His Duty to Protect. Lindsay McKenna

Emma said, “if the truth be known, Uncle Morgan was already looking into it. You know he has contacts right up to the president. Khalid bumped into him at the Pentagon. When they discovered they were trying to find out more about Hamilton, they joined forces.”

      “The Trayherns stick together!” Rachel laughed. “It makes me feel good Uncle Morgan is in there pitching for me.”

      “You know he won’t allow anyone to harm us in any way,” Emma said. She lowered her voice. “As a matter of fact, Khalid found out something that just shocked me.”

      “What?”

      “Your father called Uncle Morgan and told him what was going on with Hamilton trying to get you dropped out of the flight program. What no one can know is that Uncle Morgan had a direct pipeline into the general running the program. And Morgan asked the general to release Hamilton. And he did.”

      Rachel sighed. “I was told about it shortly after Hamilton was out of the program. I didn’t realize you didn’t know.”

      Emma smiled tightly. “No one messes with the Trayhern children. Uncle Morgan will see to that.” She reached out. “So, just be aware that Uncle Morgan will be watching the reports being sent to the Pentagon by Hamilton. He’ll be monitoring him like a hawk.” Patting her arm, Emma said, “You have a guardian angel at your back, Cousin. You just haul your share of this load and do it right. The moment Hamilton steps out of line, Uncle Morgan is going to quietly insert himself into the equation and make damn sure he’s booted out of the Army for good.”

      Pleasure and reassurance thrummed through Rachel. “Thank you for the pep talk. I really appreciate it. It makes going over there less nerve-racking for me.”

      “Well, you have to carry yourself with integrity at all times,” Emma warned. “You can’t lower your guard and get angry or throw a temper tantrum around him. You have to be bulletproof, Cousin. Be the officer that you are. You’re a Trayhern and you have honor. If he tries anything, Hamilton will be in a world of hurt. Uncle Morgan needs you to keep your record clean.”

      “Got it,” Rachel said. “This is incredible. My dad filled me with stories of the military and all the Trayherns that have served over the last two hundred plus years … but I never realized until this happened how powerful they really are in the military world.”

      “Thank Uncle Morgan. He’s the head honcho. And like I said, he’s got the ear of every military general in the U.S.A.” She grinned and stood up. “That plus the president.”

      Standing up, she hugged Emma. “Thank you, Cousin.”

      Emma leaned down to pick up her helmet bag. “I hope Hamilton realizes by now he can’t screw around with a Trayhern.”

      Opening the flap to her tent, Rachel said, “We’re going to find out in a couple of hours.”

      Emma slipped through the flaps and lifted her hand. “I’ll be in touch….”

      Turning, Rachel allowed the flaps to fall together. The August heat made the tent stuffy. She wiped her brow and sat back down to continue reading the CH-47 flight manual. A lot of her stomach churning had settled with Emma’s good news. She had even more reason to make this unholy alliance work. But would Hamilton plan on making her look bad again? Or had he really learned his lesson?