chapter fifty nine
the lady killer

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Josie and the girls stood with Hanna, who was crying as they watched Caleb be loaded into an ambulance, Josie let tears fall as she held onto Hanna with Aria and Spencer. "Shh, it's okay, it's okay." Aria whispered to Hanna, "He's gonna be okay Han," Josie whispered to her, as Emily and Richie were being questioned by the police.

TWO DAYS EARLIER

"Jury selection is expected to conclude today, and defense attorney Veronica Hastings made a statement to reporters this morning." The News Lady said before it cut to a video of Veronica Hastings. "My Client is emotionally exhausted, but he's relieved to know that he's finally going to have the opportunity to clear his name," she said.

"How did this get so big?" Hanna asked as She, Spencer, Aria and Josie sat in Spencer's kitchen as they watched the news as Aria was on the phone. Spencer gave her a look. "I mean, it's like all eyes are on rosewood." Hanna continued. "Can't help but think Toby took that job in bucks county just to avoid all this." Spencer said. "Wouldn't surprise me." Josie said. "She's taking the long way because reporters are hounding her for interviews." Aria said as she joined the girls.

"Jesus christ, even Emily can't live in peace." Josie remarked with a sigh. "Okay, how are we gonna do this?" Spencer asked as she turned the tv off. "Well, Emily thinks she's coming over here so we can apologize." Hanna said. "But, when she realizes what this is, she'll probably be more mad at us than she was before." Josie continued. "I am not looking forward to seeing that." Spencer remarked. "Well, in a successful intervention, the loved one feels safe, not judged." Hanna said.

"Great. Right, so we'll start out all warm and fuzzy, and then we just have to hit her with the truth." Aria said. "Yeah, and then that's your cue." Josie said to Spencer. "Okay, so... Paige was jealous of Ali," Spencer started as she stood up. "We know that Paige was jealous of Maya, and she was with Emily that night, it was easy for her to set us up." she layed out the stuff they had figured out.

"Right. And she has the other earring, so she must have Ali's body, right?" Aria asked. "Yeah." Spencer responded. "Wait, I don't get it." Hanna said. "If Paige was so into Emily, why would she drug her? And then why would she drug herself?" She asked. "Wait, Hanna, I thought we were all on the same 'A' page here?" Spencer asked, confused. "We are. This is a practice run," Hanna responded. "Right, oaky." Spencer said.

"Uh, drugging yourself is the best alibi ever, classic sharon stone move, remember the movie, basic instinct?" Spencer asked. "No," Hanna and Aria responded. "Yeah." Josie said, nodding her head. "What– She wrote a murder mystery novel to cover up a crime that she was about to commit." Josie explained. "It was actually kind of genius." Spencer said and Josie nodded in agreement.

"Look, remember I'm Emily here. We still think that 'A' is working with Mona, so what is your connection?" Hanna asked. "Two people who hated Ali. Maybe one of them killed her and the other one covered their tracks." Spencer answered. "Or are still covering their tracks by stealing the body and then pinning it on us." Josie said. "Yeah. and the ultimate prize is Paige gets Emily all to herself." Spencer said as a knock sounded on the door to the kitchen, making them look over.

"Hey." Aria said, making Spencer look over at her. Aria held up thumbs before Spencer went to answer the door and Josie, Hanna and Aria walked over and sat down in the living room. "Hey, Em," Spencer greeted her. "Hi." Email responded as she walked in. "Hey, you want some coffee?" Aria asked but Emily didn't respond. "Em, you know how much we love you, right?" Hanna started. "We love you enough to tell you the truth, even when it hurts." she finished.

"This doesn't sound like an apology." Emily said. "I had to get you here, Emily. Okay, I'm sorry for lying." Aria stated. Emily turned to Spencer. "What is this?" she asked, looking back at the others. "It's the four people who love you most in the world, trying to get you to see who Paige really is." Spencer answered. "I can't believe it." Emily said, shaking her head. "The trial's started and this is how you guys show up for me." Emily said in disbelief, making Josie lower her eyes, feeling guilt.

"We support you, Emily, we do, but we're pretty sure that Garrett did not kill Maya." Spencer said. "And you think Paige did? Are you out of your friggin' minds?" Emily asked. "When did it become so easy for you to lie to your friends?" Emily asked Aria before turning to leave. " Emily, wait." Hanna said as she stood up, along with the others. Hanna put the earring on the table.

