Thanks for the reviews! Next chapter is where things start to speed up a little more, so let me know what you think of this chapter and stay tuned for an update!

Chapter 23

When I wake up, I swear that I can feel smoke in my lungs.

My throat tightens and I sit up, my eyes popping open as I gasp for breath. After a moment of panic, I finally calm down enough to look around.

I'm curled in a chair in Spencer's living room, in the exact same position that I fell asleep in last night. It was just a nightmare, I tell myself, reaching up to brush my hair out of my eyes. I'm fine. I even washed all of the ash off of my face last night.

As soon as I remember this, all of the other events of last night come rushing back to me. The actual fire. The water-logged car. The dead pig.

Ugh.

After we narrowly escaped being caught at yet another suspicious looking scene, we went to Spencer's house for the night. No one wanted to spend the night alone.

But it's not like anyone really slept much, anyway. Most of the night was spent interrogating Mona, and to a lesser extent, myself. She confessed, among other things, that Shana is in love with Jenna, that they are both afraid of Melissa, and that she doesn't know who pushed Ian off of the bell tower.

I confessed, among not much else, that I've been lying about being on the team for months, that I knew all along that the game was still very much active.

I yawn, rubbing my eyes. The third degree finally ended around two in the morning, but everyone tossed and turned for a while before falling asleep. I'm pretty sure I was only really out for around three hours.

Glancing around the room, it takes me a minute to realize something, just as the others are rising. Someone is missing. And it doesn't take a genius to figure out who.

Naturally, it's Spencer who makes the connection. "Mona's gone."

"I don't remember falling asleep," Hanna adds, sitting up from the floor and looking around in confusion.

"Did she drug us?" Aria demands, nearly falling off of the couch, and Emily adds under her breath, "Wouldn't be the first time."

"No, guys, she was asleep before I was," I insist, though I'm beginning to doubt my own memory. This is a little strange, I have to admit. And Emily's right. It wouldn't be the first time.

"You guys," Spencer says suddenly, her face paling. "She still has that chip."

"Viola." Hanna spins around to face me. "Run to your house, see if she's – "

But before she can finish that, and before I can protest – I really don't think I have it in me to run anywhere – the front door opens and my sister walks in, a white paper bag in one hand and a tray of drinks in the other.

She looks around at all of us, noticing our stares. "Oh, Emily. I borrowed your car."

Emily gapes, then glances over at the counter, where her car keys sit, untouched.

Mona follows her gaze and shrugs. "Yeah, I have my own set."

This reminds me of something, but I can't remember what. I cross in front of Aria and ask, "Where did you go?"

"Coffee run."

I roll my eyes. "Um, duh."

"Where else did you go?" Hanna interrupts, walking over to stand beside me.

Whenever she is asked a question that she does not want to answer, Mona's general strategy seems to be to ignore it altogether. This is what she does now, handing out the coffees on the tray instead. "Americano, one pink. Dry soy cap. Super-sized drip, with three sugars. Skinny vanilla. And green tea for you," she adds, handing me a slightly smaller cup. "I know you don't drink coffee."

I am not the only person staring. Obviously being "A" means that you learn a lot about whoever you're stalking, but even I am a little freaked out by this level of knowledge, and I am also "A." "You're freaky," I mutter, taking a sip of my tea.

"I want the chip, Mona," Hanna demands, holding out her hand and placing her coffee on the table. "And I want it now."

"And I also got breakfast," my sister not-so-gracefully changes the subject. "Multigrain scone?"

Hanna scowls. "I'm not in the mood to play room service."

"I wish I could give it to you, Hanna…but I can't."

Hanna opens her mouth, but I beat her to it. "Oh, come on. What's the deal? You and I both got texts from 'A,' last night, if you've forgotten. It's over. We're out."

Mona glares around at all of us. "I need to find out who Red Coat is. And so do you. She tried to kill all of us, so like it or not, we're in this together."

"Okay." Emily crosses her arms. "Prove it."

"Yeah, we want everything you have on us," Aria adds. "Now."

