Honor (10 page)

Linc chose his next words carefully. “You might remember more about him than you think. Trust me on that.”

She shook her head. He didn’t know which statement she was saying no to.

“While it’s still fresh in your mind—when you’re ready—if you could describe exactly what happened again and I could ask a few questions—”

Kenzie closed her eyes and leaned her head back. “Oh hell. Go ahead.”

“I don’t think it was a coincidence that he was onscreen when you got back to the laptop,” Linc began. “You said you were waiting for it to shut down by itself, right?”

“Yeah. It didn’t. Tell me why.”

“Probably because he’d gained remote access to the hard drive. My guess is, he was watching you through the webcam with the on light shut off.”

“What a fun game. Red light, green light. Kenzie gets stalked.”

He looked at her steadily. “That’s right.”

She fell silent for several moments. “Was he far away?”

“It’s possible to activate a webcam or control a hard drive from thousands of miles away or right next door. It’s not that complicated.”

She shuddered.

“Draw a circle on a mental map. I just did. Everything is happening within a fifty-mile radius. He’s not in another country. He’s here.”

“Do you think he followed me to Christine’s apartment?”

“Yes.”

“Then what?”

Linc explained it as simply as he could. “He didn’t have to break down the door. All he had to do was hack into her laptop, and there’s a million ways to do that. He knew the second you opened it.”

“It fell on the floor. I actually didn’t open it.”

“He got lucky with that. But he did know you were there. He could have been in a car on the street. How would you know if you weren’t looking for him?”

“I was, though. Right and left.”

“Look, it’s clear to me even at this stage that this guy is good at his game.”

Kenzie’s eyes flashed with angry fire. “That laptop has Christine’s whole life in it, just about. Photos, web bookmarks, browser history, her documents—can he get into everything?”

“Yeah. Most likely he already has. Which is another reason I want to get it back and look at it, run some scans. I should be able to find a few digital footprints.”

Kenzie raised a hand to her neck and slowly rubbed the tense muscles. “Do you think he followed me here?”

“Definitely a possibility and no big deal for him. It’s safe to say that he knows where you live.”

She straightened and walked away from him. “I kept checking my rearview mirror on the way home and I took different streets. I didn’t see anyone behind me.”

“Doesn’t mean he wasn’t there.”

“True.” She sank into an upholstered chair and clutched the padded armrests, drumming her fingers on the taut material.

“Getting back to what we were talking about—what exactly did you do with the laptop? Before you ran out, I mean.”

“I slammed it shut and left it on the floor.”

Linc frowned. “So it’s in standby mode.”

“What of it?” she asked. “I’m not going to give him a second chance to trap me.”

Linc nodded in agreement. “Good. Me neither.”

She cleared her throat. “Hey, you can be my hero.” He didn’t miss the ironic edge in the comment. “And by the way, I assume you have a gun.”

Linc knew that was about as close as Kenzie would come to actually asking him for help. “I do.”

Her gaze moved over him. He patted the left side of his shirt. Fall weather and flannel shirts made concealed carry easier.

“First things first,” he said. “Maybe we can set a trap for him, lure him into showing his face again. Getting a visual on the guy is key.”

“Well—yes.”

Linc pointed a warning finger at her. “That’s going to be my job.”

“Be my guest,” she said with feeling.

“Your job is to be extra careful from now on. He definitely knows how to stay out of sight, Kenz. And he may have been following Christine around for a while.”

Linc didn’t want to get into the possibilities as far as her best friend was concerned. Around meant everywhere. All over town. Lurking online when Christine was, trolling sites she visited.

The guy could be someone who no one noticed much. Crazy in a quiet, unassuming, lethal way. But most stalkers got bolder over time. Linc kept the thought to himself.

“Why didn’t either one of us notice?”

“Because you didn’t, that’s all. Look, Kenz, my dad was a cop. He used to say that stalking cases were one long nightmare. And it was tough as hell to bring charges unless the guy made contact, and even then you couldn’t get them behind bars for long enough.”

She bit her lip, struggling for self-control. “I would have remembered those eyes if I’d ever seen them before,” she said softly. “He’s a killer. I know it.”

