Stunning

29 FRIENDS DON’T LET FRIENDS GO ALONE

Aria pulled into the Gemological Museum lot, fluffed her hair, and checked her makeup in the rearview mirror. She’d done a fair job of cleaning up the tear-streaked mess she’d been after her argument with Noel, but she still looked stressed and tired. Then again, she didn’t have anyone to impress at this party.

After she parked, she pulled out her phone and composed a text to Noel. Please let me explain, she wrote. Everything that happened . . . it was kind of out of my control. Someone forced me to break up with you. Someone is threatening me and controlling my life.

Then she hit DELETE fast. The text gave away too much. She couldn’t tell Noel about A.

Swallowing a sob, she slammed the door and walked toward the entrance, which was lit on either side by glowing Japanese lanterns. A gust of wind kicked up, rolling an empty Coke can down the sidewalk. Aria heard a whisper and whirled around, staring at the line of parked cars.

After a few seconds of peering into nothingness, sensing no movement, she pressed on. A few kids were clustered by the front hedges, staring at something on their cell phones. “So desperate,” Riley snickered.

“She is loser, no?” Klaudia shivered in her strapless, barely-there black dress.

Aria peeked at the cell phone screen over Riley’s shoulder. There was a picture of Hanna wearing army fatigues and hiding in the plastic bushes at the mall concourse. Aria had no idea what it was all about, but before she could ask any questions, Emily barreled out of the double doors, grabbed her shoulder, and pulled her to the other side of the walkway.

“Thank God I found you,” Emily said, her voice full of fear. “I need your car.”

“What happened?” Aria asked. “Did you get Gayle’s phone already?”

“No, but this is much more important.”

Emily held her phone in Aria’s face. I’ve got your baby, said the screen. Aria clapped a hand over her mouth. “Do you think it’s true?”

“I’m not waiting around to find out.” Emily started toward the parking lot, then noticed Hanna trudging out the door with an ashamed look on her face. She waved her over. “You have to see this.”

Hanna looked pained, like she didn’t feel like dealing with anything right now, but she walked over and inspected the text. Color drained from her face. “Shit. How could this happen?”

“I don’t know. But I have to save her.” Emily’s eyes darted back and forth. “If Ali has her, who knows what she’ll do?”

“Em, it’s not Ali who has Violet,” Aria whispered. “Don’t you see? It’s Gayle. I saw her going into Babies “R” Us last night with a huge, weird smile on her face. She was getting ready for when she found your baby.”

Emily frowned, then peered at the hulking museum behind them. “But isn’t Gayle here? I thought I saw her talking to your dad, Hanna.”

Hanna bit her lip. “Actually, I haven’t seen her all night.”

“Of course she’s not here,” Aria said. “She’s at this house on Mockingbird Drive!” She looked at Hanna. “You’re with me, right? You think this is Gayle?”

A conflicted look crossed Hanna’s face. “I think so. But why would Gayle tell us she has Violet if she wants to keep her for herself? It sounds like a setup.”

“I don’t care!” Emily grabbed Aria’s car keys from her hands. “This is my daughter’s life we’re talking about! I’m sorry, Aria, but I’m going to that house, even if I have to go alone!”

Aria set her jaw. “We’re not letting you go alone.”

“We’re not?” Hanna squeaked.

Aria gave Hanna a look. “Of course we’re not.” She snatched the car keys back from Emily, marched across the parking lot, and slid into the driver’s seat. “C’mon, Em. Let’s go. You too, Hanna.”

The girls got into the car and slammed the doors. Aria kicked off her high heels, gunned the engine, and cranked the heat up high. As she pulled out of the parking lot, she looked behind her and saw a perfectly round, eerily yellow moon reflected in the museum windows. And there, next to the moon’s reflection, was a person in silhouette. Watching. Maybe even laughing at what fools they were.

Aria breathed in sharply, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. But when she looked at the window again, only the moon was there, bright and full, filling up the expanse of the glass.