Pretty Little Liars #14 by Sara Shepard

Emily did, too. Spencer glanced around the room, seeing things for the very last time before they finally came clean about Tabitha. Before their lives, possibly, changed forever. But she knew it was the right thing to do. They were drowning by themselves. They needed help.
    She leaned forward and gazed at Fuji. “Look. We’re not saying that what we did was right, but we messed up, and we’re sorry about what we did. But there are reasons why we haven’t come clean. And we do have more information on Tabitha, but we haven’t been able to tell you.”
    â€œWhy not?” Fuji asked sharply.
    â€œBecause it hasn’t been safe,” Spencer explained. “We’re being threatened. What we know is really, really dangerous. So if we say something, we want something in return.”
    â€œGo on.” Fuji folded her hands. “I’m listening.”
    â€œWe need to make sure you’ll keep us safe,” Spencer said firmly. “We don’t want anything to happen to us or our families.”
    Fuji nodded. “All right. We can arrange that.”
    â€œAnd we also want our charges dropped. Everything we did—the drugs, the theft, the secret communication with the fugitive, and the accident—it needs to be wiped clean from our records.”
    â€œ Spencer!” Emily cried.
    Aria covered her eyes.
    But Spencer didn’t apologize or renege the demand. She adopted the tactic she used when she used to play forward in field hockey: stare down your opponent during face-off. Don’t let them see you sweat. Don’t back down. “That’s what we want. Can you do that for us?”
    Fuji was the first to blink. “Okay. But whatever you have, it had better be good.”
    Spencer took a breath. She hadn’t thought Fuji would actually go for it.
    Then she explained what they knew, including how they’d accidentally pushed Tabitha off the balcony but didn’t kill her. They couldn’t tell anyone the truth, though, because of how it looked. And because someone was threatening them.
    Agent Fuji tented her fingers. “So there’s another A?”
    Emily glanced at the others. “More than one, we think.”
    Fuji folded her hands. “And who do you think your stalker might be?”
    Again, everyone exchanged a glance. Aria cleared her throat. “Alison,” she said loudly.
    Fuji widened her eyes. “I see .”
    Spencer launched into an explanation of exactly why they thought A was Ali and how all the pieces fit. “Wait a minute,” Agent Fuji interrupted, when they got to that part about Emily’s baby. “You think Alison killed Gayle Riggs?”
    Spencer nodded.
    Fuji squinted hard. “But in the police notes, you girls said it sounded like A spoke to the person who shot her.”
    â€œThat’s right,” Emily said. “We heard Gayle talking to someone. Kind of like, What are you doing here? And then there was the shot.”
    Fuji’s brow furrowed. “So perhaps Gayle knew Alison?”
    â€œMaybe,” Spencer said. “Or maybe she knew her helper.”
    â€œDo you have any idea who her helper might be?”
    The girls looked at one another. “We had a lot of theories,” Spencer said. “Graham Pratt for a while. And then Noel Kahn.”
    â€œNoel?” Fuji cocked her head. “What does he have to do with this?”
    Spencer opened her mouth to explain, but Aria caught her arm. “It was a false lead,” she said quickly. A look flashed across her face that said, Let’s not rat out Noel right now . Spencer just shrugged.
    â€œThis is really, really serious, girls,” Fuji said. “We’re talking about a serial killer. I’m glad you finally came to me about this—there’s no way you can handle this on your own, and you shouldn’t have to.”
    No one spoke. Spencer held her breath.
    â€œWith your permission,