Oath of Honor - Radclyffe

afloat while a Coast Guard helicopter dropped a rescue basket, her arms

and legs were trembling and her heart hammered in her ears. Evyn

circled in a dinghy nearby, waiting to assist in the transfer to the lift

basket. When they got the patient secured, the helicopter lifted off, the

churning wash from its rotors blasting her with icy froth. After the first

time she’d gotten a faceful and nearly choked up a lung, she’d learned

to turn her head away and keep her mouth closed. Wearily, she fought

the water’s relentless pull, threatening to carry her out to sea.

“How you doing?” Evyn called.

“Great!” She caught a wave wrong and coughed out a mouthful

of brine.

“Head in. Take a break.”

“Roger.” Wes stroked toward shore while Evyn docked the dinghy

on Cord’s boat. When she made it in close enough, she stood up and

waited for the rest of the team, letting the blue-green ocean swirl around

her calves. Despite the painful trembling in her shoulders and thighs,

she felt great. She’d managed to keep her patient alive, gotten him

transferred to the medevac chopper, and avoided drowning. Not once

but three times. She considered that a damn good day.

• 136 •

Oath Of hOnOr

“Looked pretty good out there.” Evyn jumped out of the boat

into the surf beside her. She unzipped the neck of the wetsuit, and Wes

caught a glimpse of smooth pale skin framed between her breasts.

“I feel like I’ve just run twenty miles with a full pack.”

“Tough work. You did a lot better than a lot of first-timers.”

“Thanks.” Wes looked around at the small ORS building and the

mostly empty beach. Gary stood talking to Cord and Jeff, the other

rescue instructor, at the boat dock. “Anywhere nearby we can grab

lunch? I’m buying. Gary and the others too.”

“Jeff and Gary played football together in college,” Evyn said, “so

Gary will probably hang here with Cord and Jeff.”

“Just you, then.” When Evyn hesitated, Wes wondered if she’d

broken yet another rule of training no one had bothered to inform her

about.“I know a little taco place not far from here,” Evyn finally said.

“Mexican okay with you?”

“Sounds great.”

“Let’s change, then, and get out of here. We’ll need to be back at

fourteen hundred for open-water rescue.”

Wes sighed. “I’m going to need a lot of tacos.”

v

“‘One’ does not qualify as ‘a lot of’ tacos,” Evyn said as Wes

pushed her plate aside. They’d both dug in when lunch arrived and

hadn’t paused for more than casual remarks while devouring the very

good food.

“If I have to be back in the water,” Wes said, sipping iced tea, “I

don’t want to cramp.”

“We’ll have at least an hour until we get everything loaded up and

out to the rendezvous point.” The rest of the day ought to be a little

easier than the morning, and so far Wes was acing the training. Not

that Evyn was surprised. Wes was solid—uncomplaining, focused, fit.

She’d handled the recovery drills with calm competence, the way she

seemed to do everything. “How are you feeling?”

“Not bad for a desk jockey.”

Recalling her not-so-subtle put-down of Wes’s teaching creds,

Evyn managed not to blush. She really hadn’t made a very good first

• 137 •

RADCLY fFE

impression, not that she usually cared. With Wes, she did—but she

couldn’t very well apologize for speaking her mind. “Okay, so maybe I

was wrong about you instructor types.”

“The day isn’t over,” Wes said lightly. “Are you and Gary the only

water-certified agents on the detail?”

“No. When POTUS is in or on the water, two water-certified

agents are with him at all times. The medical staff usually remains on

shore, available by radio.”

“I prefer to be on the water—close by him,” Wes said. “Being on

shore is too far away.”

Evyn nodded. “I agree. When possible, we’ll set you up in the

patrol boat.”

“Good enough. What about general security?”

“We clear the airspace, the surrounding water, and the shore.”

“And transport?”

“Usually Coast Guard, but again, depends on where we are and

the location of the closest medical facilities.”

Wes’s phone buzzed and Wes slid it from her pocket to check the

readout. She shook her head. “Sorry. My mother.”

Evyn laughed. “Go ahead. I’ll get the bill.”

