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"He didn’t knowthe towel over the radiator and walking into the hall again "Maybe I’ll be okay But whatever you do, please don’t tell"

She trailed off, glancing behind her Noel stood at the bottom of the stairs by the back door, dressed in a hoodie and jeans, though they weren’t the saht His forehead was slick with sweat like it alas after drinking, but there was a knowing look on his face that made Aria’s insides seize What had he just heard?

"There you are" Noel climbed up the stairs and patted Aria’s wet head "You take a shower?"

"Uh, yeah" Aria crossed her legs to hide the gash on her knee "Where were you?"

Noel gestured down the stairs "S a snarky corabbed Noel’s hand instead "Coo to bed"

Her eyes ide open as they clis prickly against hers "So where were you?" There was bitterness in his voice "At the bar with Gayloff?"

Aria turned away, the guilt oozing out of her pores as pungently as the schnapps oozed froht But then Noel put his arms around her and pulled her close

"Let’s call a truce This trip has been weird I’ve been weird And I’m sorry"

Aria’s eyes welled with tears That was exactly what she needed to hearabout five hours too late She wrapped her arht "I’ soto be sorry about," Noel said sleepily "I love you, A"

He mumbled into his pillow as he drifted off to sleep For a split second, Aria thought she’d heard hiain, Noel was drunk Even if he had said what she thought he had, he certainly didn’tit up to him tomorrow, either

She never wanted to , Hanna, Aria, Noel, and Mike checked out of the guesthouse and departed for the airport They went through the security line and stocked up on snacks and trashyplane ride home If Aria seemed jittery, Noel didn’t question it When Noel co a McDonald’s, Aria didn’t snap at him When Hanna and Aria spoke even less than usual, neither Mike nor Noel remarked I’m just tired, they planned to say if anyone questioned the trip I miss my bed

The plane had satellite TV, and Aria flipped to CNN International after boarding Suddenly, there it was: a shot of the chateau It was eventhan she remembered Break-in at Brennan Manor, read the headline

A video showed the shadowy, closed-up, spiderwebbed roohtand a police sketch of Olaf "This is the thief who got aith the painting, as described to the police by a witness who lived down the road," said the reporter "Authorities are on the hunt for hi open Olaf made it out?

Hanna stared at the TV screen in horror The situation had changed Valuable art had been stolen, and Aria had helped facilitate that Hanna thought of the art-theft cases her father had worked on when he practiced law: Even people who knew about the criuilty Now she was one of those people

Aria touched Hanna’s forear "Olaf was s he’ll never say I ith him The police will never be able to connect me to the crime No one will ever know that you know, either Just don’t tell anyone else, okay? Not even Emily and Spencer"

Hanna turned away and stared at the runway, trying to lose herself Maybe Aria was right Maybe this Olaf guy, whoever he was, could evade the police That was the only way Aria’s secret would remain safe That was the only way Hanna would remain safe, too

And, mercifully, they were safe, for almost a year The story surfaced in the news from time to time, but there weren’t many details, and the reporters never mentioned an accomplice One time, Hanna watched a report with Spencer and Emily in the room, the secret like hot lava inside her But she didn’t say anything She couldn’t betray Aria’s trust Aria didn’t dare tell theirls knew, the better

After a while, what happened didn’t haunt Aria as much anymore Olaf had disappeared into oblivion, and he’d taken the painting with his had improved between her and Noel, too, that Iceland trip a distant me So this secret very, very quiet until the tiirls’ senior year, that very same someone decided to make it public