Shadows
Mona is taking a delicate bite of her salmon. “So I had to tell his campaign that of course we wouldn’t be able to endorse him. Although I personally felt that Senator Rubio had the very best shoes on the campaign trail.”
Hanna is beaming and bumping her shoulder against Mona’s. “How do we feel about dessert?”
“If it’s triple chocolate cheesecake?” Mona smiles, “We feel great!”
“I’ll be right back,” Emily says. “Order me another glass of wine?”
“I reserve the right to drink it myself if you aren’t back in five minutes,” Hanna nods. “Or if I get really thirsty.”
Emily gets up and walks towards the bathroom. Mona’s been on her best and most charming behavior all throughout dinner, which has made for a perfectly pleasant albeit slightly suspicious, meal. Emily watches Hanna in the mirror that covers the back wall of the restaurant, watching her giggle and lean closer to Mona as they study the wine list together. Whatever they’re laughing about, Emily thinks, they look happier than usual. Younger. Hanna’s broken engagement agrees with her.
She pushes open the door of the bathroom, noticing that even the restrooms are looking fancier than ever, with chunky candles lit and baskets of individually wrapped soaps near the sinks.
A minute after Emily has locked herself in a stall, she hears the door of the bathroom open and a shadow falls across the floor in the flickering candlelight. It’s no one, she tells herself. Or it’s someone checking their makeup. She could stay put, wait for Hanna to come looking for her.
“Fuck it,” Emily mutters to herself. This isn’t high school. There are lots of things scarier than shadows. She flushes the toilet and swings the stall door open, as if she’s a gun fighter heading into an old west saloon.
It’s not no one, though it might as well be. It’s Sara Harvey.
---------
Back at the table, Hanna is rummaging through her purse for her phone. She fishes it out of her bag and pulls up the photo of the nurse in the parking lot.
Mona’s jaw drops, her lips a perfect ‘o’ of surprise.
“It has to be a mask, right?” Hanna asks, tentatively. “I mean, there’s no other explanation.”
Mona examines the picture carefully before answering. “Did you show this to Emily?”
“No,” Hanna says, firmly. “I don’t want to help them mess with her head.”
“Like they did with Alison,” Mona agrees. “But why is she leaving? Why wouldn’t she hang around and let Emily catch sight of her?”
Hanna shrugs, taking a large bite of her cheesecake. “It’s one more weird thing. Welcome to Rosewood, weird things capital of the world.”
-------
“Am I supposed to be afraid of you?” Emily asks, her arms crossed. “Because all this tailing me around, it’s getting old.”
“It’s a small town,” Sara counters. “People run into each other, Emily.”
“They do,” Emily agrees. “Especially when one of them’s a stalking the other. Why don’t you save us both some time and just tell me what you want.”
“I want information,” Sara admits. “About Charlotte.”
“Take a number,” Emily retorts. “I thought you knew all about Charlotte. All those long nights of scheming together.”
Sara’s eyes fill with tears. “Please, Emily. She promised. She said she’d take care of me.”
“You’re good at getting people to take care of you,” Emily says, acidly. “But that’s not my problem anymore.”
“I know you really did care about me,” Sara pleads. “And I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you the truth! But I have a criminal record and I can barely use my hands - Charlotte had money stashed all over the place, all I want is my fair share!”
Emily brushes past her to wash her hands, looking disgusted. “This is all about money? If I knew where Charlotte kept her rainy day fund, I’d be using it to pay for college, not going halfsies with you.”
“Alison knows,” Sara says, confidently. “Convince her to tell you.”
Emily grabs one of the soaps and throws it hard at Sara’s face. Sara reacts instinctively, catching it easily in the fingers of her left hand. Emily laughs mirthlessly. “Why should I believe a single word that comes out of your mouth?”
“Because,” Sara pleads desperately. “I know who stole your eggs.”
----------
Emily storms back out to the table, drains her glass of wine in one smooth gulp, and heads for the front door of the restaurant.
“Where are you going?” Hanna calls after her, pulling cash out of her purse to leave on the table.
She and Mona catch up to Emily on the sidewalk outside.
“I’ll drive,” Mona offers, calmly handing the valet her ticket. “But you’ll have to tell me where we’re going. And why.”
“The Hastings house,” Emily says, grimly. “Turns out I have a score to settle with Melissa.”