“I’ll just tell her I’ll catch her later.” Wes tapped the screen to take

the call. “Mom, I’m at work. I’ll call you as soon as I can, probably

tom—what? No, I’m fine. Denny exaggerates, you know that. Really.

Nothing. I’ll call you. I love you. I’ve got to go. ’Bye.”

Color rose in Wes’s face and Evyn hid her smile. The calm,

unflappable doctor was embarrassed. “Mothers. They never get that we

aren’t always available to talk when we’re working.”

“Oh, she gets it. She just thinks whatever she has on her mind is

more important.”

Evyn laughed. “Isn’t it?”

“Of course.” Wes took the bill the waitress had left on the table

stood and they walked to the cashier.

“Does she know about your new post?”

“Some—I didn’t really have time to discuss it with her.”

“Everything okay?” Evyn asked as casually as she could. She

couldn’t pretend she hadn’t overheard the conversation, and while it

was none of her business, she cared if Wes was having a problem. After

all, personal issues affected performance, and Wes was not only a key

• 138 •

Oath Of hOnOr

part of the team now, it was her job to see she settled in smoothly. She

might tell herself that, if she wanted to blow smoke in her own face.

She cared if Wes had a problem because she didn’t like the idea of Wes

being unhappy. If Wes was unhappy, it most likely had something to do

with the new job, and she was a big part of that new job.

“She’s doing the mother thing.”

“You mean the part where they try to get you to share? And as

soon as you do they tell you all the ways you screwed up?”

“My mother usually doesn’t pry,” Wes held the door open while

Evyn went through, “but my sister ratted me out. My fault—I forgot

what a little tattletale she was when she was younger.”

“You’ve got three, right? You’re in the middle?”

“I’m in the upper middle—one older, two younger. Denise—

Denny—she’s the baby.”

Evyn rounded to the driver’s side of the Explorer and waited while

Wes climbed in. “You all must be pretty close in age—didn’t you say

your father—sorry, never mind.”

“My father died when I was six. There’s about a year and a half to

two years between the four of us.”

“So what did your sister know that she immediately told your

mother?” The street in front of the cantina was clear and Evyn pulled

out. “Nothing. Not really. I just happened to talk to her in the middle

of the night—she’s a nurse in Philadelphia. I maybe mentioned I was

having trouble sleeping, but not because of any problem. Just”—Wes

shrugged—“a lot of changes. That’s all.”

Evyn glanced at her, then back at the road. Wes looked a little

tired, but they’d been hitting the exercises hard for hours. She was

obviously in great physical shape—she looked as good in a wetsuit as

she did in the jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt she’d walked out wearing

that morning. Rangy and lean and strong. Evyn put that image aside.

If Wes was having trouble adjusting, she ought to know. She wanted to

know. She wondered if she was part of why Wes wasn’t sleeping, and

the idea didn’t sit well. “This isn’t what you expected, is it?”

“I had no idea what to expect.”

“Very politic of you.”

Evyn shot her another look and their eyes met. Wes had gorgeous

eyes—the kind of crystal green that reminded her of summers in the

• 139 •

RADCLY fFE

park, of fresh-cut grass, of carefree pleasures. She had to drag herself

away from her eyes and the memory of freer, simpler times. She stared

at the road. “I don’t know why it is, but every time we’re together, we

end up talking about stuff I never talk about with anyone else.”

“Like what?” Wes said gently.

“Like…personal things. I know more about you and your family

right now than I know about Gary, and he and I have been partners on

and off for a couple of years.”

“I know what you mean,” Wes said.

“Got an explanation?” Evyn asked half playfully, but her heart

stuttered, waiting for the answer. She hadn’t meant to voice that crazy

feeling of being totally exposed whenever she was alone with Wes and

expected Wes to understand even less. Now she wasn’t sure what she

wanted to hear.

“Not yet,” Wes said softly.

A wave of disappointment heavily laced with relief washed over

her. Refocusing the conversation on something safe, she said, “So?

What’s keeping you up at night?”

Wes laughed. “You’re as bad as my sisters.”

“Wait till you get to know me better.”

Wes laughed again. “Nothing, really. Just adjustment. I’m fine.”

