“So, we’re looking for a man who travels or inspires people to travel to him,” Olivia said.
“It’s a start, at least.”
Olivia grunted as she rubbed her abdomen. “The coffee is burning my stomach.”
“You need to eat.” Bel rose to her feet and grabbed her keys. “Come on.”
“I don’t want to eat.”
“You’ll feel better if you do. We’ll get smoothies. That’s easy on the stomach.”
“Fruit.” Olivia rolled the word around her tongue as she considered that prospect. “That thought doesn’t make me want to puke,” she said as they piled into the SUV.
It was a short drive through the picturesque town square, but just as Bel was about to turn down a side street to park behind the smoothie shop, familiar features caught her attention. She almost ignored the recognition, but with a double take that nearly gave her whiplash, she slammed on the brakes.
“Bel!” Olivia screeched as the seatbelt choked her. “What are you?—?”
But she shifted the car into reverse and lurched backward.
“Oh my god, Isobel Emerson, what are you doing?”
“At the autopsy this morning, we wondered if Ariella knew her killer and was attacked because she saw something she wasn’t supposed to,” Bel said.
“I remember,” Olivia grunted.
Bel pointed out the window and waited until her partner followed her directions. “Something like that?”
“A couple kissing?”Olivia’s annoyed tone filled the car. “You slammed on the brakes for—wait…” She turned her wide eyes on Bel before practically breaking her neck to peer back out the window. “That’s Erik… and Ondine. You don’t think…?”
“That Ariella caught her boyfriend and her best friend cheating with each other, and they killed her in the heat of the moment?” Bel finished the question for her. “The burial site was a beautiful resting place, suggesting that her killers either cared for her or felt guilty about her murder. Erik and Ondine fit both theories.”
“Erik certainly has the strength and hand size to strangle a woman,” Olivia said. “Plus, Ariella was so worried about disappointing her parents that she asked her friend andboyfriend to fake date so they could hang out without scrutiny. Maybe it wasn’t so fake after all.”
“The police break up the party, and Ariella disappears,” Bel said as the real-life Erik and Ondine vanished down the street, and the honking car behind them urged her to continue to the smoothie shop. “Erik and Ondine assume she ran home before her parents realized she was missing, and with their judgment impaired by the alcohol, they escape into the trees to hook up.”
“Only Ariella hadn’t left.” Olivia jumped out of the SUV and followed Bel into the cafe. “She was worried her friends had been arrested, so she searched for them only to get an eyeful of her best friend naked with her boyfriend. She came from a conservative household. It stands to reason that she was a ‘wait until marriage’ type. Maybe Erik got sick of waiting and hoped he could have the best of both worlds.”
“The girlfriend and the casual sex.” Bel ordered a large tropical smoothie and waited for Olivia to order her strawberry before continuing. “And with Ariella out of the picture, he’s now free to enjoy both with Ondine.”
“But we only just found her body. She’s been a missing person, not a murder victim, for the past two months. Based on that kiss, those two aren’t afraid to be risqué in public. That’s not a good look for the boyfriend and best friend of a murdered girl.”
“This has probably been going on since the party,” Bel said. “But now that Ariella’s been found, Erik no longer has a girlfriend he needs to appear faithful to.”
“Or since they murdered her,” Olivia corrected. “I know not everyone is honorable, but most men wouldn’t instantly start sleeping with their girlfriend’s best friend right after she went missing. I saw Eamon after he thought you had died. He’d never survive losing you.”
“Not everyone is Eamon,” Bel said. “But you have a point. If Erik really loved Ariella and thought she was missing but alive,he’d do everything he could to find her. He’d wait. Men in love wait.”
“But men who already know their girlfriends are dead?”
“We need to get back to the station and look into him.” Bel started the car and sped out of the parking lot. “Specifically, what he’s been up to since Ariella went missing.”
“Wait,” Olivia blurted so loudly that Bel slammed on her brakes… again.
“What’s wrong?”
“Sorry, sorry, keep driving. I just remembered something.” Olivia dug her phone out of her pocket. They needed to get off the road before someone called 911 on the cops themselves. “Yes! Here it is. Look.” She shoved the phone into Bel’s face.
“I’m driving.” Bel swatted it away. “We’ve already been honked at twice.”
