Will nodded his thanks. His throat was too clogged with fear to speak, and he hated that. It felt as if he had been afraid since the day his mother died. Well, except for those few hours spent in Hector’s arms. That had been the first time in years he had felt secure, protected.
Will turned toward Hector, pressing closer. Hector shot him a quick smile and tightened the arm he had wrapped around Will’s waist. Will drew in a shaky breath and then let it out slowly as he sank into Hector’s protective embrace.
“I have Sammy’s truck outside. My bike is still at the fire station,” Hector said. “Can we catch a ride over there with you, Sheriff?”
“Yeah, I can drop you off on the way out to the house.”
“Thanks.” Hector held Sammy’s keys out. “I’d like to get these back to Sammy and get my bike back. I hate being without my own wheels.”
The sheriff chuckled. “My brother-in-law, Ash, gets the same way about his motorcycle.”
Will didn’t understand a bit of what they were talking about other than the fact that Hector loved his motorcycle. He liked the single ride he’d had on the machine, but he didn’t see what the big hoopla was other than the fact that he’d been able to have his arms wrapped around Hector the entire ride.
That was a plus.
When Hector and the sheriff headed for the front door, Will was tugged along by the grip Hector had on his hand. Two deputies walked out the door behind them. Will recognized them as Deputy Marc Walker and Deputy Yancy Butler. If he remembered correctly, Deputy Butler was married to the sheriff and one other man, one of the Blaecleah brothers.
Will didn’t even want to think about the headaches a three-way relationship could entail. He had a hard enough time keeping his own head about him. Dealing with two other men would have driven him insane.
It was a quick trip from the sheriff’s station to the fire house, but Will was still more than ready to climb onto the back of Hector’s bike and ride with him instead of sitting in the SUV with everyone else. He preferred Hector’s company to just about anyone else.
When Will climbed onto the back of the motorcycle and wrapped his arms around Hector, he sighed. He wasn’t too thrilled with the whole riding a bike thing, but he sure liked being able to hold on to Hector.
“Ready, baby?”
Will smiled as he nodded. He wasn’t sure anyone had ever called him baby except Hector. Of course, no one had ever called him tesoro either. He couldn’t decide which he liked more.
He tightened his arms when Hector got the bike underway. As much as he liked holding on to Hector, the feeling of rushing down the road at such a high rate of speed with nothing surrounding him was a little disconcerting.
Will laid his head on Hector’s back and tightened his hold around him as they weaved through Cade Creek then past the town limits. He wished they could just keep going until they ran out of gas. His world was just about perfect when it was just him and Hector. He didn’t need anyone else.
He lifted his head when the motorcycle slowed and then they turned onto the driveway to the house. He quickly glanced toward the house where the guy named Gill had been shot. Will was a little surprised he couldn’t even spot any blood. Someone had been shot. He was pretty sure there should have been blood.
Will slowly climbed off the back of the bike once Hector brought it to a stop. He turned and scanned the driveway, trying to remember where the dark-colored Lincoln Town Car had been parked. There were a few dark spots on the ground, but nothing that stood out as puddles of blood.
Will drew in a calming breath and let it out slowly. He so didn’t want to know exactly where everyone had died. It was bad enough just knowing someone had died here. That was probably going to give him nightmares for weeks. He really didn’t want to see blood.
“Hey.”
Will turned to look at Hector. The man grabbed his face and tilted it up until their eyes met.
“If you need a time out for any reason, just say so. Okay?”
Will smiled. “Okay.”
He couldn’t believe how accepting Hector was of his needs, no matter what they were. Will adored that about the man. Hell, he simply adored the man. Hector was unlike anyone he’d ever met in his life, and Will hoped he would be around for a very long time to come.
With his hand in Hector’s, he walked to the front porch. He shot a quick look around before stepping inside. Will gasped when he got his first good look at the destruction. “Oh, Hector. Your house.”
It was destroyed. Large holes in the walls every few feet seemed to be the worst of the damage. They were everywhere. Will could see how the sheriff thought someone was looking for something. Each of the holes were about three feet off the ground, almost as if someone had made a line across the wall from one end to the other.
He winced when Hector’s hand tightened, but kept his cry of pain to himself. The man was obviously as shocked as he was. He was just staring around the room, his jaw clamped tight.
“The damage goes all the way to the back of the house,” the sheriff said. “They also tore up the floor in the pantry and dug several holes in the backyard, which I why I think they were looking for something.”
Hector dropped Will’s hand and walked into the kitchen. Will glanced at the sheriff. “Did they destroy anything else?”
The sheriff shook his head. “Just the walls and the floor in the pantry. I don’t think they had time to go upstairs. There’s no damage up there.”
