Page 84 of Just Business

Eli trembled in his seat. Eyes wide and unseeing. So pale he looked gray. Lips pulled away in half a cry. Shallow breaths.

Lost. Totally lost. Still spinning. Still stuck in that horrible moment. Like Mercy.

“Eli?”

A shudder. Nothing else.

“Eli, we’re okay.”

Still nothing.

“Eli,” he barked. “Look at me.”

Eyes flickered and focused. Eli turned his head, still haunted—but present. “Justin?”

“Yeah. It’s Justin. I’m safe. You’re safe. We didn’t hit anything—just the curb.”

Eli turned back to the road, but didn’t speak. Didn’t relax. Still trembled.

“We’re kind of pointing the wrong way.” Justin paused. “But maybe that’s better.” Because there was no way in hell they were making it to Oakland tonight. Not in this weather. Not down the hill that Forbes turned into, and absolutely not with Eli caught up in a flashback. They needed to get him home. Now.

“Let’s go to your place. We’re close.” Hell, Wightman was right there. Three blocks and they’d be in Eli’s driveway.

“Yes.” Only that from Eli and no more. Distant. Hard. Eli examined the car for a moment in an almost clinical way, put it into park, turned it over, and shifted back into drive. They crept forward—a green light for them this time—and turned. Three blocks and another turn put them in Eli’s driveway.

Justin had never been so glad to see the house he swore he’d never return to.

Eli put the car into park, set the emergency brake, and dropped his face into his hands. The trembling turned to shaking, with a thin wail that tore Justin’s heart in half.

Shit.He hit the ignition button and popped the key from its slot. Thankfully, the house keys were attached. “Eli, let’s go inside.”

Eli’s chest heaved, his breath came in stutters and short fits. Silence now.

That wasn’t good. None of this was good. Justin undid his belt and reached over and released Eli’s, too, before crawling out of the car.

No reaction when he opened the driver’s door, even though the wind blew flakes all around. Eli still held his head in his hands.

“Eli?”

“Leave me alone.” Thin words. A whisper that sounded nothing like the man he knew.

“I will, once you’re in the house. But I need you to come into the house.”

He lifted his head. “I don’t want the house. I don’t want any of this. It’s all... blood and ash.”

This wasn’t working. At all. “Eli, do you want me to be safe?”

Eli started and looked over. “Justin?” Confusion—mixed with relief.

“Yeah. It’s me.” He offered his hand. “Do you want me to be safe?”

The answer was a half a sob that stabbed into Justin’s soul. “Always. It’s the only thing I want.”

Justin throat tightened. “Then come inside.”

Eli grasped Justin’s hand and he pulled Eli up out of the car and into his arms. Unsteady, shaking Eli.

“I’m sorry.” Eli’s breathless words in Justin’s ear. “I can’t stop seeing them.”