Honor by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online Page B

wanted to stay more than anything.
    “Right. I can’t think straight. Linc—” She paused and he saw her eyes were shimmering with tears she would never shed in front of him. “Just so you know, I—I like knowing you’re not far away.”
    Rather than letting him respond verbally, she put her hands on his shoulders and lifted herself up to press her cheek to his for a fraction of a second. Not a kiss. Better somehow.
    Then she stepped back, her arms folded across her chest.
    “Don’t think too much about it.” He meant Frank Branigan and she knew it. “And stay off that laptop for a while,” he said.
    “No to both.” She reached around him and turned the doorknob. “But I appreciate the thought.”
    He had to step over the threshold to avoid being whacked by the door. Not that the hollowcore would hurt that much. He could probably put his fist through it. Linc wished he could replace the cheap door with solid steel.
    “You and doors are a dangerous combination,” he said softly. “Lock it behind me.”
    She frowned. “Okay, okay. I will.”
    “And make sure it’s really locked.”
    She held on to the doorknob as he turned to walk down the hall. “Did I tell you yet how much I hate good advice?”
    “No. But I hear you.”
    “Good. Then go.”
    She watched until he reached the stairwell. A moment later, Linc just heard a tiny click. At least she’d listened. But he hated the idea of her crying it out alone.

C HAPTER 3
    K enzie didn’t do much of anything after he left. Just looking out the window at the changing fall colors made her feel sadder than before. She rolled down the translucent shades to block some of the afternoon light, then went to sit on the sofa. A golden glow filled the shaded room, bouncing off walls she’d painted amber several months ago to contrast with the ivory of the upholstery material she’d chosen. The color was on the wild side, but the effect was cozy. She hugged a pillow to her chest and rested her chin on it to think.
    Two friends, thousands of miles apart, both trapped by fate in the wrong place at the wrong time. One was gone; the other barely alive. And here she was, unable to do anything. Safe and sound. It seemed wrong somehow.
    She even had a protector.
    The way Linc had showed up and stuck around impressed her. And he wasn’t playing the hero. He was just there when you needed him, rock solid and built to last.
    True, he wasn’t very communicative about what he did, but her army background and work with special ops soldiers meant she could figure it out to some degree. She was beginning to think she’d underestimated the second Bannon brother.
    The oldest, RJ, had cracked the Montgomery kidnapping case and married the long-lost daughter. He’d had his moment of fame—she’d followed the story like everyone else. But Linc didn’t seem like he was in anyone’s shadow. He was very much his own man.
    Right now she wasn’t up to guessing where it could go with him.
    After a while she set the pillow aside and dragged over the laptop she’d moved to the end table. She’d managed to ignore it for an hour. Good enough.
    She opened her Facebook page and followed the tag on Frank Branigan’s photo to his, thinking that it was probably still up. One of his friends or a family member might have set up a memorial page as well, but she could go to that later. Something about the photo was nagging at her. She was hoping to find an explanatory caption on his side of the send.
    Kenzie clicked into his page, looking at many more photographs than just the one she had on hers. He had lots of friends—but besides Donna and Christine, they had none in common. Christine had dated him.
    But other faces were familiar. And so was the military camaraderie.
    Family—she could guess at his cousins from the look-alike grins, and that had to be his mom and dad. No brothers or sisters as far as she could tell—apparently he was their only child. Mr. and Mrs. Branigan had suffered