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ers, Sean Ackard, and Naomi Zeigler, were on the dance floor, wriggling around to a remixed Seal
song. After grabbing a flute of champagne and downing it in a few quick gulps, she started darting
around the clusters of people, searching for Emily. She had to tell her about the yearbook.
When she felt a tap on her shoulder, she turned.  You made it! Ella cried, giving Aria a big hug.
 H- hi. Aria tried to smile. Ella wore a lacy sea green wrap around her shoulders and a sleek
black silk sheath. Xavier was right next to her. He wore a pin- striped suit over a blue button- down
and held a glass of champagne.
 Nice to see you again, Aria. Xavier s eyes moved from Aria s eyes to her boobs to her hips.
Aria s insides curdled.  How s life at your father s house?
 Fine, thank you, Aria said stiffly. She tried to shoot Ella a private, pleading look, but her mom s
eyes were glassy. Aria wondered if she d had a couple of drinks before they arrived. Ella often did
that before a show.
Noel Kahn s father tapped Ella on her shoulder, and Aria s mother turned to talk to him. Xavier
moved closer to Aria and placed his hand on her hip.  I ve missed you, he said. His breath was hot
and smelled like whiskey.  Have you missed me?
 I have to go now, Aria said loudly, feeling color rise to her cheeks. She shot away from Xavier
fast, ducking around a woman in a fluffy mink stole. She heard Ella call out,  Aria? There was hurt
and disappointment in her voice. But Aria kept going.
She came to a stop in front of a large stained- glass window that featured a portrait of a pie-
file:///C|/Users/Shanna/Desktop/Killer.html[29/08/2009 3:09:23 p.m.]
Killer
faced minstrel and his lute. When she felt a second tug on her arm, she cringed, worried Xavier had
followed her. But it was only Emily. A few strands of her red- gold hair had loosened from her
French twist, and her cheeks were flushed.  I ve been looking all over for you, Emily exclaimed.
 I just got here, Aria said.  Traffic was horrible.
Emily pulled a large, dusty green book from under her arm. Its pages were gilt- edged, and it re-
minded Aria of a volume of an encyclopedia.  Look at this. Emily opened it up and pointed to a
name in cursive. Jason DiLaurentis. There was a date and time next to his name from seven years
ago.
 I found it upstairs, Emily explained.  This must be a sign- in book from back when this place
was a mental hospital.
Aria blinked in disbelief. She raised her head, looking around. A handsome silver- haired man,
presumably the hotel owner, glided through the crowd, looking pleased with his handiwork. There
were displays throughout the ballroom describing the multimillion- dollar gym that had been built on
the second floor, and the state- of- the- art spa facilities. She had heard something about this place
once being a hospital for mentally ill children, but it was hard to believe that now.
 Look. Emily leafed from page to page.  Jason s name is here, and then here, and then here. It
goes on like this for years. It stops right before we staked out Ali for her flag. Emily lowered the
book to her hip, giving Aria a plaintive look.  I know you have a thing for Jason. But this is weird.
Do you think maybe he was& a patient?
Aria ran her hands through her hair. Is this some kind of joke? Jason had asked when Aria had
shown him the Radley invitation. Her heart sank. Maybe he d once been a patient here. Maybe he
thought Aria was taunting him with the invite, paranoid that Aria knew way more about him than
she d let on.
 Oh my God, Aria croaked.  A sent me a text a couple days ago. It said Jason was hiding some-
thing from me, and I didn t want to know what. I sort of& ignored it. She lowered her eyes.  I
thought A was messing with me. But& I& I went out with Jason a couple times. On one of our dates,
he got really uncomfortable when I told him I was coming to a party here. He also told me that he
saw a psychiatrist at Rosewood Day. Maybe that was in addition to the doctor he saw& here. She
stared at the book again. Jason s name was written in achingly neat cursive, each letter looped and
even.
Emily nodded.  And I ve been trying to tell you all day that A sent me a note last night telling me
to go to Ali s old neighborhood. I saw Jason in Jenna s house. Yelling at her.
Aria sank down into the velvet chair next to the stained- glass window, filled with even more
dread.  What were they saying?
Emily shook her head.  I don t know. But they seemed upset. Maybe he really had done some-
thing terrible to Ali and that s why he was sent here.
Aria stared down at the polished marble floor. She could see a haloed reflection of her peacock-
blue dress in the tiles. This whole week, Aria had been so irritated with Emily, convinced she wasn t
looking at the Ali and Jason situation objectively. But maybe Aria wasn t either.
Emily sighed.  We should probably talk to Wilden about this.
 We can t go to Wilden, a voice interrupted.
They both turned. Hanna stood behind them, a frazzled look on her face.  Wilden s the last per-
son we should go to with anything.
Emily leaned against the window.  Why?
Hanna settled onto the chaise.  You remember when we met in Ali s backyard to steal her flag?
After she went back inside, I saw this car sitting at her curb. It seemed like whoever was inside was
casing the place. And the other day, I went running, and I saw Wilden standing in front of Ali s
house again, even though the cops called off the search. He gave me a ride home& but he wasn t
driving his squad car. He was driving the same car I saw years ago in front of Ali s house. What if he
was stalking her? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]