Radclyffe - Oath of Honor

Wes caught herself up short. This wasn’t a date, even if the whole evening was something out of the ordinary. Evyn was still watching her. What had Evyn asked? Oh, the “why a doctor?” question. She almost gave a stock reply, but the intensity of Evyn’s gaze derailed her. “Maybe I thought if I made a difference in someone else’s life, it would make mine mean more.”

“Sounds like you got your wish, then. You’re about to have a patient whose health affects the whole world.” Evyn paused. “Does that make the job harder?”

“No,” Wes said instantly. “If and when the time comes he’s my patient—and hopefully that day never comes—I’ll be taking care of Andrew Powell, not the president.”

“His office doesn’t intimidate you?”

“No, but Lucinda Washburn does,” Wes said, laughing.

“You and everyone else.” Evyn grinned.

“What about you? You said you always knew what you wanted to do?” For a few seconds, Wes thought Evyn wouldn’t answer. Sometimes Evyn’s face closed so quickly it was like watching shutters slam against a window in a storm. Then Evyn’s posture relaxed and she smiled, and the shutters opened once again and sunlight streamed through. “Well, come on. In my family? Like there was really anything else to consider. Don’t we all want to grow up like our heroes?”

“So who was yours?”

“Oh, my father, no question. He’s big and blustery and solid and brave. I didn’t get to be big, but I hope…” Even in the dim candlelight, her blush was apparent. “Never mind.”

“You hope you’re solid and brave?”

“Geez, forget I said that, will you?”

“I’ll pretend I’ve forgotten, if you’d like.”

“Okay,” Evyn said, blowing out a breath. “Change of subject.”

“Fair enough.”

“So…what about…besides your mother and grandmother and sisters. Anyone else…close?”

“My grandmother passed on at the grand old age of ninety-six,” Wes said, sorting through the obscure question and deciding Evyn was asking whether she was single or not. While trying to formulate an answer, she was saved by her phone signaling a text message. At this hour, it had to be important. “Excuse me.”

She fished her phone out of her pocket and checked the message. “Someone keeps late hours. I’ve just been informed by the duty officer at the House to report at zero eight hundred tomorrow.”

“WST.”

“I’m sorry?” Wes shoved her phone back in her pocket.

“Washburn Standard Time. Which means pretty much any time.”

“Well, I guess I’m going to get the last of my security clearance taken care of.”

“Formality. You wouldn’t be here if there was any question.” Evyn rose. “I guess that’s our signal to get moving.”

“I suppose,” Wes said, rising with a twinge of regret. She shrugged into her topcoat while Evyn sorted through bills and left money for the bill on the table. Out of habit, Wes reached over, lifted Evyn’s black raincoat from the hook beside their booth, and held it open for her. Evyn hesitated, then turned and slid her arms into the coat.

“Thanks,” Evyn said.

“You’re welcome.”

Evyn turned, her eyes finding Wes’s. It was way too late to pretend they were just grabbing dinner, and with any other woman she wouldn’t hesitate. But then Wes wasn’t like any other woman she’d ever met. She should have kept her mouth shut, but words popped out. “Nightcap?”

Wes glanced left into the bar, mostly empty now, shortly before closing. She was oddly not tired, even though she’d been on the move for eighteen hours. She’d spent more time with Evyn than she had with anyone in months and hadn’t even noticed the time passing. Maybe she should take that as a sign. She shook her head. “I’d like to, but I’ve got a really early morning tomorrow.”

Evyn smiled crookedly. Saved. She should take that as a sign. “Yeah, me too.” She started walking toward the door. “Where are you staying?”

Wes angled beside her, pushed the door open, and held it as Evyn passed through. “The Marriott across town.”

“A hotel? You shouldn’t be staying in a hotel. O’Shaughnessy had an apartment that came with the job.”

Wes smiled at Evyn’s indignation on her account. “I wasn’t supposed to be here tonight at all, but Lucinda Washburn wanted me on-site. So here I am.”

“Well, what she wants is law.”

“I gathered.” Wes fell into step as they walked toward the T-Bird down the block. “I don’t usually get my orders at zero one hundred.”

Evyn laughed, opened the driver’s door, and slid in. Wes skirted around the other side and settled in the passenger seat. “You’ll have to get used to that.”

“The text orders, or the no-notice thing?” Wes clipped her seat belt and stretched her legs out under the dash.

Evyn started the car and pulled out. “Both. When she wants something done, it means now or five minutes ago.”

“Sounds like it’s pretty much twenty-four seven call. Feels like being a resident again.”

“And here you thought you were getting this fancy title and a cushy job,” Evyn teased.

Wes laughed. “I was hoping for a big corner office and a lot of fanfare.”

“I’ll just bet.” Evyn glanced at her. “What were you really expecting?”

“Truthfully? I don’t have a clue. Until a day and a half ago, I thought my next posting would be another academic position. All I know about this one is that I’m going to get to see the world, just like the recruiters always promised me.”

“Don’t get your hopes up.” Evyn snorted. “It’s a campaign year, remember? You’re going to see so many cornfields and listen to so many boring speeches you’re going to wish you were anywhere else doing anything else.”

“Thanks for the inspirational speech. I can’t wait.”

“Sorry. I’ve been on the campaign trail in an election year. Prepare to be perpetually tired, poorly fed, and probably verbally abused.”

“Got it. I imagine it’s pretty tense for you.”

“No more so than usual,” Evyn said flatly.

“Right.” Wes was getting used to the way Evyn deflected anything personal. Obviously, the Secret Service never showed weakness. Or maybe that was just Evyn. Wes wondered just how much that shield of invulnerability cost her and if she ever let down her defenses.

Evyn slowed at an intersection, turned right, and looked over at Wes. “It’s tough, but exhilarating too, you know? Being right there. Being part of something big.”

“I think I understand. I’m used to being behind the scenes. Observing.”

“That’s all about to change, Captain.”

Wes stared at Evyn’s profile, aglow in the moonlight. “I think it already has.”

Chapter Seven

“Here you go,” Evyn said, lifting Wes’s overnight bag out of the trunk.

“Thanks.” Wes took it from her and slung the strap over her right shoulder. The T-Bird idled in the turnaround of the Marriott. The marquee lights over the entrance had been dimmed, leaving them in fractured shadow. The sliding glass doors behind them whooshed open, and a voice called, “Need help with bags?”

“I’ve got it, thanks,” Wes said without turning around. Evyn stood a foot away, one hand resting on the edge of the open trunk lid. Wes searched for something more to say, but she didn’t know where to start. The last few hours had been different than any time she’d ever spent with anyone. She’d had hundreds of meals with colleagues, in the hospital, on board ship, in the field. When those conversations ended, she moved on, rarely giving the oft-times pleasant but superficial encounters another thought. But she didn’t want this evening to end. Her reaction was so foreign she couldn’t sort out wishes from reality. How could she be uncomfortable and feel so energized at the same time?