Stop talking about her! Emily wanted to scream. It was like Jordan was an infamous celebrity, someone weird and unknowable. She likes a lot of milk in her coffee, she thought. She’s fearless. She’s the most amazing girl I’ve ever met.
She shut her eyes and considered Jordan’s body sinking down, down, down, to the depths of the bay, just like Tabitha’s had. She wanted to strangle A with her bare hands. Why couldn’t A have just let them go? Why did A have to ruin Every. Single. Thing?
She felt a hand on her shoulder. Aria was on the stairs behind her, dressed in a bikini and her grass hula skirt and drenched in sweat. Hanna and Spencer were there, too, dressed normally but looking hysterical.
“What’s going on?” Emily asked.
Aria glanced back and forth at all the kids on the stairs, then dragged Emily onto the landing, which was cool, dark, and empty. Kids swarmed past, but no one seemed to notice they were there.
“Look.” Aria fished the round gold locket she’d been wearing all week out of her pocket and dangled it under Emily’s nose. The two halves of the pendant splayed open. Emily squinted at the two girls in the picture inside. One of the girls was Ali. When she realized who the other one was, she stepped away, confused.
“Is that Tabitha?” she whispered.
“This was her necklace,” Aria said. “Noel found it on the beach, but I checked the pictures of Tabitha online, and it was definitely hers.”
Spencer shook her head, stunned. “I bet Naomi planted it for Noel to find and give to Aria.”
“Or maybe Graham did,” Aria said, still breathing hard. She looked like she was about to burst into tears. “I was wrong about him, guys. He stared right at the necklace like he knew what it was, and then gave me this look like he knew everything I’d done. I ran from him and shut myself in the boiler room, but he screamed at me through the door. I screamed out an apology for what we did to Tabitha, but it didn’t make him stop. He said he was watching me, and he mentioned a picture. I think he was the one who set off the bomb, too. He mentioned gunpowder once when we were talking—he would have known how to make an explosion.”
Spencer clapped a hand over her mouth. “You could have been killed!”
“I know.” Aria swallowed hard.
Emily trembled. “What picture do you think he was talking about?”
“I don’t know,” Aria said. “Maybe the one of Tabitha on the beach. I think he’s the one working with Naomi.”
“Oh my God.” Spencer sank onto a stair, looking woozy.
“But why would Naomi—or Graham, or whoever—plant that necklace for Noel to give to Aria?” Hanna asked.
“It proves we killed Tabitha,” Spencer said, leaning closer so that a bunch of boys clamoring down the stairs wouldn’t hear. “It connects us to her and that night. A is trying to build an airtight case.”
Emily wilted against the wall. “I don’t get it. Why would A need to build even more of a case on us? A—both of them—have the pictures. One of the As saw us. And we did do it. Why does A need to gather extra evidence?”
Spencer shrugged, the emergency light flashing red across her face. “I don’t know. But the FBI is nearby, looking for that girl who jumped overboard.” She glanced at Emily when she said this, then looked away. “This would be a perfect time to tell. We could be arrested within hours, especially if we have this necklace on us.”
Hanna looked at Aria. “Where is Graham now?”
Aria tapped her nails against the railing. “I’m not sure. He disappeared after the explosion.”
Spencer frowned. “That’s strange, don’t you think?”
Aria shrugged. “I’m glad he’s gone. I was afraid he was going to jump out and hurt me.”
“That would make the most sense, don’t you think?” Spencer hugged her knees. “I mean, I’m glad you’re safe, but why wasn’t he waiting for you after the bomb went off? Why did he leave?”
Emily thought for a moment, absently watching as more kids streamed down the stairs. “Maybe he miscalculated where he set off the bomb, and he had to run from it so he didn’t get hurt himself.”
“Or what if Graham wasn’t sure it was us on the roof that night?” Hanna asked, pausing to cough. “Even those pictures of us are pretty blurry. But maybe when you ran from him, Aria, he got his proof. Maybe he and Naomi are going to tell the cops.”
Spencer used the railing to hoist herself to standing. “The necklace will definitely connect us to the crime. The cops will think we tore it off Tabitha that night.”
Hanna nodded. “We have to ditch this necklace now. We don’t need anything connecting us to Tabitha—especially with the FBI here.”
“You should have gotten rid of it as soon as you realized what it was,” Emily said to Aria. “Why didn’t you throw it overboard?”