“Eli,” Talon started gently, and Eli huffed.
“I know,” he reiterated. “I know it sounds crazy. I’m describing a completely different person.”
“Do you think he was casing the place for a robbery?” Daniel asked.
Eli shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“How do you know it was him if he looked different?” Gael asked.
“I saw his gloved hands. I saw him reaching out for the two pieces of gum, and then putting them back and picking another brand.” Eli saw Talon glance at Daniel.
“That’s certainly what we saw on the video,” Daniel confirmed.
“How many pieces did he pick up the second time?” Gael said.
“One,” Eli said. “Just one.”
Talon glanced at Daniel again for confirmation. “I honestly couldn’t say without checking the video,” he admitted.
“But in your head you definitely saw him as different from how Mark described him?” Talon confirmed. Eli nodded.
“That’s odd,” Daniel said, and Talon shot him an exasperated look. “No,” Daniel qualified. “I don’t mean odd that Eli saw him differently. I mean that if the beard and the gloves were a disguise, why did Eli see him without the beard but not without the gloves?”
Talon’s eyebrows rose. “That’s a good question.” He looked at Eli.
“I don’t know.” But he could see the man’s face in his head. It had felt like he’d been almost blinded with it.
“Was he enhanced?” Daniel suddenly asked.
Eli shook his head.
“Were you thinking if he was he might have caused Eli’s reaction?”
Daniel shook his head. “Honestly, no. I was just wondering if that’s why the beard? If he was trying to hide the scar.”
Gael touched his cheek, and Eli resisted the temptation to do the same. “It’s under the eye though. A beard wouldn’t cover it.”
Daniel shrugged. “I was just thinking out loud.”
“We can’t grow beards very successfully,” Gael commented. “Or we can but not enough to cover the scar, and most of that side of our face doesn’t have hair follicles.”
“Yeah, I lived through Vance’s attempts,” Daniel said wryly, fingering his own. Eli noticed how his voice softened when he mentioned his brother. He’d been desperate for a brother or even a sister growing up until his mom died. Then he was glad he didn’t even have a dog. He wouldn’t have put any other living being through the hell his life had been. They’d have been split up anyway. A brother would have just been something else to lose.
“Why do you think he was going to kill someone?”
Eli closed his eyes. He could see the knife. See the blood. See those gloved hands gripping it. “Because I can see him holding a knife. It’s covered in blood, and—” He swallowed. “—I can feel his hate.”
“Can you see who he kills?”
Eli shook his head, then regretted it. He could feel the throbbing starting in his temples. He could almost smell the blood, and that made him nauseous. He swallowed nervously and looked around for his water. He was sure he still had one from the car.
“It’s here,” Daniel said and passed him a half-empty water bottle from the counter behind him.
Eli blinked in surprise again. “Thanks.” He reached for it, but Daniel held it a fraction longer as if he was satisfying himself Eli wasn’t gonna drop it. Then he stood and went to the telephone on the wall.
“Hi, this is Agent Daniel Connelly.” Everyone watched as Daniel spoke into the phone. “Do we have a sketch artist in the building?” He listened for a moment, then nodded. “Fifth-floor medical. That’s great, thank you.”
“He’s coming up here?” Talon queried.
“She’s at the precinct next door just finishing up with an assault victim. She’ll be here in ten minutes. I didn’t want Eli to have to go to her. We can do this, and then I’m taking him home.”
Eli wanted to object. Say he was fine. Say he could get himself home…but he wasn’t sure he could, and secretly he didn’t mind Daniel making the decision for him. His headache was getting worse, and he rubbed the back of his neck. Talon stood. “I have to go meet the Orlando feds for a briefing. Gregory says they’re eager to hand it over.” He looked at Gael. “Are you staying, or are you coming with me?”
Gael stood. “Coming.” He glanced at Daniel, then Eli. “I think Daniel’s got everything covered.”
They left just as the doc came back. Daniel explained they were waiting for a sketch artist, and the doc waved off his apology. She nodded to the small office. “I have a ton of paperwork.”
“Can Eli have anything for his headache?”
Doc Natalie came back, put her coffee down, and checked his pulse and his pupils again, then his temperature. “You definitely didn’t hit your head?”
“No, I caught him,” Daniel answered.
He caught me? He remembered the complete panic when he’d woken up and couldn’t move. Like he was trapped. He’d freaked and rolled away before he’d realized who held him. He was too busy trying to sort that out in his head to answer what Doc Natalie said.
“I was lucky he was close to me.”
They were still talking about Daniel catching him.
“What’s Eli’s temperature normally?” Daniel watched the doc read the thermometer.
The doc glanced at Eli, obviously asking for permission before she gave the answer. He nodded. “The normal human temperature is between 97.7 and 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Eli’s usually runs over 102. When you brought him in it was 104, but it’s back to what I consider normal for Eli.”
Daniel looked concerned. “He was sweating when I held him.” She went to a cabinet, pulled a bottle out, and shook out two tablets into Eli’s hand. Then she cautioned him to make sure he wasn’t alone tonight and went into the office, closing the door.
“How did you know I had a headache?” Eli asked after swallowing them with some water.
“You kept rubbing the back of your neck,” Daniel replied evenly and then perched on the bed in the same way Gael had been. Eli had no idea how to respond. He’d had more interaction with anyone today, apart from Bo and Molly, than he had in the whole time since he joined the team.
And Daniel was behaving downright weird. “You don’t have to take me home.”
Daniel’s eyebrow rose in nearly exactly the same way Talon’s did, usually when someone was acting like a dumb fuck, and Eli bristled. He had to remember who he was and what he was doing. He couldn’t afford to get distracted, and just because some guy wasn’t treating him like he was disease-ridden, didn’t mean they were gonna be friends.
He was worse than Finn. Finn got all in your face, and it didn’t matter how much Eli tried to ignore him, he never took the hint. Daniel didn’t fuss or ask how he was or get that worried look on his face like Finn, he just took the decision away from him. He never asked if he wanted pills for his headache. Hell, he didn’t even ask if he had a headache, just got them from the doc. And the sketch artist they were waiting for. Any other member of the team would have suggested it to Talon. It made sense and they didn’t exactly need approval, but Daniel just ordered one.