It wasn’t like he planned to spend the rest of his life in Hector’s basement. He just needed enough time to figure out what he was going to do, which was proving to be harder than he thought it would be.
Will’s breath caught in his throat when the door at the top of the basement opened. He scooted back away from the light shining down the stairs as far as he could go.
“You can come out now. The sheriff is gone.”
Oh god, he was gonna die.
Will just knew it.
Hector was going to figure out it was him hiding in the basement, and the man would kill him. Will was no dummy. He’d seen the size of the man’s muscles. Hector could squash him with a snap of his fingers.
“Come on out,” Hector said. “This passage is too narrow for me to come down there without squeezing myself into a pretzel.”
Will believed it.
Hector’s voice was a lot lower and more menacing when he spoke again. “Don’t make me come down there. I won’t be happy.”
Will grabbed his bag in case he needed to make a run for it, and pushed himself to his feet. He kept a tight grip on the handle of his bag as he slowly stepped into the light. He swallowed tightly then glanced up to the top of the stairs. The second his eyes met Hector’s eyes, Will dropped his gaze.
Hector’s massive chest heaved when he sighed. “Come on up, Will.”
It took every ounce of Will’s control to force himself to take that first step. One by one, he climbed up the stairs, his eyes never leaving the pulse beating in Hector’s throat.
When he reached the top of the stairs, he wasn’t sure what to expect. He was almost positive that Hector was going to grab him, force him down the hallway, then toss him out the front door. He never expected the man to simply step back and allow him out of the basement.
Will clutched his bag tightly to his chest and quickly stepped through the doorway and out into the hallway. He took a couple of steps back, making sure there was plenty of room between him and Hector. He wanted a head start if he needed to run.
Hector shut the door then walked right on past him. “You want some water or something?”
“No, thank you,” Will murmured.
Hector’s dark eyebrows were raised when he glanced over his shoulder. “Are you sure?”
Will shrugged. To be honest, his throat was so parched it hurt, but he wasn’t going to admit that.
Hector grunted before continuing toward the kitchen. Will waited for a moment before following after the man. He paused in the archway and watched as Hector grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. He licked his dry lips when Hector unscrewed the top and took a long swallow.
Hector stared at him for a moment after lowering his bottle of water then turned and reached into the fridge for another bottle. When he held it out, Will threw caution to the wind and grabbed for the bottle.
He quickly scooted back to the doorframe before opening the bottle and swallowing down almost the entire thing. He tried to save some of it for later, but it was so hard. He hadn’t had anything to drink since the previous day.
Hector crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter. His eyebrows were pulled tight together in a pensive expression, almost as if he was trying to figure something out but didn’t have all the pieces together yet.
Will clutched at his bottle of water, tensing his muscles in case he had to make a mad dash for the door. The air was thick with unease. Will was pretty sure most of it came from him.
“Were you in my house before or after I bought it?” Hector finally asked.
Will gulped. “Before,” he whispered.
“Did you do the work on the baseboards and crown molding?”
“Yes.”
Hector cocked his head. “Why?”
Will dropped his eyes to his hands as he shrugged his shoulders. “I ate your food. I wanted to pay you back.”
“But you left ten dollars on the fridge.”
