Two things happened at once. Hector heard a very human-sounding gasp from the basement and someone knocked on his front door. When Hector glanced toward the door, he could see an outline of a tall man with a cowboy hat.
Well, damn.
He closed the door to the basement, sure he could find it again, then walked to the front door. He wasn’t surprised to find the sheriff on his doorstep. He just didn’t know why he wasn’t surprised.
“More signs get put up, Sheriff?”
Sheriff Riley chuckled. “No, I’m here on another matter.”
Hector raised an eyebrow.
The sheriff held up his cell phone, showing Hector a picture of a young brown-haired man with deep brown eyes that carried so much sadness, Hector wanted to weep.
“Have you seen this man?”
“No, can’t say that I have.” He glanced up at the sheriff again. “He do something wrong?”
“No, not exactly. I was kind of hoping he had dropped into the bar.”
“You want me to keep an eye out for him?”
“He’s not in any real trouble. I’m just worried about him.”
Hector raised his eyebrow again.
“Will did his community service, but then he just kind of fell off the radar.”
Hector glanced at the photo again. “That’s Will?”
The same guy who’d accused Terry of sexual misconduct?
“I thought you knew Will.”
Hector shook his head. “I know who he is simply because I was renting from Terry when all that shit went down.” Hector rubbed the scar high up on his chest where a bullet meant for Terry had ripped into him. “We’ve never actually met.”
He was pretty sure that was about to change.
Chapter Four
Wilson Jacks’s heart thundered painfully in his chest. He could hear voices rumbling above him, but he couldn’t quite make out the words. His trouble breathing only grew worse when he heard a door close then footsteps walking across the floor.
He knew hiding out here was a really bad idea, but the house had been vacant when he found it, dilapidated and rundown as if no one had lived there in ages. He’d thought it would be the perfect place to hide.
Then Hector moved in.
Will knew who Hector was. He’d heard the man’s name mentioned enough times by those who came by the place to realize the man who’d bought the house was the same one who’d been shot the day Will had been shot.
He also knew the man had been roommates with Terry Iverson, the man Will had been forced to humiliate by accusing him of sexual misconduct. Will had hated to do it, but it had been his only option.
Will was terrified of what Hector would do once he discovered his uninvited houseguest. Hector had been shot because of him. His friend had gone through so much misery because of him. Dan Wilson had been forced to arrest his own father because of him.
So many horrible things had happened and they all led back to Will.
Will sniffled then wiped at his nose with the sleeve of his shirt. He wished he could just run away, run as far as he could go until he found someplace where no one knew him or knew about what he’d done.
Unfortunately, he had no way to run. He’d lost his job as a paramedic. When he lost his job, he could no longer afford his apartment. He’d sold most everything he owned, keeping just a few personal items. He didn’t even have his car anymore.
He felt guilty about taking Hector’s sandwich, but with no way into town—not that he’d actually consider going into Cade Creek after what he’d done—he had no way to buy groceries. Since he sold almost everything he owned, he had no way to cook food even if he had it.