Linc let her talk.

Her fear, her anger, her desire to get even—it all tumbled out in a rush. He couldn’t argue with any of it or discuss it rationally. So he listened. It was one thing he could do. His first concern was to guard her tonight and get her out of here tomorrow. If she’d let him help.

Kenzie rested her head against the back cushions of the couch, seeming overwhelmed by sudden exhaustion. He didn’t say anything, just watched her. She let her eyes drift shut as she fell silent, forcing herself to breathe slowly.

“Feel better?” he asked after a while.

“A little. Sorry.” She sounded embarrassed.

“For what?”

“Being scared. Giving you hell for it.”

Linc shook his head. “It’s okay. Don’t apologize.”

She rubbed her forehead. “I should get to bed. What are you going to do?”

“Sit up. Stay awake.”

“Oh,” she said faintly. “And watch over me?”

“Yeah. You mind?”

“I’m beginning to think it’s a good idea. Temporarily, anyway.” Kenzie eased forward to a straighter sitting position. “I have to work tomorrow.” She stood up, lithe in jeans and sweater. “But I want to ask for time off.”

“You going to tell your boss what happened?” Linc asked.

“Some of it. Not everything. Jim can be kind of overprotective. They don’t call him Big Dawg for nothing.”

Linc shrugged at the comment. He’d judge for himself if the guy deserved the nickname when he met him. Right now every male in Kenzie’s life and Christine’s was on the suspect list.

“Whatever. So where do you want me tonight?”

The remark got him a quelling look from dark green eyes. “Stay right where you are. I’ll be in the bedroom.”

Thanks for the hospitality, beautiful
, he wanted to say. He hadn’t meant the question the way she seemed to be interpreting it. Linc settled down and watched her go into her bedroom without another word.

Kenzie slept only fitfully. Around four
A.M.
, she gave up trying, too restless to stay in bed. Maybe a cup of something hot and herbal would help. She threw back the covers and stood up, pulling down her tank top over the knit short-shorts she wore to bed.

She peered around the open door of her bedroom, trying to catch a glimpse of Linc. He wasn’t sitting up. That left the couch or the floor. Kenzie craned her neck to see better and realized he was curled up on the couch when she spotted a large, sock-clad foot extended over the arm. She stood still, listening to his deep, regular breathing.

Out cold.

She wished she could say the same. Kenzie stepped quietly into the living room, looking sideways at him as she made her way to the kitchen. He’d folded a fancy pillow in half and tucked it under his head.

Some hostess she was. Kenzie hadn’t even thought to give him bedding for the night. But he had given her the impression he wouldn’t shut his eyes.

Nice to know he was human. And, she reminded herself, it was very nice of him to stay when she’d been so irrational at first. Linc Bannon was a good guy.

The dim glow of the night-light was enough to see by. She wasn’t going to wake him up with a blast of white from the overheads. Kenzie put a cup of water in the microwave and took it out a second or two before the loud beep went off. There was a box of herbal tea bags in the cabinet and she tossed one into the cup, watching delicate spirals of color appear.

Her hands curled around the smooth porcelain as she waited for it to brew, letting herself be soothed by the heat.

She didn’t usually slow down this much. Christine used to tell her to often enough.
Just be. Just breathe
.

Not her thing.

Linc was doing a good job of it. His solid chest rose and fell under the strong arms crossed over it. Unbuttoned, his shirt revealed a blue tee underneath.

She took a sip of tea, studying him. Nothing would feel better right now than to curl up against the warm softness of flannel and knit material over all that hard muscle beneath. The body heat of a sleeping man beat the hell out of herbal tea, that was for sure. Given what had happened, the urge she felt to join him there surprised her.

He seemed comfortable. At home, even. Well, he was the first. The apartment, her sanctuary, hadn’t had a man in it since she’d moved in and done the decorating exactly the way she liked it.

Linc didn’t stir. She drank most of the tea and set the cup on a side table, then went back into her bedroom for a light blanket, throwing it over him as gently as she could, only half-hoping she wouldn’t awaken him.

