He glanced in the mirror and pulled away from the curb. In less than ten seconds, he groaned. “Dammit all.”
“Feels like a flat,” Eli agreed.
Daniel pulled over again and put his emergency lights on. Cars could pass him, but the only space to pull up properly was the one they had just left. They both got out, and Daniel saw the flat immediately. Disgusted with himself for even setting off in the first place, he went to the trunk, then groaned again.
“What?” Eli came to stand next to him.
“It will have a run flat on. No spare. I’m supposed to be able to drive it like that.” He gestured to the completely flat tire.
“I guess you can call them if you’re not sure. It’s a rental, right?”
Daniel nodded and went back to the driver’s side for his phone he’d put on the stand when he’d gotten in.
He connected with the rental company nearly right away, and they confirmed the run flat tires, except he was a good thirty minutes away from the rental place and he didn’t fancy attempting the I-75 on it. Daniel bent down and stared at the tire while listening to the woman sympathize and arrange a driver to come out to them with a replacement. He peered at the tire, and a chill settled in his gut. It had been slashed. The tear was noticeable. This was deliberate. At the same time as he registered that thought, he heard a motor gunning behind him and a cry from Eli.
Then everything happened so fast his head spun. He’d barely got to his feet as he felt the rush of air to his side as Eli blurred past him and raised his arms at the black SUV barreling straight for him. He had a second to acknowledge he couldn’t move fast enough when fire shot from Eli’s outstretched hands and engulfed the hood of the SUV. The driver swerved erratically in a desperate rush to evade the flame and rammed straight into the line of parked cars. Daniel had barely gotten to his feet, and Eli had turned and yanked him around the hood. The driver threw the SUV in reverse and screeched off amidst the noise of a dozen or so car alarms that were all blaring.
“Are you hurt?” Eli demanded. He ran his hands on Daniel’s arms and up to his face while Daniel sawed in a breath. “Daniel?” Eli pressed when Daniel didn’t answer.
“I’m fine.” Daniel’s heart thundered in his ears, but he couldn’t seem to drag his eyes from Eli’s and watched as they slowly darkened back to brown. “It was heading right for me.” Daniel lifted his arms and put his shaky hands on top of Eli’s which were still pressed to either side of his face. For a long breath, neither of them moved, and then he became aware of people shouting. Some from the nearby offices ran over to see if they were hurt, and Daniel dropped his hands. “How was it able to drive away? The flames—”
“My mistake,” Eli admitted as he heard a distant siren. People were pouring out of the office blocks, and Daniel knew more than one would have called the cops.
“Mistake?”
“I sent the flames, but I had to make sure you were clear. I took them back. Absorbed them,” Eli clarified, obviously thinking Daniel didn’t understand. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Daniel huffed and tried to smile. “I’m fine. Thanks to you.”
“You were deliberately targeted, then?” Talon asked an hour later when they were back in the field office. To be honest Daniel was ready to call it a day; he was hungry, but they had to write reports as usual.
“And I don’t think any of us assume the black SUV is a coincidence,” Daniel stated. He glanced at Eli. “You saw it, didn’t you?”
Eli turned to Talon. “I saw it in my head. I’m pretty sure it was following us from the last storage facility. I knew there was something wrong, and I could see a car in my head, but I didn’t know why.”
“Well, damn, Eli,” Gael commented. “It’s a good job you did.”
“There’s no way I could have moved in time,” Daniel confirmed and watched a faint hint of pink color Eli’s pale face. Good. Eli had saved him from getting seriously hurt, maybe even worse. He was glad all the team were acknowledging it.
“A patrol just reported a black Chevy Suburban on fire half a mile from your location. Empty and probably deliberately torched. Forensics will take it, but don’t hold your breath.”
Talon glanced over at Daniel and Eli again. “Good job, Eli. I’m ordering food. Gael has finished going through the videos, so they’re ready whenever you want to take a look. Adam was hired as a barback and starts his training on Monday, so I don’t want him anywhere near the field office next week.”
But Daniel wasn’t listening. He was too busy watching Eli, the faint hint of color and the warm brown eyes, and trying to work out why watching Eli could be something he might like to do a lot more of.
Chapter Fifteen
Daniel reached over and turned his alarm off. He listened intently for any noise from the kitchen, but he knew instantly he was alone.
Daniel rolled onto his back and blew a long breath out. They’d had a quiet evening. Watched a couple of shows on TV. Eli had gone in the shower and simply never come back out of his bedroom. Daniel certainly wasn’t going in there without an invitation. He couldn’t assume anything, and just because Eli had slept better the last two nights didn’t mean he wanted to go for a third.
It was probably for the best anyway. Eli was a temptation he needed to avoid. He wasn’t going to screw his partner, and from the things Eli had told him—and worse, the things Daniel had no trouble imagining—any sort of physical relationship was off the table anyway. Despite how absolutely gorgeous he was, and despite how much every hint of Eli’s vulnerability called to Daniel’s protective instincts. It was ironic to suppose that the one person Eli might need protection from at the moment was Daniel himself.
He chewed his lip as he glanced at his phone still in his hand. No messages. No texts. Should he text Eli, or should he respect him wanting some distance? Daniel was still pondering thirty minutes later as he trimmed his short beard and then went into the shower. When he came out, Talon had requested them all to be at the office by eight, so Daniel just got his coffee and headed out. Now Eli had his car back, he may have just decided to go in early. Daniel sternly told himself his partner was an adult and had managed to get to adulthood without any help from Daniel.
Or anyone else really.
It didn’t take Daniel long to get another coffee when he got to work and grab a seat. Gael was already there, and Finn and Talon followed Daniel in. Sawyer came in in moments. Talon glanced at his phone and started with the news that Agent Lin was being discharged.
Daniel glanced at the door twice and wondered why no one was questioning why Eli wasn’t there while he, Gael, and Jake gave the briefing on the ATM grabs they suspected an enhanced was responsible for. Did they all know something he didn’t?
Ten minutes later the briefing ended, and Talon glanced at his phone before Daniel headed over to talk to him.
Talon looked up as Daniel walked toward him, nodding, as if he knew what Daniel was about to say. “Has he texted you to say what’s happening?”
“Eli?”
“Yeah, he’s had a summons from Bo’s mom.” Talon frowned. “Did he say what it was?”