“Yeah, but…” If they were feds, did they really need a reason?
“No buts, baby. They can’t just take you. The law doesn’t work that way.”
“He’s right, Will,” the chief said. “Feds or not, they can’t just take you, not without reason.”
“I haven’t done anything,” Will said as he turned to look at the fire chief. “I swear.”
Chief Jack Helmond smiled. “I believe you, Will.”
Will’s eyes rounded. “You do?”
“Do you have reason to lie to me?”
“No.” Will shook his head rapidly. “I’m not lying. I didn’t do anything, at least not anything I can think of that would get the feds after me. I did my community service and I…” Will glanced up at Hector for a moment before returning his gaze to the chief. “I’ve been staying with Hector ever since.”
“I’ll vouch for that,” Hector said. “He’s with me during the day, and the amount of work he’s been doing on the house at night while I’m at the bar doesn’t leave any room for him to be doing anything else.”
“So, why would these men be after you?”
“I don’t know.”
“According to the sheriff, there are currently no warrants or APBs out on Will at the moment,” Hector explained. “There’s not even a person of interest hold request.”
Will had no idea what that meant.
Hector must have seen the confusion on his face because he chuckled. “It means they don’t want the sheriff to hold on to you until they can come and question you or anything.”
Oh, well, that was good.
“So, who is after me then?”
Hector shook his head. “I don’t know, baby.” His arms tightened, but Will found it comforting rather than restricting. “But I plan to find out.”
“I might be able to help with that.”
Will gulped as a sliver of fear renewed itself. He already knew who’d be standing in the doorway when he turned, but he prayed he was wrong. “Agent Wilson.”
Will could have been pushed over with a feather when Special Agent Dan Wilson smiled at him.
“Hey, Will,” Dan said. “I hear you’re having a bit of trouble.”
Will knew his mouth was hanging open when he nodded, but since when was the DEA agent nice to him? Will had accused the man’s lover of sexual harassment. Granted, he’d been forced to do it, but still…
“Why are you here?” he asked because he didn’t get it. The man should hate the very sight of him. Instead, Dan was smiling at him as if they were old friends.
“Terry called me and said you two were having a bit of trouble.”
Right. Terry. Will had forgotten he and Hector had run past the man when they ran through the fire station.
Will edged closer to Hector when Dan walked farther into the room and shut the door behind him. He knew Hector wouldn’t let Dan hurt him if the guy got pissed, but he was still wary.
“The sheriff asked me to run Will’s name through the system. He’s clean.”
Will frowned. “No, that can’t be right. I was arrested for—” He snapped his lips together and buried his face in Hector’s chest when he realized what he had been about to share.
“There should have been a record of Will being arrested a couple of years back,” Hector explained. “Your father was the arresting officer.”
“There’s not,” Dan insisted. “I ran his name at the city, state, and federal level. Except for that incident here in Cade Creek, he doesn’t have a record, not even a parking ticket.”
