LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter One

      Washington, DC Thursday, October 2, 5:25 p.m.

      David Martin had the training pool to himself. The fading sunlight filtered through the windows near the ceiling, casting long pale slashes across the deck. While other people finished paperwork or made dinner plans, he soaked up the peace and quiet of the water. It was his sanctuary, the one place he could always get away from any worries. The only thing better would be time out on the ocean—or under it. He hadn’t had a real dive in months, and since his boat was stored closer to his family in Georgia, the pool would have to suffice for today.

      He pushed his body through a freestyle sprint the length of the pool, filled his lungs on the turn and then dove deep, dolphin-kicking the return lap on that single breath. He repeated the process until the timer on his watch went off. Switching to backstroke, he let his body cool down. As his lungs recovered, his mind drifted over the implications of his upcoming meeting with his boss, Director Thomas Casey.

      The brief email had bordered on cryptic, which wasn’t unusual considering the unique covert operations team he’d joined two years ago. One specific phrase in the email had brought David down to swim and think: lifetime assignment.

      He understood commitment as it pertained to career, family and country, having completed his education and given six years to the Coast Guard. Unfortunately, the phrase reminded him too much of the matchmaking his three oldest sisters kept attempting on his behalf. They used words like stability, comfort, nieces and nephews. As if their own kids didn’t keep everyone busy enough. Curse of being the youngest and the only boy in a big Southern family, he thought. He loved them all and appreciated the buffer of distance his skills and career choices had given him. The

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