Finish the Course (The Barnes Family Book 1) by Becky Riker

up.”
                  “I’m not,” he assured her.
    “He came into the school?”
    “No, I went outside for a few minutes, and he was hanging out around the playground.”
    “He probably figured you had a specific reason to be there at that time.”
    “I wouldn’t have even taken the car because I was afraid he had stolen it himself, but the registration is in his name.”
                  “How do you know that?”
                  “I stole his wallet too.”             
    She smiled and leaned her head back against the seat, “This has been quite a lesson in Green Beret tactics.”
    “You need more water,” he urged.
    She obliged and then recapped the bottle, “Are you at all curious about what is in her folder?”
    “I’m always curious, but I know enough to keep it in check.”
    Anna chuckled, “As a kid, it was so hard for me to understand that. I’d hear my dad talking to someone, and he’d catch me and tell me there were things I didn’t need to know. And that I had to learn to accept that.”
    “Was your dad upset that you didn’t go into the Army?”
    She shook her head, “Not as upset as my mom was that I didn’t go into the Navy.”
    “Oh? Is she Navy?”
    Anna nodded, “She was JAG. She retired once she hit her twenty.”
    His eyes widened.
    “She thought I was heading there for sure, but I wanted my own road.”
    He nodded, understanding that sentiment completely.
    They approached the complex gate, “The folder with our passes is under your feet.”
    She reached down and picked it up, quickly finding what he was asking for.
    The guard glared down at them, “What is your purpose in coming to Langley?”
    Slater held up his pass, “I am to speak to General Merchan about that and nobody else, Sergeant.”
    The sergeant eyed the Captain, “You’re Captain Reed.”
    He didn’t try to deny it, “I am.”
    He shone his flashlight in the car, nearly blinding Anna, “This the tall dark-haired colonel?”
    “She is tall,” Slater held a hand in front of the beam, “and she does have dark hair.”
    “We’re supposed to be watching for you,” the guard warned.
    “And you’ve done a fine job, sergeant. Now, we need to get inside because Captain Barnes has been injured, and I need to deliver this package,” he aimed a thumb at the blanket covered figure in the backseat, “to the General ASAP. I’m already late with it.”
    The sergeant sighed and lifted the phone. He spoke for a few minutes to whoever was on the other end.
    “You’re supposed to wait here for an escort,” he looked into the back seat. “Is that a girl?”
    “If you must know,” Reed was annoyed with the delay, “it’s a dog.”
    “And that’s what the general wants?”
                  Slater shrugged as if he couldn’t understand it either.
                  Anna waited until the guard stepped away to speak.
                  “A dog, Captain? Not very nice.”
                  “Oh. You’re right. Dogs don’t deserve that kind of slander.”
                  It took some time for the guide vehicle to arrive.
                  “How does your foot feel?”
    “It hurts,” she tried to wiggle around to see it.
    “It will hurt more if you put pressure on it,” he warned.
    She laughed a little, “Just trying to see if you had taken the blade out.”
    He raised his eyebrows, “I’m surprised you don’t remember. You called me a few choice names.”
    “Sorry,” Anna winced. “Did I use obscene language?”
    It was his turn to laugh, “No. You called me a misogynist, though.”
    “Sorry.”
    The guide car arrived, so Slater didn’t bother responding.
                  She opened her phone, “Do you mind if I make a call now that we’re here?”
                  “Go ahead.”
                  She dialed a number, “Hi,