“Where is he, Hector?”
Hector rubbed the back of his neck, trying to relieve some of the tension that had gathered as soon as the sheriff asked that question. He knew it was coming, and until right this second, he had no idea what he’d say.
“He’s here with me.”
“Was he there when I was out at your place?”
“He was, but he was in the basement and it took me a little while to find it after you left.”
“You had to…find the basement?”
Hector chuckled. “I didn’t know I had one until you said something.”
“How could you not know?” The sheriff sounded incredulous.
“The realtor never said anything about the basement, and the door is built right into the wall under the stairs. Took me forever to find the damn thing.”
The sheriff let out a snort. “I can’t believe you’ve lived in that house for weeks and never knew there was a basement.”
“Yeah, well…” Hector didn’t have a whole lot to say about that. “I offered to let Will crash here in exchange for some help around the place.”
“Oh?”
“He just looks like he needs some time to breathe before trying to figure out what he’s going to do next with his life.”
“I see,” the sheriff replied. “Okay, well, keep me informed as to how he’s doing. See if you can maybe get him into town.”
“Why?” Hector couldn’t think of a single reason why Will would want to go into town.”
“Because Will needs to see that not everyone is out to get him. He needs to know that there are people in his corner.”
Okay, that made a little bit more sense.
“I’ll see what I can do, but I make no promises.” He wouldn’t force Will to do anything he was uncomfortable with. “Can you do a little more checking and see if someone is looking for Will? I don’t like the idea of federal agents just showing up at my house.”
He didn’t like it one damn bit, especially since he wasn’t sure what agency they worked for. The card they had handed him had their names on it and a phone number, nothing else. That didn’t seem right to Hector. There was no official emblem or anything.
“I’ll make a few phone calls.”
“I’d appreciate it, Sheriff.”
Hector couldn’t prevent the small shiver that rippled through his body. Something cold and ominous slid down his spine. He didn’t know exactly what was going on, but his gut was telling him there was a dark cloud forming and it was hanging right over Will’s head.
Chapter Six
Will sniffed the air as a tantalizing scent filled his senses. He opened his eyes and instantly realized he was not where he was supposed to be. For one, he was on a mattress, and it had been ages since he’d slept on anything but the floor.
He also wasn’t in the basement. He pushed himself up then looked around. The room was pretty bare, but he recognized it. He was in Hector’s bedroom. He had no idea how he’d ended up there.
Will grabbed his bag, which was beside him on the bed, and climbed off the mattress. He followed the scent of cooking bacon down the stairs to the kitchen, then paused in the entrance to the kitchen.
Hector smiled when he glanced up. “Hungry?”
Will clutched his bag to his chest as he nodded. He was starving so much there was an ache in his gut.
“Well, put your bag down and set the table.”
Will moved quickly to do as Hector said, grabbing plates out of the cupboard and silverware out of the drawer. When he turned back to get glasses, Hector was staring at him. Will licked his lips before asking, “What?”
