CHAPTER 9:

"I'll be back before you know it." Alison laughed. Emily sighed from the other end of the line.

"I know, but I miss you." She muttered.

Alison glanced around, making sure no one was in close range.

"I miss you too Em." She sighed. "Next time we come out here, you have to come along."

"Really? You'd take me?" Emily sounded slightly surprised at the offer. "It's your family's place…"

Alison rolled her eyes. "Who cares? They wouldn't. Besides, I'd love to have you come up." Alison smiled.

"Well, I'd be honored. Oh, my mom is calling for me. I'll call you later, okay Ali?" Emily suggested.

"I look forward to it. Bye Emily, I love you."

Alison's eyes widened. She hadn't meant to say such an intimate statement, but it had slipped out before she realized. Not that she regretted it, she really did have strong feelings for the brunette.

"I-I love you too." Emily stuttered, and the line went dead. Alison sighed, and closed her eyes. She hoped she hadn't screwed things up with Emily, but with her luck; things would be awkward when she got home.

"Who were you talking to?"

Alison's dad walked up behind her.

"Emily." Alison stated, attempting to soothe her nerves. Had he heard her conversation?

"You two have been talking a lot lately. Do you like her?" Her dad asked nonchalantly. Alison's eyes widened for a split second, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Of course Dad, she's my best friend." Alison hoped her dad would catch the importance of the word, and fall for her subtle lie.

"Good. That's great honey." Her dad nodded, and Alison couldn't help but notice it was a nod of approval more than anything.

"Well, your mother is cooking up some of the fish your brother and I caught earlier. Would you come in for dinner?" He asked, as he motioned to the door. Alison nodded, but nearly jumped when she felt her phone buzz.

"Sure thing Dad, just give me a minute."

"Alright." Her dad stepped inside the cabin, and Alison whipped out her phone.

What would your dad say if he really knew?

-A

Alison's eyes widened, and she frantically looked around the surrounding nature. However, there was no one in sight. She glanced at her phone as it vibrated again. Gulping nervously, she opened the new message.

Her knuckles turned white as she grasped the phone for all it was worth. Quickly screen-shotting the message with the attached photo, she texted it to Emily along with her message;

We need to talk.

Taking a deep breath to soothe her nerves, she walked back into the cabin for dinner. The photo of her and Emily kissing burned into her mind.


"Wow…this is impressive." Spencer noted, as Mona showed her the vast supply of dirt she had on Alison.

"Thank you. I take pride in my collection." She replied smugly. Spencer nodded.

"I would too. How did you get most of this stuff?" She asked. Mona bit her lip.

"Well…I have several security cameras set up around her house, but a lot of these were taken from when I followed her around after school." Mona admitted. She knew it must have sounded awfully creepy, but hoped Spencer wouldn't mind.

"Wow, intense." The taller teen's eyes were wide. "How many cameras do you have set up?"

Mona sighed inwardly, glad the girl wasn't too horrified. "I have five in Alison's house, two in Hanna's, three in Emily's, and two in Aria's…" She trailed off.

Spencer took note of her sudden silence.

"How many are in my house?" She asked quietly. Mona sighed.

"Three." She muttered. "I meant to tell you sooner, I just-"

"It's fine Mona." Spencer interrupted. "I understand."

Mona nodded. "We can remove them if you want." She suggested.

"That's okay. They could come in handy later." Spencer pointed out. "Is the video feed just action, or does it capture sound as well?"

"Sound. They're state of the art cameras, the ones police stations use." Mona mentioned. She was quite pleased with her upper hand in technology, even if she didn't want to brag about it.

"Neat…how'd you get a hold of those? Weren't they expensive?" Spencer questioned. Mona's brain was starting to hurt from the mass of questions Spencer had thrown at her in the last half hour, but she knew it was to be expected.

"I uh, had a friend get them for me. And they weren't too bad-I have a vast allowance." Mona muttered, unsure of how to explain Lucas' involvement.

"Really? Is it another partner, or just someone you know?" Spencer was curious. She wanted to make sure that she understood everything, if she was really going to be a part of this team. It was all very overwhelming, but her recent spark of hatred towards Alison kept her going.

"Uh, he's another partner." Mona chuckled nervously.

"I see. It wouldn't happen to be Caleb, would it?" Spencer wondered. Mona's eyes widened.

