CHAPTER FIVE
"Hey Reynolds. What are you doing here?" Officer Chisney asked when he got out of his cruiser and saw Garret Reynolds standing by his own police car.
Garret shrugged. "Yeah I know I wasn't at the briefing. Little family crisis but they told me to head over anyway to help. It's a big house, gonna need all hands-on deck to comb through it."
"That's for sure." Officer Chisney nodded. "You been inside yet?"
"Nope." Garret lied. "Just been here waiting for the rest of the team."
"They should be here any minute. You want to get started?" Officer Chisney asked.
"Yeah. Let me just make a quick phone call and I'll be right behind you." Garret waited until Chisney walked into the DeLaurentis' house before opening his phone and tapping out a message.
It said." It's done."
Wilden closed his phone and smiled. In a movie when things were this easy it was a trap. But this was real life and of course it was this easy. They were up against four teenage girls. They had life experience and the resources of the police department on their side. What did these girls have? Yeah, the Hastings were powerful lawyers, but they had their own Hastings. When Wilden heard that Ian had raped Spencer and Jason may have raped Emily he thought they were done for but the girls accusing Ian and Jason of rape was the best thing that could have happened. The clothes they were wearing became evidence so now the police had them. It was so anticlimactic to go into the evidence room, look through their clothes now in neat little bags and replace the thumb drive the girls had found with the one Garret gave him. As easy as that was, the next part was even easier. Wilden already had a fake report to replace the real results from Spencer Hastings rape kit. Garret would just need to switch them out and they would have nothing to prove their claim. People already thought they were liars; it was going to be so easy to prove they were murderers too.
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A watched as the last cop car pulled away from the DiLaurentis house. They had been there a day and a half getting fingerprints, bagging evidence, and taking samples. A knew there wasn't a lot of time to explore the house between more police possibly coming back not to mention the press, but luckily A knew exactly where they needed to look.
Once in the house, A went straight for the fireplace and immediately found the loose brick Spencer had mentioned. Having the right tools made the extraction simple. Sure enough nestled in the back behind the brick was another flash drive. A pocketed it, put the brick back perfectly, and was out of the house in seconds.
The next day, the girls and their parents returned to the hospital. The small waiting room off to the side of Spencer and Emily's room had become sort of a command central. Aria and Hanna did not want to leave Spencer and Emily. And Aria and Hanna's parents did not want to leave them considering everything that had happened. With Veronica and Peter Hastings having ties in the police department, they were able to get and give information fairly quickly.
Veronica surveyed the group in front of her. She was exhausted. Sitting with Spencer during the sexual assault forensic examination had been the most difficult thing she had done as a parent. She wanted Ian dead plain and simple. But the moment she was able to excuse herself, her phone rang. It was her other daughter, scared, hormonal, and agitated because the husband who had been missing was found but in police custody. Veronica did not have the heart to tell her oldest why. On top of all that was the latest information she had garnered from her source at the police station.
"They agreed to let us take the girls home for now." Veronica informed the group in front of her.
"What do you mean 'for now?" Pam questioned.
Veronica sighed. "Jason got out of his last surgery yesterday. The police questioned him this morning. He said the girls broke into his house looking for something." Aria and Hannah nodded having already admitted to that as well. "He said when he came home, he didn't know you were there. He went to his room and you girls attacked him."
"What!" Both Hanna and Aria shouted. "He's lying!" Hannah continued.
"From what I'm hearing from my sources at the police station, they are not quite sure what to believe yet. The girls are saying they were attacked, and Jason and Ian are saying the girls attacked them. That's why no arrests have been made yet."
"How can they believe that the girls attacked grown men and not the other way around." Pam cried. "I mean look at them, they are bruised, scratched up, and Spencer was…" At the stricken look on Veronica Hastings' face, Pam let the last part remain unspoken.
"The problem is that this all happened on Jason's property and he also has a stab wound." Veronica explained. "Really him claiming self-defense is all that is needed for the girls to be arrested for some very serious charges. But because of the girls' story and how this is all linked to Allison's murder, the police don't want to start arresting anyone until they have done more investigating."
"Wait." Hanna interrupted. "No arrests? Does that mean Ian has been let go?"
"He will be."
"How can you be okay with that!" Hanna shouted. "He raped your daughter! Are you gonna let him just move back in the barn so he can get another shot at her!"
To her credit, Veronica Hastings did not even flinch during Hanna's tirade.
"Honey, please calm down." Mrs. Marin said as she gently pulled Hannah away from Veronica's personal space.
