The next day at school I stopped to say 'hi' to Jason before going to lunch. He offered to walk me to the cafeteria and on the way he stopped suddenly.
"Detective Wilden, what's all this?" Jason asked him.
"We have a warrant to search Toby Cavanaugh's locker." I heard Wilden reply. "Now, if you'll excuse me."
"Why?" Jason prodded not letting go so easily. "Didn't you get enough evidence when you searched his house?"
"Just, being thorough, Jason." Wilden told him and it sounded like he was irritated.
"What makes you think it was him in the first place?" I spoke up.
"Spencer, stay out of this." Jason mumbled.
"That's alright, I'll answer the question. Evidence shows that Toby Cavanaugh called Alison on the night she died." Wilden answered.
"How does a single phone call lead to searching through his house and locker and a warrant for his arrest?" Jason questioned.
"The phone call gave us enough to get a warrant to search the house. And what we found there gave us enough evidence to make him the lead suspect as well as arrest him." Wilden stated.
"What did you find in his house?" I asked.
"Sorry, but I can't tell you that." Wilden told me and I could imagine the smug look on his face. "Now again, if you'll excuse me I need to be heading back to the station."
"This is getting serious." I mumbled in worry.
"Everything is going to be okay, Spence. I can't say when but it will." Jason comforted me. "Now, put on a convincing smile and go have a nice time at lunch with the girls."
"I'll try. But who am I trying to convince, myself or the girls?" I asked sarcastically.
"For now, just convince the girls." He told him then gave me a quick hug before walking off.
I took Jason's advice and tried to smile as I approached the table I usually sat at with the girls.
"Hey, Spence," I heard them call out as I took my seat.
"We're glad to see you sitting with us again. Yesterday was a little boring." Hanna commented.
"Sorry about that, I just wasn't sure if you wanted me here yesterday. But that's resolved and I love sitting with all of you." I replied. "Hey, where's Emily?"
I asked because I noticed that the seat beside me where Emily always sat was empty. And I noticed her voice was absent when the others greeted me.
"I don't know. She said something about wanting to tell us something so she should be here." Aria replied.
"Hey, everybody." I heard Emily say cheerfully a few seconds later.
"Hey, Em, who's your friend?" Hanna asked curiously.
"This is Maya." Emily stated and I could hear a little nervousness in her voice. "And, Maya, these are my friends Hanna, Mona, Spencer, and Aria."
"Hi, it's nice to finally meet you." Maya said and she sounded both friendly and nervous too. "Emily has told me a lot about you."
"Yeah, it's nice to meet you too." Aria told her. "So how did you and Emily become friends?"
"Well, my mom had me bring them a fruit basket when they first moved here. We sort of hit it off and I figured it's about time that Maya meet my other friends." Emily stated and I felt her sit down beside.
"Do you want to sit with us, Maya? I can move so you can sit next to Emily?" Aria offered.
"Oh no, that's okay. I want to get in some extra practice, I'm in jazz band." Maya replied.
"Wow that sounds cool. Well, have fun." Hana told her.
"Thanks, I'll see you girls around." Maya said and then I heard her walk away.
"So, what did you guys think of Maya?" Emily asked a minute or two later.
"She seemed friendly and nice. I can see why you like her." Aria answered.
"Yeah, she seems like someone who's cool to be around." Hanna added.
"I'm glad you think so, I really like Maya." Emily sighed in relief.
"Maya was nice, but not everyone I've talked to today is. I might not be a suspect like Toby is but Wilden was still staring at me like he thinks I was in on it." Mona stated.
"I know what you mean. I walked past him on my way in here and the way he glared at me gave me the creeps. Talk about if looks could kill." Aria commented.
"Why was he here anyway?" Hanna asked.
"He was searching Toby's locker for more evidence." I told them.
"Why didn't they find enough planted evidence in his house?" Emily asked dryly.
"He gave Jason and me the lame excuse that he was just being thorough." I replied.
"He probably just wants to make it look like he's doing something since Toby ran off and they can't find him." Hanna commented.
"I know that they got the arrest warrant after searching his house, but what did they have that made them want to search his house in the first place?" Emily questioned.
"Phone records show that Toby called Alison the night she died shortly before she disappeared." I stated quietly still not believing it.
"What? I thought you told us he wasn't in town that night because he was already at reform school." Hanna asked in confusion.
"Yeah, Spencer probably did think that. But she probably didn't think that Toby lied to her. And is it really that surprising that he's both a killer and a liar?" Aria suggested angrily.
