Matters of the Heart

Chapter 8: I See You

Chapter 8:

I See You

Emily was getting ready to leave Spencer's when the text came in. Their phones chimed in unison. They stared at one another, unmoving, knowing exactly what it was. Emily had gotten that feeling in the pit of her stomach enough times to know that the group message wasn't from Ali or Aria. Hanna groaned and Spencer threw her head back and let out an irritated sigh. Emily rolled her eyes and tried to mentally prepare herself as she reached for her phone. Just like the first one, it wasn't signed, but there was no mistaking who it was from.

"Heard you put on quite the performance during dinner theater at the DiLaurentis Dynasty. Here's some food for thought: I've acquired the taste for payback...and you bitches are on the menu."

Emily pressed her lips together in annoyance as she read the text. She looked at Spencer and Hanna. They looked equally pissed off. Seconds later, Spencer's phone rang. Aria had gotten the text, too. She was at the airport on standby hoping to get back to Rosewood sooner rather than later. Spencer skirted around the details of the evening. She didn't mention that Alison had photo evidence that put her near the scene of the crime around the time of Charlotte's death. Aria still had no idea her friends knew that she'd left the hotel the night Charlotte was killed. The last thing the girls wanted was for Aria to have a panic attack mid-flight.

Part of Emily wanted to tell Aria to stay gone. But the other part of her knew that it would look worse for her if she did. She just had to hope that Alison wouldn't take what she had to the police. Emily had made it perfectly clear to Ali that if she turned Aria in that their relationship would never recover. She hadn't planned to give her an ultimatum, but she wanted Ali to know that she needed to make her choices carefully. She knew the only way to get Ali's attention was to pull away. She just hoped she hadn't overestimated Ali's feelings for her.

After the dinner at Alison's and the menacing text, Spencer was ready to go on offense. The political part of her brain was in overdrive telling her to get a handle on the problem before it spun out anymore. Emily barely heard a word of what Spencer was saying. Her brain was fried.

"Em, you're the one who talked to her. What do you think?" Spencer tried to pull her into the conversation. "You think she'll go to the cops?"

"I don't know."

"Well, we need to figure out what to do about her, and fast," Spencer said.

"Forget about Ali. What are we going to do about this new A-hole?" Hanna frowned.

"How do we know they're not one in the same?" Spencer muttered.

"No." Emily massaged her temples. "She may be angry, but Ali wouldn't do this to us."

"Yeah, Ali's a lot of things, but she's not completely heartless." Hanna agreed.

"I can't deal with this right now." Emily sighed. She grabbed her things and stood up. "I'll call you guys in the morning."

"I'm heading back to the loft. You want me to give you a lift?" Hanna questioned.

"Uh, no thanks. I want to walk." She needed to clear her head.

"Okay, well...be careful," Spencer said.

Emily nodded to acknowledge her and then walked out. She hadn't gotten more than ten steps away from the barn when she heard Hanna calling out to her. She turned around and Hanna was right behind her holding something in her hands.

"You forgot your phone." She held Emily's phone out to her.

"Oh." Emily took her cell and put it into her purse. "Thanks." She smiled. "Considering who has the number maybe I should forget it in the middle of the ocean somewhere."