“Oh, I’m sure of that. You wouldn’t be where you are if little things

like having a new command dropped on you, transferring overnight to

a new post, being put through an accelerated version of boot camp, and

being charged with safeguarding POTUS threw you off.”

“Well, when you put it like that,” Wes said lightly, “I guess I am

doing amazingly well.”

“We’ll see, Superdoc.” Evyn pulled the rented Jeep into the small

lot beside the rescue station and cut the engine. She turned in her seat

to face Wes. “If there’s something you want to talk about, I’m a pretty

good listener.”

“You are. You make it easy to talk.”

The wind had picked up, and whitecaps raced across the water.

Wes was studying her, in that completely focused way she had, and the

attention was as exciting as the touch had been. She’d never been so

aware of being alone with a woman in her life. They’d barely touched,

and that had been totally innocent, but her blood sang with anticipation.

She didn’t get this keyed up with a woman she was about to sleep with.

• 140 •

Oath Of hOnOr

Her system was primed with expectation for more than a touch, and

nothing could be less likely to happen. “I hear a but coming.”

A wry smile played over Wes’s face. “Unfortunately, I think you’d

probably end up ratting me out like Denny. Only not to my mother.”

Evyn wanted to deny that, but she couldn’t. “If I thought something

would affect your performance, then I might have to.”

“I’d expect you to,” Wes said. “And before we go any further, I

can tell you there’s nothing about this situation that bothers me. I’m

fine.”“I wasn’t looking for ammunition against you, Wes.” Evyn pulled

herself back from a dangerous precipice. She’d crossed one of her own

boundaries without even realizing it. Wes blurred all the lines for her

between personal and professional with frightening ease, and that just

couldn’t happen. “We both have jobs to do.”

“I know,” Wes said. “And since we do, I appreciate the offer to

talk, but I think we’ll both do our jobs a lot better if we don’t complicate

things.”

Wes was right and only repeating her own mantra—never get

personally involved with someone at work. Evyn pushed open her door

and a biting wind rushed in. “We’re on exactly the same page.”

v

The patrol boat rocked on the swell as the winds gathered force.

The blue sky had given way to gray thunderclouds above churning

seas. “We’ve got time for one run,” Cord called from the wheel, “until

things get too rough out here.”

Evyn turned to Wes, who wore civilian clothes as she would on a

regular detail. She and Gary were in wetsuits. “POTUS has a sailboat,

and the maritime weather reports aren’t always accurate. He could be

caught out in this kind of blow. But this could get dicey.”

“Wouldn’t do much good to only train on calm seas,” Wes shouted,

the wind ruffling her hair. “Let’s do it.”

Evyn waved to Cord. “Go ahead.”

Cord threw a water-rescue mannequin into the water and yelled,

“Man overboard.”

Evyn and Gary clambered onto the bulwark and dove into the

• 141 •

RADCLY fFE

ocean. Even in the wetsuit, the first shock of frigid water on Evyn’s

face and exposed hands and feet made her stomach tighten. She cut

through the sea toward the bobbing figure, fighting the surging tides and

buffeting waves. The figure alternately rode the swells and disappeared

beneath the troughs. Were this the real deal, they’d only have a minute

or two to reach the president, less if he went off the boat as a result of

some kind of injury. The water temperature, the tide, and the rough

surf created a swiftly lethal combination. She and Gary reached the

mannequin at the same time, and she grabbed it in a rescue carry and

started back toward the boat. Gary kept pace beside her, ready to take

over and spell her if she grew too tired fighting the currents and the cold.

When they reached the side of the patrol boat, Wes and Cord lowered

a litter over the side, and she and Gary secured the figure inside. Gary

tugged on the line to signal they were ready, and the litter swung away

and up. Evyn scrambled up the ladder with Gary right behind. By the

time they reached the deck, Wes was already in full resuscitation mode,

kneeling on the soaked surface, rapidly running through the emergency

assessment protocol, the field-and-trauma bag beside her, Cord acting

as her first assistant.

Jeff tossed Evyn a towel, and she rubbed water from her hair,

watching Wes work. Every time she’d seen Wes in action, she’d been

struck by the way Wes gave everything her full attention, her all, a