Field of Blackbirds - Clayton Jeppsen & Lindsey Jeppsen (me reader txt) 📗

looked up at Lindsey with that charming glare of his.
Lindsey took a quick peek at her watch and placed her other hand on her hip, “Hey, I’m in charge of scheduling, not you! I know you have at least a half hour to spare.”
As busy as Mr. Love was, he always found time to spend a moment with Lindsey, no matter how brief. If it made him late, then he was late. It was an excuse he would never feel guilty for. Lindsey thought her dad to be just as charming as Sean Connery or Robert Redford. But he wasn’t acting on the big screens. He really was intelligent, clever, quick witted and handsome. He was the real deal. Mr. Love was approaching sixty years old and stood six feet, two inches tall. He filled out a suit just fine. He had blue eyes. His peppered sandy-blond hair was a good contrast next to his tan skin. In spite of the stress he had accrued over the years, he seemed to age well, suffering only a few wrinkles at the far corners of his eyes.
Mr. Love hit the button on his phone to hear the messages. Lindsey waited patiently for a few minutes as her dad scratched down a message, folded it up and tucked it in his coat pocket. “Nobody knows me as well as you my darling. A half hour is exactly how much time I have, what’s on your mind?”
Lindsey sat at the edge of Mr. Love’s desk. She picked up the picture of her dad and President George Bush at a presidential dinner. “So, you haven’t been in the office much lately. They keep you very busy don’t they.”
“We’re still answering a lot of questions about Iraq and why we didn’t take out Saddam Hussein after beating him out of Kuwait. The press has been relentless.”
Mr. Love had a look on his face as though the media was some kind of disease. “No matter what actually happened over there, the Media will still bend it the way they want. They ask us for the facts but they don’t include them in the report.”
Lindsey usually knew what kind of things were going on in the world because of where she worked. Sometimes it was all that was talked about. The truth was; politics never really interested her. She was glad the war was over and that was pretty much all that was important to her. She was happy Reed wasn’t fighting in Iraq. She’d heard of all the chemical agents that were in the air over there and how some of the soldiers were suffering the effects. They called it, “Agent Orange”. This was also something that was making news lately, something to add to her dad’s stress.
Lindsey paused for a moment, not sure why she was so nervous. She could talk to her dad about anything.
“Dad, I know there is some information in the office that is sensitive and you have to protect it. But if you knew it could affect your family, would you share it with us?”
Mr. Love walked over to the door, which was still open a few inches and closed it. “That’s a tough question Lindsey. It’s kind of why they hired me, because I could be trusted with sensitive information. But I can promise you that I would never hold information that would bring harm to you or your mother. My family is my first priority. I know that sounds odd because of how much time I spend in the office, but I really do love you and mom.”
“I love you too Dad and I know mom is patiently waiting for your work to slow down a little. You owe her a few really good dates.”
Mr. Love gave an honest grin, “Thanks for keeping me on my toes. I need that.”
“It’s my job Dad.” Lindsey walked over and kissed Mr. Love on the forehead and gave him a hug. “Sometimes I just want you to know that you’re loved. It helps take the stress off. Have a good day Daddy!”
Lindsey walked out of Mr. Love’s office. She decided not to bring up the folder again. She loved her dad and didn’t want him to compromise his integrity. He was an honorable man. It was unfair to put him in that position. Lindsey felt her dad knew why she was there, because of the American Bank file. She thought if he would ever talk about it, then it would be when the information was no longer sensitive. But as she walked down the hall, she felt unsatisfied. It was odd that her dad had a file like that and she couldn’t stop thinking about what the connections might be.

************

Lindsey decided to go for a degree in humanities and was currently hammering away at some prerequisite classes. She was late for English and then they took a test, so the two-hour block passed rather quickly. When she got to her World Geography class, her professor, Mr. Allen, had jotted a few current events on the board. The students were to choose one of the topics, research and write a 2500-word essay. The events were happening around the world, most outside of the U.S.

