A police officer in a West Rosewood PD uniform bounded over the hill from the opposite direction, his flashlight shining and walkie-talkie squeaking. Emily stared at him. It was Officer O’Neal, the same guy who’d brought his daughter to Santa Land a couple of times, promising her every gift imaginable.
“These are the girls who’ve been causing so much trouble?” O’Neal jogged to Mrs. Fields, took Cassie from her, and pinned Cassie’s arms behind her back. Cassie let out a whimper and went still.
“That’s right,” Mrs. Meriwether piped up. “They broke into the country club. These are also the girls who vandalized all the other properties. The Sign of the Dove Church. All the front lawns. They’ve been causing mayhem for weeks.”
The cop looked the elves up and down and shook his head. “Come on, ladies,” O’Neal said, corralling the girls toward the SUVs. The elves trudged off with their heads down, not saying a word. Emily began to follow them, not daring to look at her mother.
Mrs. Fields grabbed her sleeve. “What are you doing, Emily? You can come home with us.”
Emily winced. The elves whipped around and stared at Emily and her mother. “Wait. How do you know her name?” Heather asked.
“Why does she get to go home?” Sophie piped up.
“She stole the stuff right along with us,” Lola spat.
Mrs. Meriwether shifted her weight. Emily’s mother smiled smugly. Emily saw the realization slowly strike each girl.
“Holy shit,” Sophie whispered.
“I told you!” Lola screamed. She jammed a finger at Emily. “I told you guys she was a narc! I could just tell the day she showed up as Santa! But you didn’t listen!”
Heather spat in Emily’s direction, which got her a cuff on the arm from one of the cops. Cassie glared at Emily with blazing eyes. “Is it true?” she said in a low, disappointed voice. “Did you set us up?”
Emily shook her head desperately. “I didn’t say a word about this prank to anyone. Honest.” She turned to her mother, who was now leaning against the Volvo wagon with her arms crossed. “How did you know we were going to be here?”
“We tracked your iPhone.” Mrs. Fields looked proud of herself. “Officer O’Neal suggested it. I suspected something was up tonight, so I called Judith and Officer O’Neal and we followed you.”
Emily thought of the iPhone still nestled in her bag. “You were spying on me . . . spying on them?” she sounded out.
“You were carrying that around to spy on us?” Cassie shrieked.
“It wasn’t like that!” Emily pleaded. “I mean, yeah, they gave me an iPhone, but I never used it on you guys! I swear! You know me, Cassie! Why would I do something like that?”
Cassie made an incredulous face. “Actually, Santa, I’m not sure I know you at all.”
“Cassie . . .” Tears rolled down Emily’s cheeks. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, Emily, what do you care what these brats think of you?” Mrs. Fields yanked the car door open. “They deserve a strict punishment, and you helped us catch them in the act. Maybe we’ll even get my baby Jesus back.”
Suddenly, Emily thought she might explode. “Do you even care about your baby Jesus?” she bellowed at her mother. “You’re just going to sell it to buy stupid Christmas presents for everyone, gifts we probably won’t even remember next year! Why do you care so much about making the holiday picture-perfect? Why isn’t what we have right now enough?”
The words had flowed out of her mouth before she’d taken the time to think them through. Mrs. Fields stiffened and a hurt look crossed her face. Without saying a word, she marched around the car to the driver’s side, climbed in, and slammed the door shut.
The policeman pushed the elves into his squad car one by one. Just before O’Neal guided Cassie into the vehicle, Cassie swiveled around once more and gave Emily a seething stare. “Ali would hate you for this, you know.”
A tiny whimper escaped from Emily’s mouth. O’Neal slammed the cruiser door shut. The engine growled, and the car pulled away, sirens blaring. Emily didn’t move from her spot on the golf course until she could no longer see the lights or hear the sirens. It was only then that it hit her for real: She was alone again. She had no one.
Chapter 14
Santa to the Rescue
Later that night, Emily slipped out the front door, locked up, and pushed the Volvo down the driveway so her parents wouldn’t hear the engine start. She wasn’t supposed to be out this late, but she couldn’t lie in her bed for a second longer, listening to Carolyn snore and seeing Cassie’s wounded face in her mind again and again.
A light snow had begun to fall, dusting the streets, the rooftops, and the tree branches. She passed Rosewood Day, which was all lit up with lights around its stone perimeter, and then the turnoff to Ali’s street. But she didn’t feel like stopping by Ali’s house tonight. She felt too ashamed about what she’d done. It was almost like she was accountable to Ali, like Ali was watching her from beyond the grave.
Emily couldn’t get Cassie’s words out of her mind. Ali would hate you for this. It was absolutely true: Ali might have teased the four of them, she might have been growing apart from them at the end of seventh grade, but she never deliberately sold them out. The five of them had always had a pact, covering for one another when they got in trouble. It was why Emily, Aria, Spencer, and Hanna had told Ali’s parents all kinds of stories about where Ali might have been the morning after she’d vanished. They’d figured Ali would have wanted them to. Never in their wildest dreams had they thought she was dead.