"We found that in Paige's bag at the trunk show." Josie explained. "It's the other earring Aria put in Ali's casket." Hanna added. "We found a lot of other things exactly where 'A' has put them." Emily rebutted and Josie sighed. She had a point she thought. "Four against one. 'A' wins." She added before leaving. "That was exactly what Paige wanted." Spencer said. "Great. So now what?" Aria asked, but none of them answered, not knowing what to do now.

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"She didn't believe you girls did she?" Richie asked as he met Josie at her locker. "No," Josie responded as she shut her locker, turning to her boyfriend. "I get why, she's into Paige, but we just care and we're worried about her." Josie said and Richie nodded. "I know, and she will eventually understand that." he said, but Josie didn't know if that would happen any time soon. "I hope so," Josie answered as they walked through the hallways, hands together as she held her books in the other.

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After their first period, which had Hanna, Josie and Riche in it, and they hadn't seen Emily, they decided to find Aria or Spencer. They spotted Aria in the courtyard just sitting there. "Hey," "Hey Aria," they greeted her as Hanna sat beside her and Josie and Richi stood in front of her. "Em wasn't in first period, we think she ditched school today." Josie said to her. "And does three messages and six texts make me a stalker?" Hanna asked and Aria stared at her.

"This is the part where you're supposed to reassure me that I'm being a caring friend and Emily's going to be fine." Hanna said. "She's totally right in calling me out for lying this morning." Aria said sadly, making Josie frown. "So if anybody needs an intervention, it's me." she added. "What's going on Aria?" Josie asked softly. "I haven't told you guys yet because Ezra doesn't even know." Aria started. "Well, whatever it is, we're here for you, It'll be okay." Hanna responded.

"Wes let it slip that Ezra got a girl pregnant before he left for college, their mom paid her to take care of it, but she didn't take care of it, she had the baby. It's a little boy." Aria confessed, shocking them. "Mr. Fitz– Ezra, has a kid?" Richie asked, shocked. "Yeah, and I'm not done." Aria said. "Wait, there's more?" Hanna and Josie asked in sync and Aria hummed. "I found the baby's mom... but I didn't tell Ezra." she confessed. "So, Ezra has no idea?" Hanna asked.

"He thinks she had an abortion." Aria said. "Aria, you had to tell him the truth." Josie said. "Well, for whatever reason she doesn't want him to know. And I pushed him to call her, when they talked, she didn't say anything about it." Aria said. "Look, if he finds out that you knew and you didn't tell him..." Hanna trailed off. "I just really feel like I'm about to rattle the cage of a sleeping giant." Aria said.

Hanna reached out and squeezed her hand for support and Josie moved away from Richie and sat down next to Hanna, leaning on her and putting her hand on top of hers on Aria's Hand. "Do you remember what Ali said about secrets keeping us close?" Hanna asked and Aria nodded. "She was wrong. They tear us apart." Hanna said, making Josie frown, thinking of her own secret, a big one.

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At lunch the girls, plus Richie, minus Hanna, we're sitting in the courtyard. Spencer was trying to call Emily and tell her about the encounter with Paige she had before. "It's voicemail again," she said, taking the phone away from her ear. "She has to be home, maybe we should just go over there." Aria said before Hanna joined them. "So things just went from worse to worser." Hanna said as she sat down. "Worser isn't a word Han, but please continue." Richie said to her. "Paige wasn't in Spanish today, Yo Hablo Sicko." Hanna said. "What?" Aria asked.

"She went home sick." Hanna explained. "Or is she at Emily's?" Spencer asked. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm really willing to take this to the cops." Aria said and Josie shook her head, getting the cops involved is never a good idea for them. "No! I'm already on their radar, for all we know, Paige smeared my blood all over that anklet." Hanna said. "And plus, it always comes to bite us in the ass," Josie said.

"Well, Emily might be with Paige right now, and we all know what she's capable of." Aria responded. "I think we should call her parents. We'll tell them everything. Together." Spencer said. "Spencer's right, there's strength in numbers." Aria said and they all stared at Hanna. "All right. Let's do it." Hanna said as she pulled out her phone, but then all of the girls' phones went off. "Stand down, bitches. Play it my way and Emily stays safe 'A'." Spencer read out. Richie held Josie's hand as she sighed, sharing a look with her friends.

