and looked at his phone. The likelihood of Eli answering was less than zero, but he tried anyway. It rang but then went to voicemail. He didn’t leave a message. What did he say? His keys were here, and so was his wallet. He might have cash in his pocket, but Daniel didn’t know.
It was seven o’clock. He cleared up the kitchen and then tried to find something to watch on TV. By eight he had given up and started scrolling Google, and by nine he was wondering if he should call Sawyer. Eli was an adult. It wasn’t like it was past curfew or anything, but he had nothing with him.
Sawyer wasn’t answering either, but Adam did. Said Sawyer was in the shower, and sure enough, Sawyer called him after another five minutes.
“He doesn’t have a car. It’s still back at the field office, and his keys and wallet are here.” They were on the hall table where Eli had left them.
He heard Sawyer sigh down the phone. “Honestly, Daniel? I wouldn’t worry. He does this all the time. It got to the point where I was surprised if I saw him. Most of the time I didn’t know whether he’d slept in the apartment or not.”
It was on the tip of Daniel’s tongue to tell Sawyer he’d insisted Eli let him know if he was staying, but he managed not to. That was between him and Eli. Sawyer promised to text him if he heard from him, or if he turned up at Adam’s, but he doubted he would.
He put the phone down and decided he was going to have to call Talon. He hated it, and normally where Eli spent the night or not wasn’t any of Talon’s business either, but Eli was vulnerable. And Daniel was responsible for that.
Talon answered on the second ring. “What happened?”
Daniel almost smiled at the assumption, but he wasn’t wrong. “Eli has gone walkabout. I know he’s an adult, but—”
“Does he have his phone?” Talon interrupted.
“Yeah, but it’s going to voicemail.”
Talon was quiet for a beat. “I’m gonna hang up and call him. He knows better than not to answer me.” Relief rushed through Daniel.
“Sorry, but he doesn’t have his wallet either.”
“No, it’s all good,” Talon assured him quietly. “You’re doing exactly what I asked you to do.”
Talon hung up after promising to call Daniel back, and Daniel glanced at the time again.
Talon called him back in exactly four minutes and twenty seconds. Not that I’m counting or anything.
“Yes?” Fuck, he hoped Talon had spoken to him.
“Daniel, meet me at the sheriff’s office on Orient Road.”
Daniel’s heart thumped. “Why?”
Talon sighed. “Because the idiot has gone and got himself arrested.”
“Arrested? What the hell for?”
“Assault,” Talon ground out.
Daniel pulled into the parking lot just as Talon was getting out of his truck. He was pleased to see he was on his own though. Daniel liked Finn, but he didn’t think Eli did, and Finn would fuss.
Who am I kidding?
Daniel fell into step behind Talon. “What happened?”
“Two security guards on a development site at Huntington Gardens saw someone break into a shuttered ground-floor apartment.”
Daniel groaned. “Their old apartment.”
Talon nodded. “At a guess, Eli was seeing if he could break in and crash there for the night. I just wish it had been the cops.”
Daniel glanced at Talon as an officer just exiting politely held the door open for them. “Wouldn’t that have been worse?”
Talon shook his head. “No. They were jerks and pulled a gun on him. Ignored him when he said who he was, and he’s scraped up.”
Daniel froze. “Scraped up?”
But Talon was at the desk showing his ID. “Ryker recognized Eli right away when they brought him in and called me.”
“Ted Ryker?”
Talon glanced at Daniel as they waited. “Of course, he’s a friend of your dad’s.”
Amongst other things.
“I doubt if Eli wants to see me,” Daniel said.
“Is this something I should know about?” Talon asked.
“You do know.” Daniel had told Talon when Gregory had offered him the job. “I told Eli why I left Washington.”
Talon frowned. “But you weren’t responsible. You took responsibility which is a different thing entirely. You have a disciplinary note in your file, but I imagine it must have been worth it.”
Because his supervisor had criticized him for going to the funeral. Said Daniel should have been doing his job. The same supervisor that had insisted they couldn’t let the local cops pick up the brother. Daniel had punched him. He hadn’t knocked him out even if it