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wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”
    Sam picked up his bag and smiled at his boss. “She looked like a civilian.” It wasn’t the first time he’d found himself caught up in someone else’s problem, but this was by far the most interesting. He was giving up the rest of his leave to escort Darcy, but he figured it would make for a memorable vacation.
    “I’ll expect you back in seventy-two hours. If it’s longer than that, I’ll send out search parties. The Agency has a habit of keeping their assets. And if you need backup, you’ve got my number.”
    “I appreciate it.”
    “Stay safe, Chief.”
    “That’s the plan. I’ll see you, boss.”
    Sam wasn’t accustomed to a bodyguard role, but he understood what it meant to go up against a waiting enemy. He was one of two snipers on his squad, his specialty doing reconnaissance, working ahead of the others. He’d get Darcy safely to D.C. and see what developed from there.
    * * *
    The Air Force provided a small passenger jet for the flight. Darcy took advantage of the space to spread out her notes and get comfortable. Sam had somehow arranged for several full-size pillows to be available, and she wanted to hug him for that. They were making this trip bearable. The painkillers the base doctor had given her after stitching the cut were wearing off. They were somewhere over Georgia when Darcy realized they were flying through a light rain.
    She glanced over at Sam, stretched out in a seat across the aisle, his attention on a paperback he’d tugged from the side pocket of his luggage, a cup of coffee in the cup holder. A soldier. It had been subtle, but she’d seen the transformation in his demeanor as they stepped onto the military base where security was better. He was comfortable in military terrain, in the same way she was comfortable walking into the National Security Agency complex or the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters.
    He hadn’t mentioned what his role was on the SEAL team, just that he was a member. She did know that chief petty officer was an enlisted ranking instead of an officer track. Darcy had a feeling that position in the ranks was by choice. Sam would want to be in the middle of the action. She’d always been partial to the front lines too. Just not this close.
    SEALs were known as the quiet professionals. Good enough at what they did, they didn’t have to tell someone they were good. Their actions spoke for them. How was she going to say thanks when this was over? She instinctively understood part of Sam’s character. He volunteered for a job where he gave up many personal liberties—when and where he worked, even his own life—in order to preserve the liberties of others. His age told her he was career Navy, and that answered a lot of questions about his priorities. And the SEAL trident pin he wore—with its eagle representing air, Revolutionary War pistol for land, and Neptune’s trident for sea, all fit across the Navy’s anchor— Above everything else he’d be a guy you could depend on to do what he said. Honor would be a code he lived by.
    He looked up, sensing her observation. He set his book against his knee. She felt herself blush and wished she could tamp down that reaction.
    “You should do that more often,” he commented.
    “What?”
    “Look.”
    She refused to turn away even as she struggled to contain a smile. “What am I supposed to be seeing?”
    He picked up his book again and cast one final glance in her direction. “My mom would like you.”
    Darcy laughed. She had missed this. She’d never had the freedom overseas to totally relax even in social occasions, as it was never quite certain whom she could really trust outside of a small circle of people from the Agency.
    She reached up and adjusted the light over her head. She bet she would enjoy meeting his mom. She turned her attention back to work.
    The pages of the legal pad resting against her knee were soft lavender instead of the normal canary