Page 80 of The Tangle of Awful

I’m about to block the number when a picture comes through.

It’s a wrecked car, folded around a tree like it’s made of aluminum instead of steel. The car looks familiar. Oh my God.

“Aunt Tasha!” I croak out in horror.

I immediately dial her phone number. It rings and rings. A man answers, voice haggard and raw.

“Aubrey?”

“Mr. Portman?”

“Call me Harold,” he says softly. “Listen, there’s something you should know…”

“Where’s Aunt Tasha?” I whisper, tears flooding my eyes.

He sighs heavily, voice tight with emotion. “She was in an accident earlier this evening. Tasha is a mess.” He chokes on a sob. “Been in surgery and we’re not out of the woods yet.”

The tears roll down my cheeks in an endless waterfall. I can hear Hugo asking me something, but my ears are ringing too badly to comprehend.

“I’m on my way,” I manage to garble out despite the rising hysteria.

“Be prepared to talk to the cops,” Harold says, voice taking on a sinister edge. “They’re here at the hospital.”

“The cops?”

My stalker did this. Sent me a threatening text telling me so. Oh God. This is all my fault.

“They think it was foul play. From what they can tell, she never braked, which could mean they were cut.” He growls. “Whoever tried to kill my wife will pay. I’ll exhaust every resource to find who did this to her.”

The horror of the entire situation consumes me the second we hang up. I drop the phone into my lap and bury my face in my hands. A pained sob wrenches from me, echoing in the car.

I did this.

I’m the whore my stalker claims me to be and they’re not just hurting me, but they’re hurting the ones I love now too.

Is that what happened to Mom?

“Aubrey, Love, you’re scaring me,” Hugo murmurs. “What’s going on?”

“Aunt Tasha was in a terrible car accident.”

“Fuck. I’m so sorry. Is she okay?”

No. She’s not okay. Nothing is okay.

Nothing will ever be okay.

Spencer

I’m eager to wake Aubrey up this morning. Last night, super late, she came back home and locked herself in her room. Dad explained Tasha had been in an accident, and from what Aubrey told him, her stalker seemed to be taking credit for it.

It’s the first night I haven’t had her in my bed all week and it was too damn lonely. I lay in bed all night staring up at the ceiling, trying to understand my relationship with Aubrey. It’s confusing and entirely fucked-up. Me and Dad are both sleeping with her.

Yeah, I know all about their daily office fucking because she told me. And, as pissed as it made me, I didn’t want to give up my nights with her. We kept on like it didn’t matter.

But it does matter.

It’s Saturday, which means they won’t be leaving for the office. I want to be with her. How will Dad feel about that? This shit doesn’t look so neat and tidy now. I can’t watch them fawn all over each other and wait to have her in my arms tonight. That’s not happening.

---