Page 59 of The Tangle of Awful

“Camera feed was cut about an hour ago,” I gripe, tossing my phone onto the couch. “Unbelievable.”

The girls went up to Aubrey’s room a few minutes ago to console her. I’d wanted to be the one to do it, but Gemma was quick to tug her out of my arms and away from me. Gemma probably thinks she’s rescuing her from my evil ways. She sure had no issue yelling at me and accusing me of being the monster who did this.

Dempsey, unruffled by my outburst, studies me for a beat. “Do you think it has anything to do with—”

“No,” I snap, cutting him off. “It doesn’t. This was clearly an attack against Aubrey for personal reasons.”

He nods, eyes narrowing. I don’t like being under his scrutiny. Now he knows more than I want him to. He took it surprisingly well. Only bitched a little about me being a “psycho” and then did what Dempsey always does—had my back. Still, he doesn’t have to approve of my every decision and it’s clear he doesn’t. Right now, though, we have bigger shit to deal with.

“What are we going to do about it?” Dempsey asks. “Someone is fucking with our family.”

Family.

A week ago, I’d have argued that Aubrey was family. Now, the lines of distinction between enemy and loved one are blurred. I want to hate her, but she makes it damn hard.

The front door flings open with enough force it knocks one of Neena’s expensive art pieces on the wall crooked. Dad storms in predictably. I’d texted him right after Gemma finished chewing me a new asshole.

He’s pissed. Just like I am. Because, whether I like to admit it or not, Aubrey belongs to the Parks.

“Who did this?” he demands. “Is she okay?”

I let out a heavy sigh and shrug. “She’s with the girls. She’ll be fine. I don’t know who did this, but they were smart enough to knock out the camera feed. It went dark about an hour ago.”

“I’ll get Jude on checking the other cameras in Dad’s yard and Callum’s,” Dad says in an authoritative tone that reminds me of Pops.

“Three steps ahead of you, bruh,” Dempsey says, lifting his phone. “A white sedan is caught passing by our camera a couple of times before the cameras went out. Looks like a generic rental car.”

Dad deflates, scowling. “This was someone trying to ruin my campaign.”

“Not everything is about your campaign,” I bite back. “Aubrey’s not the little angel you think she is and someone is trying to take their vengeance.”

Dad’s cheeks turn pink and he looks away, ignoring my words. It’s obvious he’s thinking of her in devilish ways. Dirty bastard.

“Tasha?” He chances a glance my way again. “They went to lunch today. Could have been a distraction.”

I roll my eyes. “As much as we hate that witch, it wasn’t her. She’d rather burn our house down to get back at us than do something to Aubrey.”

“Neena?”

Dempsey snorts and his eyes glitter. “Is her ghost capable of such things?”

Dad winces and I glower at Dempsey.

“You know it’s not Neena,” I spit out at the same time Dad says, “She’s not dead, dammit.”

Dempsey smirks my way. I have the urge to smack his head.

“It has to be an ex.” I frown, trying to picture the face behind the dick Aubrey was sucking. “It was too personal to be anyone else.”

“It could be you,” Dempsey offers, stirring the shit pot. “Gemma sure as hell seems to think that.”

Before I can answer, Dad shakes his head. “It’s not Spencer. I know my son. If he’s going to torment someone, he’s going to want credit for it.”

He’s not wrong.

“I’m going to Dad’s to talk to him about it,” Dad says to us. “Keep an eye on her, please.”

As soon as he’s gone, Dempsey stands and motions down the hall. “Want me to grab the girls and bail?”

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