I exchange a glance with my sister, and shrug. I don't see any reason why we shouldn't show them the lair, if it's really true that we're all in this together now. I'm actually a little curious to see how they react to seeing all of their secrets up close and personal.

Mona nods at me and smiles. "Mi casa es su casa."

"In English!" Hanna shouts.

Spencer leans over to her, clearing her throat. "Um, they're taking us to their lair."

We pile into Emily's car once again, brushing the leftover ash and dirt off of the seats. I can't get rid of the nagging worry as we pull out of the driveway. Red Coat is obviously still around, and judging by last night's text, she's mad.

Is taking the girls to the lair really a good idea?

…

"Are you sure where we're taking this is safe?"

It's kind of hard to pace back and forth in an RV while it's moving, but I'm managing. There's a passenger seat in the front, but I'm too nervous to sit down.

"It'll be fine, for a few days," Mona calls back, glancing at me through the rearview mirror. "No one's lived around here in years. And we're locking it in."

"Oh, right," I say sarcastically, pushing past the curtain and sitting down. "Because 'A' can't figure out how to work a lock." I cross my arms, watching the road for a few moments, then say, "Was Melissa really the other Queen of Hearts on that video? With Wilden?"

"Yes," she replies, "but they were both being blackmailed by 'A.'"

"By you," I clarify.

"No. By Red Coat. The only contact I had with Wilden was giving him those bullets."

I wince and go quiet, chewing on a nail. I still can't believe that I indirectly led to Garrett's murder. If only I had been caught getting into my father's gun safe. If only I hadn't been able to get it open…an innocent, albeit sketchy, man might still be alive.

I shake that thought from my head. Wilden was obviously working on "A's" orders. And when "A" wants someone dead, they somehow manage to carry it out, one way or the other.

At the thought of Wilden, bile rises in my throat. I suddenly can't get the image of his body, laying flat on the sidewalk by the car, out of my head. We'd spotted it on our way to the lair yesterday morning, after leaving Spencer's.

I can't imagine why "A" would want to kill Wilden, other than to set us up for his murder. I thought Wilden was helping "A." But I guess once you're no longer of use, you need to be gotten rid of. Maybe Wilden couldn't be trusted to keep the secret.

Maybe he even knows who Red Coat is.

Knew.

I grimace, suddenly a little carsick. "Crack the window, please."

"No need. We're here," my sister says, pulling up in front of what looks like an abandoned farm. A huge fence looms ahead of us, open, and she steers the RV behind it. "Come on."

We hop out and I wave to Hanna, getting out of her own car behind us, as Mona pulls the gate closed and fiddles with the padlock. "Thanks for helping," she says as Hanna approaches.

She smiles, but looks fairly uncomfortable. "We're in this together now, right? Kind of like old times."

Mona smiles back, clicking the lock into place. "That should do it."

I reach over and pull on the fence, just to make sure. "I guess. It's kind of rusty, though." I tilt my head back, looking up to the top of the fence. It must be at least fifteen, twenty feet up, but I'm sure someone with enough motive could easily climb it.

Hanna seems to be having similar reservations. "Are you sure it's safe in here?"

"Yeah," Mona says again, glancing at me. "I mean, it'll be fine for a few days."

We head back to Hanna's car. She volunteered to follow us out here in order to give us a ride back, because Mom was concerned when neither of her children came home the other night, and I really didn't want to arouse more suspicion.

"You know," Hanna says sharply, looking back worriedly at the RV. "There's stuff in there that can bring us all down."

I flinch instinctively, thinking of that picture of Ian and me. As far as I know, that's the only secret that "A" has on me, and even that one little piece of information is enough to permanently give me nightmares. I can't imagine my whole life being documented like that. I'd never leave my house again.

At Hanna's words, Mona gets a funny look on her face. I nudge her. "What's wrong with you?"

She ignores me, looking right at Hanna. "I just haven't thought about you and me as an 'us' for a long time."

"Oh my god," I groan, climbing into the backseat of the car and slamming the door. "Shut up. Let's just get out of here, before someone finds us with this thing."

...

Next up, a missing RV puts Viola's loyalties to the test.