"Mr. Hastings took Melissa to our place in Bucks County. Ian can join her there. For now, we all agreed it's best that Spencer and Ian stay as far away from each other as possible.
In the hospital room, Emily and Spencer quietly dressed in the clothes their parents brought up for them.
"Sorry I took so long in the shower." Emily mumbled. Spencer shrugged. She still hadn't showered. Every movie or story she ever read about rape victims said they all wanted to shower right away. But she didn't. She didn't want to look...down there. If the amount of pain she was in was any indication, she was convinced that part of her was damaged beyond repair. She wasn't ready to see it yet. The doctor would give them drugs to take home. She planned on waiting until she was numb and loopy before taking on the task of seeing herself nude in her bathroom mirror.
"You ready?" Emily asked brightly. Spencer faced her best friend ready to give another shrug. But then she saw Emily's clasped hands were shaking slightly. She looked up into her friend's face and saw the smile she was wearing was fake and most likely for Spencer's benefit. Emily was trying to be strong for her, but Spencer could see in her eyes that Emily was barely holding it together. Too wrapped up in her own misery, Spencer almost forgot the trauma that Emily experienced. All of them really; they were so close that hurting any one of them made them all feel it.
As if to prove that point, Aria and Hannah chose that moment to peek into the room to check on them. Again, no words needed to be said when Spencer looked at them. Her glistening eyes matched theirs. Spencer reaching out to Emily's hands prompted Aria and Hannah to move to the other two. When their parents came to check minutes later, all four were wrapped in a group hug with tears flowing down their cheeks.
They decided to go to the Hastings house after dinner. Ella, Byron, and Ashley went to get takeout for everyone while Veronica and Pam drove the girls to Spencer's. After the display at the hospital, their parents decided the girls needed to be together for support. It was an uncertain time. Ian was released. No doubt Jason would be out of the hospital soon too. The girls were still under suspicion for Alison's murder. No one knew what would happen next.
Dinner was quiet. The girls went to bed almost immediately afterwards. Both Spencer and Emily were drowsy from their pain medicine and Aria and Hannah had barely gotten any sleep since that night.
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In a cramped but well-lit room, four law officers sat at a table in Rosewood Police Station. In front of them were tape recorders, notebooks, pictures, folders, transcripts, and reports. On a big dry erase board more pictures were posted. Some had lines connecting the pictures, others had notes scrawled next to or underneath. They had been in the room for hours examining all the items.
"If they are faking, these girls are diabolical." Detective Russel muttered.
"Aren't all teenage girls?" Officer Jones laughed.
"Ha, ha." Detective Russel said with an eye roll. "Seriously, the Hastings girl is a genius if her academic record is anything to go by."
"We interviewed them separately and their stories matched up almost word for word."
"Rehearsed?"
"But when?" Russel looked through her notes. "911 call came in at 9:47 PM. Ian Thomas claims he arrived at 9:30 PM and was still grappling with the girls when we arrived at 9:53 PM. Girls were found and separated at around 10 PM. Hastings and Fields were in separate ambulances and did not see each other until they were admitted into a hospital room at around 2 AM according to on call. Dr. Oni said Hastings was mute and unresponsive the whole time." Russel looked at Alavez. "And you questioned Marin and Montgomery at around 230. So, 30 minutes to concoct this whole story?"
"That explains why the evidence doesn't match it." Lieutenant Banks spoke up. "Marin claims the videos were of them, right? Changing clothes. Jason raping his sister. None of that's there. The girls aren't even in them. Just random people not knowing they were being filmed. And we found the original tape in the camera in Hastings' closet."
"So, what are you saying?" Russel wanted to know. "The girls or at least Spencer Hastings is the real peeping tom...er...tom-et...Alison had a copy of her videos…"
"The girls went to her house looking for them and Jason came home surprising them." Banks continued.
"They fought and Jason ended up getting stabbed. Ian Thomas gets there at some point and either tries to help Jason and that's how the girls ended up getting so banged up or walks in on them banging each other up to make it look like they were the victims." Alavez contributes.
"But to accuse Ian Thomas of rape?" Russel's disbelief still showing.
"Well why not?" Banks answered. "Spencer said he tried to kill her in the bell tower which we found no evidence of. The rape kit was inconclusive for sex and there was no DNA evidence from Thomas. And let's not forget the trophy with the rat blood that Spencer Hastings and her friends brought in a few weeks ago to try and say that Thomas killed Allison DiLaurentis."
