t tell him where Clove had moved to on the phone. He needed to look them in their eyes to get that information.
He’d looked back at the information he had about his kid and realized it was a girl. For some reason he’d thought it was a boy. He would use the information to get what he wanted. People loved sob stories and tossing in information about some kid being taken by a drug addicted mother always got the bleeding hearts to come out. Someone would take pity on him.
The culinary school wasn’t hard to find, but parking was. It took him more than thirty minutes to find a spot where he wouldn’t get towed. He needed to eat first, and then he would go in search of someone who’d known Clove. They would give him the information he needed.
He looked up restaurants but there wasn’t anything really close. Instead, he walked up to the door of the school and pulled, but it wouldn’t open. “What the hell?” He rattled the door again, pissed that they were already closed. He checked the time, seeing they wouldn’t be open until the next morning.
