"It's done."
Ezra turned at the sound of his former student's voice and raked his hands through his hands nervously. "Are you sure?"
"Please." Mona scoffed offend, and glanced over at Toby. "It was as easy as she'd said it'd be."
"Divide and conquer," Toby added with a wicked smirk. "The girls never even saw it coming.
Ezra nodded, satisfied with the night's outcome. "Where are they now?"
"Still looking for Aria as far as we know," Mona replied casually. She paused to check her low-brand cell-phone for any new updates before continuing, "Paige is keeping Caleb occupied up front."
"Good," Ezra remarked distractedly. "I tried to grab Spencer earlier but Paige...intercepted."
"Hey, as far as I see it that's a good thing," Mona said, propping herself up on the train's window sill. "That just gives them more reason to trust Paige."
Ezra frowned and glanced over at the party that was obliviously raging on. "Still it sets us back a few weeks. And we don't know how much Garret told Spencer." He stopped and turned towards Toby. "That reminds me, you should probably get back out there. One of us needs to keep an eye on Jason."
"Yes, sir," Toby replied sarcastically with a mocking bow.
Mona watched as Toby backed out of the room and closed the compartment doors securely before hopping off her make-shift perch and sauntering over to Ezra.
"You really need to start being nicer to Toby, you know," she scolded chidingly. "He's one of us now."
Ignoring Mona, Ezra closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. "I know."
"Then what's wrong?" She purred inquisitively. "You seem tense. Is it Garret?" she threw her head back and laughed amusedly. "Don't worry about him, Big E. He doesn't even realize what he really saw. And we made sure he'll never be able to now, remember?"
"It's not Garret," Ezra said as Mona ran her hand up and down his arm comfortingly.
"Then what-oh." Recognition dawned in her eyes and she pulled her hand away from him immediately. "You're kidding me! You actually feel guilty about Aria, don't you?"
Ezra eyes hardened and he glared down at her coldly. "I loved her."
"So what?" Mona remarked flippantly. "Hanna was my best friend, but I still didn't hesitate to run her over with my car. And look at Toby; he would have done anything for Spencer and now he can't wait to get his hands around her neck."
"I don't regret any of my choices," he said doubtlessly. "I know that she had to go."
Mona smiled happily. "Good. I was beginning to think you still had feelings for that brat." She gave him a not-so-subtle suggestive once-over and leaned forward. "Now, let's see what two hours on a train can get us."
Ezra smirked slyly and bent his head down against Mona's smooth neck. He chuckled lightly to himself as she shivered involuntarily against his breath and started trailing his way up to her lips.
"You," he murmured slowly, their mouths now mere inches apart, "Should get going."
She jerked her head back flinchingly as if he had physically slapped her and opened her mouth in surprise. "Excuse me?"
"It's almost midnight," he elaborated. "The loony bin might notice that their star patient is missing."
"But," she pursed her lips purposefully, trying to contain the anger that was coursing through her body. "I thought-"
"Go," he snapped, his voice deadly and serious. "Now."
Mona's eyes hardened and she slipped her mask back over her face, emotionless. "As you wish."
In a flash, she was gone, her dark cloak blending in with the shadows of the party. Ezra felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket and reached into his jacket to pull it out.
There was one new text.
Frowning, he clicked open his inbox and scanned the message quickly.
And I thought Hanna was good at breaking hearts. Ouch!
-A
Ezra sighed and slipped the phone back in his pocket. Mona was fun to fool around with, but he just couldn't bring himself to stay with her knowing everything they had done tonight. It wasn't like it mattered anyway. Mona would be over his sharp rejection in no time. In fact, she was probably scoping out Toby's butt right now.
He slumped against the nearest wall tiredly and started to reach for the pills in his front pocket when the door to the compartment burst open suddenly.
A police officer stood authoritatively in the doorway, shining a flashlight in Ezra's direction. "Sorry, sir, but we need everybody up front for questioning-" his eyes suddenly narrowed and he inspected Ezra suspiciously. "What are you doing back here anyway, Mr...?"
"Fitz," Ezra supplied smoothly. "And I was just, uh, looking for my girlfriend. I came to surprise her, but this train is a lot bigger than I thought."
The officer continued to stare at him skeptically, sensing Ezra's unease.
"What's this about officer?" Ezra asked carefully. "Did something happen?"
"Someone's been murdered, Mr. Fitz," the officer replied hastily. "And another passenger was injured. So if you'd kindly follow me, I'll bring you to a detective and we can try and find your girlfriend after you've answered all of their questions."
Ezra nodded meekly and followed the officer to the front of the train. Vaguely, he wondered if Toby or Mona had somehow been exposed and taken down by one of the girls. Truth be told, he didn't know who or what to expect; Mona hadn't mentioned any injuries when she came in before so it must have happened fairly recently.
Nothing, however, could prepare him for the shock of seeing Aria, alive and well, with medical tape wrapped roughly around her wrist. He glanced over at Toby who shrugged helplessly, both arms wrapped tightly around Spencer as Aria rushed towards him.
"You found me," she chocked out in relief, hugging him with all her might.
"Yeah," he managed to reply, disbelief written across his whole face and etched in his voice. "I found you."