"It's like you said, Russ, these girls are diabolical...especially Hastings." Jones added. "I say we get some warrants ready."
"For what?" Russel questioned. "We are still doing a lot of speculation. You like these girls for this, but I bet I could offer another story that shows Thomas and Jason DiLaurentis are our perpetrators."
Alavez sat back in his chair and folded his arms "Go on."
"It's just doesn't add up." Russel exhaled. "On the one hand we are saying they are genius, diabolical liars but on the other hand we are saying the reason why their story doesn't add up is because they are simply teenage girls. Unlike you all, I remember what it's like to be a teenage girl. And yes, I lied to get out of trouble...I'm sure teenage boys do that too. But these lies seem to just be getting them into trouble...serious trouble."
"Maybe it's for attention?"
"Again, it doesn't make sense. Either they are trying to cover up something they did, or they are trying to do things for attention. If they did something wrong, the last thing they would want is attention. And why all the half lies?"
"Half lies?"
"Yes. Why admit to breaking and entering after supposedly calling the police to say you were abducted at gunpoint? And remember the 911 call didn't come from any of their phones and all parties say they were in Jason's house when the call came in so if they used a burner phone...again why do that but then not say that when questioned by the police?" Russel explained. "Then there's the videos. Why bring them up at all especially if what's on them can easily be proven by watching them?"
"So, are we back at square one?" Jones asked.
"No." Banks shook his head. "No way. Russel you bring up some good questions. I think the only way to get to the bottom of this is through those girls. They are the key to not just what happened the other night but to Allison DiLaurentis murder. They either killed her or know who did and why. I say we arrest them."
"What?" Russel asked.
"If they killed Allison, I think if we separate them and interrogate them long enough...one of them is bound to crack." Banks explained. "If they did not kill her, someone's setting them up. By arresting the girls, the real killer will think their plan is working. I bet the girls know who that is which is why someone is making them look like just some pretty little liars. Arresting them gives them some protection for them to feel safe enough to tell us who they think her killer is."
"A judge is never gonna give us an arrest warrant for that and Spencer's parents will get that thrown out in a second." Alavez stated.
"No, we don't arrest them for Allison's murder...at least not yet. We arrest them for a crime they actually did commit that we can prove."
"Breaking and entering." Russel said catching on.
"Exactly." Banks nodded. "It's the one crime they ALL admit to and with Emily Fields admitting to stabbing Jason, we can add attempted murder."
It was just before dawn when Spencer's eyes fluttered open the next morning. She looked around her room and saw her friends sprawled all over the place still sleeping soundly. She was surprised no one had woken from nightmares but that was probably more of a testament to how exhausted they all were. What had awoken Spencer was a buzzing sound. A moment later she heard it again. It was her cell phone alerting her of a text.
Please don't be A. I can't take that on top of everything else. Spencer thought as she reached for it.
It wasn't. It was someone else she wasn't sure she was ready for either.
It was Toby.
I know it's early. But I can't stop thinking about you. Can I come over later?
Spencer thought back to her time at the hospital. She remembered Toby being there. Sitting by her bedside, holding her hand, crying quietly. She didn't feel up to seeing him. Her body was throbbing. But she knew she owed it to him. She felt so bad about not acknowledging his presence at the hospital when he had been amazing.
But she didn't want to meet him here. She had a feeling he would want to know about that night, and she figured her friends would not want to have to talk about it or hear about it yet again.
I'm up. Can we meet at the Brew in 20 minutes?
Yes! See you there. Love you.
She couldn't help the smile that formed.
Love you too
She wondered about that though as she quietly got out of her bed and searched for something to wear. It was nothing to type it back. She'd done that several times since they both spoke those words but did, she still feel it? Aside from pain, everything else she normally felt seemed weak. It was as if all her emotions, her appetite, her will had been operating at a certain level but since Ian, someone...Ian...had turned the dial all the way down. She could make out those sensations in the background, but they weren't at a level that she could decipher what exactly they were trying to convey. Even though her voice was back, she still felt muted.
She was five minutes late. Moving at a speed to be as quiet as possible to avoid waking anyone while also being in tremendous pain was slow-going. She saw him immediately in a back corner with two steaming cups already on the table. With it being so early, there were barely any customers there, so he was easy to spot.
Toby stands up as she approaches the table. He wants to hold her but he's not sure how she'll react, so he stands there uncertain, hands gripping the back of the chair.
"Hi." She says softly.
