Page 14 of Holding the Line
There he was.
Eli.
Already back at it.Lap after lap.Cut through the water like a blade.Controlled.Relentless.It should’ve been peaceful to watch.But it wasn’t.Something was wrong, different.
Why was he back in the water like nothing had happened?Why hadn’t he yelled?Or stormed off?Or gotten Ezra to release him from his contract like every other therapist Marsh had torched in under 72 hours?
He stared at the screen for a long time.
It wasn’t just the bruises that bothered him.It was how easily Eli had slid into their world.Like he wasn’t afraid.Like he didn’t care what anyone thought of his pain.He moved like he owned his body, even in its brokenness.Even with the evidence of someone else’s cruelty mapped across his skin.
And Marsh couldn’t decide if he hated him for it or envied him.
He wheeled closer to the console.Brought up Eli’s swim stats, thanks to the motion sensors built into the pool system.Heart rate.Stroke rate.Breath patterns.All of it showing peak performance.
The man was a machine.
Then, slowly, Marsh turned to his private console.Accessed the secure server.Pulled up a new search.
Carmino, Elias M.
He hesitated.
This was a line.A boundary.
He shouldn’t cross it.
But then again...
What kind of high-security outfit would Obsidian Ridge be if they didn’t background check the people walking in and out?
He wasn’t doing this for himself.
He was doing this for the team.
That was the lie he told himself as he hit ENTER.
The screen populated slowly, verifying clearance protocols before unlocking.
Files scrolled into view.Medical credentials.Degrees.Employment records.Photos.One from college, younger and grinning with a swim cap crooked on his head.Another more recent, neutral-faced and tired-eyed.
Then came the incident reports.
Marsh leaned in.
The first was a half-finished police report from New York.The document was heavily redacted, and entire paragraphs blacked out.Even the officer’s name was obscured.It described an emergency call to a high-end apartment complex, a male victim with visible injuries.No charges filed.No further action taken.
There were medical records—fragmented, some pages inexplicably missing.But what remained was damning.
Fractured ribs.Bruising consistent with blunt force trauma.Lacerations on the back and upper thighs.Bruises in the shape of a belt buckle.Internal bleeding once, noted with concern by an ER doctor who’d signed off on a mandatory psychological evaluation—only to have the order rescinded days later.
Each report ended the same way.
Patient refused to cooperate.
Case closed.
One document had a note attached.Subject is under the care of a private physician.No further action recommended.