From top to bottom, the list read: Euro Disney opens in Marne-La-Vallee, France / Miami court convicts former Panama president, Manuel Noriega on drug and racketeering charges / The Church of England allows women to be ordained priests / Beijing, China opens its first McDonalds / New York City mob king John Gotti, is convicted on five murder charges after years of eluding arrest / Official break-up of Yugoslavia - Reports of Genocide in Kosovo / and finally, the International UFO Museum opens in Roswell, New Mexico.

As much as Lindsey was interested in Euro Disney, the word, Kosovo, almost hopped off the board. That’s what was on the folder in her dad’s office, ‘Kosovo funding’. Lindsey was getting an ‘A’ in Geography, but she hadn’t ever heard of Kosovo. She asked Professor Allen to point it out on the map. He showed her where Serbia was. She’d heard of that country. Then he pointed to the southern region where Kosovo was. Professor Allen liked to be interactive with his students and enjoyed answering their questions. He enjoyed telling Lindsey all about Belgium, where Reed was stationed. He told her what made Belgium famous and gave her a history review. She thought she would ask him a few things about Kosovo.
“Professor Allen, what’s going on in Kosovo?”
Professor Allen sat on a vacant desk across from the map, keeping his eye on the Kosovo region. “I’m just curious. Have you heard anything in the news lately on Kosovo?”
Lindsey was a little embarrassed to admit she rarely watched the news. She usually got her fix at work. “No, I haven’t, it’s actually only the second time I have ever heard of the place. The first time was a couple days ago.”
“Is this what you’re choosing to write your essay on?”
“Sure,” replied Lindsey
Professor Allen hopped off the desk and walked over to his bookshelf. He removed a book and handed it to Lindsey. The word, “Yugoslavia” was written in bold letters across the front. “This will give you some depth, but it’s not current. I want you to follow the reports on the news. Accusations have been made against Serbia’s newly elected president, Slobodan Milosevic. Over the last week and half, there have been terrible reports of mass graves, new graves. The reports are saying that Albanians and Croatians, who have been living in the region for hundreds of years, are being forced out of their homes and out of the country. Those who refuse to leave are being killed. Do you know what that means Lindsey?”
Lindsey looked up at the board, “genocide, right?”
“Yep, I think you’ll find this to be an interesting investigation. It would be a good one for you to write on.”
Professor Allen didn’t know how right he was. Lindsey wanted to know everything about it.
Lindsey’s commute home had been a little longer than usual lately. A detour routed her back past her dad’s office on her way home from school. It was a little out of the way, but the shorter route had been blocked off by the police. Over the past two months, riots had erupted all over Los Angeles. People were saying a “race-war” had been declared over the decision of the courts to acquit local policemen from the Rodney King beating the previous year.
As Lindsey approached the downtown businesses she saw the office. She couldn’t get that folder off her mind. She couldn’t get Reed off her mind. She could still see a few of the lights on in the building. Her common sense told her to keep driving. But her common sense was commandeered by her curiosity, her desire to be closer to Reed, to know what was going on in his life. Lindsey made a left turn onto Burbank Bvld. and headed for the office.
When Lindsey walked through the lobby, she passed the security desk. She didn’t recognize the guard. She had never been in the building this late. Business hours ended about three hours ago. She wondered if the guard would try to stop her, but she held up her badge and he let her by.
Lindsey took the long ride on the elevator up to the 44th floor. When the doors opened, the entire floor was dark. She walked down the hall until she reached the office. She stopped at her dad’s door. She would look for the file and anything else that might explain things. Lindsey thought if she couldn’t find the file, then she might be able to find something on her dad’s computer. She removed her keys from her pocket, turned the lock and pushed the door open. What she heard frightened her, the chirping of an alarm. She began to panic but then she remembered the code and punched it in. The alarm silenced. She turned on the light and began her search.
Only a few minutes had passed when she saw a light moving down the hall. The security guard was coming to check on her. She thought she might be able to fool him into believing that this was her office. Her confidence faltered when she saw her dad’s name on the door label. But now the security guard was already at the door. He poked