Unbelievable (27 page)

Suddenly, Wilden’s cell phone lit up in his hand. Aria caught a glimpse of the number in the preview screen. “That’s Spencer!” she cried.

Wilden flipped it open but didn’t say hello. He pressed the speakerphone button, then looked around at the girls, a finger to his lips.
Shhh,
he mouthed.

Aria and her old best friends crowded around the little phone. At first, there was only white noise. Then they heard Spencer’s voice. It sounded far away. “I always thought Swedesford Road was so pretty,” she said. “So many trees, especially in this secluded part of town.”

Aria and Emily exchanged a confused glance. And then, Aria understood—she’d seen this once in a TV show she’d watched with her brother. Mona
must
have figured it out—and Spencer must have managed to secretly call Wilden to give him clues about where Mona was taking her.

“So…why are we turning down Brainard Road?” Spencer asked very loudly and brightly. “This isn’t the way to the police station.”

“
Duh,
Spencer,” they heard Mona say back.

Wilden flipped open his pad and wrote down
Brainard Road.
A few other cops had gathered around them. Emily quietly explained what was going on, and one of the cops brought out a large, foldout map of Rosewood, highlighting the intersection of Swedesford and Brainard with a yellow marker.

“Are we going to the stream?” Spencer’s voice rang out again.

“Maybe,” Mona singsonged.

Aria’s eyes widened. The Morrell Stream was more of a gushing river.

“I just love the stream,” Spencer said loudly.

Then there was a gasp and a shriek. They heard a few bumping noises, a squeal of tires, the dissonant tone of a bunch of phone buttons being pressed at once…and then nothing. Wilden’s cell phone screen blinked.
Call Lost.

Aria sneaked a look at the others. Hanna had her head buried in her hands. Emily looked like she was going to faint. Wilden stood up, put his phone back in its holster, and pulled his car keys out of his pocket. “We’ll try all the stream entrances in that area.” He pointed to a big burly cop sitting behind a desk. “See if you can do a GPS trace on this phone call.” Then he turned and headed for his car.

“Wait,” Aria said, running after him. Wilden turned. “We’re coming.”

Wilden’s shoulders dropped. “This isn’t—”

“We’re
coming
,” Hanna said behind Aria, her voice strong and steely.

Wilden raised one shoulder and sighed. He gestured to the back of the squad car. “Fine. Get in.”

36

AN OFFER SPENCER CAN’T REFUSE

Mona grabbed Spencer’s phone out of her hands, hit
END
, and tossed it out the window, all without changing the Hummer’s speed. She then made an abrupt U-turn, backtracked down bumpy, narrow Brainard Road, and got on the highway heading south. They drove for about five miles and got off the exit near the Bill Beach burn clinic. More horse farms and housing developments flew past, and the road devolved into woods. It wasn’t until they swept by the old, dilapidated Quaker church that Spencer realized where they were really going—the Floating Man Quarry.

Spencer used to play in the big lake at the base of Floating Man Quarry. Kids used to cliff-dive off the upper rocks, but last year, during a drought-filled summer, a public-school boy had dived off the rocks and died, making Floating Man’s name seem eerie and prophetic. These days, there were rumors that the boy’s ghost lived at the quarry’s perimeter, guarding the lake. Spencer had even heard whispers that the Rosewood Stalker had his lair here. She glanced at Mona, feeling a shiver run up her spine. She had a feeling the Rosewood Stalker was driving this Hummer.

Spencer had her fingernails pressed so deeply into the center armrest that she was certain they would leave permanent marks. Calling Wilden and giving her location had been her only plan, and now she was completely trapped.

Mona glanced at Spencer out of the corner of her eye. “So, I guess Hanna remembered, huh?”

Spencer’s nod was barely perceptible.

“She shouldn’t have remembered,” Mona chanted. “She knew remembering would put all of you in danger. Just like Aria shouldn’t have told the cops. I sent her to Hooters as a test to see if she’d really listen to my warnings—the Hooters is so close to the police station, after all. The cops are always there—so it would be tempting to tell them everything. And obviously, she did.” Mona threw her hands up in the air. “Why do you girls continue to do such stupid things?”

Spencer shut her eyes, wishing she could just pass out from fear.

Mona sighed dramatically. “Then again, you’ve been doing stupid things for years, haven’t you? Starting with good old Jenna Cavanaugh.” She winked.

Spencer’s mouth dropped open. Mona…
knew
?

Of course she knew. She was A.

