Pretty Little Liars #14 (23 page)

“What do you mean?” Hanna asked.

“I don't know.” Spencer bit her lip. “But I think we need to go to her. Find Aria and meet me there, okay?”

“Definitely,” Hanna said urgently, and hung up.

Melissa gunned around another turn. She gave Spencer a sidelong glance. “What if we get there and it's too late?”

Spencer chewed hard on her thumbnail. “I don't know.”

The car sped down the country road that led to the bridge, whipping by a cheese farm, an enormous estate surrounded by acres of lawn, and a fancy restaurant tucked into an old barn. When Melissa was just one hill away from reaching the bridge, Spencer looked ahead on the road, then behind them. “Why don't I hear an ambulance?” she said aloud.

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Melissa murmured. But then she pressed on the gas. “It'll be okay,” she said almost angrily. “We'll get there.”

They made the final turn.
Please don't jump
, Spencer repeated over and over again, a sick feeling welling in her stomach.
Please, please, please, Em, don't jump
.

The rustic, graffiti-covered bridge loomed in front of her. There were no police or paramedics anywhere. As soon as Melissa pulled onto the shoulder, Spencer sprang out of the car and ran to the small ledge that surrounded the bridge. She peered onto the left side, then the right. There was no one there.

“Emily?” Heart in her throat, Spencer gazed down at the rushing water beneath, expecting to see a flash of Emily's gold-red hair in the rapids.

Aria's car roared up next, and she and Hanna jumped out and sprinted toward the bridge. “There she is!” Aria cried out. A board jutted out from the bridge; Emily was scrunched behind it. The wind blew her hair around her face. Tears stained her cheeks. She leaned over the water, her chest heaving.

“Emily!” Spencer screamed. “Don't!”

Emily looked over at them, and her face crumpled. “Leave me alone. I have to do this.”

“No, you don't!” Hanna screamed, crying, too.

Emily stared despondently into the rapids. “No one wants me. My family wishes I was dead.”

“They're just upset,” Spencer urged. “They don't feel that way for real.”

Emily pressed her hands over her eyes. “Like you guys haven't been thinking about it? We're as good as dead. Of course we want to end it all.”

Spencer exchanged a horrified glance with the others.

“Don't you see what's happening?” Hanna wailed. “Ali arranged for all of this. She was the one who sent those suicide notes from our phones to our friends and families, making it look like we wanted to kill ourselves. It's so
obvious
, Em.”

Emily shrugged. “So? It still doesn't change anything.”

“Yes, it does!” Hanna banged her fist against the bridge wall. “For months—
years
—we've let Ali manipulate us. We've let her make us think people we love are A. Aria lost Noel because of it. And Spencer suspected her
mom
, remember? Now Ali's using the power of suggestion to make us think we should commit suicide—and we're letting her. Are you really going to let her get to you like that?”

Emily peeked at Hanna. “But why would she want us to commit suicide? She already won by getting us sent to Jamaica.”

“Maybe she worries we'll be acquitted,” Spencer shouted onto the bridge. “Or maybe she worries we'll continue to investigate while in prison and find her for real. This is her safest option. We die by our own hands. She doesn't have to lift a finger.”

Emily's chin wobbled. “I don't know if that makes sense. How could we investigate her in Jamaica?”

“I'll help!” Melissa called out from a few feet away. “I'll do whatever I can!”

Spencer gave her a grateful look, then turned back to Emily. “We need you, Em. We need to stick together if we want to beat A.”

Emily shut her eyes tight, overcome with emotion. “Guys . . .”

“Please,” Spencer begged.

Suddenly,
finally
, sirens screamed behind them. An ambulance pulled onto the embankment, and several men in EMT jackets jumped out. “Where is she?” shouted the first one, a young man with stubble on his face.

“There!” Melissa pointed to the ledge.

The EMT nodded, then conferred with the two other men who'd jumped out of the vehicle. One of them requested backup on a walkie-talkie. The second one started to pull medical equipment out of the car.

The first man squared his shoulders, wrapped a rock-climbing tether around his waist, and hooked one end of the line to a post on the bridge for stability. Then he inched onto the narrow ledge. “Come here, honey,” he said gently, almost lovingly. “You're safe.”

