Page 55 of The Talk Around Town

Three stinking days. No one had heard from Gabe, other than a text he’d sent to Darby to say he was in Bialga, somewhere, on the first day.

Then his phone had been turned off.

Emma scrubbed her hand over her face and focussed on driving. Getting distracted behind the wheel was the last thing she needed. It was bad enough Gabe had left her house without a word after what she’d thought was an amazing night together, but to have left town altogether was beyond shocking. It was painful.

Emma was just settling in, getting to know people and having them stop and talk to her. Welcome her, even. Now this.

Somehow the entire town knew about it. Not the details, but they knew Gabe left because of her or something she must have done. But Emma had no idea what it could be. She’d passed through upset, denial, and now she was starting to get angry.

Fine. Gabe didn’t want anything to do with her anymore. He’d gotten what he wanted and obviously she’d been found lacking. But did he have to make a federal case out of it? To disappear like that?

He was a grown man, not a teenager. Why couldn’t he confront her and tell her it had been a big mistake? Why did he have to run?

He’d told Darby that he hadn’t run, that he was in Bialga buying stuff for his business and that he needed to spend some time there. But that was a lie of epic proportions.

To think she’d actually—

Emma’s head spun to her right. A pink VW Beetle appeared out of nowhere and slammed into the front fender of her ute. The momentum of the car shoved her car sideways on the big roundabout. The Beetle’s flattened nose was melded in a twisted mess to her own truck’s front.

Emma sat staring at the wreckage, her breath shortening and coming in gasps. She couldn’t move, every muscle tight and unyielding.

Oh God, no… no… not again.

Emma screwed her eyes shut as tight as she could.

Images. Sounds. Smells. All flashed and whirled through her head at an alarming rate. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened until her knuckles felt glued into position.

She opened her eyes to escape the horrifying sights behind her eyelids, but they didn’t stop. The scene Emma saw wasn’t the one in front of her, but one she’d hoped never to relive again.

Blood everywhere. There’s so much blood!

Emma jumped at the banging on her window. Millie gestured wildly for her to get out of the car. Emma blinked a few times, the images of moments ago fading as reality set in. She tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge. Looking over to the passenger side, she clambered over the seats and slid out onto the road.

“What the hell is your problem? Are you blind? You stupid idiot! My car’s wrecked, just look at it!” Millie ranted. She’d rounded the side of the car, obviously unhurt.

Emma glanced around her. Her voice didn’t seem to want to work. From all indications it was Millie’s fault, not hers. She’d been driving too fast and hadn’t given way.

“You need to learn your road rules. You’re supposed to give way to your right!”

Emma looked at her and frowned a little. “Actually, that’s not true. You give way to all vehiclesonthe roundabout. I was on it first.”

People streamed out of the shops, distracting Millie from an angry reply. Drivers stopped their cars to check and see if they were both all right.

Emma looked at the mess that was the front of her car and stepped back, averting her gaze from it. The twisted metal was too much to comprehend right then. The images from her past returned with an intensity that stole her breath and wiped all coherent thought from her head.

A truck. The twisted remains of her car.

Emma inside. Alex. Sasha.

Blood.

Her hands, then her whole body, began to shake. Millie’s angry voice droned on in the background, making no sense, getting louderwhen she got no response from Emma.

Emma’s hand flew to her mouth as acid rose in her throat. Alex’s still, bloody face seared her mind. She looked down to stare at the phantom metal post spearing through her side. Her hand swept through the image, swiping over her scarred stomach, but it was still there. She couldseeit. She spun around, desperately looking for something, anything. She grabbed hold of the side of her dual-cab and lost her breakfast.

Hands touched her, grasping and pulling as the shaking only got worse. She could see people she knew overlaid on the images in her head. She couldn’t tell what was real.

A sob escaped Emma’s mouth as she stepped back, pulling away from those invasive hands. She scrunched up her eyes, digging the heels of her palms into them to try and physically erase the images. It wasn’t working. Why wouldn’t they leave?

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