"Hey." He answers. "Are you hungry? I can get your favorite to go with the coffee."
"Do you want to split it?" She asks. Toby's face morphs into a 1000-watt smile.
"Yes." He nods his head vigorously realizing he must look like a fool but so happy that Spencer wanted to still do something they'd done countless times before. "I'll go grab it."
Spencer eased down into the chair the moment Toby left. She opened her purse to find her prescription bottle figuring she'd take the pill with her food like it said. She was in too much pain not to. However, when she saw her phone flashing incessantly, she grabbed that instead. It was her friends texting her and she also had several missed calls. They must be worried. She reasoned. She had put her phone on silent because she didn't want it to ding on her way out. She should have left a note because, of course, they'd be worried upon waking and finding her gone.
At the Brew with Toby. Come and join us. She replied to all her friends. Seeing Toby made her realize that normalcy is what she wanted most. As appealing as hiding away from the world was because of Ian, she didn't want to let him win by doing that. They also still had A to worry about.
It happened. Ian...raped her. But she was a Hastings and she was not going to let him destroy her. They needed to prove that Ian, Jason...and Melissa had murdered Allison and that last thing was going to destroy her family enough. She didn't need one incident overshadowing that. She needed her head firmly in the game. If she had to break, it wouldn't be now. She would do whatever was necessary to keep it together until all the dragons were slayed.
The ding of the Brew's bell caused her to look up. Speaking of dragons. In walked Mona, looking like she stepped off the cover of Vogue despite it being so early in the morning. She watched her converse with Toby in line.
"So, how's Mona?" Spencer said once Toby put the plate of pastries in front of her and sat down.
"She's Mona." He shrugged. "How are you?" He asked seriously. This time Spencer shrugged.
"Hanging in there." She muttered not meeting his eyes.
"Look Spencer. I want you to know that I am here for you."
"I know." She replied softly
"And I know you probably think no one knows how you feel. But I do know at least a little bit of how you must feel."
Her eyes widened and her breath hitched. Of course, he knows. She remembered the videos. One video in particular of Jenna Marshall disrobing Toby and threatening him...forcing him...to have sex with her. Toby did know what it was like to have your body used for someone else's pleasure while all you felt was fear.
"Jenna...she...when I was…" She watched Toby struggle to get the words out and her heart clenched as tears formed in both their eyes. "It's not exactly the same because I'm a guy and...and...and."
"Shh." Spencer reached out and covered Toby's hands with her own. "Don't you dare minimize what happened to you."
"You know?" Toby questioned. Spencer nodded before taking a deep breath and proceeding to tell Toby about the videos. She was just getting to what happened at Jason's when she saw her friends walk in. Aria stopped at the cashier to order while Hannah and Emily started heading over but then Hannah broke off when she saw Mona.
Toby stood and hugged Emily when she got to the table. Spencer saw Emily wince from the contact. "Hey Em, did you take any medicine today?"
"Not yet. I was waiting until I ate. You?"
"Yeah when I got here maybe 15 minutes ago." Spencer said looking at Toby.
For weeks to come Toby would get a chill whenever he saw a clock that said 8:08 because that was the time it was when he looked up from his watch right before all hell broke loose.
They came in quickly. Aria was standing closest to the door, so they got to her first.
"Aria Montgomery?"
"Yes."
As soon as she answered, the young officer gripped her upper arm and turned her around quickly cuffing her while saying. "You're under arrest for breaking and entering."
"Wait. No." As she protested, the officers spread out to find the rest of the girls and do the same thing.
"Hannah Marin."
"Emily Fields."
"Spencer Hastings." But no one was ready for her reaction when the officer pulled her up from the table and turned her around to put the handcuffs on her.
She begins screaming and crying so hard that she starts to choke.
"Stop please!" Aria cries.
"Leave her alone! Don't touch her like that!" Hanna shouts with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Hey, hey just calm down." The young rookie cop who has Hannah leaves her to help his co-worker with Spencer. He makes another mistake by grabbing Spencer by her shoulders which sends her deeper into a panic attack.
"Get off of her, you fucker!" Hannah screams. Mona is alarmed to see her friend start to charge at a cop and quickly grabs her back.
"Hannah, you can't!" Mona shakes her friend as she struggles to keep hold.
"Please, not behind her back." Emily yells to the cop holding Spencer. "Please can you tell him not to cuff her behind her back." She then pleads to the cop holding her. "He can put the cuffs on in front of her right?"