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After school, the girls went to Hanna's house. "If we don't hear from them in the next hour, I think we should revisit the idea of telling her parents." Spencer said as they laid around in Hanna's room. "I agree." Aria said. "This is probably Paige, just killing time so she can find a way to weasel herself out of this." she added. Josie looked over at Hanna, who was staring at nothing. "Han, hey." she said, placing her hand on her knee from where she sat next to Spencer on the floor.

"I'm just thinking about Emily. She's finally gets over Maya, and now she's stuck with some twisted psycho bitch." she said. "It's just another Monster that Alison created." Spencer said. "She's been gone so long, and we're still caught in her web," Josie spoke softly as Spencer's tablet beeps, making her pick it up. "It's from 'A'." she said, and Josie moved so she could see it. "Let's settle this. Alison's grave. 10pm. Bring Maya's bag." Spencer read out. "There's an attachment." she said before clicking on it,

It was a photo of Aria and Spencer. "It's another picture from that night." Aria said as Spencer swiped and it showed a picture of Josie, Hanna and Aria with shovels. "Paige can bring us down and leave Emily completely in the clear." Hanna said. "This must have been her plan all along, get rid of us and then she can have Emily all to herself." Spencer added as Josie sighed and messed with the rings on her fingers.

"But she hasn't sent these to the cops for a reason, and it's probably because there's something in Maya's bag that she needs, something that proves that she killed her." Aria said. "But we searched every inch of that bag." Josie said in confusion. "You guys, another picture." Spencer said, making them turn to her before she handed Josie the tablet so Aria and Hanna could see.

"Tell Emily and I'll leave you holding the bag." Josie read out as she looked at the picture of what they assumed was the bag with Ali's body in it. "Is that Ali?" Aria asked. "Oh, my god." Hanna turned her head, not wanting to look as Josie handed it back to Spencer, the picture making her sick. The girls jumped when they heard the front door to Hanna's house open. "What was that?" Aria asked.

"Do you think your mom's home early?" Spencer asked as Hanna got up and the other followed her as she walked towards her door. Hanna quietly and slowly opened her door, and the girls popped their heads out to see if they could see or hear anything or anyone. "Mom?" Hanna called out but no one answered but they saw a moving shadow. "There's something downstairs." Aria said, panicked.

They moved back into Hanna's room, Hanna closing the door. "Was that Paige?" Josie asked as Hanna grabbed the pink lamp on the bedside table next to the daybed and the girls stood behind the door, on the other side so whoever it was, they could hit them on the head. Hanna's bedroom door doorknob twisted like someone was opening it.

The door swung open and Hanna raised the pink lamp but stopped once the intruder turned around and it turned out to be Caleb and Richie. "What are you doing here?! I almost killed you!" she asked as Caleb took out the earphones from his ears. "With a pink furry lamp, Hanna?" he asked, sarcastically as he took it from her. "No, guys, seriously, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be watching Emily's house." Josie said.

"But there are, like, a dozen reporters camped out on her lawn, her mom is home— she's safe." Caleb responded before Spencer handed them her tablet. "We heard from Paige and Mona," she said as he took it, reading the 'A' message. "You guys aren't showing up there alone." Richie said.

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Later on, Josie, Hanna and Spencer were sitting out front The Brew. Josie had asked a waitress named Angie to use her phone to call Emily, knowing she wouldn't answer her calls. "Hello?" Emily said. "Hi, Em, it's me, please don't hang up." she said quickly, and she heard Emily sigh from the other side of the phone. "I wanna make sure you're okay. Spence, Han and I are in town, and there are reporters everywhere. So, are you okay?" she asked softly.

"Nate's going out of town this weekend, I'm going with him." she answered. "That's great. Where are you going?" Josie asked. "The Lighthouse Rock Inn. I don't know, he found it online." Emily answered. "Look, I know it doesn't seem like it, but we are here for you Em." Josie assured her. "You're right. It doesn't feel like it." Emily said then she hung up, making Josie sigh as she put the phone on the table.

Angie passed by again, stopping by the table. "Oh, thanks, Angie." Josie said, handing the phone back to her. "You know what, it actually makes me feel better knowing that Emily's going to be far away from rosewood tonight." Josie said as she and Hanna stood up. "Yeah, me too." Spencer said as she left some money on their table. "So, um, I'll pick you both up at nine?" Spencer asked and they nodded. "Yeah, we'll see you then." Hanna said before she and Josie walked away.

