Oath of Honor

today. Very spit-and-polish shiny. Ought to be interesting to see how

she fits in at the House.” Ricochet curled up in a ball on her lap and

proceeded to lick his paws. She traced a finger around the back of each

ear and he continued to purr. “I’m supposed to bring her up to speed

on protocol.”

Ricochet paused in his washings, one paw elevated, and blinked

at her.“Yeah, yeah. I know. Not what I want to be doing.” Evyn set the

bottle on the wooden arm of the sofa and turned it slowly. Dinner had

probably been a mistake. She’d gone on impulse because she didn’t

have anything better to do, and after a long day of travel and intermittent

boredom, broken by moments of intense alertness, she’d still had energy

to burn. And Wes Masters was intriguing. Why was she here, who was

she really? Understandable curiosity there, and she never could pass up

a good mystery. But the going out to dinner with her? What was that

all about? She hadn’t shared a meal with anyone other than fellow PPD

agents in two years. She hadn’t had a dinner date, or a movie date, or any

other kind of date in a long time. She’d had encounters, conversations

in bars, a little bit of sex—enough to keep her from thinking about the

• 59 •

RADCLYfFE

fact that she didn’t really have a personal life—until tonight. Probably

not the smartest thing to do, sharing personal stuff before she’d had a

chance to assess her professionally. She should’ve said no.

“Why the hell did she even ask?” Evyn muttered. Ricochet didn’t

answer. “It’s not like we have anything in common, and chances are

we’re going to run into the old ‘whose responsibilities take precedence

in event of emergency’ pretty fast. I can’t see her bending on much of

anything.”

Ricochet rolled onto his back, reminding her of priorities.

“I can be flexible,” she said grumpily, rubbing his soft belly. “I’m

just not, usually. Stick with what you know, right? Right?”

She didn’t make mistakes with women because she never varied

her pattern. Now she had, and she ought to be sorry. She wasn’t, and

that was worrisome.

v

Wes woke before the alarm she’d set for 0600 and lay awake,

waiting for the backup wake-up call she’d requested from the hotel

operator when she’d finally hit the rack at 0200. She hadn’t slept well,

but she wasn’t tired. She was used to broken sleep and catching what

she could at odd hours. She still covered the ER often enough to keep

in shape for the demands of emergency medicine. Good thing, because

it sounded like her schedule was going to be anything but regular from

now on. A buzz of excitement shot through her. She loved teaching, but

she was looking forward to having boots on the ground again. Actually

practicing what she preached, although her number one goal where

her new job was concerned was to be certain she didn’t have to. She

couldn’t wait to get a look at the WHMU emergency protocols. Maybe

she’d been tapped for this job because her specialty was triage and

emergency management. Whatever the reason, she’d find out pretty

soon.The bedside phone rang and she picked it up. “Good morning,” a

mechanical voice said, “this is your wake-up call…”

Wes set the phone back in the cradle and swung out of bed. Evyn’s

face surfaced in her mind, and she wondered if Evyn was still sleeping

or if she was on her way to the House. She wondered how she’d slept

and if she’d thought about their evening. She didn’t stop to ask herself

• 60 •

Oath Of hOnOr

why she’d awakened thinking about a woman for the first time in her

life. Instead, she resolutely put thoughts of Evyn aside and hit the

shower.

Thirty minutes later, dressed in her regulation khakis, Wes grabbed

a cup of Starbucks takeout coffee in the hotel lobby and took a cab to

the White House. She walked around the Ellipse, familiarizing herself

with the terrain. She’d never been inside the White House before but

assumed the fastest way to wherever she needed to go would be via

the West Wing, where the bulk of the offices were located. At 0730,

she approached the northwest gate and gave her name to the officer

on duty. “I have an appointment at zero eight hundred hours with Ms.

Washburn.”

“One moment, please.” The White House Uniformed Division

officer turned away and scanned a screen. A minute later he said, “You’re

cleared to enter. You’ll want the elevator on your right. A staffer will

meet you and take you up.”

“Thank you.”

Inside, Wes noted the sign for the emergency medical clinic in the

Old Executive Office Building and walked past the hall to her new base

until she found the elevators. She repeated her name and destination to

the staffer in the elevator, and when she exited, another staffer escorted

her to a waiting area. She sat and waited.

At 0805, a young intern approached. He looked to be about twenty-

two, buttoned down, slightly frazzled, with a friendly smile. “Captain

Masters?”

Wes stood. “That’s right.”

“Ms. Washburn sends her apologies for keeping you waiting.

She’s ready to see you now.”