Rosewood to Belmar, NJ - Sunday Late Night

[new_it_girl]

***

Caleb	"The app is voice activated, so it'll record any sound that it hears," Caleb told the girls as they stood around the freshly re-buried grave. "And I can pick up the feed, so I'll be with you every step of the way."
Spencer	"Caleb," Spencer spoke up. "I think you 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."
Caleb	Caleb lifted the bag. "I should just get out of sight."
Hanna	After nearly an hour of waiting, Hanna called Caleb's cellphone. "Do you see anything?"
Caleb	"Nothing," Caleb replied. "Not a car in sight."
Hanna	A few more minutes had gone by when Hanna noticed Caleb had gotten into his car. That was followed by her phone ringing. "Where are you going?"
Caleb	"I don't think Paige ever planned on meeting you guys," Caleb told her. "I'm heading to Belmar. You guys go to Bay Head."
Hanna	Hanna recognized those towns. Emily was staying at a bed and breakfast type place in Jersey. There was one in Belmar and one in Bay Head. They didn't actually know which one. Had Paige tricked them so she could go to Emily? Once the girls had driven closer to their destination, Hanna called Caleb again. "Promise me you'll be careful."
Aria	Aria spoke up just then. "There it is, on the hill."
Caleb	"Hanna," Caleb said after hearing what Aria said. "I love you."
Hanna	Hanna didn't hesitate to reply, though she was worried. "I love you, too, Caleb." She hoped he would be very careful because the girls were at the wrong place. Caleb was their only hope now.
Spencer	"I guess we better get over to Belmar," Spencer sighed, already driving in that direction.
Hanna	When they arrived, there was all sorts of commotion. Hanna's heart sank when she saw flashing lights...just like the time Ali's and Maya's bodies were found.
Spencer	"Oh god," Spencer said fearfully, immediately getting out of the car.
Hanna	What were they going to find? Hanna's first thought was of Emily. Did Paige hurt her? Hanna rushed over to the yellow police tape surrounding a potential crime scene.
Aria	"There's Em," Aria pointed out.
Hanna	Sure enough, Emily was with Paige. Both were talking to the police. That's when Hanna spotted the body bag. Immediately she burst into hysterical tears. Was it Caleb? Oh god. This couldn't be happening. No. Aria and Spencer clung to Hanna, comforting her.
Aria	"Han, it's not him," Aria assured, glancing at the body bag as it and whoever was in there was being wheeled into a medical examiner's van . "Not in there..."
Hanna	But Caleb was in danger. Now that her attention was off that horror, she noticed he was on a stretcher, unconscious. He had an oxygen mask on and was hooked up to an I.V. There was a clear wound on his stomach, though closer to his left side. The bandage covering it was already red.
Emily	That wasn't helping Hanna to be any less hysterical. The only thing that made her feel any better at all was Emily rushing over to her, pulling her into a comforting hug. "I'm so sorry. So so sorry..."
Hanna	Hanna clung to her, crying on her shoulder. She caught a glimpse of Paige, who was obviously answering the police questions just so Emily could be with Hanna. That wasn't something an 'A' would ever do. Hanna felt terrible right now.
Paige	There'd be time for apologies later...if Paige would even accept them. She had every right to hold a grudge against them for this.

***

Once the girls were settled in the waiting room, Hanna felt a little less hysterical. Caleb was in surgery and was likely going to pull through. That was somewhat more reassuring.

Emily and Paige explained what had happened. They found Maya's killer. Her cousin Nate wasn't her cousin at all. His name wasn't even Nate. It was Lyndon James. That explained the L.J. initials on the knife in Maya's bag.

He killed her, and, in his deranged mind, blamed Emily for it. He brought her there to make her watch him take someone she loved from her: Paige. She wasn't Maya's killer at all. She was just another victim.

Emily, in a clear cut case of self-defense, fought him off and stabbed him. Caleb, doing exactly what Hanna forbade him to do, brought the gun after all and stupidly put it down to comfort Emily. Nate was alive enough to claim another victim.

Hanna couldn't wait until Caleb was awake so she could yell at him for being so incredibly maddening! She was just glad she'd likely have the opportunity to do that. Though she knew there could be complications. She tried not to think about that.

"Hanna, you need to drink something," Spencer said, offering her a cup of water.

Hanna shrugged it off. She didn't want to talk to Spencer right now. Once again, she was wrong about a potential 'A.' Yeah, Hanna went along with it, but she was being irrational right now.

Just then, all of the girls' phones buzzed. Each of them picked it up to listen. "Emily, I owe you."

It was in a garbled, unrecognizable voice, of course. The new 'A' was still out there.

"What does that mean?"

They got their answer when Spencer's mother rushed over to them. All of their parents had been notified. Once she was sure Spencer was okay, she glanced appreciatively at Emily. "You got a killer off the streets and allowed an innocent man to go free."

Garrett. Mrs. Hastings had been representing him, much to Spencer's dismay.

He was going to be free now. Somehow, Hanna didn't feel good about that.

That relaxing massage in The Seychelles seemed like it was a million years ago.

[nfb, nfi; warning for creepy cemeteries, psychopaths, character death, and gun violence; from 3x12 "The Lady Killer"; finished at least until the Halloween episode airs, then glorious hiatus from canon catch ups.]