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"Josie, I'll be fine." Richie said, trying to reassure his girlfriend as he watched her pace the length of her bedroom. "I can't have you hurt. I don't think you understand that." Josie said as she paused her pacing to stare at Richie. He stood up slowly and walked towards her. "I won't be on my own, I'll have Caleb with me." Richie tried to assure her.

"That doesn't make me feel better. My brother and my boyfriend." she said sarcastically as she threw her hands up, causing him to reach for her, bringing Josie into a hug, "I promise, we'll be alright." he said, hugging her tighter. She exhaled softly before hugging him back tightly.

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That night, the girls, Caleb and Richie were standing in the graveyard. "All right, the app is voice-activated, so it'll record any sound that it hears." Caleb spoke as he held Hanna's phone. "And me and Richie can pick up the feed, so we'll be with you, every step of the way," Richie added as he held Josie's hand.

"Caleb, Richie, I think that you two should take Maya's bag with you. It's our only form of leverage, and if she doesn't admit to digging up the body, she doesn't get the bag." Spencer said to them. "Alright," Caleb said, taking the bag. "We should just get out of sight, come on man," Caleb said, as Richie kissed Josie's forehead before following Caleb. "What do we do now?" Aria asked. "We wait for 'A'." Spencer responded, and so, they waited.

"It's ten-forty, I mean, I get Mona being fashionably late, but Paige?" Hanna asked. "Something's not right." Spencer said worriedly. "We're meeting 'A' in front of Ali's empty grave, there's nothing right about this." Aria said. "Who are you calling?" Hanna asked Josie. "Nate." she answered. "Hey, Nate, it's Josie, can you give me a call back when you can? I just wanna make sure that you guys are alright." She said before hanging up. "Caleb, Richie, do you see anything?" Hanna asked into her phone. "Nothing." Caleb answered back. "Not a car in sight." Richie added.

"Okay, there's a Lighthouse Rock Inn, near Bayhead." Spencer said. "There's one Belmar, too." Aria added. The girls looked up the place that Emily said that they were staying. "Guys, Nates still not answering." Josie said worriedly. "Maybe Paige sent us here to keep us from Emily." Spencer theorized. "So she could get to her." Aria said as the sound of a car approaching caught their attention, making them look to see Caleb's car driving past as Hanna's phone rang. "It's Caleb." she said before answering.

"Hey, where are you guys going?" she asked. "We just heard you. Richie and I don't think Paige ever planned on meeting you guys, so we're heading to Belmar, you guys go to Bayhead." he instructed. "We'll call you later." Hanna promised before hanging up before turning to the girls. "We're going to Bayhead." she said as Josie fiddled with her rings, nervous.

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On the drive there, Hanna and Josie were in the back while Spencer drove and Aria was in the passenger seat. "You're gonna make a right at the intersection." Aria instructed as she had a map on her phone as Josie called Richie. "Hey, how's it going? How far are you two from Belmar?" she asked. "Not sure, a mile or two, give or take," Richie answered. "Just promise me you'll be careful, both of you." Josie asked as Aria spoke. "There it is, on the hill." she pointed out the Lighthouse Rock Inn.

"I promise we will," Richie said. "Jo, I love you, and I'll see you soon." he said. "I love you too," she said before hanging up. Richie reached open the glove compartment to make sure the gun that Caleb brought was still there before closing it as Caleb continued to drive to Belmar.

The girls stopped near The Lighthouse Rock Inn sign and got out of the car and walked forwards. "Looks like this place is closed." Aria said but Spencer spotted something. "Wait, no, there's a light on in that cabin." she said and the girls walked towards it, quietly walking closer and walked onto the steps of the cabin, they tried to be quiet, but it squeaked under their feet.

The girls opened the door to the cabin and saw that it was empty, but all the lights were on. "Em?" Spencer called out before they really entered the cabin. They looked everywhere, but there was no sign that anybody had been there at all. "There's no one here, I'm calling Caleb." Hanna said as she exited a room before they all walked out of the cabin.

