This was the third time Emily had been in the interrogation room. She wondered if the other girls were being grilled like her or if the police had discovered some flaw in her story. Had she gotten some part of it wrong? She thought she had remembered it perfectly: the fabricated details about how they had found Ali, how Ezra had been shot, who they thought was responsible. But she'd had to tell the same story three times already and now she was worried she'd mixed up some seemingly insignificant detail. She went over it in her head again as she sat waiting for her interrogator to return. After years of thinking Ali dead, her friend had suddenly reached out to them for help, saying she was being stalked and needed money to stay hidden. They had no idea Ali was even alive. That part, at least, was the truth. But what her friends had agreed not to mention was that they had also been stalked for years by the same shadowy figure that was trying to kill Ali: A.
Suddenly the door opened, and Emily jumped in her seat. She had been so lost in her thoughts she'd almost forgotten where she was.
"Okay, Miss Fields, you're free to go," the officer told her, holding the door open. Emily stared between him and the door. Had the police really bought their story? If the police believed them, that meant they were becoming much better liars. The thought made her uneasy.
"Go. Now," the officer said pointing at the door. "Before I change my mind."
Emily jumped from her seat and bolted through the door. Another officer, a rookie she'd never seen before, was waiting outside the interrogation room. He handed over her confiscated purse and led her out.
"Emily!" Her mother called out as soon as she stepped into the police lobby. Both of her parents rushed to her and enveloped her in hugs.
"Are you all right?" Her mother asked, holding her at arm's length and scanning her for any injuries.
"Yeah, mom, I'm just tired."
Emily looked over the shoulders of her mother and father and spotted her friends surrounded by their parents. Everyone was there except Aria. Emily assumed she was already on her way to the hospital to be by Ezra's bedside. Farther away she potted Spencer's mother having what seemed to be a heated discussion with Detective Holbrook, but they were too far away for Emily to hear them.
Her father asked, "What on Earth would possess you to just take off like that?"
Emily stuttered on a response, "I'm sorry. I just - Alison needed our help."
"It's okay," her mother said. "We're just relieved you're all right. Now we just need to get you home, get some rest and we'll talk about it in the morning."
Her mother began leading her by the arm out of police station.
"Wait," Emily said, pulling her arm away. "I have to talk -"
"Pam, Wayne." Spencer's mom intercepted them as they neared the door. "There's something we all need to discuss."
Emily's mom sighed heavily, "It can't wait?"
"I'm afraid not, " Spencer's mother, Veronica, said as she ushered them towards the larger group. Emily had wanted a moment alone with her friends but with their parents swarming around them she knew that would be impossible tonight.
"We have a problem," Spencer's mother announced to the group. She paused before adding, "Well, a problem other than the police questioning the girls for hours without legal representation. No one seems to be able to get ahold of either of Alison's parents. They checked the DiLaurentis home and no one is there."
"Have you called my father?" Alison asked.
"The police have reached out to your father, no answer," Veronica responded. "They also have not been able to contact with your brother."
Veronica addressed the other parents. "That being said, Alison will need somewhere to stay until we can reach her parents."
"I'm more than capable of finding my own place to say," Alison interjected. "I've obviously been doing so for a while now."
Veronica stared at Alison for a moment, her face expressionless. But Emily noticed how tightly her fists were clenched.
"Alison, you've proven yourself capable of feats none of us could have even imagined," Veronica said. Her face was expressionless, but Emily noticed how tightly her fists were clenched. "Still the police would like to keep tabs on you until they can verify your …story. They'll need to know where you are at all times and you'll have a police detail assigned to you. And in order to get you released on your own recognizance, I've agreed that you would stay with one of us."
"You're not my attorney," Alison said, glaring at Veronica. "Wait – 'on my own recognizance?' Am I being charged with something?"
"No, not yet," Veronica said." But Alison…you faked your own death. A man stood trial for your murder. They could very well charge you with conspiracy, fraud, falsifying a report."
"But I didn't fake my own death." Alison protested. "I hid – for my own protection – after someone tried to kill me."
"Well, that's the story, isn't it." Veronica said.
"Mom, can't she just stay with us?" Spencer asked.
"Well…I think…" Veronica stalled.
