Oath of Honor

Evyn grinned. “No.”

“Then why bother?”

“You’re pretty sure of yourself.”

Wes glanced at Gary, who stared straight ahead as if he were deaf

and their conversation wasn’t happening inches away. Maybe he really

wasn’t listening. Privacy took on a different meaning for these two,

apparently. She shrugged. “All I can do is my best.”

“Do you always bring your best game?”

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Wes didn’t do humble when it wasn’t true. “Always.”

“To everything?”

“Don’t you?”

“Damn straight.”

Wes laughed. “Then we’re not so different.”

“Maybe not,” Evyn said softly.

The SUV slowed onto the airport exit, and Wes pocketed her

e-reader. She grabbed her overnight bag, followed Evyn and Gary into

the airport, and went through the line while they cleared their weapons

with security. The flight got off on time, and one hundred and twenty-

six minutes later, they landed in Charlotte.

When they walked outside, a sun-washed blonde climbed out of

the driver’s side of a white Ford Explorer and approached with long,

graceful strides. She looked to be mid-thirties, tanned, and was dressed

in light blue cotton pants and a long-sleeved white T-shirt with a logo

over the left breast reading Ocean Rescue Center. “Agent Daniels,

Agent Brown—good to see you again.”

“Hi, Cord.” Evyn indicated Wes. “Dr. Cordelia Williams, Dr.

Wes Masters. Cord is an oceanographer and an environmental medical

specialist.”

Cord said, “Good to meet you.”

“Same here,” Wes said. “What came first—medicine or the sea?”

“Medicine—then I saw the light.” Cord grinned and shepherded

them toward the vehicle. “Glad the flight was on time for a change—

we’ve got a lot planned. Weather report says breezy and unseasonably

warm, but a cold front is moving up the coast. Good conditions for

riptides.”

Evyn grinned. “Sounds perfect.”

“Does that mean no riptides?” Wes asked as she climbed into the

back after Evyn. Gary rode shotgun.

“No, it generally means strong ones.”

“Perfect all right,” Wes muttered, and Evyn laughed softly.

The cargo space behind Wes was filled with gear smelling faintly

of salt and sea—wetsuits, fins, personal flotation devices, a buoy with

a short length of rope attached. Evyn saw her checking it out and her

eyes twinkled.

“I love water exercises,” Evyn said.

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RADCLYfFE

“You’ve been here before, obviously.”

Evyn nodded. “Gary and I are both water-rescue certified. Cord is

the supervisor for the training. We all train down here with her.”

“You’ve probably checked my file—I’m pretty good at advanced

lifesaving techniques.”

Evyn laughed. “I don’t doubt it. But when POTUS is in the water,

we will be too. He likes to snorkel. If we need to evacuate from the

water, that’s a little bit different than what you’re used to on shore.”

“Hence all the water gear. You weren’t kidding when you said

water exercises.”

“No. You’re going to get wet today.”

“Sounds like fun.” Wes settled back and closed her eyes. “Sixty

degrees is cold.”

“We’ll just have to make sure you work hard enough to stay

warm.”

Wes smiled. “Never doubted it.”

v

Blair grasped Cam’s hand as they walked along the shoreline. The

wind blew through Cam’s hair, the mist from the water curling the ends

as they lay on her neck, softening the sharp edge of her jaw, making her

look younger, more vulnerable. Blair’s chest tightened. She couldn’t

remember a time when she hadn’t been with Cam—no, she didn’t want

to remember a time when she hadn’t been with her. Before Cam, she’d

thought she was as happy as anyone in her situation could be. She’d had

moments of professional satisfaction, friends—Diane and Tanner—she

cherished, but at the very core of her had been a seething sense of

restlessness, of never quite fitting, of unsettled searching discontent.

Cameron Roberts, someone so much like her father, was the last

woman in the world she would’ve chosen. She adored her father but

had spent much of her life angry with him. Cam and her father were

both so dedicated to their jobs, guided by goals and principles that were

so clear to them, and both so willing to ignore their own needs. What

she hadn’t appreciated when she was young and had only learned after

being with Cam was the personal cost that living by those goals and

principles exacted from her father and Cam and others like them. What

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Oath Of hOnOr

she had seen as selfishness had been exactly the opposite. Cam, like her

father, was willing to forgo personal happiness, was willing to risk her

life for what she believed. As much as Blair loved Cam, she couldn’t

bring herself to give Cam that one thing—her permission to sacrifice

herself for Blair or her father or her country. She needed Cam to be

more selfish than that. She was not willing to sacrifice her, no matter

the cost.

“I love being here alone with you,” Blair said. “You know that,

don’t you?”

“I know,” Cam said, lightly swinging Blair’s arm between them.

“And I love you more than you think.”

Blair caught her breath. “What are you talking about?” She