Page 42 of Her Big Bad Wolf

“Right this way.”

He took me to a door and opened it. It led to the basement but the stairs were pulled up and didn’t lead to the actual basement.

“What’s this?”

“Didn’t want them to get away again.” He shrugged and then lowered the ladder down.

“Noah? Mason? Cam? Are you boys down there?”

“You can go down there.”

“And risk you locking me in there too?”

“I wouldn’t do that.”

He almost sounded sincere, but I still didn’t trust him.

“They’re just kids. You didn’t need to lock them up.”

“Those little pigs stole my food.”

“Food can be replaced. They cannot.”

“Who are these boys to you?” he asked.

“They’ve all come through my daycare. Cam’s currently in my pre-K fours class, or he was before they ran away.”

He shrugged again. “Boys don’t just run away without a reason.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“So why are you trying to drag them back? I mean don’t get me wrong. I’m happy to rid myself of these pigs, but I’m not sure they want to be found.”

“They’re just children. What they want might not correspond with what they need.”

“Ms. Vanessa,” a small voice said.

“Cam? Is that you, sweetie? It’s me Ms. Vanessa.”

He came running around the corner of a small wall made of cinderblocks.

“Cam, stop,” Noah said.

“But she’ll help us. I know she will.”

“She’s an adult just like the rest of them. We can’t trust her.”

“That’s right. You can’t trust anyone,” Isaac said.

I elbowed him in the ribcage.

“Don’t tell them that. What is wrong with you?”

Every time I touched him, it felt like electric shockwaves slammed into me, yet I wanted to keep touching him.

Calm down Vanessa and think about the boys.

“Noah, you can trust me. You all know me.”