Page 36 of Honor Code

Her shoulders slumped. "Back to the mainland. I got an emergency call this morning. My father had a bad fall and is in the hospital. I've got to go."

"Oh, sorry to hear that. I thought you were joining Ellie?"

"I wanted to, but she insisted she was okay. Actually, she said you were going with her."

Shit.

"I can't. I've got to fix something before the rig is towed to the new location."

She gave a distracted nod. People were climbing on board the chopper, its rotors having come to a stop. "Sorry, Phoenix. I've got to go. Say goodbye to Boomer for me."

"Sure." He stood back as she got onto the chopper with everybody else. It was a full flight, and the second one of the day. The place would be practically deserted now.

Still, that was probably a good thing. The fewer people on board, the less chance of something happening to Ellie. He could keep a close eye on Henderson, and he'd be working with Billy, not that he suspected the Ops Manager. There weren't many others who could be responsible for what had happened.

Yet, the gut-wrenching feeling he had when he turned to look at the inflatable disappearing into the shimmering distance wouldn't go away. Ellie was alone out there, vulnerable and exposed to the elements and whoever was targeting her.

Goddammit. He couldn’t handle the thought of her being in danger and having no one to protect her. Unable to help himself, he let out a growl venting his helplessness and frustration.

Worse, she’d think he’d let her down. That he hadn't shown up.

Why had she gone so early? Why hadn’t she told him?

Damn her stubborn independence. She probably hadn’t wanted to bother him with the change in plans.

He clenched his fists, his mind racing. SEAL training had taught him to consider all scenarios, especially the worst-case ones. Plan for the worst, hope for the best, that had been his motto.

What if the saboteur had followed her out there? What if they had tampered with the inflatable, causing it to malfunction or capsize in the treacherous waters? Ellie was a strong and capable woman, but even she had her limits. The open sea could be unforgiving, and if something happened to her, he might never know until it was too late.

Phoenix took a deep breath. He had to calm the fuck down. He had to trust in Ellie's abilities and pray that she would return safely. In the meantime, he had a job to do.

And a mystery to solve.

CHAPTER 17

Ellie checked her GPS and set a course to the Discoverer. It was roughly fifteen miles away, and by her estimation, would take thirty minutes to get there. She had enough gas for three times that distance, so there and back should be no problem whatsoever.

The sea was calm and glassy, and with the sun shining down on her back, she almost felt at peace.

Almost.

If it wasn't for the falsified survey data, the sensitive nature of her task ahead, or the fact that someone was probably trying to kill her, things would be just peachy.

She could really have used some company today. What a shame Suzi had to go back to the mainland, although it was terrible news about her father, of course. Ellie had no idea what had happened to Phoenix. Yesterday, he'd seemed pretty adamant that he was coming with her, but maybe he couldn't get out of that repair job he'd been talking about. Henderson, as she had learned, could be a hard taskmaster.

She wiped a bead of sweat from her face and stared ahead, waiting for the hulking shape of the Discoverer to appear out of the shimmering haze. As long as she stuck to the coordinates, and her discussion with the geologist on board went according to plan, she should be back before lunchtime.

While she was anxious to compare both the survey reports and Ray's live data with the Discoverer's, she couldn't help feeling a sense of irritation that she was in this position. How typical. Her first leadership role and this happens.

What were the odds? Considering the train wreck that her life had been up until this point, she shouldn't have been surprised. Then a thought struck her.

Had she been a patsy? If this was some giant fraudulent scheme, had they purposely hired someone like her to oversee it, hoping her inexperience would mean she didn't question the survey reports too deeply?

Suddenly, she felt sick. Here she was, desperate for a job, fresh out of a two-year stint in the North Sea where she'd been part of a team of analysts, catapulted to chief engineer on the Explorer, an exploratory rig in the Gulf of Mexico. There's no way she should have gotten this job. In fact, she'd been surprised when they'd given it to her.

Her heart sank as the realization crashed over her like a tidal wave. They'd only hired her to fail.

And when she hadn't, when she'd started asking questions about the anomalies in the data, they'd tried to stage an "accident" to get rid of her.

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