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And then a memory from Ian’s arraignment struck Emily forcefully. They’d been coming out of the courthouse after Ian had been sent to prison without bail, so happy because they thought everything was over. But then Emily had seen a figure in one of the limos parked at the courthouse curb. The eyes in the window had seemed so familiar…but Emily had forced herself to believe they were just a figment of her imagination.
Just thinking about it made a chill run up her spine. What if we have no idea who A is? What if nothing is what it seems?
Emily’s phone began to ring. Then Aria’s. And then Hanna’s.
“Oh my God,” Hanna breathed.
Emily canvassed the room. No one was looking in their direction anymore. And no one was holding a phone.
There was nothing she could do but pull out her Nokia. Her friends watched nervously. “One new text,” Emily whispered.
Hanna and Aria crowded around her. Emily pressed Read.
You all told, and now one of you has to pay the price. Wanna know where your old BFF is? Look out the back window. It might just be the last time you see her….
—A
The room began to spin. A horrible, cloying smell of a sickly, floral perfume filled the air. Emily gazed around at her friends, her mouth bone-dry.
“The last time we see her…ever?” Hanna repeated, blinking rapidly.
“It can’t…” Emily’s head felt stuffed with cotton balls. “Spencer can’t…”
They ran into the kitchen and peered out the back window, toward the Hastingses’ barn. The yard was empty.
“We need Wilden,” Hanna demanded. She ran back to where he’d last been standing, but there was no one there. Only Wilden’s drained water glass remained, abandoned on the highly polished side table.
Emily’s cell phone lit up again. Another text had come in. They all gathered around to look.
Go now. Alone. Or I make good on my promise.
—A
32
BE QUIET…AND NO ONE GETS HURT
Hanna, Aria, and Emily slipped out the back door into the cold, wet backyard. The porch was bathed in warm, orangish light, but once Hanna stepped beyond it, she couldn’t see a few feet in front of her face. Off in the distance, she heard a small, muffled noise. The hair on Hanna’s arms stood on end. Emily let out a whimper.
“This way,” Hanna whispered, pointing in the direction of the barn. She and the others started to run. Hopefully they weren’t too late.
The ground was slippery and a bit soft, and Hanna’s strappy, high-heeled shoes kept sinking into the dirt. Her friends breathed hard beside her. “I don’t understand how this could have happened,” Emily whispered, her voice thick with tears. “How could Spencer have let Ian—or whoever A is—lure her out here alone? Why would she be so stupid?”
“Shhhh. Whoever it is will hear us,” Aria hissed.
It took mere seconds to cross the vast yard to the barn. The hole where Ian had dumped Ali’s body was to their right, the reflective police tape glowing in the blackness. The woods were beyond, a small opening between two trees like an ominous gateway. Hanna shivered.
Aria rolled back her shoulders and plunged into the woods first, her hands out in front of her for guidance. Emily followed, and Hanna brought up the rear. Damp leaves rubbed against their bare ankles. Sharp, jagged branches brushed against the girls’ arms, instantly drawing blood. Emily stumbled over the uneven ground, crying out. When Hanna looked up, she couldn’t see the sky. The leaves had made a canopy over their heads, trapping them.
They heard another whimper. Aria stopped and cocked her head to the right. “That way,” she whispered, pointing. Her pale arm glowed in the darkness. She pulled up the hem of her dress and started to run. Hanna followed, her body throbbing with terror. Branches continued to assault her bare skin. A giant, spiny bush pressed against her side. She didn’t even realize she’d tripped over something until her knees hit the ground hard. Her head smacked against the dirt. Something in her right arm snapped. White-hot pain shot through her. She tried not to cry out, clenching her teeth together and wincing in agony.
“Hanna.” Aria’s footsteps stopped. “Are you okay?”
“I’m…fine.” Hanna’s eyes were still squeezed closed, but the pain had begun to subside. She tried moving her arm. It felt okay, just stiff.
They heard the whimper again. It sounded closer. “Just go find her,” Hanna said. “I’ll catch up in a second.”
For a moment, neither Aria nor Emily moved. The whimper turned into a sound more like a cry. “Go!” Hanna urged more forcefully.
Hanna rolled onto her back, slowly moving her arms and legs. Her head spun, and the ground smelled like dog poop. The back of her neck began to tingle, numbed from the cold slush. Aria and Emily’s footsteps grew fainter and fainter until she couldn’t hear them at all. The trees shifted back and forth, as if they were alive.
“Guys?” Hanna called out weakly. No answer. The whimper had sounded close—where had they gone?
An airplane soared high overhead, its little blinking light barely visible. An owl hooted, low and angry. There was no moon in the sky. Suddenly, Hanna wondered if this was an incredibly stupid idea. They were out here, alone in the woods, because of a note that surely Ian sent them. They’d been lured out here as easily as Spencer had been. Who was to say Ian wasn’t hiding in the shadows, somewhere close, ready to pounce and kill them all? Why hadn’t they waited for Wilden to come out here with them?
The bushes across the clearing started to shake. Heavy footsteps crunched through the leaves. Hanna’s heart began to thump. “Aria?” No answer.
