Sara Shepard - Unbelievable

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

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?”