“I know,” Will replied. “I just…this is all so nuts.”
“I know.” Hector wrapped his hand around the nape of Will’s neck and pulled his head down until he could rest his chin on the top of Will’s head. He rubbed his other hand up and down Will’s back. “But you know the wonderful thing, tesoro? We’re not alone. We have friends.”
Hector grabbed Will’s head and tilted it back until their eyes met. His determined. Will’s anxious. “You have friends, Will.”
Chapter Eleven
I have friends?
Since when? He’d been alone since the day his mother died. Being bounced around from foster home to foster home made it hard to make friends. Add in his natural shyness and aversion to being touched by anyone other than Hector, and he was doomed right from the start.
As he watched Hector, Dan, and Jack talking as if they were old friends, Will couldn’t help but wonder how they did it. Their conversation was so casual, as if there weren’t any federal agents waiting outside for them. How were they not freaking out?
Jonny stuck his head inside the office. “Time to go, guys.”
Will followed after Hector as he left the office. He kind of had to. The guy had a firm grip on his hand. Not that Will was fighting it, because he wasn’t. He’d fight if Hector let go. He was pretty sure he’d flip shit if Hector let go.
They headed out to the rig bay where they climbed into the back of an ambulance. Jonny waved Will toward the gurney. “Lay down, man. We need a body.”
Will slowly panned to Hector. When Hector nodded, Will stretched out on the gurney. He felt a little weird when Jonny unfolded a blanket and spread it over him.
“Just lie still,” Jonny said as he grinned. “I promise this won’t hurt a bit.”
Will didn’t believe a word Jonny said.
He jumped when an alarm went off. He heard a bunch of running then an engine started up and a siren started blaring. A moment after that, they were pulling out of the bay at a high rate of speed. They started driving down the street even faster.
Will gripped Hector’s hand until his fingers hurt. When they swerved around a corner, he gripped the side of gurney with his other hand. “Hector!”
“It’s okay, tesoro. We’re almost there.”
The siren cut off suddenly, and the ambulance came to a stop. Jonny reached over and patted his shoulder. “Okay, we’re going to wheel you into emergency. Once we have you behind the security doors, you and Hector can use the corridors to get to the clinic.”
“Okay.” That sounded simple enough.
When the doors on the back of the ambulance opened, Will tensed. He still didn’t relax even when he saw it was Terry. He doubted he’d relax until he was back at Hector’s house where he felt safe.
Terry and Jonny pulled the gurney out of the back of the ambulance. Hector jumped out right behind them then hurried along next to it as Will was wheeled in through the automatic doors and then into the emergency area.
As soon as the large double security doors closed, Terry brought the gurney to a stop and whipped the blanket off Will. “There you go. Front door service.”
Will swung his legs over the side then stood, stepping right into Hector’s arms. He started to walk away, but stopped and turned to look at Terry. “I’m sorry for what I did. If I could take it back, I would.”
There was just no way he could ever take it back.
Terry smiled before holding his hand out. “We all make mistakes when we’re scared, Will. All we can do is learn from them and move on.”
Will swallowed tightly as he shook Terry’s hand. “I’m still sorry.”
“All in the past, Will.”
“But—”
Terry’s grin grew. “Haven’t you heard? Cade Creek is a place for second chances.”
Will was actually starting to believe that.
Hector tugged on his hand. “Baby, we need to go.”
