Oath of Honor

They showed their IDs to the officer at the west gate, and Evyn

took her to the personnel office. The clerk handed Wes a laminated ID

card depicting her photograph, name, and rank.

“Where in the OEOB is the clinic?” Wes asked Evyn when they

left personnel.

“Down this hall.” Evyn glanced at her watch. “Almost seventeen

thirty. Probably only the night shift is here, but you can see them and

check out your office.”

“Thanks. I appreciate the walk around.” Wes mentally noted the

twists and turns as she matched Evyn’s long strides. At the end of a

deserted hall with white walls, gray tiles, and rows of closed doors

on either side, Evyn took a right into another corridor lit by glaring

overhead fluorescents. A small waiting area on one side was crammed

with black metal folding chairs. Opposite that, four rooms with the

letters A through D over their doors stood open and empty. Examination

rooms. Beyond those, she could see into a large office with a desk piled

high with charts. Probably the headquarters of the Admitting Officer of

the Day.

“Well,” Evyn said, “this is it.”

“I can take it from here—I imagine you need to get back.”

“I was done at fifteen hundred.”

“Oh,” Wes said, flashing back to their dinner of the night before.

For one second she considered asking Evyn if she had plans for the

evening and just as quickly came to her senses. She had work to do—a

lot of it. And Evyn—well, anything with Evyn was best kept simple.

Tomorrow Evyn would be evaluating her. “Have a good night, then.”

• 86 •

Oath Of hOnOr

“Right.” Evyn paused, then smiled briskly. “You too. See you in

the morning.”

Wes watched her walk away until she realized what she was doing.

Abruptly, she averted her gaze and went in search of her team. Why

was simple suddenly so hard?

• 87 •

RADCLYfFE

chapter eleven

Evyn shoved her hands in the pockets of her trench coat, hunched

her shoulders against the wind, and hurried around the Ellipse

to where she’d parked her car. That morning she’d been running late

and grabbed the closest street spot she could find, but it felt like a mile

now. A light snow had begun to fall, and she brushed the loose powder

from her windshield with the sleeve of her coat. Snowflakes melted

on her face and neck. She swore she could feel icy snowmelt trickling

down her back, although she didn’t actually think it was snowing hard

enough for that to be happening. Shivering, she jumped into the front

seat, started the engine, and turned the heat on high. Cold air blasted

in her face, and she lunged to redirect the vents away from the driver’s

seat. The windows frosted over more with every exhalation, and a

cloud of steam rolled up around the outside of the windows to envelop

her, making her feel as if she might step out of the car and find herself

in another world somewhere. Not that far a stretch—seeing as how

this world certainly seemed turned upside down in the last forty-eight

hours. She’d spent more alone time with Wes Masters than she’d spent

with any woman, other than fellow agents, in the last year. She’d spent

even more time thinking about her—like right now—than any of the

women she’d slept with. Evyn flicked melting snow from her hair and

considered going back inside to look for Wes—the storm was picking

up and Wes didn’t have a car. How would she get back—damn, she was

doing it again, behaving like a player in someone else’s life.

Captain Wes Masters did not need rescuing—and she was nobody’s

savior.

• 88 •

Oath Of hOnOr

Uncomfortable with her own discomfort, Evyn pulled her cell

phone out and punched the icon for contacts. She flicked a fingertip

over the screen, scrolling through the list, surprised at the number of

names she could no longer put with faces and how many more there

were than she’d thought. What had she been doing the last eight years?

She could name every one of her postings and list each of her on-the-

job accomplishments, but she could barely remember half the women

she had known at least well enough to get a phone number.

On the verge of closing the phone to escape any more forced

retrospection, she spied a name she did recognize. She even knew her

address. Quickly, before she could subject herself to the third degree as

to exactly what she was doing, she highlighted the number and pressed

Send. Pulling her coat even closer around herself as the heater warred

with Mother Nature, she waited.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Louise? This is Evyn Daniels.”

A second’s pause made Evyn’s stomach drop. Then, “Evyn? God,

it’s been what, a year?”

Evyn felt her face heat in the cold car. “Maybe not that long,” she

said quickly. “I’ve been traveling a lot. Out of town on business. I’m

sorry I didn’t—”

“Hey, that’s no problem. I’ve been really busy myself. I landed a

spot in one of the repertory theaters here in DC and I’ve been working

steadily.”

Evyn searched her memory for some hint of what Louise had told

her about her acting career, but all she could remember is where they’d