Page 35 of Honor Code

"What?"

"I can’t. I've been tasked with fixing the blowout preventer on the rig tomorrow morning. It became unstable during the storm, and Billy wants us to take a look at it."

"No worries," she said gamely, but he could see by her eyes that she was upset. No, not upset. Scared. And that tore him apart. Fuck it. If only he could get her off this rig right now and take her somewhere safe. Just the two of them.

Except that wasn’t an option.

"I'll try to get out of it." He clenched his jaw. Ellie was more important. She needed him, and he wanted to be there for her. Hell, he’d never be able to live with himself if something happened to her.

"Only if you're sure."

"I'm sure."

"Absolutely not," Henderson told him. "I can't spare you. Blake and Peterson are on security duty, and I need you and Boomer on the blowout preventer. It can't wait. We're being towed to the new test site tomorrow, and it has to be operational before then."

"I don't feel comfortable letting Ellie go by herself," Phoenix tried, his gut twisting. He wasn't used to disobeying orders from a superior, but this was different. This was Ellie.

His woman.

He swallowed hard and glared at Henderson, but his boss didn't budge. "Ellie and Suzi are quite capable of doing it by themselves Ellie is a smart girl, and this isn't her first rodeo. Suzi is incredibly competent too. Don't worry about them. Report to Billy, and he'll show you where the damage is."

"Yes, sir."

Fuck.

There was no way around it. Unless he wanted to directly disobey Henderson, which might mean the end of his job, he had no choice but to fall in line.

Leaving the office, he headed topside to tell Ellie the bad news.

But he was too late.

The inflatable was already heading out into the big blue, and he could see the slim figure of Ellie at the motor. His heart leaped into his throat. Where the hell was Suzi? Why was Ellie alone?

He charged down to the launch pad and grabbed one of the roughnecks by the arm. "Why is she going out alone?"

"I don't know, man." He shrugged his arm free. "I just do as I'm told."

"Sorry." Phoenix stared after the departing figure of Ellie. "I thought she had someone going with her, that's all."

"Feisty one, isn't she?" the roughneck said, approvingly. "I wouldn't have taken that little inflatable out by myself, but then I can't swim very well."

Phoenix ground his jaw.

Where the hell was Suzi?

A throbbing noise in the sky drew his attention, and he saw the transfer chopper coming in to land. A small group of passengers accumulated on deck. He'd forgotten it was Friday, the day that many of the staff and shift workers left to go back to the mainland for the weekend. They'd be back on Monday. Activity on the rig quieted down over the weekend. From what Henderson had said, they were using this quiet period to tow the rig into its new position. New incorrect position—based on false survey data.

But Henderson didn't know that. Not yet.

Once Ellie's report landed on his desk, he'd have a heart attack. Unless he was somehow involved. Was that possible? Could Henderson be behind the sabotage? Had he plotted to kill Ellie to silence her? Phoenix scowled at the chopper as he considered this. The man’s job was at stake, and he was probably being paid a lot to oversee this project. If it fell through and there was an investigation, he'd be the obvious scapegoat.

A hard ball of fear tightened in his chest as he watched the chopper land. To his surprise, Suzi was one of the people waiting to board.

"Hey, Suzi!" he yelled, running over to her. She stood clutching her backpack, a drawn expression on her face. "Wait up!"

She turned, hearing his voice. "Phoenix, what's up?"

"Where are you going?"

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