Sara Shepard - Killer

Aria waved her hands, stopping Hanna. “But Wilden could’ve gotten the pass from Jason. Did you know Jason and Wilden were friends?”

The corners of Hanna’s mouth turned down. Emily pressed her hand to her bare collarbone.

“I know it sounds crazy,” Aria admitted. “Today, I got an e-mail from Jason, telling me to meet him at his parents’ house in Yarmouth. I got there, but he wasn’t home. He didn’t send me the text at all…someone else did. Probably A. But while I was waiting in his apartment, I found an old Rosewood Day yearbook from Jason’s senior year. Wilden signed right over Ian’s picture. And he drew an arrow to Ian’s head and wrote, I can’t believe what that asshole did. My offer still stands .”

Emily clapped her hand over her mouth, her brown eyes wide.

Hanna sprang up on her toes, placing both hands on the top of her head. “You’re totally right. They were friends. That black car I was talking about? The old thing Wilden was driving around? I saw it one other time, too. Remember the day Time Capsule was announced? We were standing in the courtyard, and Ian said he was going to kill Ali to get her Time Capsule piece? Jason came up, and he and Ian had that weird fight. And then Jason…”

“Ran up to a black car,” Aria whispered, remembering that day.

“And he said, Just drive .” Emily’s voice was soft. She pulled out her cell phone and scrolled through her photos. “It works with this, too.” She showed them the photo they’d already seen, the one of Wilden leaving a confession booth, a guilty look on his face. I guess we all have things to feel guilty about, huh?

“It’s so weird that A is sending stuff that actually…makes sense,” Aria murmured.

“Yeah, that doesn’t really seem like A,” Hanna agreed.

“What if A isn’t malicious?” Emily hissed. “What if A’s trying to help?”

Hanna snorted. “Yeah. We help A…or A ruins our lives.”

The DJ shut off the strobe light and launched into another dance song. Partygoers staggered onto the dance floor. Parents clinked wineglasses, toasting another new hotel to escape to on weekends. Aria even noticed Mr. and Mrs. DiLaurentis across the ballroom, talking jovially to Mr. and Mrs. Byers as if nothing was wrong.

She glanced at the ledger in Emily’s hands. The DiLaurentis parents could have been sending Jason to therapists for years, keeping it a well-guarded secret. Maybe they’d been hiding other things about Jason, too. Jason had been so angry today. Could he be one of those people who hid his anger expertly, seeming so sweet and mild until he suddenly…erupted? Maybe Wilden was one of those people too.

“What if Jason found out Ali and Ian were dating?” Aria suggested. “That day he came up to Ian and Ali in the courtyard, he was really protective of her, like he knew something was up. Maybe that’s what Wilden meant by I can’t believe what that asshole did . I would guess an older brother would want to kill the guy taking advantage of his sister.”

Hanna crossed her legs, her face crumpled in thought. “Ian said in his IMs that they wanted to hurt him. What if they are Wilden and Jason?”

“But Ian implied that whoever drove him out of town were the ones who were really behind it,” Emily said. “So that would mean…”

“Jason and Wilden had something to do with Ali’s murder,” Hanna whispered. “Maybe it was an accident. Maybe something horrible happened that they hadn’t planned.”

Aria felt sick. Was that possible ? She looked at the others. “The only person who knows the truth is Ian. Do you think we could talk to him on IM? Do you think he’d tell us?”

They exchanged uneasy glances, not sure what to do. The bass pumped on in the background. The scents of grilled shrimp and filet mignon filled the air, making Aria’s vegetarian stomach turn. She breathed hard, her nerves standing on end. Her eyes landed on Hanna’s piece of her Time Capsule flag, which she’d tied around the chain of her purse. She pointed to the black blob in the corner, remembering how Hanna had described it to Kate at Meredith’s baby shower. “Why did you draw a manga frog on your flag?”

Hanna blinked hard, as though confused at Aria’s change of subject. Then she stretched the flag out and showed them the entire piece. Also on it was a Chanel logo, a field hockey girl, and the Louis Vuitton pattern. “I decorated it in Ali’s honor with the things she’d drawn on hers before it was stolen.”

Aria bit her thumbnail. “Hanna, Ali didn’t draw a manga frog on her flag.”

Hanna looked startled. “Yes she did. I went home that afternoon and wrote down everything she said.”

A tingly feeling crept up Aria’s back. “She didn’t draw a manga frog,” she protested. “She didn’t draw any animals at all.”

Hanna’s eyes flickered back and forth, her face draining of color. Emily pushed a strand of hair behind her ears, looking worried. “How do you know that?”

Aria’s stomach churned. She had the same swooping feeling as the time when she was six years old and wanted to go on the big-kid roller coaster at Great Adventure. Her dad strapped her into the seat and pulled the big metal bar down over her chest, but as the ride was about to start, she was gripped with a searing panic. She’d screamed and screamed, making the amusement park technician stop the ride so she could get off.

Her friends blinked at her, waiting. As much as she didn’t want to discuss this, she had to tell them the truth. She took a deep breath. “That day we tried to take Ali’s flag, I cut through the woods to go home. Someone was coming the other way. It was…Jason. And…well… he had Ali’s flag. Before I knew what was happening, he was shoving it at me. He didn’t explain why. I knew I should’ve given it back to Ali, but I thought maybe Jason didn’t want me to. I thought maybe there was a reason Jason took it from her. Like he thought it wasn’t right that she’d found it so easily. Or that he was worried about what Ian said to her a few days before in the courtyard—that he’d kill her to get her piece. Or that maybe he liked me….”

Emily snorted. She held up the ledger from the upstairs office. “Or maybe he took it from her because he had problems .”

“I didn’t know what to think at the time,” Aria protested.

“So you lied to Ali instead?” Emily shot back.

Aria groaned. She’d known Emily was going to react like this. “Ali lied to us too!” she cried. “We’ve all kept secrets from one another. How is this any different?”

Emily shrugged and turned away.

“I meant to give it back to Ali, I really did,” Aria said wearily. “But then we became friends with her. The longer I didn’t say something, the more awkward it would have been. I didn’t know what to do.” She pointed again at Hanna’s flag. “I haven’t looked at Ali’s flag since the day I got it, but I swear there’s no frog on it.”

Hanna raised her head. “Wait. Aria—you still have her flag?”

Aria nodded. “It’s been in an old shoe box for years. When I moved my stuff to my dad’s house, I saw the box again. But I didn’t open it.”

Hanna’s face paled. “I had a dream this morning about the day we tried to steal Ali’s flag. I need to see it.”

Aria began to protest when she felt a buzzing on her hip. Her cell phone was ringing. “Hang on,” she mumbled, glancing at the screen. “I have a new text.”

Emily’s tiny clutch began to hum. “Me too,” she whispered. They stared at each other. Hanna’s iPhone was silent, but she leaned over Emily’s Nokia. Aria looked at her own phone and pressed read.