Chapter 8
I called Elliot myself.
He answered on the second ring.
“James.”
“Come to the apartment.”
A pause.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
He arrived forty minutes later and immediately understood the room.
Emily in my jacket.
Ryan under guard.
Linda pale.
The locked bedroom door open.
He looked at me.
“What happened?”
I almost admired the performance.
“You’ve been here before.”
His expression changed.
Barely.
“Of course.”
“No.”
I stood.
“Not socially.”
Silence.
“Three times. While I was gone.”
Ryan looked at him.
Linda looked away.
Elliot sighed.
That sound irritated me more than denial.
“I was trying to prevent this from becoming exactly what it became.”
Emily laughed softly.
Everyone turned.
“What?”
Elliot looked at her.
“A family rupture.”
She stared.
“You knew they locked me in there.”
He did not answer.
That was enough.
I stepped closer.
“You knew.”
“I knew emotions were running high.”
“Locked door.”
“James—”
“Bruises.”
His jaw tightened.
“I never saw those.”
“Did you ask?”
Silence.
There it was.
Elliot had not needed to participate directly.
He simply needed not to look.
“Why help Ryan?”
His answer came quickly.
“Continuity.”
I almost smiled.
Of course.
Another noble word.
He believed I had become too protective of Emily to make “hard” decisions.
He wanted Ryan closer to the council because Ryan was hungry.
Ambitious.
Easier to motivate.
Easier, I realized, to control.
I looked at my oldest friend.
“You weren’t grooming him to replace me.”
May you like
Elliot said nothing.
“You were grooming him to depend on you.”
