Cody could’ve guessed this would come up. He cleared his throat. “Just wanted to lead by example. You said the men needed that.”

“Right, by example. You showed them how to break protocol.”

Cody didn’t respond.

Duncan wasn’t only his superior officer; he was Cody’s friend—one of the few he had. But being Duncan’s friend had proven to be problematic the second the master chief had called about the opening at Brant Point station.

“I need some help building morale up here,” Duncan had told him. “I need someone who can help me lead.”

“Must be a hundred other guys who could do that,” Cody remembered saying.

“Not like you,” Duncan said. “It’s a young crew, Boggs. They’ve had a rough go of it. Could really benefit from your kind of leadership.”

Cody understood. The men at Brant Point needed to be led, mentored, and brought up by someone who didn’t care about being their friend. That was Cody. It was what he was known for. Maybe this was always where he was meant to be. He’d done well for himself, despite the early setback. After all, he seemed born to lead, and just because it wasn’t his original plan didn’t mean he wasn’t fulfilling what he’d set out to do—save people from the ocean.

He loved his job. He liked moving up through the ranks. He liked the responsibility of being in charge. He liked doing his part to save lives, to serve whatever community he was a part of—it changed every few years.

When he was promoted to executive petty officer, he’d been proud, but when he got his most recent assignment, that feeling quickly disintegrated.

Duncan was thrilled they’d been stationed together. In fact, he hadn’t said so, but Cody had to wonder if the master chief wasn’t responsible for making that happen.

Cody wanted to fight it. He wanted to tell Duncan that this was a bad idea, that it would stir up memories and he liked to keep those neatly folded and tucked in a trunk stored at the back of his closet.

But that wasn’t how things worked. And Duncan needed him. Cody had a hard time walking away when he was needed.

So here he was. Sitting in an office at the Brant Point station. How surreal. He glanced out the window and saw the exact spot where he and Louisa had spent every childhood birthday he could remember.

Oh, the irony.

“Why don’t you go home? Take the day?”

“No,” Cody said—a little too quickly.

“It’s not a problem, Boggs. You just got in—and that was a heckuva first day.”

Was it enough of a morale boost for the duty station that Cody could pack his bags and take the ferry back to the mainland?

“I’m fine, Chief.”