It settled over his body in soft folds and she glanced down, wondering if she saw a faint smile appear on his drowsy mouth. She had. It touched the scar on his cheek, an old one. She never had asked him where he got that. Kenzie shifted position a bit—then stiffened when his hand brushed against her bare leg.

He hadn’t done it. Her movement had brought her into accidental contact with his hand. But the brief, inadvertent touch caused a sensation to race through her that could only be described as erotic.

She stepped back and stumbled, banging her heel painfully. Linc half opened his eyes.

“What time is it?”

Flustered, Kenzie glanced over her shoulder at the clock and told him. Did he take the chance to look her up and down in the abbreviated sleep shorts and tank? She couldn’t tell when she turned back to him.

“Too early. Mind if I go back to sleep?” he asked a little groggily.

“No. That’s fine. I got up to make myself some tea, that’s all.” She picked up her cup from the side table and headed to her bedroom. She could have sworn she felt his eyes on her. If he’d been asleep, he was awake now. But she didn’t look back.

Kenzie rested a hand on the steering wheel as she waited for the traffic light to change. She barely saw the fall glory of the trees blazing scarlet and gold all around her. The drive to work was something she could have done in her sleep anyway. The man in the car in her rearview mirror was very much on her mind. Through the tinted lenses of her sunglasses, she saw Linc nod to her and smiled to herself.

The green light appeared and she went a few more blocks, feeling a pang when Linc turned off on the street that would take him back to the motel.

Although they hadn’t discussed it, it was probably best that he keep the anonymous room if he was going to stay in Ridgewood. Just that one accidental touch made her very sure of that. Her reaction to him was a little too physical for her peace of mind.

She was still racking her brains for other places to bunk down temporarily and she didn’t need that kind of distraction, not with the danger she was now in.

Linc had helped her store some valuables and lock up, telling her to make the place look like she hadn’t left for good. Apparently that meant leaving a few dishes in the sink, the bed unmade, and an open magazine on a side table, all of which bugged her but were not worth arguing about. She’d made the bed anyway. Fast.

He seemed to think he knew what he was doing and was willing to stick around to protect her. But when she put in her two cents, he had to agree that neither of them should stay in her apartment.

Which opened up the big question of where she would go and for how long. Good thing she didn’t have a dog to worry about—she hadn’t gotten another since fostering Tex for intensive training and deployment in Afghanistan.

Six weeks in country and Tex had been killed by a grenade thrown in among the sleeping soldiers he guarded, with only a few seconds to alert the men he saved. One of the great dogs, bar none.

She hadn’t wanted another.

Her apartment had become her retreat once she’d returned stateside. She’d felt safe enough there. Not anymore. Right now, she had to focus on protecting Christine and herself, and get the hell out of harm’s way.

No way would she risk anyone else’s safety and ask a girlfriend if she could stay for a while.

At some point she would have to be a good little girl and tell her parents what was going on. Not today, though. If they happened to call from Germany, no problem—they’d reach her cell. She didn’t have a landline anyway. Besides, she wasn’t ready to tell them everything when she really didn’t know much herself.

Something would turn up. She was somewhat less nervous today, in part because she’d forced herself not to obsess.

And as for Linc, when he was wide awake and buttoning up his shirt, he didn’t unsettle her the way he did when he was half-asleep and stretched out full-length on her couch. Although he was incredibly sexy with his hair messed up and that twinkle in his dark eyes. He looked rumpled but well-rested.

She wasn’t. But the morning sunshine worked to dispel the last trace of the sensations he’d accidentally aroused. Sticking to the practical task of making breakfast had helped too.

They’d shared a platter of eggs and toast. He’d done the cooking, she’d washed the dishes and cups. They hadn’t rehashed last night’s discussion, just agreed to talk later. He seemed to understand that she needed time and they both had a lot to do.

She turned off onto a road that brought her into a more rural part of the county, and soon was driving through the gates of the JB dog-training operation. Kenzie pulled up next to a white van painted with the company logo, and gave herself the luxury of a few minutes to think. She didn’t see Jim Biggers’s car in the parking lot, but there were several others. The employees who cared for the dogs and maintained the kennels came in early.