Wicked (32 page)

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Authors: Sara Shepard

BOOK: Wicked
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“You know I wouldn’t do that, Mom,” Travis went on. He stood and pulled up his shorts around his waist. “I know how hard you work. I
did
see Emma go into your room today though.”

“What?” Emma whirled around to face him. “I did not!”

“Did too,” Travis shot back. As soon as he turned his back on his mom, his expression morphed from a fake smile to a wrinkled-nose, narrowed-eyes glower.

Emma gaped. It was amazing how calmly he lied. “I’ve seen you go through your mom’s purse,” she announced.

Clarice leaned against the table, twisting her mouth to the right. “
Travis
did that?”

“No, I didn’t.” Travis pointed accusingly at Emma. “Why would you believe her? You don’t even know this girl.”

“I don’t need money!” Emma pressed her hands to her chest. “I have a job! I’m fine!” She’d been working for years.

“Look.” Travis walked over to his mom and put his arm on her shoulder. “I think you need to know what Emma’s really all about.” He pulled his BlackBerry from his pocket again and began to fiddle with the click wheel.

“What do you mean?” Emma walked over to them.

Travis gave her a sanctimonious look, hiding the BlackBerry screen from view. “I was going to talk to you about this in private. But it’s too late for that now.”

“Talk to me about
what
?” Emma lunged forward, making the citronella candle in the center of the table wobble.


You
know what.” Travis tapped away on the keyboard with his thumbs. A mosquito buzzed around his head, but he didn’t bother to flick it away. “You’re a sick freak.”

“What do you mean, Travis?” Clarice’s fuchsia-lined lips pursed worriedly.

Finally, Travis lowered the BlackBerry so everyone could see. “This,” he announced.

A stiff, hot wind blew against Emma’s cheek, the dusty air irritating her eyes. The blue-black evening sky seemed to darken a few shades. Travis breathed heavily next to her, reeking of pot smoke, and pulled up a generic video uploading site. With a flourish, he typed in the keyword
SuttonInAZ
and hit play.

A video slowly loaded. A handheld camera panned over a clearing. No sound escaped from the speakers, as if the microphone had been muted. The camera whipped around to show a figure sitting in a chair with a black blindfold covering half her face. A round silver locket on a thick chain clung to a bony, feminine collarbone.

The girl thrashed her head frantically back and forth, the locket bouncing wildly. The picture went dark for a moment, and suddenly someone slipped behind her and pulled the necklace chain back so that it pressed up against the girl’s throat. The girl’s head arched back. She flailed her arms and kicked her legs.

“Oh my God.” Clarice’s hand flew to her mouth.

“What
is
this?” Emma whispered.

The strangler pulled the chain harder and harder. Whoever it was had a mask over his head, so Emma couldn’t see his face. After about thirty seconds, the girl in the video stopped struggling and went limp.

Emma backed away from the screen. Had they just watched someone
die
? What the hell? And what did this have to do with her?

The camera remained fixed on the blindfolded girl. She wasn’t moving. Then the picture went momentarily dark again. When an image snapped back on the screen, the camera was tilted over, fallen on the ground. Emma could still see a sideways shot of the figure in the chair. Someone walked up to the girl and pulled the blindfold off her head. After a long pause, the girl coughed. Tears dotted her eyes. The corners of her mouth pulled down. She blinked slowly. For a split second before the screen went dark, she stared half-consciously into the lens.

Emma’s jaw dropped to her worn Converse sneakers.

Clarice gasped loudly.

“Ha,” Travis said triumphantly. “I
told
you.”

Emma stared at the girl’s huge, blue eyes, slightly upturned nose, and round face. She looked
exactly
like her.

That was because the girl in the video was me.

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About the Author

SARA SHEPARD
graduated from NYU and has an MFA from Brooklyn College. Sara’s PRETTY LITTLE LIARS novels were inspired by her upbringing in Philadelphia’s Main Line, where she lives today.
 
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Copyright

PRETTY LITTLE LIARS #5: WICKED
. Copyright © 2009 by Alloy Entertainment and Sara Shepard. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub © Edition SEPTEMBER 2009 ISBN: 9780061975608

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Publisher

Australia

HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

25 Ryde Road (P.O. Box 321)

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http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au

Canada

HarperCollins Canada

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Auckland, New Zealand

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United Kingdom

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

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London, W6 8JB, UK

http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk

United States

HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

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Table of Contents

Epigraph

Inquiring Minds Want to Know…

Chapter 1:   Dead and Buried

Chapter 2:   We Are Family

Chapter 3:   Aria’s Art Scene Debut

Chapter 4:   Bottom of the Class

Chapter 5:   The Changing of the Guard

Chapter 6:   Emily’s Church Miracle

Chapter 7:   One Big Happy Hastings Family

Chapter 8:   Isn’t Internet Dating Great?

Chapter 9:   You’re Not Paranoid If He’s Really After You

Chapter 10:   Blood Is Thicker Than Water…If You’re Really Family, That Is

Chapter 11:   If You Can’t Beat Her, Join Forces With Her

Chapter 12:   It’s All Just a Matter of Perspective

Chapter 13:   Strange Chemistry on Chemistry Hill

Chapter 14:   Viva La Hanna!

Chapter 15:   Even Libraries Aren’t Safe

Chapter 16:   Weirdos Attract

Chapter 17:   Oh, The Sacrifices to be Popular

Chapter 18:   A Jury of One

Chapter 19:   Fortune Cookies Usually Never Say Anything This Good

Chapter 20:   So Much for a New Father Figure

Chapter 21:   Spencer Holds Her Breath

Chapter 22:   Déjà Vu All Over Again

Chapter 23:   The Quietest Courtroom on the Main Line

Chapter 24:   Et Tu, Kate?

Chapter 25:   Into The Bathroom…But Out of the Closet

Chapter 26:   Spencer Meets Her Match

Chapter 27:   Hanna Marin, Queen Bee

Chapter 28:   Socially Awkward Artist No More

Chapter 29:   The Whole, Pathetic Truth

Chapter 30:   Frailty, Thy Name is Woman!

Chapter 31:   Everyone’s a Suspect

Chapter 32:   Be Quiet…And No One Gets Hurt

Chapter 33:   Someone Knew Too Much

What Happens Next…

Acknowledgments

Credits

Excerpt from The Lying Game

Prologue

Chapter 1:   The Dead Ringer

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About the Author

Copyright

About the Publisher

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