Ava nodded and went easily into Bell’s arms. Bell snuggled her close. “I missed you like crazy.”

The small smile that Ava gave Bell had my shoulders easing a fraction. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

I headed back into the hallway, looking for any sign of the vending machines. After a couple of wrong turns, I spotted a head of floppy brown hair. “Will.”

His head snapped up at my voice, and he shoved the soda at a deputy who looked vaguely familiar. Will charged, hitting me with a force that had me stumbling back a step. When had he gotten so big? I wrapped my arms around him as more tears filled my eyes. “I love you.”

“Love you, too,” he whispered, a catch in his voice.

The deputy made his way over to us. “Hi, Ms. O’Connor. I’m Deputy Raines.”

“Please, call me Caelyn. Thank you for all you’ve done.”

“I’m happy to help.” A pained smile curved his lips. “The sheriff wants to chat with you whenever you’re ready.”

I wanted to chat with the sheriff, too. But first, I had a few questions for Will. I brushed the hair back from his eyes; he was in desperate need of a haircut. “When’s the last time you saw Mom and Dad?”

Will released me and winced. “On Friday.”

Blood roared in my ears. It was early Monday morning. “Why didn’t you call me?” I’d given Will the phone for a reason. Our parents had never been overly attentive. Why my mother hadn’t just gone on birth control, I’d never know, because she certainly wasn’t interested in raising her children. She did the bare minimum, which often consisted of a single bag of fast food for dinner and using the television as a babysitter. But they’d never left us alone for days on end before.

Will nibbled on his bottom lip. “I didn’t want you to come back from college.”

“Why not?” I couldn’t hide the hurt in my voice.

He squared his small shoulders. “You need to finish school and get a good job so you can get us out of there.”

“Oh, Will.” I pulled him into my arms, the tears I’d been trying so hard to hold back since I arrived at the station, sliding down my cheeks. I should’ve been embarrassed that this was all coming out in front of some deputy I barely knew, but I couldn’t find it in me to care. All I cared about was wrapping my tiny terrors up in hugs and taking them somewhere safe.

“What’s gonna happen to us?” Will whispered.

God, I wished I had an answer for that, but I knew I’d never let these kids go into foster care. “We’re going to figure it out together. But I’m not leaving you. You’re not alone.”