Page 171 of Tell No Lies

I tried to move my hands up to block my head, but only my left arm moved. His weight lifted away from me.

For half of a heartbeat, I thought he was done. I survived.

An explosion in my ribs released the screams I’d been holding in. Again and again, until my insides burst.

It was too much. I was done. My strength was gone and had taken with it my will to fight back.

Blow after blow landed in my ribs and stomach, but ever so slowly, the pain decreased. I was growing numb. My body jerked and bent with each hit, but soon I felt nothing.

☼ ☼ ☼

Unfamiliar voices pulled me out of the darkness. I told myself to move but nothing happened. Not even my eyes had strength to open. The voices blended into other sounds, too confusing to follow. The sensation of being lifted jolted me into awareness.

A painful breath escaped my lips, and it felt like the first movement my lungs had had in years. Everything ached.

“Stay with us, Aubrey.” One voice, a man, spoke gently near my ear.

☼ ☼ ☼

I laid propped up in the back of the ambulance while the paramedics looked me over. I felt numb. I couldn’t hear or feel those around me. I watched the chaos around me but saw nothing.

I heard my name but didn’t bother turning. Anyone could find me. I wasn’t safe anywhere.

Two officers walked out of the studio with a man between them. Actually, that scum didn’t deserve to be called a man.

I mindlessly watched them walk him to their car. Before they let him slide in, one of the officers pulled off the mask, and I finally saw who had been watching me, photographing me, attacking me.

I gasped and immediately began choking back my sobs.

No! Not my friend!

It felt like a burning knife had been stabbed deep into my heart. This was so much worse than when I’d seen Morgan. I had never trusted him.

But the person staring back at me with a disgusting grin was Tucker.

How?

Why?

The questions were flooding through my mind faster than I could begin to process them. He was my friend. I’d never done anything to him to cause such hate.

Arms slid around my shoulders and pulled me into a body. I could hear my brother’s voice, but it sounded too far away. I needed to understand what happened, because right now, my world felt upside down.

I was being moved. Looking up, I saw Brandon’s attention focused inside the ambulance. He didn’t look in any other direction as they guided me farther in before shutting the doors.

“It’s okay, Aubrey. You’re safe.”

I didn’t nod. I didn’t even blink. I simply did what I was told. Apparently, people could function on autopilot.

As we pulled away from the studio, I looked through the small window and was shocked by the crowd. Several cop cars were parked haphazardly in the lot, with the ambulance I was riding in next to the entrance.

My happy place, my safe haven, had been violated.

The one place I’d felt free in was taken from me. If Tucker wanted to ruin my whole world, he succeeded. He spent months following me without getting too involved, but over the past few days, he’d isolated me from my friends, taken Mike from me, and attacked me in the only place I ever felt safe.

I watched the studio shrink away in silence. Brandon and the paramedic were behind me, talking, but I didn’t hear their words.

Tucker wanted to ruin my life. He’d been in my room. Violated my privacy. Destroyed my relationship with Mike, tried to with the rest of my friends. All for what?