Radclyffe - Oath of Honor

Evyn pressed her fingers to her earpiece. Her mouth was moving,

but Wes couldn’t make out the words. She jolted forward as the SUV

jerked to a stop.

“Out, and stay with me,” Evyn said, pushing the rear door open.

Gary went out the opposite door and Wes scrambled after Evyn,

the FAT kit clenched in her fist. Acrid air stung her eyes and burned her

throat. Her ears rang. She expected to find craters in the blacktop and

wished for a flak jacket and helmet. Her heart pounded in her throat.

Everything she knew about battle training flashed through her mind.

She followed Evyn’s path exactly, thinking about IEDs and severed

limbs and crippling burns. Another flash overhead, another bang. Her

pulse shot up and her belly writhed.

That couldn’t be live ammo, these people weren’t that crazy, but

she ducked all the same at the sound of weapons fire. The lead car was

stopped crosswise on the road, smoke coming from under its hood. Two

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Oath Of hOnOr

men and a woman crowded around the rear door of the limo. Evyn ran

to them and Wes pushed forward, nudging Evyn aside to get a look in

the interior.

“POTUS is unconscious.” A heavyset Asian man pointed to a man

she didn’t recognize—the president’s stand-in—sprawled half-off the

rear seat.

More explosions, more noise. Wes couldn’t make out most of what

was coming over her radio, and she shut the chaos out of her mind. Her

only job right now was stabilizing her patient.

“Don’t move him,” Wes ordered, climbing into the back.

“We have to—we’re not secure,” the agent said.

“Not yet.” Wes flipped the locks on the FAT kit and surveyed the

contents. Two seconds later she spied the cervical collar and pulled it

out. “Hold this.”

“I got it,” Evyn said, crouching next to Wes’s left shoulder.

Wes handed Evyn the collar, yanked out her earpiece, and fitted

the stethoscope to her ears. She checked for bilateral breath sounds,

made sure his airway was clear, and did a fast visual survey of the

victim. No other injuries. “I’ll take the collar now, thanks.”

She secured the collar and said, “Okay—let’s go. You”—she

pointed to the big agent—“stabilize his head and neck while we move

him. Evyn, get three others on torso and limbs.”

“We know the drill.” Evyn backed out of the vehicle and Wes

followed, keeping below the top line of the SUV to take advantage of

what little cover she had.

Agents crowded around, Wes hoisted her med kit, and the evac

team took off running.

v

Wes gathered up her gear from the floor in the back of the

ambulance and stowed it in the med kit. Her shoulder ached and her

eyes were gritty, but her head buzzed pleasantly with the adrenaline

rush that followed every trauma alert. The “president” was in the OR

fifteen minutes after injury—or would have been if this weren’t a drill.

He’d been delivered stable and ready for emergency intervention. A

by-the-book field evac—just the way she’d written it.

“You about ready?” Evyn said from behind her.

• 103 •

RADCLY fFE

Wes closed the FAT kit. “All set.” She hefted it, winced, and

shifted it to her other hand.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hmm? Oh, nothing. Jammed my shoulder a bit. It’s noth—”

Evyn climbed into the rig and pointed to the narrow stretcher

against the wall. “Sit.”

“I’m fine.” Wes laughed. “I’m the doctor, remem—”

“And I’m team leader. Sit.”

Wes shut it and sat. No point getting into a pissing contest over

who was in charge just yet. She kept quiet as Evyn helped her ease her

jacket off and unclipped her radio.

“Can you unbutton your shirt?” Evyn asked, her gaze fixed

somewhere past Wes’s left shoulder.

“Sure.” Wes loosened the top half of her shirt one-handed and

tugged it free from her pants. She wore a tight silk tank beneath it and

was suddenly aware of her nipples tightening. Great. “It’s a bit cold in

here—can we do this fast?”

“Where does it hurt?” Evyn ordered herself not to look down. The

aisle was narrow, and she was practically kneeling between Wes’s legs.

If she leaned forward another inch their breasts would touch.

“Left shoulder joint. It’s just stiff—nothing—”

“We’re going to do this, so you can just suck it up,” Evyn said.

“Fine.”

Ever so carefully, Evyn drew the collar of Wes’s shirt aside with

two fingers, careful not to touch skin, until she could see her shoulder.

