Killer. (Book Six)

Ten: Something's Sketchy, Indeed.

The following morning, Emily cinched the hood of her pale blue anorak tight and ran across the icy blacktop to the Rosewood Elementary School swings, her friends' special meeting spot. For the first time all week, the long driveway was free of news vans. Since everyone now thought Emily and the others had made up seeing Ian's body in the woods, the press had no reason to interview students.

Across the courtyard, Emily's friends were gathered around Spencer, staring at a sheet of computer paper and her cell phone. Last night, Spencer had called Emily to tell her that Ian had IM'ed her and that A had sent a text. Afterward, Emily hadn't been able to sleep a wink. So A was back. And Ian...maybe...wasn't dead.

Something hard hit her shoulder, and Emily whirled around, her heart leaping to her throat. It was only an elementary-school boy pushing past her, running for the ball field. She placed one hand in the other, trying to stop it from trembling. Her hands had been shaking like crazy all morning.

"How could Ian have faked his death?" Emily blurted when she reached the circle. "We all saw him. He looked...blue."

Hanna, bundled in a white wool coat and faux-fur scarf, raised her shoulders. The only color in her face was her red-rimmed eyes; it looked like she hadn't slept much last night, either. Aria, wearing a thin, trendy-looking gray leather jacket and green fingerless gloves, shook her head, saying nothing. She wasn't wearing her usual sparkly makeup. Even neat-as-a-pin Spencer looked disheveled—her hair was in a greasy, lumpy ponytail.

"It fits," Spencer croaked. "Ian pretended to be dead, and he called us to the woods because he knew we'd go to the police and tell them we saw him."

Aria sank down onto of the swings. "But why wouldn't Ian just run? Why would he put on a show for us?"

"When the cops found out he was missing, they started searching for him immediately," Spencer explained. "But then when we saw his body, they turned their attention to the woods instead. We distracted them for a few days, long enough so Ian could really escape. We probably did exactly what he wanted us to." She gazed up at the clouds, a helpless expression on her face.

Hanna sank onto her left hip. "What do you think A has to do with this? A lured us into the woods so we'd see Ian. A is obviously working with him."

"This text makes it pretty obvious that Ian and A were in cahoots," Spencer said, shoving her phone at them. Emily read the first two lines again. When I said he had to go, I didn't mean he had to die. Still, there's something really sketchy in this case...and it's up to you to figure out what it is. She bit her lip hard, then gazed at the dragon-shaped slide behind them. Years ago, whenever something or someone at school scared her, she would hide inside the dragon's head at the top until she felt better. She felt an overwhelming urge to do that now.

"It seems like A helped Ian bust out," Spencer went on. "They worked together—when Ian met me on my back porch last week, A threatened that if I told the cops, I'd get hurt. If I would've told them, they would've rearrested Ian...and he couldn't have escaped."

"A was worried about any of us saying anything," Emily piped up. "All of my notes said that if I didn't tell A's secret, A wouldn't tell mine."

Hanna looked at Emily, a curious smile on her lips. "This A knows some secrets about you?"

Emily shrugged. For a while, A was taunting Emily about how she'd kept her sexuality from Isaac. "Not anymore," she said.

"What if Ian is A?" Aria suggested. "It still makes a lot of sense."

Emily shook her head. "The texts weren't from Ian. The cops checked his phone."