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Richie and Caleb had stopped the car once they reached The Lighthouse Rock Inn, and got out, shutting the doors quietly, as they looked around. "I don't think anyone's here." Caleb said but Richie noticed shadows in the lighthouse, "Wait, no, look." Richie said, pointing towards the lighthouse, making Caleb follow his line of sight. "Let's go." he said, as they ran towards the lighthouse.

The two could hear a thump of a body as they ran up the lighthouse steps, making them worry and run faster. "Emily! Emily!" They called out, and soon they reached the top, and they stopped dead in their tracks, seeing a crying Emily with a knife and Nate on the floor. They were immediately concerned. "Emily." Richie said shocked as she turned around and slowly dropped the knife.

Caleb sat the gun down and they made their way to Emily. "Come here." Caleb said, moving Emily away and pulled her into a hug, which Richie joined, knowing she'd need some comfort. "It's okay." Richie whispered softly as Emily sobbed in their arms. Richie could feel her shaking. "It's okay." Caleb whispered before a gunshot rangout, piercing Richie's ears. The next thing he knew, Caleb was on the floor, bleeding.

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Josie and the girls stood with Hanna as they watched Caleb be loaded into an ambulance, all the girls, minus Emily, who was being questioned by the police with Richie, hugged Hanna as she sobbed. Josie letting tears fall as well for her brother. "Caleb! No!" Hanna cried out and the girls had to hold her back. "Caleb!" she cried out again, Josie rubbed Hanna's back. "He's gonna be okay." she whispered softly to her as they watched the ambulance drive away.

"So the deceased was a friend of yours?" the police officer asked Emily. Richie's questioning was done, but he wasn't gonna leave Emily alone, not now. Emily stared at her friends, numb from the night's events. Richie looked over and the girls were comforting Hanna, and he knew he needed to comfort Josie later, in private because no one knew the big secret yet.

"Miss Fields, please, I'm trying to understand what happened here." the police officer said. "When I was with Emily yesterday I got an anonymous text. 10pm, Saturday, Rosewood Cemetery or Emily gets hurt." he heard Paige tell the police officers that were questioning her. "Did you know the victim?" the police asked Emily again. "Yes." Emily breathed. "Was he a friend of yours?" he asked. "He got me before I got there." He heard Paige say again, before he noticed her turning to look at the girls.

"I can't do this right now, please just let me talk to my friend." Emily begged as Paige came over. "Officers..." She started explaining everything to them and let Emily run over to the girls, Richie following behind her. Emily leaned over the police tape and hugged Hanna, who reached for her once she was in range, while Richie ducked under the tape and Josie pulled him into a hug, and he held her. "Oh, Han, I'm so sorry." Emily said to Hanna.

Emily hugged Hanna as she sobbed into her shoulder, and the girls rubbing her back in comfort, when Hanna pulled from Emily, Richie pulled her into a hug, as Josie hugged Emily. "He'll be okay Han," he whispered, rubbing her back,

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Later that night, the group were at the hospital waiting area. Josie had Hanna's head on her shoulder and was rubbing her arm while Richie held her free hand. Spencer soon joined them, she was getting Hanna a coffee. "Han," she said softly, holding it out for her, but Hanna didn't want it, so Spencer sat down next to Aria, who was on Hanna's other side.

Pam Fields walked out of a room and towards them. "Caleb's still in surgery." Pam informed them as she took a seat near the group. "How ya holdin' up?" she asked her daughter. "I'm fine." she responded. "Pam Fields please pick up the nearest courtesy phone." an announcement rang out. "Must be dad." Emily guessed. "No. I never reached him, he doesn't even know we're here." Pam said, confused before getting up and going to pick up a courtesy phone.

As soon as Pam was gone the girls phone's went off, alerting them to a phone. The girls picked up their phone that was in their lap and held the phone to their ears, Richie leaned closer to Josie to hear it. "Emily, I owe you one," a distorted voice said before the line disconnected, confusing them just as Pam returned. "That was odd, there was no one there." she said as she sat back down in front of the group.

They turned to see Garret Reynold with Spencer's mom. Veronica walked over to them, noticing their looks. "Mom, he's out of jail?" Spencer asked as Veronica sat down with them. "Emily, I'm so sorry you had to go through that tonight." she said, ignoring Spencer's question. "But I want you to know that you helped an innocent victim, because of you, Garret Reynolds is a free man." she added as Garret turned and smiled at them.

⎯ AUTHORS NOTE
new chapter <3 | Caleb + Richie = besties