Mona stole a quick glance at Spencer’s horrified face and made a faux-surprised face in return. Then Mona pulled down the side zipper of her halter dress, revealing a black silky bra and a good portion of her stomach. There was a huge, wrinkled laceration circling the bottom of her rib cage. Spencer stared at it for a few seconds until she had to look away.

“I was there the night you hurt Jenna,” Mona whispered, her voice rough-edged. “Jenna and I were friends, which you might have known if you hadn’t been so effing self-absorbed. I went over to Jenna’s to surprise her that night. I saw Ali…I saw everything…and I even got a little souvenir from it.” She stroked her burn scars. “I tried to tell people it was Ali, but no one believed me. Toby took the blame so fast, my parents thought I was blaming Ali because I was
jealous
of her.” Mona shook her head, her blond hair swinging back and forth. As soon as she finished her cigarette and tossed it out the window, she lit another one, sucking hard on the filter. “I even tried to talk to Jenna about it, but Jenna refused to listen. She kept saying, ‘You’re wrong. It was my stepbrother.’” Mona mimicked Jenna’s voice at a higher octave.

“Jenna and I weren’t friends after that,” Mona went on. “But every time I’m in front of my mirror at home and look at my otherwise perfect self, I’m reminded of what you bitches did. I know what I saw. And I. Will. Never. Forget.”

Her mouth dripped into an eerie smile. “This summer, I found a way to get you bitches back. I found Ali’s diary among all that crap the new people were throwing away. I knew it was Ali’s instantly—and she wrote tons of secrets about all of
you
. Really damaging ones, actually. It’s like she wanted the diary to fall into enemy hands.”

A flash came to Spencer—the day before Ali went missing, discovering Ali in her bedroom, hungrily reading a notebook, an amused, greedy smile on her face. “Why didn’t the cops find her diary when she went missing?” she sputtered.

Mona pulled the car under a thicket of trees and stopped. There was only darkness ahead of them, but Spencer could hear rushing water and smell moss and wet grass.

“Who the hell knows? But I’m glad they didn’t and I did.” Mona rezipped her dress, then turned to face Spencer, her eyes bright. “Ali wrote down every horrible thing you guys did. How you guys tortured Jenna Cavanaugh, that Emily kissed her in her tree house, that
you
, Spencer, kissed your sister’s boyfriend. It made it so easy for me to just…I don’t know,
become
her. All it took was for me to get a second phone with a blocked number. And I really had you going that it was Ali contacting you at first, didn’t I?” Mona grabbed Spencer’s hand and laughed.

Spencer recoiled from her touch. “I can’t believe it was you the whole time.”

“I know, right? It must have been so annoying not knowing!” Mona clapped happily. “It was
so fun
watching you guys go crazy…and then Ali’s body showed up and you
really
went crazy. Sending
myself
notes, though, was pure brilliance….” She reached around and patted her left shoulder blade. “I had to do a lot of running around, anticipating your moves before even
you
knew what they’d be. But the whole thing was so elegantly done, almost like a couture dress, don’t you think?”

Mona’s eyes canvassed Spencer for a reaction. Then, slowly, she reached out and punched Spencer jokily on the arm. “You look so freaked right now. Like I’m going to hurt you or something. It doesn’t have to be this way, though.”

“Be…what way?” Spencer whispered.

“I mean, at first, I hated you, Spencer. You most of all. You were always closest to Ali, and you had
everything
.” Mona lit another cigarette. “But then…we became friends. It was so fun, planning Hanna’s party, spending time together. Didn’t you have fun flashing those boys? Wasn’t it nice,
really talking
? So I thought…maybe I could be a philanthropist. Like Angelina Jolie.”

Spencer blinked, dumbstruck.

“I decided to help you,” Mona explained. “The Golden Orchid thing—that was a fluke. But this—I honestly want to make your life better, Spencer. Because I truly, honestly
care
about you.”

Spencer knitted her brow. “W-what are you talking about?”

“Melissa, silly!” Mona exclaimed. “Setting her up as the killer. It’s so
perfect.
Isn’t it what you always wanted? Your sister in jail for murder and out of your life, for good. You’ll look so perfect in comparison!”

Spencer stared at her. “But…Melissa had a motive.”

“Did she?” Mona grinned. “Or is that just what you want to believe?”

Spencer opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Mona had sent the text that said,
Ali’s murderer is right in front of you.
And the IM that said,
She did it, you know.
Mona had planted the photo in Spencer’s purse.

Mona gave Spencer a devious look. “We can turn this around. We can go back to the police station and tell Hanna it’s a huge misunderstanding—that she’s not remembering things properly. We can pin A on someone else, someone you don’t like. How about Andrew Campbell? You’ve always hated him, haven’t you?”

