Radclyffe - Oath of Honor

“First stop is getting your permanent ID,” Evyn said.

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.”

“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?

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.

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 met—a spinoff party from one of the bigger lesbian circuit events—and where they’d ended up. In bed in Louise’s apartment, urgent and sweaty and desperate for fulfillment. The night had morphed into three days, and then Evyn was back on rotation and life went on. And she’d never called, never even looked back. Until now. Feeling a bit like a jerk, she said, “I was wondering—I know it’s short notice—but about tonight. Maybe we could—”

“Tonight?” She heard soft laughter. “Have you looked out the window? This is supposed to keep up all night. My super-exciting plans for the evening are to make some hot cider, sit in front of the television with Netflix and a bowl of popcorn, and turn in early.”

“I guess I can’t persuade you to change those exciting plans?”

“You might, if the evening included dinner, but the weath—”

“I’m already out. Dinner sounds like a good place to start.” Evyn winced at her really bad come-on line. When had she gotten so shallow? She turned her wipers on and watched the thin blades bend and scrape while pushing against the half inch of heavy new snow. The snow was coming down harder now and the sidewalks were empty. Cars crawled by, their headlights dull cataracts behind a curtain of snow. In an hour, the city would be gridlocked. She ought to sack out in the down room in the OEOB instead of going anywhere. At least she’d get to work in the morning. “How about I pick you up in forty-five minutes. You pick the place.”

“I’ve got an even better idea—if you’re really going to come over here, then let’s stay in. I’ll cook.”

“Oh, that’s no fair. I don’t want you to have to work.” Hell, Louise was too nice and she was a jerk.

“I don’t mind, if you don’t mind something simple.”

“Well, sure, but—” Evyn didn’t want to drive home—not because of the storm, but because she didn’t want to face brainless TV and an uninspired frozen dinner or the warmed-up pizza she’d had three days before. So she opted for company—nothing wrong with that on the surface, or there wouldn’t have been if an evening with Louise wasn’t just a way to keep her from sitting around thinking about Wes. And that was enough to push her to say, “Yes. Okay, great. I’d like that. I’ll grab some wine—is that all right?”

“Perfect. I’ll see you soon, and be careful out there.”

“Always,” Evyn said, knowing even as the words left her mouth she was bluffing. Careful wasn’t really part of her modus operandi. She was a risk taker, the first to volunteer, the first to rise to a challenge. She wasn’t being careful around Wes Masters, and she wasn’t thinking about where she was headed. Not smart at all. Good thing she knew better than to let her private affairs bleed over into work. None of that had changed, and she didn’t intend it to. Wes Masters was off-limits and staying that way.