Radclyffe - Oath of Honor Страница 19

the Washington Post app she’d downloaded the evening before.

Skimming through the sections with a flick of her fingertip, she asked,

“Where we going?”

“Kitty Hawk, North Carolina,” Evyn replied, surprising Wes with

an answer.

“That’s a long ride.” Wes tried to remember what was in Kitty

Hawk besides a nearby Coast Guard station.

“We’re not driving the entire way.” Evyn folded the newspaper

vertically, as if she was going to read it in sections like a subway rider.

“What’s in Kitty Hawk?” Wes asked.

“Ocean,” Evyn said.

Gary laughed.

“I didn’t bring a suit.”

“That’s okay. The water’s pretty warm this time of year.”

“It’s December,” Wes pointed out.

“Believe it or not, water temperatures average over sixty degrees

in December in that area. Something about the Gulf Stream.” Evyn

looked up from her newspaper, her eyes dancing. “You’re a sailor.

You’re not afraid of a little water, are you?”

“Just because I’m in the navy doesn’t mean I enjoy being cold

and wet.”

“I promise we won’t let you drown, or freeze.”

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“I feel so much better. What are we doing?”

“Water block.” Evyn went back to her newspaper.

“I gathered it had something to do with water. I don’t suppose you

could be any more specific?”

Evyn smiled above the newspaper. She was enjoying this, the power

play, and Wes was too, even though Evyn wasn’t playing by the rules

Wes was used to. She followed the commands of others and expected

her own orders to be obeyed without question. She understood and

accepted the reasons why. The military was a huge organization whose

effectiveness was dependent upon coordinated action and instantaneous

response, a hierarchy that could only function if orders were immutable.

Otherwise, chaos reigned, missions failed, and causalities resulted. Part

of what made the system work was accurate intel and preparedness.

In contrast, Evyn gave her no operation details—Evyn not only

didn’t brief her, she purposefully kept her in the dark. Evyn was testing

her without giving her the benefit of bringing her best game. She should

have been pissed off, but she wasn’t really. If she’d felt she was being

set up to fail, she would have resisted, but she sensed no malice from

Evyn, despite Evyn’s friendship with Peter Chang. They were playing

war games, a challenge Wes enjoyed, and she intended to prove herself.

Evyn was enjoying herself too, and Wes liked being part of Evyn’s

pleasure. That was a thought she wasn’t going to study too carefully right

now. She settled back and scanned the news. The vehicle slowed and

she looked up. Evyn was watching her, her expression contemplative.

Wes raised a brow. “What?”

“You look relaxed.” Evyn sounded surprised.

“Shouldn’t I be?”

“You’re not annoyed any longer.”

Wes smiled. “Would it do me any good?”

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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“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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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

couldn’t imagine that Cam didn’t know how much her love meant to

her. How precious it was. How she woke up every morning a little bit

in awe of how her life had changed, of how much more there was to

cherish than she had ever imagined. If she had failed to let Cam know

that, she’d failed the most important challenge of her life. “I know you

love me. Your love means every—”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Cam lifted Blair’s hand to

her mouth, brushed her lips over the top of Blair’s hand.

Her lips were warm, reminding Blair that she often didn’t know

she was cold until Cam’s touch warmed her deeper than flesh. “Then

what?”

“I won’t do anything to destroy what we have, not even for my

country. I took the job with Homeland Security because I thought I

could make a difference there, that I could contribute something. But

there was another reason—a more personal one.” Cam smiled. “You.

I know how pissed you’d be if I stayed on protection and put myself

between a bullet and a protectee. I really hate it when you’re pissed at

me.” “Are you angry at me because I don’t want you to die for someone

else?”“No.” Cam faced ahead, her expression growing remote, and Blair

knew she was looking back. Maybe as far back as her father’s death,

when she’d watched him die and hadn’t been able to stop it. She wished

she could go back to that time, to hold the twelve-year-old Cam, to

comfort her as she’d never quite been able to comfort the adult woman

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she loved. But as much as she wished for that, she couldn’t go back in

time and erase the pain and abolish the disappointment. She could only

go forward and love, and hope it made a difference.

“I’m a lot more selfish than you,” Blair said. “I don’t mind

admitting I’m glad you’re not doing protection anymore. I don’t want

to lose you. Couldn’t bear to lose you.”

“You know it’s one in a—”

“Yes,” Blair said sharply, “I know it’s one in a million. And you

know, if you’re the one, that million doesn’t matter.”

Cam laughed softly. “We’ve been down this road before, and we

don’t need to re-travel it.”

Blair sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to ruin our time together.”

“Baby,” Cam murmured, releasing Blair’s hand and sliding her

arm around her shoulders, drawing her close. “Nothing can ruin our

time together. Are you worried about your father?”

Blair rested her cheek against Cam’s shoulder. “Yes. It’s hard,

wanting him to be safe and not wanting you to be the one responsible

for it.”“I’m not. That’s Tom’s job, and the rest of your father’s detail.

That’s a big reason why I’m not doing protection anymore. I don’t

want you to have to choose between your father’s safety or your own,

and mine. I get that. But what Luce asked me to do isn’t the same

thing. I won’t be primarily protection.” Cam stopped, put her arms

around Blair’s waist, and kissed her softly. “All I’m going to do is tag

along, keep my eyes and ears open, try to find out who has access to

the information that’s getting out. I’m looking for leaks, holes in the

security network, I’m not doing security. You don’t have to choose

between us, Blair. I would never do that to you.”

“I’m sorry,” Blair said softly. “I know, I do, really.”

“I know you’re worried about your father. Nothing’s going to

happen to him. He’s got the best people in the world around him. He’ll

be fine, so will we.”

Blair threaded her arms around Cam’s neck and kissed her. Her

protective detail was somewhere nearby, pretending not to watch them

while keeping them in sight, pretending they didn’t see their private

moments, while seeing everything in their path. Right now, she was

more grateful for those agents than she’d ever been. Where she’d

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once thought they imprisoned her, she now understood they gave her

freedom. “Sometimes, I feel like a selfish shit.”

“Nothing could be further from the truth. You know what I think?”

Cam said.

“What?”

“I think we should go back to DC a little bit earlier than we’d

planned. Weather reports say another big storm is moving up the coast.

We won’t have to worry about flights if we leave tomorrow.”

“You’re sure? I mean, it’s our honeymoon, sort of.”

“We can have a sort of honeymoon in DC. I’m not sleeping at the

White House, though.”

“Oh, really? And I so love being there with the press corps, and

the valets, and the officers in the halls.”

Cam grasped Blair’s hand and resumed walking. “I’m sorry, baby.

There are some things I just can’t give you.”

Laughing, Blair fell into step. “That’s okay, darling. I still adore

you.”

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chapter seventeen

Cord hadn’t been kidding when she’d said there would be

currents. Wes was a strong swimmer, but in a wetsuit and

gear, pulling an inert body through the water against the swirling tides

that wanted to drag her under took all her strength and concentration.

The instructor assigned to play POTUS wasn’t as big as Gary, but he

was heavy. The third time she pulled him from beneath the surface,

hooked an arm around his shoulder and over his chest, and kept him