A/N: Thank you again for all the lovely reviews! I'll keep this short, so you can just read the chapter. :)


Chapter Eight

A Not Quite Dead Body

The living room of the Hastings household was quiet, each mom sipping coffee from their cups and lost in their own thoughts. They had wanted their daughters to be with Spencer after her ordeal, but none of them were too keen on letting their daughters out of their sights with Charles still on the loose. Of course, the girls weren't happy about it, but their desire to see their friend overrode any anger they'd felt. Spencer hadn't said much when Toby brought her home last night, she'd seemed tired and worn out. Veronica had thought it would do her some good to see her friends today and she had seemed more like herself this morning.

"I can't believe he escaped last night," Ella Montgomery said incredulously, setting her cup down on the coffee table. "I can't believe the police let him escape."

"Well, don't pout for too long," Veronica replied, from her place over by the mantle. She turned around to face the other moms. "Because the police know who to look for now."

"Wait, they identified him?" Ashley Marin questioned.

Veronica nodded. "Both Spencer and Toby saw him," she explained. "And let me tell you, I got a look at the sketch and he looks almost exactly like Jason Dilaurentis."

"So Charles is really Jason?" Ashley asked, leaning forward while trying to make sense of this new information.

"No, he's not," Veronica corrected her. She came around the couch to face the others. "There were similarities, but there were also differences. Like brothers, twins even."

"So, Jason has a twin brother," Ella stated, obviously. "How is that no one has ever know an extra Dilaurentis child, let alone a twin of a boy we've seen grow up?"

"There are so many secrets in that house, it could fill an entire book," Veronica said, and looked out the back door of the house, as if she could see all the way inside the Dilaurentis house.

They all lapsed into silence, all lost in their own thoughts. Knowing that this person could have grown up in the house right near their girls made it all worse somehow. Who knew how long he had been obsessed with them? And how many more times did he have to elude the police before they finally caught him? Their daughters would not be safe until that monster was behind bars for life.

"So, besides finally having a face, do the police have any more leads on where Charles could have gone?" Ella asked the question that was probably on everyone's minds.

"Not that I've heard," Pam answered, shaking her head. "Of course, I'm not one of the higher-ups, so they don't really tell me anything."

"But Toby did mention last night that they're no longer looking for one person anymore," Veronica said, her eyes lighting up as she remembered something. "There was a woman in a red coat there, at Radley, with Charles." They all looked up at her, wearing the same horrified expressions on their faces. The new-found truth burning brightly in front of them; it wasn't just one person doing this to their daughters, it was two.

~OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~

Spencer lay in her bed with her friends surrounding her, feeling glad to be back in her own home. Safe and loved in her own bed, out of reach of anyone who could hurt her. She fingered the edge of her comforter, she'd just finished telling her friends about what happened while she was at Radley. They seemed to have taken it in stride, but now Spencer saw questions arise in their eyes. She sat up and crossed her legs.

"So, according to him, all the texts, and all the threats," Aria was the first to speak from her perch at the end of the bed. "That was him protecting us?"

Spencer nodded, though she had trouble believing it herself. "That's what he was saying," She shrugged, not sure what else to say.

"Wow, he's even crazier than we thought, then," Hanna muttered, dropping a lip stick she'd been playing with onto Spencer's bureau and turning around to face them.

Spencer watched her and then, cleared her throat. "Yeah, anyway, he also kept referring to a she and I saw her," she added.

"Wait, Charles has somebody else helping him?!" Emily said in disbelief, leaning onto the bed post. "Who?"

"I think it's Bethany," Spencer replied, watching them carefully. "When they were in the room together, Charles called her Beth. There's really no other explanation."

"As in Bethany Young?'" Aria questioned. "But the police identified the body in Ali's grave as hers. I don't..."

"Charles has done a lot of impossible things, I think tampering with a little DNA test would be a cake walk for him," Spencer said.

"But why?" Emily asked. "What does he have to gain by making us think that Bethany is dead when she's not?"

"I don't know," Spencer admitted. "But what if he was protecting us from her, Bethany? When I was there in that room, I got the feeling that he didn't trust her."

"So, maybe he wasn't the one to fake the test," Hanna suggested, and everyone turned to look at her. "What? Spence just said that she got the major willies with that girl. It makes sense."

"I don't think I said just like that, but Hanna does have point," Spencer agreed, receiving a smug look from Hanna. "But then, that means there is another girl dead. Who is she?"

They were all silent for a moment, all processing this new information. Spencer knew that it was a lot, she was stilling trying to figure out the dynamic between Charles and Bethany and now there was another innocent girl who got caught in the middle of all this. They'd seemed friendly toward each other, but Spencer had clearly felt a tension between them, mostly coming from Charles.

"So, which one is the more dangerous one?" Hanna asked, speaking the fear Spencer had been trying not to think of since last night. Spencer shrugged, knowing that wasn't the right answer.

"We should probably let you get some rest," Aria said after that. "Have you talked to Toby yet today?"

"Just in a few texts," Spencer replied. "He's finishing up at work and then he said he'll call."

"We'll let you get some rest, then," Emily said.