"Hey, I am sitting right here, Aria. So please do not talk about me like I'm not here, and don't call Toby a killer." I demanded. "And for the record, no, it never occurred to me that Toby was lying. Because when Toby tells you something you believe him."
"She has a point. He never said he wasn't in Rosewood that night, but he never said he was either." Hanna commented.
"Hey, you're here. I thought you wouldn't come since you never answered my text." I told Toby when he arrived at the hill.
"Oh, um sorry about that, I thought I did. My mind's somewhere else today." He mumbled as he sat down next to me.
"Are you okay? You usually don't forget stuff like that and you forgot to meet me at the library after school." I asked a little concerned.
"That was today? I'm really sorry I thought that was tomorrow." He apologized looking guilty and I could tell he felt bad about it.
"It's not your fault, Toby. I suggested today but you didn't seem like today was a good day. And I asked if tomorrow was better but you never said it wasn't better or that it was better either. So, I assumed that we were still on for today, making it a neither of our faults and just a simple miscommunication."
"Well, I can't argue with that can I?" He laughed quietly.
"You could but it wouldn't do any good." I shrugged.
"So, is there any way I could make it up to you for mixing up or study session?"
"Yes, there is. You owe me a cup of coffee." I teased. "And you could tell me what's on your mind. But only if you want to."
"Today is my…today was my mom's birthday." He replied quietly after a pause.
"I'm really sorry, Toby. I know you still miss her a lot." I told him putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"I wish you could've known her. She would have loved you, Spencer."
"I did know her a little. When I was six I tried climbing a tree in my backyard. Melissa and her friends were and I wanted to prove that I could do anything they could. So being the stubborn and competitive person that I am, I climbed pretty high and ignored Melissa's warnings."
"Something tells me this isn't going to end well for you." Toby commented shaking his head and hiding a knowing smirk.
"It didn't. The wind picked up and the branches started swaying. I thought the branch I was on to was going to snap so I jumped down. I was too shocked to move or cry, but Melissa ran into the house screaming. My dad came and carefully picked me up and drove me to the hospital. Your mom was my nurse and she was so sweet. My left wrist was put in a cast and she signed it and gave me a little pink teddy bear that I still have in my room somewhere."
"That sounds like my mom alright. She loved her job and kids always loved her. She could always make someone smile no matter what. The whole room just seemed to get brighter when she walked in." Toby said with a reminiscent look in his eyes.
Toby and I spent the rest of our time on the hill sharing stories. He told me about his mom and what a wonderful person she was and I told him about things I did as a kid. By the time we parted ways Toby had gone from quiet and mournful to happy and smiling. And I was glad because Toby deserved to be happy and have some things in his life that made him smile.
"We're here, Spence." Jason told me a few days later as he stopped the car.
"Thanks for bringing me here, Jason." I said quietly as he helped me out of the car.
"It's no problem, Spencer. I think it's a sweet idea what you're doing, and Toby would really appreciate it." He replied.
With arms linked together, Jason and I walked through Rosewood's cemetery and into the mausoleum. Once we were inside Jason found Marion's grave and he placed my hand on the cold marble.
"Do you have the flowers?" I asked.
"Yeah, I got them. They look beautiful." He told me and I heard him shove them into the holder.
Three years ago today, Marion Cavanaugh had passed away. Toby had once told me that his mom's favorite flowers were blue hydrangeas so Jason and I had bought some to place by her grave. I knew that Toby probably wouldn't be able to see his mom today but I wanted to make sure she wasn't forgotten about.
"Hi, Mrs. Cavanaugh, this is Spencer Hastings." I started nervously, I had never done anything like this before but I wanted to, for Toby. "I never knew you well and I wish I had. But I do know your son Toby, and he's the reason I'm here. I know that he would want to be here himself, but I don't think that's possible. He loves you a lot and he still misses you."
"I know you loved him so much, and I want to thank you for bringing him into this world. You did a wonderful job of raising him and I'm sure you would be so proud. He's the perfect gentlemen and the best friend anybody could wish for. He's caring, responsible, strong, and sweet. He means the world to me and I'm sure he means the world to you too. And I want you to know that you may be gone, but you'll never be forgotten.
So, I'm not really sure where the idea for the end of this chapter came from. But I know Marion died sometime in October and I thought it would be sweet to mention her. Plus I wanted to give you some sweet Spoby to tide you over until he comes back. Next chapter has a ton of Spanna and who doesn't love that? Hanna can make any hard time better. And there's also a short flashback which includes Jason. BTW if you are a fan of Emaya they will be together in this story. And if you have any I could always use flashback suggestions for future chapters. Enjoy the weekend, hope the warmer weather stays, and see you Tuesday.