Emily looked at him, her eyes wild.

“Take my hand,” the EMT begged. “Please don't jump.”

“We need you, Em,” Hanna called out.

“We love you!” Spencer called.

The two other EMTs were stationed near the water, ready to take the plunge in case Emily jumped. The man on the bridge inched closer to her, the rope around his waist stretching taut. Emily didn't move. Finally, he was close enough to wrap his arms around her. Emily crumpled into him, her face twisted with anguish. He lifted Emily up and slowly inched backward to the front of the bridge. When they were on solid ground, he gently set Emily on the grass. She was sobbing.

Spencer ran over to her and engulfed her in a hug. Aria and Hanna did the same. They all started to cry. “Oh my God,” Spencer said over and over.

“How could you have done that?” Hanna wailed.

“We could have lost you,” Aria added.

Emily was crying so hard, she couldn't speak. “I just . . . couldn't . . .”

Spencer squeezed her tight. Hanna wrapped her sweatshirt over her shoulders. One of the EMTs brought out another blanket and laid that over Emily, too. The man who'd saved Emily radioed that they no longer needed backup—the girl was safe. Then he sat down next to the girls and checked Emily's pupils to make sure she wasn't going into shock. He made no reference to who the girls were or what they were facing—maybe he didn't even know.

Emily's sobs dissolved into sniffles. All the girls clung to her tightly, as if they were afraid they might lose her again. Even Melissa joined in the hug, stroking Emily's hair and telling her that she was going to be all right. Spencer took a moment to imagine what things would have been like if they hadn't caught Emily in time. The breath left her lungs. It terrified her to even consider it. If one of them died, a part of Spencer would die, too. It was one small silver lining about going to Jamaica—at least they'd be going together. They wouldn't be facing this alone.

Her thoughts turned to Ali again. Of course she'd planted suicide into all their minds. And look what it had almost done. Look at who it had almost taken. This bitch deserved to go
down
for all of this. Now more than ever.

Melissa headed back to the car, giving the girls a few minutes alone. A minivan rounded the bend, slowing at the sight of the ambulance. Spencer didn't recognize the woman behind the wheel, but there was a faded
ROSEWOOD DAY LACROSSE
bumper sticker on the back. Spencer gasped.

“What?” Aria asked, looking at her quizzically.

“I thought of another way we could hunt for Ali,” Spencer said. “But you're not going to like it.”

Aria frowned. “What do you mean?”

A chilly breeze swept down Spencer's back. “I mean Noel.”

Aria's face hardened. “What
about
Noel?”

“Maybe he knows something else about Ali. Maybe he didn't tell you everything.”

Aria looked shocked. “You want me to talk to him?” Spencer nodded. Aria shook her head. “No way.”

“I think Spencer's right,” Hanna said. “Maybe Noel doesn't even realize what he knows. What if this leads us to her?”

“I'll do it, if you don't want to,” Spencer volunteered. “I wouldn't mind giving that jerk a piece of my mind.”

Aria lowered her eyes. “He's not a jerk,” she said quietly, almost automatically. She sighed. “I can handle it. But only if Emily—and the rest of you—never stand on the edge of a bridge again. Losing you guys is way worse than going to prison.”

“I won't,” Emily said softly.

“I won't, either,” Hanna said, and Spencer nodded. Aria was right. They couldn't abandon one another now, not when things were so critical and dangerous.

Not when they had so much to lose.

THE SECRET CODE

“Oh my God,” Mrs. Kahn bleated, when she opened the door to the Kahn estate later that afternoon. Her blond hair was expertly blown out, her makeup was perfect, and she wore a new-looking ivory cashmere sweater, curve-hugging skinny jeans, and scuff-free Tod's driving loafers. But her face was pale, and cords stood out in her neck. She stared at Aria in fear, and Aria knew instantly that Mrs. Kahn believed everything the news was saying. This was a woman who had once, at a family wedding Aria and Noel had attended, pulled Aria into a hug and said,
You know, I think of you as my daughter
. It was amazing how a couple of news stories could sway an opinion.