"No," Alison cut her off. "I don't want the police keeping tabs on where I am."
Alison glanced at Detective Holbrooke who stood speaking just feet away with another officer, then lowered her voice. "I just don't trust the same people who have for years been unable to catch the person who tried to kill me. The record of the Rosewood PD isn't exactly glowing."
"Gabriel is an honest cop," Hanna interjected. "He's trying to keep you safe."
"I'm sure people thought the same thing about Garrett and Wilden," Alison replied.
"Gab – Detective Holbrooke is nothing like them," Hanna said.
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice Alison," Veronica broke in. "Unless you want to spend the next few nights in a jail cell you'll have to agree to a police detail. "
"Fine," Alison relented. "But only on certain conditions.
"Alison, you're not really in a position to be making demands right now," Veronica said.
Alison continued, "I want Detective Holbrooke to be on my security detail and any officers he personally trusts."
She turned to Hanna, "I trust your judgment. If you vouch for him I won't question it."
The remark earned her a small smile from Hanna.
"I also want to stay with Emily," Alison said, turning to her other friend. "If that's all right with you. I always feel so much safer with -" Alison's voice wavered and she looked away. "With your dad around," she finished. "Him being ex-military and all. "
Emily smiled broadly at the suggestion. She didn't want to read too much into it. Maybe it was just because Ali thought her father would be extra protection. But Emily couldn't help but hope it was something more. That Ali wanted to spend more time with her. The two could stay up late into the night talking like they used to, catching up on the last two years of their lives.
Emily stopped herself. Her thoughts were entering into dangerous territory. They would inevitably lead to other thoughts and those thoughts would expose emotional wounds that were only just barely healed, if they were healed at all. Ali may seem like a person changed for the better, but Emily didn't want to risk pulling away her bandages to show her wounds to someone who had always been so talented at knowing when and where to pour salt to trigger the most pain.
"Of course, you can stay with us," Emily said in a voice that she hoped hid her true excitement. She was only helping a friend after all. Nothing more. "Right, Mom, Dad?"
Emily's parents exchanged looks. Each seemed to be waiting for the other to respond.
"Alison's mom did take me in when I needed a place to stay," Emily added. "And aren't you guys always telling me how important it is to help a friend in need?"
Emily's mother said, "Of course Alison is always welcome in our home, Emily. But what is the risk here? I don't want to put you in any more danger than you're already in. This person – whoever it is, is still out there."
"You don't have to worry about that," Emily's father interjected, wrapping a protective arm around his wife's shoulder. "That's my job. Alison can stay with us as long as she needs to."
"Thank you. All of you," Alison said, turning to the group. "I know this can't be easy on anyone, seeing me here after all this time. It hasn't been easy for me the past two years. I didn't expect to be able to ever come back here but now that I know I have so much support, I feel –"
Veronica interrupted, "Alison, I'm sure you have a lot you would like to catch us up on but right now most of us simply need to catch up on some sleep. We've been up for days looking for the girls after their…disappearing act. I'll talk to Detective Holbrooke about getting officers stationed outside your house," she said to Emily's parents. "Other than that I don't see why we can't all go home."
"Thank God," Hanna said. "I've been in the same outfit for the last two days."
She tugged at her dress, a look of disgust on her face.
Both Emily and Spencer glanced down at their own dingy clothes. None of them had showered since yesterday morning. They'd spent the early morning hours driving back to Rosewood from New York in the back of a squad car. Then they'd been kept at the police station all day, grilled with question after question. Emily doubted the police had even told their parents they had been found until tonight.
"Emmy," her father said, interrupting her thoughts as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go home."
"I'll call you," Spencer mouthed as her parents ushered her out of the station.
Emily felt a soft hand wrap around her own.
"Are you ready?" Alison asked, her hold tightening.
Emily looked down at their clasped hands and was swept with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. After all this time, she finally had her friend back. The two locked eyes and in that moment Emily felt a deep need to connect with the girl beside her. She knew that longing. She'd felt it before, every day that she'd been near Ali before her friend had disappeared. Emily was already in danger of an emotional freefall and she knew it. But that didn't stop her from tightening her own grip on Ali's hand in return.
"Yeah," Emily said smiling. "After you."
