“Not like that.” Ondine waved a dismissive hand. “They just have more traditional views, and since Ariella is their only child, they’re a little overprotective. It’s all out of love, though. Ariella is really close to her parents, but she likes to let loose sometimes… and then there’s Erik.”
“Erik?”
“Ariella’s boyfriend.”
“Her father told me she doesn’t have a boyfriend.”
“Because as far as he knows, she doesn’t,” Ondine said. “Ariella isn’t allowed to date. She’s nineteen, so I keep telling her to grow a pair and tell her dad, but she’s a daddy’s girl, through and through. They’re best friends, and she couldn’t bear the idea of letting her daddy down. So she lies about Erik. Whenever the three of us are together around her parents, Erik and I pretend we’re the couple so that they can hang out without Mr. Triton knowing.”
“You pretended to date Ariella’s boyfriend?” Bel asked.
“I mean, we don’t do anything except let her dad believe we’re dating, but yeah. That’s why Ariella liked to sneak out and go to the lake parties. She and Erik could be together. I like to go to them too, but please don’t tell my mom I snuck out… I didn’t drink a lot, but she’d kill me if she found out.”
“I’m not here to snitch on you, but you did just confess that you’re an underage drinker to a police officer.”
Ondine cursed, her face turning bright red.
“But right now, I’m simply trying to find Ariella,” Bel said. “Who, I’m guessing, is with Erik. What? Did you three get so drunk that she overslept at her boyfriend’s?”
“We drank, but we didn’t get drunk.” The girl’s conviction was convincing. “And Ariella isn’t at Erik’s… at least I don’t think she is.”
“Why not?”
“Because the cops broke up the party. Someone must have tipped them off, and we bolted so we didn’t get arrested,” Ondine explained, and Bel understood why the girl hadn’t wanted her mother present. She’d narrowly escaped the police. Seemed she hoped to escape Mom too. “A cop car drove right through the crowd, and it separated Erik and me from Ariella. We tried to look for her, but it was dark, and the cops wouldn’t leave. We didn’t want to get picked up, so Erik and I went home. We figured Ariella did the same… although, I guess she could’ve been arrested.”
“I’ll check with the station.” Bel crossed her metaphorical fingers that their missing teenager was sleeping off a hangover in a holding cell. It would certainly explain her absence. “If you have Erik’s address, can you give it to me, though? There’s still a chance she reconnected with him after you went home.”
“Yeah, sure.” The girl withdrew her phone and shared the location.
“Thanks. Does Ariella have other friends she could’ve stayed with last night?”
“I don’t think so. We’ve been best friends since we were little, and we don’t really hang out with anyone else. We have friends, but none that we’re that close with.”
“One more question. Is it possible Ariella went home with another guy after you guys got separated?”
“What? No!” Ondine glared at her. “Why would you even ask that?”
“Sheltered girl has to watch her best friend fake date her boyfriend just to see him?” Bel said. “That’s enough to make anyone want to cut loose, and your separation last night offered her the perfect opportunity for recklessness.”
“Ariella loves her parents,” Ondine insisted. “She was sheltered because she was a daddy’s girl, not because her parents are abusive. She had a mini rebellious streak, hence the parties and the boyfriend, but that’s it. She doesn’t get drunk. She doesn’t do drugs, and she would never cheat on Erik. They’re in love. Real love. They’re going to get married.”
“Okay.” Bel nodded. “I had to ask. Thank you for your time, and here’s my card. Call me if you hear from Ariella.”
“Where are you going?”Bel asked as Erik Prince stormed for his front door.
“To look for her.” He shoved his feet into his sneakers. “I thought it was odd she never answered me when I asked if she got home okay.”
“You texted her?” Bel remembered the phone charging on Ariella’s bedside table being void of messages.
“No, we use the notes app. If you share a note with someone, they can see everything you write. People forget to check that when snooping. We use it so her parents won’t notice.”
“Do they go through her phone?” Bel asked.
“No. She just didn’t want my name popping up all the time.”
“Why didn’t she just label your number with a fake name?”
“Because all parents are the same. If they see you texting the same person a lot, they ask who you’re talking to, but when has a parent ever asked you why you were writing in your notes?”
