“No, not at all,” Ariel said. “I was surprised it was her on the phone. She’s been missing for weeks. Has she been found?”
“Yes, she has,” Chuck said.
“Is she okay?” Ariel asked.
“Uh, yes, she’s physically fine,” Chuck said quickly. “Well, I think that’s all for now. I’ll be in touch if I have more questions.”
“What was that about?” Ariel asked as soon as Chuck was gone.
Presley sighed and filled Chuck’s vacant seat beside Ariel. “We can talk about the details when we have more privacy, but Elsie isn’t a good person. She didn’t need a ride home from the party. She lured you there to drug you.”
“What? Why?” Ariel asked loudly, followed by a grimace.
“Because she’s a bad person,” I said. “But trust me, let us tell you about it when you can yell and be pissed off without making your head hurt and your mom’s blood pressure go up.”
“Making it sound more interesting doesn’t help,” Ariel said flatly.
“She’s in police custody and will be for the foreseeable future,” I told her. “She isn’t cooperating, so we’ve had to piece things together, but she’s the catalyst of your story.”
“I guess that will have to do for now.”
34
PRESLEY
Two Days Later
When the doctor came in and told us they were going to let Ariel go home from the hospital, I suddenly realized we didn’t have a plan. Ink had been staying with us at my house since we returned from vacation, but I wasn’t sure if we still needed him to, or if he even wanted to.
“Okay, we’ve got things to do,” Mom said, interrupting my thoughts. “I’ll make a list of everything we need and have it delivered to your house.”
“Hold on. What are you talking about?”
“Ariel’s going home,” she said simply.
“Explain more, Mom,” I said and reached for my coffee, which was required to interpret Alice-speak so early in the day.
“Your dad and I will need clothes and the essentials. Ink will, too. We’ll need groceries. We should also get pillows, ice packs, and over-the-counter pain relievers.”
“Knock, knock,” Dice said. “Breakfast is here.”
I got up to take the bags of food from him. “Perfect timing.”
“I can’t tell how you meant that.”
“I meant it in a good way,” I smiled.
Thankfully, Mom waited until we were almost finished with breakfast before she brought up her plans again.
“Who’s staying where?” I asked.
“I thought we’d all stay at your house—me, you, Ariel, your dad, Ink, and Nora.”
“Mom, I don’t have enough beds for everyone,” I said. “Even if I did, I don’t have enough room for us to be comfortable.”
“Oh,” she said. “I assumed it would be easier to have everyone in one place but didn’t consider the size of said place.”
“You could stay on the farm,” Dice suggested. “We have a few empty houses available. One is near Ink’s house.”