"No not at all." She snapped immediately. "Despite Caleb's skill with technology, I would never involve him. He's attached to Hanna like a leech, and would tell her anything. At the moment, he is definitely our biggest threat. If Alison were to tell her group about A, Caleb would find out eventually. He is probably one of the only people actually capable of uncovering our identity." Mona warned. "I want you to be especially careful around him, Hanna too. While Hanna herself is of little threat, she tells Caleb everything."

Spencer nodded, surprised at the seriousness of Mona's tone. She knew that what they were doing was bad, but she still had yet to understand the exact gravity of what they were up to.

"I understand." Spencer replied solemnly. Mona sighed.

"Good. Sorry about that, he's just really dangerous to our operation."

Spencer smiled. "Don't worry. He won't find out about us."

Mona laughed at her enthusiasm. She turned from her laptop to face the brunette.

"I'm really glad to have you here Spencer." She admitted. "I hope you don't feel as though I'm forcing you into something. I just wanted to help open your eyes, that's all. Plus…I really missed hanging out with you. You were really my only close friend."

Spencer smiled. "You aren't forcing me. I chose to join you on my own accord. I will admit, this is all very dark and overwhelming. However, it feels right. I didn't realize just how much I disliked Alison until you helped me. It wasn't just you either. That photo stirred up a lot of hatred, hatred that must have been forming since the day I first met her. You just helped it surface faster, but it was bound to happen eventually." She sighed. "I missed you too Mona. I know I never came to visit you in Radley, but I wanted to. I was just scared, that seeing you in there would be too painful."

Mona nodded slowly. "I understand."

"Well, it was wrong of me to leave you in there without visitation. Even if we weren't close at the time, I still should have stopped by." Spencer's voice was tainted with guilt.

"It's okay Spencer. I forgave you a long time ago." Mona smiled. Spencer grinned, her worry fading.

"Good. Well-"

She was interrupted by Mona's flip phone going off. Mona rolled her eyes, knowing just who it was that was calling.

"What's up Lucas." She deadpanned. Spencer mouthed a silent 'oh', realizing her was the other partner.

"You won't believe this, but Alison's father just asked her about Emily." His eager voice was hard to make out with the sounds of the woods in the background, but Mona was able to tell what he said.

"Wait, seriously?" She asked. Seeing Spencer's confused face, she set the phone onto the bed and flipped it onto speaker.

"Yeah. Alison's dad just-"Lucas paused. "Am I on speaker?"

"Yes." Mona huffed at his ability to be easily distracted. "Spencer's listening too." She mentioned.

"Oh. Okay. Welcome to the team Spencer." His voice was cheery.

"Thanks. Glad to be a part of it." Spencer replied.

"Alison's dad just what?" Mona asked, reining in Lucas' attention.

"Oh yeah. Well, Alison was sitting on the porch, talking to Emily. He walked out just as the conversation ended, and asked a bunch of questions. One being; do you like Emily?" Lucas muttered.

"Huh. What was her response?" Mona asked.

"Heh, she said something about being friends." Lucas huffed.

"So she clearly doesn't want him finding out. We could use this." She mentioned.

"Already done. I sent an 'A' message a few minutes ago. Sorry about not asking permission, I just felt it was necessary." Lucas added quickly. Mona sighed.

"That's fine Lucas. Just text me a screenshot of what you sent so I can keep track of it in records." She insisted. "Also, next time do ask first. I need to make sure messages and photos aren't repeated."

"Will do." Lucas stated. "I've got to go, battery is getting low."

"Alright. Night Lucas. Good work today." Mona added.

"Don't I always do good work?" Lucas joked. Mona sighed, and ended the call.

"Is he at Alison's lake house?" Spencer asked. Mona nodded.

"We needed to make sure that the lake house wasn't just a cover for something else. Also, we wanted to monitor her activity while she was there. Lucas said he'd stay there until she left, and then also put a couple cameras in while he's there. Just in case." Mona explained. Spencer nodded.

"You guys are really serious about this." She noted.

"Very much so. This is all very big, some of the things Alison's done could get her thrown in jail. I know you're still new to this, but things are bound to get messier as we progress into this operation. I'm warning you." Mona muttered.

"Sometimes messy is good." Spencer grinned. Mona felt her heart flood with warmth. Spencer was getting the hang of things faster than she thought.

Spencer couldn't help but grin after that last statement. She was surprised at her willingness, and how easy it was for her to accept everything that Mona had done, or was doing. However, deep in her heart, Spencer felt content. She was right where she was supposed to be.