Her friends said their good-byes and wished her well, and then, Spencer was alone with her crazy thoughts and theories. She lied down on her pillow and turned onto her side, wanting to shut off her brain her a little while.

~OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~

The truck sat on the side of the street, near the park, but neither one of them really felt like getting out. Their arms were around each other with their faces pressed together as if the other was their only air source. It was like if they let go, they would disappear and be all alone again. The kiss itself was like its' own entity; tasting and devouring them, merging two beings into one. There were hands in hair, lips on skin, and passion, so much passion.

Spencer didn't know where her body ended and his began, nor did she care. All she cared about was the truck was way too small and she suddenly wished they were somewhere, anywhere else. Her bedroom, his apartment, anywhere but this tiny bench seat. Spencer tried to pull him down closer to her, but her leg hit the center console, knocking her a bit off balance. Groaning into her mouth, Spencer said,

"You need a bigger car."

Suddenly, Spencer wished she hadn't said anything, because after that, Toby broke the kiss and pulled away. "I'm sorry, I didn't pick you up so I could attack you like that," he said, smiling a little.

"Hey, I wasn't complaining," Spencer grinned at him, her hand sliding up his arm. Like two magnets, they were drawn together, the space between them disappearing again. Toby's lips were soft when they touched hers, and then, suddenly, they were gone.

"This is ridicules," Toby mumbled, then he looked up at her, his breaths coming in short gasps. "We need to get a grip on ourselves."

"You're right," Spencer nodded and she scooted over to the far side of the truck. Toby looked like he didn't like the sudden distance between them and Spencer felt a bit of satisfaction at that. He cleared his throat and wiped his hands on his jeans.

"So, how's the search on Charles?" Spencer asked, glancing out the side window, where a mother and a young boy were leaving the park in a hurry.

"You know I can't talk about open cases," Toby said.

Spencer turned back to look at him, not wanting to get into this same, old argument with him. "Toby, we were both in that room, I am a part of this whether you like it or not," she told him gently.

"I know," Toby sighed, staring out the windshield. Finally, he looked at her. "Charles has somebody working with him." he admitted, though, of course, Spencer already knew that. "Lorenzo and I saw her run out of a room full of technical equipment, right before I found you."

"Oh,"

"Oh? You don't sound surprised," Toby said, a bit confused.

Spencer thought about not telling him, but she was tired of all the secrets and she just wanted all this to be over. "Because I saw her too," she confessed. "She came into the room once. Toby, I think she's Bethany Young."

"Spencer, Bethany's dead," Toby corrected her. "She was the body in Alison's grave."

"I don't think so," Spencer said, her voice quiet.

"We had an autopsy and a DNA test performed on the body," Toby replied, though there was a tone in his voice that suggested that maybe, possibly, it wasn't true. "Why are you so convinced that it's not Bethany?"

"Because, Charles called her Beth," Spencer explained. "And I know that it's not really any proof, but I just have this feeling I'm right. Toby, please say you believe me."

Toby reached across the seat and took her hand, from where it was resting on the worn fabric of the seat. "Of course, I believe you," he assured her.

Before he could say anything else, the police radio sitting on the dashboard crackled to life. Spencer could only make out a few garbled words, 'park' and 'situation ongoing' among them. Toby picked up the radio and held it up to his ear, listening intently. By the time he put the radio back down, his face was somber. He ignored her when she asked him about it, instead Toby reached over and pulled his police badge and gun from the glove compartment.

"Toby's what's going on?" Spencer repeated.

"There's something going down in the park," Toby finally said, vaguely. "Spencer, please stay in the truck."

Spencer had every intention to listen to him as he ran across the street toward the park. Even though every part of her was on edge, desperate to know what was happening over there. She could now hear the police sirens and she saw the sudden influx of people being escorted from the park. Spencer leaned forward, hoping to see something, even though she knew she was too far away to see anything. Then, she noticed something was different in the crowd in front of her.

A man in a black hoodie walked fast through the crowd, his head down. Everything thing about him screamed suspicious and before Spencer knew it, she was standing outside the truck. She thought about calling out to him, but thought better of it. He started running and, not wanting to lose him, she started chasing after him. It was hard to keep pace with him once she was in the crowd, but she could just see the top of his hooded-head. He weaved in and out of the mass of people and then Charles ducked down a side alley.

Spencer increased her pace and nearly ran into someone in her haste, receiving a nasty look from the woman. By the time she righted herself, Charles was gone. The crowd dispersed quickly and Spencer spun around in circles trying to see which way Charles had went. She jumped back when an ambulance sped past her, it's sirens blaring, and stopped near the park's entrance.

"Spencer!"

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the hand came down suddenly on her shoulder and she spun around with a gasp. Toby stood in front, looking just as startled as she was.

"I told you to stay in the truck," he told her.

"I just thought I saw something," Spencer said, unable to prevent herself from glancing over her shoulder. "What happened?"

Toby seemed to steel himself before saying whatever he was about to. "We just found a body," he told her, his hands going to her shoulders. "It's Mona."


A/N: Finally, we get to see what happened to Mona. I know a few of you have been asking about her. Please review, if you want more! :)