Page 2 of No Broken Promises

I can’t blame him. Hell, with every step, I am thrust back to that day. The one when we all lost Danny. Linc? He lost more than the rest of us. He lost his brother—his twin. When he came back from emergency leave, he did so with a piece of his soul missing.

Silence falls between us, where it never would have before, as we approach the scene of Danny’s accident.

“He’s not gone,” I tell him bluntly. “You think he’s gone. But he’s not. He’s here. Watching over you, watching her. Making sure you’re covered.”

I stand in silence, with my eyes on anything but Linc, while he grieves. That, and I didn’t clear it with anyone for us to head out through the gate. Honestly, I don’t give a fuck anymore. Not when this godforsaken place has stolen so much from us. I don’t want to die, though, so I keep an eye on our surroundings and pray that a firefight doesn't come raining down on top of our heads.

“Thank you, Remy.” Linc clears his throat, and we both ignore the obvious signs that he’s been crying.

“No problem. Now, let’s get back before they notice we vanished for ten minutes.”

Linc laughs bitterly. “You kiddin’ me? No one will even look at me right now. I doubt they’ll even notice we’re gone.”

I know it’s completely ridiculous, but I swear to every god in the sky that in this moment, I feel Danny here with us. Walking back to the gate as we cross the border back into camp, he vanishes.

A month later, Linc and I are headed in two distinctly separate directions, two different stations. Another unit was short a man, and Linc volunteered. He won’t be going home anytime soon, I know that. But then again, neither am I. Time and space are two things I need far away from Birch County. That, and I’m not man enough to admit the truth.

“You gonna keep the promise?” Linc’s question catches me off guard and I almost trip as we step off the plane.

The only thing that keeps me from tumbling down the airplane steps like a fuckin’ kid is the fact that I have a tight grip on the handrail.

“What?”

“The promise you made that night after the wedding. To watch out for Parker.”

When I turn around, there is a glint in Linc’s eye. The same one he always gets when we’re on patrol and something is about to go sideways.

I try to keep my mouth shut. Really, I do. And then he goes and drives a knife through my chest without even trying.

“If you love her, the way you had to in order to give her up, then you’ll be there for her.” His eyes cut straight through every barrier I’ve kept up for the last two years. The same ones I’ve constructed to keep her out.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lie. He knows it too. I see the way his left eye ticks when he struggles to keep himself under control.

We finally make it off the tarmac and into the airport’s lobby, trying to blend in as well as two Marines in uniform can. Even blending in as well as we can doesn’t give me a break from Linc’s continued glare. If anything, it becomes even more obvious when we take our seats in the same fuckin’ terminal.

I can’t catch a break.

“I’m waiting for an answer, Remy.” He doesn’t wait for my answer when he sees the coffee shop open across the lobby.

With a sharp glance, he leaves me alone, at least for a moment. When he returns with two cups of black coffee, I almost groan. It’s been so long since I had a decent cup that I’m not sure my body will know what to do with it.

“Here.” Linc hands the second coffee over, and I don’t care about the heat. I drink that bitch straight down.

“I’ll do it,” I practically snarl. “I’ll keep an eye on her. But that’s it.”

Linc opens his mouth to give me some sort of smart-ass retort, no doubt. Before he can, the PA system turns on and his plane starts loading.

That doesn’t stop him from pointing a threatening finger at me and narrowing his eyes.

“This isn’t over, shithead. I know you love her. So did Danny… otherwise, he would have never asked you to take care of her if anything happened to him.”

I don’t call him out on his bullshit, even though I want to more than anything. Linc and Kennedy are different than Parker and me. He’s been in love with my sister forever, and she knows it. She’s given him a chance. Parker doesn’t have a clue how I feel, and she never will.

Still, when the terminal empties and I have nothing left but time as I wait the twelve hours for my flight, all I can do is think about that night. Reliving the haunting memories that I’ll never be able to forget.

Needing to breathe, I go to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face. While I clutch either side of the porcelain sink in front of the metal mirror, I hardly recognize the man staring back at me.

Dark circles have taken up permanent residence under my eyes and with them, the now-familiar haunted expression that I’ll never escape. I close my eyes, hoping to escape the nightmare that follows me everywhere.

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