“Big bruise.”

“Feels like it.”

Evyn rocked back on her heels as far as space would allow. “I’m

going to range it. Tell me if it hurts.”

“Go ahead.” Wes watched Evyn’s face while Evyn gently cupped

her elbow and manipulated her shoulder. Evyn’s eyes were storm-cloud

blue, but her touch was sure and steady. A streak of dirt over her cheek

made her look unexpectedly vulnerable, and Wes brushed it away

before she had time to stop herself. Evyn flinched and Wes dropped her

hand. “Shoulder’s okay. Sore, but no worse than at rest.”

“You’ll need to ice it,” Evyn said.

“I will. Thanks.”

Evyn looked away. “You’re welcome.”

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Oath Of hOnOr

“That was a pretty impressive sim.”

“You didn’t seem too bothered by it.” Evyn pushed to her feet and

moved back to give Wes room to dress. She resisted the urge to ask her

if she needed help. She didn’t want to touch her again. Not at all.

Wes looked up at her. “Did you expect me to be?”

“Well, seeing as how you’re a paper pusher and all.” Evyn grinned,

realized she was falling into the habit of bantering with Wes, and skidded

away from the friendly exchange. Relaxing her guard around Wes was

just too easy, and she couldn’t afford to get familiar with her. Even if

she wasn’t supposed to be training her, there was the little matter of

Wes probably being on Lucinda Washburn’s private security payroll

just now. Hell, for all she knew, Wes was evaluating her. And didn’t

that just throw cold water on her libido. “I’ll meet you at the cars. We’re

done for today.”

v

They didn’t speak on the trip back to the House, and Evyn

disappeared as soon as they disembarked. Wes couldn’t figure out what

had put that cold distance in Evyn’s eyes after the warmth that had been

there just minutes before, and the more she thought about it, the more

frustrated she became. She shouldn’t care—didn’t want to care. Since

the idea of sitting around her hotel room until the next day waiting for

her next exercise held no appeal, she went back to her office and spent

the rest of the afternoon setting up a schedule to review various protocols

with the team members. When she’d gotten everything organized to her

satisfaction, she turned to the last detail on her list and made a call.

“This is Captain Masters,” she said when a young man answered.

“Is Ms. Washburn available?”

“One moment, Captain,” he said pleasantly and put her on hold.

Lucinda answered. “What can I do for you, Captain?”

“I wanted to follow up on my request to schedule the president for

a baseline physical examination.”

“Yes, I have that on my list. Can you hold for a moment?”

“Of course.”

A minute passed, and Lucinda returned. “Are you free right

now?”“Certainly.”

• 105 •

RADCLY fFE

“Five minutes in the clinic?” Lucinda said.

“I’ll be waiting.” Wes hurried to the clinic and commandeered

the PA, a man she knew by name but hadn’t formally met yet, to assist.

“Hernandez, you’ve got the duty. Set up a room for a complete physical,

will you? The president is on his way.”

Hernandez, a navy corpsman, snapped to attention. “Yes, ma’am.

And welcome aboard, ma’am.”

“Thanks.”

Three minutes later, the president arrived, followed by a military

aide carrying nuclear codes in a secure briefcase. Wes saluted.

“Thank you for interrupting your schedule, sir.”

The president returned her salute and extended his hand. “Good to

meet you, Doctor.”

She indicated an exam room. “Right in here, sir. This shouldn’t

take very long.”

The military aide took a post just outside the door, his expression

neutral. Hernandez had laid out equipment on the counter next to the

exam table and had draped an ironed white gown on the end of the

chair. He stood at attention to the left of the door.

“I’ll leave you to change,” Wes said and stepped out to wait until

Hernandez signaled the president was ready. Two minutes later he called

her in, and she quickly worked her way through the exam, checking

vital signs, listening to heart and lungs, testing reflexes. Everything was

fine, which she had anticipated.

“All set, sir,” she said when she’d finished. She stepped out while

Hernandez assisted the president, and returned when Hernandez called

her. “What’s your verdict, Doctor?” the president asked as he knotted

his tie.“We’ll want routine bloods again in four months and an EKG in

six. But you’re cleared for duty.”