The cop holding Emily, also a rookie, is too stunned with the scene to pay attention to Emily's pleas and simply grips her harder as he calls into his radio for more backup.
They thought six officers would be enough. But two are holding Toby to the ground as he fights to get them off and get to his hysterical girlfriend. Two are on Spencer. The other two have one girl each except for Hanna who's being held by Mona. The small crowd at the Brew seems to be getting larger as they draw closer unsure if they should intervene or not.
Hearing Emily, Hanna then pleads to Mona. "Mona, please tell them to cuff her hands in front if they have to."
"What does that matter?" Mona asked exasperated by the whole scene.
"They tied our hands behind our back." Hannah sobs. "We couldn't get out because our hands were behind our backs." Mona's eyes widen as she watches her friend's eyes lose focus and her body begins to tremble, clearly getting lost in a horrible memory. "Her hands were tied behind her back the whole time Ian raped her." Hanna whispers to herself but Mona hears.
Understanding dawning, Mona guides Hannah to sit on a nearby chair before moving over to Spencer and the officers holding her.
"Officer Grant, excuse me." Mona barks in a clear, authoritative voice having read his name tag. It was enough to cause the officer to immediately back from Spencer in surprise. Mona wasted no time inserting herself into the newly freed space. They had pushed Spencer down to her knees which worked to Mona's advantage since she is so small.
"Shh Spencer Shh. He's not here. Ian's not here." She soothes while moving Spencer's hair behind her ears. "Look at Toby. He needs you." Mona continued while moving Spencer's head to her bosom but making sure it was towards Toby. "You're okay, Spencer. Officer Billings is going to take the handcuffs off now and just move your hands in front of you. He will then put the handcuffs back on. They will get off Toby and then take both of you outside to the car. You and Toby will get in the backseat together." Mona continued to stroke Spencer's hair even after Spencer's heaving chest and ragged breathing calmed. Mona nodded to Officer Billings who upon getting another nod from the cop behind Mona did as she directed.
Even with it being a small amount of people at the Brew, the news of what happened there traveled quickly. The Montgomery's were on their way to Spencer's house with breakfast for everyone when a friend of Ella's who had been at the Brew called her.
They immediately turned the car around and headed to the police station while calling the rest of the girls' parents.
It was chaos when Pam Fields arrived. She was the last of the parents to get there. The rest of the parents were demanding to have their girls released and the girls were still very shaken up from the ordeal at the brew. To top it all off someone had leaked the situation to the press so Pam had to fight through reporters throwing questions at her before getting inside to the pandemonium in the precinct.
Hours later, Veronica and Peter Hastings were able to work out an arrangement that allowed the girls to be released on their own recognizance until the arraignment was scheduled.
"How can they arrest them." Ella cried in frustration. She, Ashley, and Pam were huddled together in the lobby waiting for their daughters to come out. They could see them in a small room with the Hastings, Toby and Byron and the prosecutor explaining the conditions of their release. "They look absolutely traumatized." Ella continued gesturing to the glass wall that allowed them to see everyone inside. The room was too cramped for all of them to be in there which is why the mothers were waiting in the lobby.
"Meanwhile those perverts are free." Pam spat. "When I think of what Jason did to my Em." Pam paused from a memory of her with Emily before she was released from the hospital "You know she flinches if I touch her unexpectedly. And to think she was lucky."
The others immediately understood what she meant as they all looked at Spencer.
"Kisha Washington said the girls were hysterical, especially Spencer." said Ella.
"Do you think she's the one that leaked it to the press?" Ashley wanted to know.
"No." Ella shook her head immediately. "We have been texting back and forth since we got here because she was so worried about the girls. She said Doug Haynes has been calling her. His wife was at the brew and must have told him Kisha was there too."
"God, I hate him." Ashley voiced. "He practically camped outside our house when Allison's body was found, and the police were first questioning our girls."
"Anything to get a story." Pam said. "You know one time he-"
"Wait, they're coming." Ella cut Pam off. The three women rushed towards their daughters when they saw everyone filing out of the room. After engulfing them in hugs and asking if they were alright, they listened to Peter advise the best plan to get them out of the station without encountering too many reporters.
Knowing they were going to their separate homes; the girls move towards each other to hug goodbye for now. Their somber mood lifted slightly by taking comfort from each other's arms but as soon as they pulled away from the embrace it deflated when they heard the simultaneous chirping of each of their cell phones.
Their expressions mirrored each other. First fear and then puzzlement after they read the message. It said.
Don't fret, bitches
The enemy of your enemy is your friend
A…