Oath of Honor

personal effects and now resembled every duty office she’d ever

seen—the bookcases and desk were wood, not metal, but even so, they

had an institutional look to them. The nicely framed prints on the wall

were generic renditions of American historical events that had taken

place in the region surrounding the capital. The titles in the bookcases

were standard medical classics—Harrison’s Principles of Internal

Medicine, Schwartz’s Principles of Surgery, Chance’s Introduction

to Biochemistry. Next to them, white loose-leaf binders were neatly

labeled with black script: trauma protocol, acute surgical conditions,

medical emergencies, toxic exposure, poisoning, and so on down the

line of emergency situations. She’d have to review them all.

The computer was running and she booted up. O’Shaughnessy’s

password had already been swept. Her name appeared with a prompt

to enter a password. She chose one, repeated it as directed, and was in.

She clicked a desktop icon for an e-mail program, and a list of e-mails

appeared in the in-box. Generic messages appeared from various White

House departments—the press corps, communications—and, at the

very bottom, one from edaniels@uswh.org. She looked at the recipient

and smiled at the wmasters@uswh.org. Apparently someone was taking

care of the details. Hopefully they’d arrange for quarters for her soon.

She opened Evyn’s message.

Good morning, Doc. I’ll wait for you in the ready

room—it’s in the basement of the OEOB. Thought you might

be running late due to the nasty weather. ED

Wes checked her watch. She still had time, but none of the other

e-mails looked important. Since the WHMU was set to run without her

• 97 •

RADCLYfFE

until she officially took charge and entered the rotation, she had nothing

else to do. Good morning, Doc. I’ll wait for you…

A rush of unexpected pleasure warmed her. She closed the mail

program, grabbed her coat, and went in search of the ready room,

Evyn’s slow smile playing through her mind.

v

Evyn poured a cup of coffee and dropped onto a sofa opposite

a widescreen TV in the ready room where she and the other agents

hung out between shifts or while waiting for Eagle to go out. She had

the place to herself and was glad of it. She wasn’t feeling talkative

and definitely didn’t want to spar with Gary about where she’d spent

the night or what she’d been doing. She hadn’t had time to go home

after waking up at Louise’s to discover the city buried under snow.

Fortunately, she’d had a change of clothes in her car—she always

did—although the blue long-sleeved polo shirt and dark khakis weren’t

what she usually wore to work. Gary’d take one look at her and know

she hadn’t been home—he knew by now what she packed in her go

bag. She closed her eyes and tuned out the news anchor, leaving her

alone with her thoughts. That was a mistake. Her internal third degree

was almost as bad as Gary’s would have been. She hadn’t had a one-

night stand in months, although maybe one-night stand wasn’t accurate

since it wasn’t the first time she’d been with Louise. The whole evening

had come out of nowhere, and she wasn’t usually impulsive when it

came to women. When she wanted company, she found it, but it was

always planned. Not last night. Why had she stayed when her mind

was only half in the moment? Louise didn’t know her well enough to

notice. At least she hoped Louise couldn’t tell she’d drifted away a few

times, very nearly starting to think of someone else before she’d caught

herself. Hell. That was just low. She’d never done that before and didn’t

want a repeat.

The door opened and Wes Masters walked in, looking just as

good out of her uniform as she had in it. She walked as if she was

still wearing her dress blues—confidently, her expression unhurried,

untroubled, and sure. Looking just as good as she had for the briefest

• 98 •

Oath Of hOnOr

moment last night when Evyn had imagined how that tight body would

feel covering hers.

“Morning, Doc,” Evyn said, feigning a cool she didn’t feel,

conscious of her own slightly rumpled appearance. At least her clothes

were clean. Still, a niggle of unease burrowed in her belly, and she

wondered if Wes could tell she’d come straight from a bed that wasn’t

hers. Not a one-night stand exactly, more like a legitimate date—second

date, even—and she’d made plans to see Louise again later in the

month, schedules permitting. Evyn’s skin prickled at the thought. She

didn’t do repeats—well, she hadn’t in a good long time—but Louise

had been fun, sexy and passionate, and completely undemanding. When

she’d said she had tickets to a holiday show and invited her to go, Evyn