“I…” Spencer sputtered.

“We can put your sister in jail,” Mona whispered. “And we can
both
be A. We can control everyone. You’re just as conniving as Ali was, Spence. And you’re prettier, smarter, and richer.
You
should’ve been the leader of the group, not her. I’m giving you the chance, now, to be the leader you’re meant to be. Your life at home would be perfect. Your life at school would be perfect.” Her lips spread into a smile. “And I know how badly you want to be perfect.”

“But you hurt my friends,” Spencer whispered.

“Are you sure they’re your friends?” Mona’s eyes glittered. “You know who I set up as the killer before Melissa?
You
, Spencer. I fed your good friend Aria all kinds of clues that
you
did it—I heard you fighting with Ali that night she went missing, over your wall. And Aria, your BFF? She totally bought it. She was all ready to turn you in.”

“Aria wouldn’t do that,” Spencer shrieked.

“No?” Mona raised an eyebrow. “Then why did I hear her telling Wilden exactly that in the hospital on Sunday morning, the day after Hanna’s accident?” She put
accident
in air quotes. “She wasted no time, Spence. Lucky for you, Wilden didn’t buy it. Now, why would you call someone who did
that
to you your friend?”

Spencer took a few deep breaths, not knowing what to believe. A thought spiraled into her head. “Wait…if Melissa didn’t kill Ali, then
you
did.”

Mona leaned back in her seat, the leather crinkling underneath her. “No.” She shook her head. “I do know who
did,
though. Ali wrote about it on the last page of her diary—poor widdle girl, the last thing she ever wrote before she died.” Mona stuck out her lip in a pout. “She said,
Ian and I are having a supersecret meeting tonight.
” Mona did a fake Ali voice, too, but the voice sounded more like a diabolical doll in a horror movie.
“And I gave him an ultimatum
.
I told him that he better break up with Melissa before she goes to Prague—or I’d tell her and everyone else about us.”
Mona sighed, sounding bored. “It’s pretty obvious what happened—she pushed Ian to his breaking point. And he killed her.”

The wind picked up the edges of Mona’s hair. “I modeled myself after Ali—she was
the
perfect bitch. No one was safe from her blackmail. And if you want, no one will be safe from yours, either.”

Spencer shook her head slowly. “But…but you hit Hanna with your car.”

Mona shrugged. “Had to do it. She knew too much.”

“I’m…I’m sorry,” Spencer whispered. “There’s no way I want to…to
be
A with you. To rule the school with you. Or whatever it is you’re offering. That’s nuts.”

Mona’s disappointed expression morphed into something darker. She knitted her eyebrows together. “Fine. Have it your way, then.”

Mona’s voice felt like a knife cutting into Spencer’s skin. The crickets chirped hysterically. The rushing water beneath sounded like blood gushing through a vein. In one swift movement, Mona burst forward and wrapped her hands around Spencer’s neck. Spencer screamed and jerked back, flailing to hit the
UNLOCK
button again. She kicked Mona’s chest. As Mona squealed and recoiled, Spencer yanked at the door handle and shoved it open, tumbling out of the car to the spiny grass. Immediately, she pushed herself up and sprinted into the darkness. She felt the grass under her feet, then gravel, then dirt, then mud. The noise of the water grew louder and louder. Spencer could tell she was nearing the quarry’s rocky edge. Mona’s footsteps rang out behind her, and Spencer felt Mona’s arms wrap around her waist. She fell heavily to the ground. Mona climbed on top of her and wrapped her hands around her neck. Spencer kicked and struggled and choked. Mona giggled, as if this were all a game.

“I thought we were friends, Spencer.” Mona grimaced, trying to keep Spencer still.

Spencer struggled to breathe. “I guess not!” she screamed. Using all her might, Spencer pressed her legs onto Mona’s body, throwing her backward. Mona landed on her butt a few feet away, her bright yellow gum spewing out of her mouth. Spencer scrambled quickly to her feet. Mona got up, too, her eyes flashing and her teeth clenched. Time seemed to spread out as Mona advanced on her, her mouth a triangle of fury. Spencer shut her eyes and just…reacted. She grabbed Mona around her legs. Mona’s feet went out from under her, and she started to fall. Spencer felt her arms pressing against Mona’s stomach, pushing as hard as she could. She saw the whites of Mona’s eyes as they widened, and heard Mona’s screams in her ears. Mona fell backward, and in a blink, she disappeared.