For the millionth time in the past hour, Aria wished she hadn't agreed to this. But she was here now. The damage was done. She took a deep breath. “Can I speak to Noel for a few minutes?”

Mrs. Kahn backed away. “I don't think so.”

Unbelievable
. Aria grabbed the door before Noel's mom could shut it. “My mom is right there. It's fine.” She gestured toward the curb, where Ella was waiting in the Subaru. Aria was surprised Ella had said yes about bringing her to Noel's, given that Aria had disappeared from graduation. But maybe Ella figured that there wasn't really anything
worse
the cops could do to Aria that they weren't already doing. Her mother had spent a good deal of time crying over the last month, but now she just seemed kind of spent and exhausted.

“We'll talk out here, and she'll watch us the whole time,” Aria added to Noel's mom.

Mrs. Kahn squinted at the Subaru but didn't wave—she probably thought Ella was a criminal by association. “Five minutes,” she said tightly. “Then we have to get to a graduation party.”

She shut the door halfway. When it opened again, Noel stepped out. “Aria,” he said. His voice cracked. He was holding his graduation cap in his hands.

“Hey,” Aria said softly, her heart pounding fast.

It felt like ages since she'd talked to him. Suddenly, here they were, standing within inches of each other on his porch. Part of her wanted to give him a huge hug. Another part worried he'd push her away—she hadn't heard from him since the arrest. Another part, an angry part, yearned to run.

When he met her gaze, his eyes were soulful, concerned, and uncertain. The bruises on his cheeks had faded to yellow, and the stitches on his jaw were no longer puffy and Frankenstein-monster-like. He had a cast on his arm, too, but he was mostly the Noel she remembered. Aria glanced at the Nike lacrosse T-shirt, feeling an ache. He'd worn it the day she'd returned from Iceland, the first day they'd sort of talked. Did he remember that? Was he wearing it today on purpose?

“Are you . . .” Noel started.

“Have you . . .” Aria said at the same time. She stopped. “You first.”

“No.” Noel swallowed. “You.”

She stared at the basket-weave brick pattern on the porch floor. All at once, she had no idea what to say. “Congratulations,” she finally mustered, pointing to the cap.

“Thanks.” Noel set it down and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. A hawk screamed loudly in the sky overhead. “I don't believe it, you know,” he said quietly. “I don't know what happened, and you don't have to tell me, but I think I know who's behind this. Am I right?”

Aria nodded, her insides twisting. “That's why I need your help.”

Noel's brow furrowed. “
Me
?”

“You were her friend. Are you sure you don't know where she could be?”

Noel shook his head vehemently. “I have no idea.”

Aria sighed. Above them, bronze wind chimes knocked together. The sun came out from behind a cloud, making slanted stripes across the vast front lawn. “Okay, then,” she said, turning. “I guess I'll go.”

“Wait.” Noel's voice was like an oar cutting through water. Aria turned, and there was a strange, tortured look on his face. “There was no e-mail or phone at The Preserve, so we used to have a secret code for when she needed to talk.”

Aria sucked in her stomach. “Have you used this code recently?”

“Of course not. Even if I did know she survived the fire, I would have done everything in my power to
hurt
her, not help her.”

Aria walked back to the porch. “Could you use it now?”

Noel glanced around the front yard, as though he thought Ali might be watching. “I don't know. She might not fall for it.”

Aria wrapped her hands around the railing that surrounded the porch. “We've been getting A notes—from
her
. But no one believes us. We're grasping at straws. Believe me, I didn't want to ask you, but you're our last hope. We don't want to go to Jamaica.”

Noel slumped against one of the Adirondack chairs. “
I
don't want you to go to Jamaica.”

“Then
help
us.”

The door opened behind him, and Mrs. Kahn stuck out her head. “Noel? We need to get going.”

Noel glanced at his mother, annoyed. “One sec, okay?”

Mrs. Kahn reluctantly shut the door again, though Aria could tell by the light through the window that she was hovering close by. Noel pulled out his cell phone, then called up an electronics website on his browser. Aria watched as he ordered a single package of AA batteries. On the order page, he listed his name as Maxine Preptwill and that his address was the Rosewood Public Library. In the special instructions section, all he wrote was:
9
PM
tonight
.