Andrew Powell smiled. “Glad to hear it. How are you finding the

post so far?”

“I’m honored, sir.”

“I promise it’s not always this quiet.”

She laughed. “In medicine, sir, quiet is not bad.”

“True about my job too. What are you doing for the holidays?”

“I have the duty, sir.”

• 106 •

Oath Of hOnOr

The president opened the exam-room door and paused. “Well, be

sure and make the staff Christmas party.”

“I will. Thank you, sir.”

“I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again soon,” he said.

“Yes, sir. Happy holidays, sir.”

“Happy holidays, Captain Masters.”

Wes stayed in the hall until he disappeared. Today she’d been part

of a simulated rocket attack aimed at destroying this man and what he

symbolized to the nation and the world. The idea that someone close

to him might be a traitor made the urgency of her job even more acute.

She understood—at least rationally—a little bit better why Evyn didn’t

yet trust her, and as much as she resisted the idea, she couldn’t totally

trust Evyn either.

• 107 •

RADCLY fFE

chapter fOurteen

Evyn woke with Ricochet draped on her left ear. “Get off.”

Ricochet stretched, shifted, and settled around her forehead

like a fur hat. His belly reminded her of feathers dancing on her skin.

Feathers. Fingertips. Wes’s thumb tracing over her cheek. A shot of

adrenaline spiking her pulse, her clit instantly hard. Her eyes jolted

open. “Hell.”

She stared at the ceiling. Flat gray light. The weatherman had said

more snow was coming. More freezing cold. She wasn’t cold now. She

kicked the covers off. Ricochet complained and stalked haughtily to

the bottom of the bed. Evyn touched her cheek and her clit did that

twitching thing it had done yesterday when Wes had touched her. Wes

made her so freaking hot—didn’t mean a thing, though. Just good old

reflexes. Never mind the way Wes had looked at her when she’d been

moving her shoulder around—so serious, so right there. Wes looked at

her—looked into her, and okay, that freaked her out too. She’d grown

up in a houseful of men she wanted to be just like—tough, competitive

men who taught her to win. And any fear or uncertainty—and, God

forbid, tears—that cropped up along the way, she hid. And eventually

she didn’t need to hide those things because she didn’t feel them any

longer.

Except when Wes touched her, she felt the doors opening and light

leaking into the closed rooms where she kept her secrets. Not good.

Didn’t matter, though. She had a handle on it. She slid her hand down

her belly. Had a hand on it too. She was hard all right, and wet, and

damn if she couldn’t get Wes’s scent out of her head. So she closed

her eyes and let the green of Wes’s gaze and the piercing winter-bright

scent of her fill her mind as she came.

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Oath Of hOnOr

v

“Morning,” Wes said when she found Evyn in the ready room at

0730. A box, empty save for a lone white powdered doughnut, sat in

the middle of the round table. Evyn was dressed for fieldwork again—

khakis and a blue polo shirt with the USSS logo on the chest.

“Hi,” Evyn said, rising abruptly and dumping the remains of her

coffee in the sink. “Ready?”

“Another sim? Sure.”

“Nope. Today we go live.” Evyn raised her left wrist and said,

“Team One, ready to move out.”

Wes followed her out into the hall, waiting for Evyn to fill her

in on what was happening. They’d reached the south exit before she

finally asked, “Isn’t it customary to brief me?”

“There is no customary.” Evyn reached the door first and held

it open. “The only thing you can count on in this detail is that plans

always change. Today’s already have.”

“Am I the only medic?”

“You’ll have the usual backup in the follow car.”

Wes caught the door and followed Evyn outside. A limo idled with

the three black SUVs on the circular drive. Gary waited by the open

rear door of the first vehicle, sunglasses on, earbud just visible behind

his left ear. He nodded briefly to Evyn, and Wes thought she saw his

eyebrow quirk before his stony expression returned. Several other men

and a woman stood waiting by the other vehicles, and the profiles of

additional agents were visible inside each one. She hadn’t expected

so many people to be involved in a training scenario but said nothing.

Evyn obviously wasn’t planning to answer any of her questions.

“We’ll be in the first follow car,” Evyn said. “Eagle is on his

way.”Wes hesitated. “I thought this was a training scenario.”