Page 12 of Wild Tempest

Sheriff Daniels joined us in the hallway. He'd observed the interrogation. "Think he killed them?"

"He's our best lead so far,” I said. "There are still hours of footage to sort through from the other cameras.”

"Well, get on it," he said before walking off.

It was late, and I was ready to crawl into bed. We left the station and headed back to the Avventura. I grabbed Buddy's leash, took him out for a walk, then settled into bed.

Isabella called bright and early the next morning. I had sent her screen grabs from the footage at Whistler Cay and asked her to identify some of the participants on camera.

I should have set my phone on do not disturb so I could have slept longer, but this was information I didn't want to miss.

8

We caught up with Summer outside of her European History class at Pembroke Hall. Isabella had been able to identify her from the footage. A quick call to the administration building gave me her class schedule.

I approached the delightful beauty as class let out and flashed my badge. "Deputy Wild with Coconut County.”

Concern filled her blue eyes. "Is there some kind of problem?”

"We just need to ask you a few questions about Whistler Cay.”

Students flooded into the hallway, hurrying to the next class. Voices echoed off the vaulted ceilings, along with the clatter of footsteps.

"Three documentary filmmakers went missing,” I said. “We believe they may have been murdered."

Summer’s eyes rounded. "Murdered?”

I nodded.

"You were interviewed for the documentary," I said.

Summer nodded.

"We've seen the footage. Can you tell me what happened after that?”

"They interviewed some of the other girls, then they filmed our ceremony. We all had to sign releases saying we agreed to appear on camera and that they could use the footage. Some of the girls were hesitant, obviously. You know, we weren't exactly wearing a lot of clothing. I mean, you’ve seen the video."

"How long did you stay on the island?"

"It was after midnight. That's the most powerful time, though some say 3:00 AM is really the witching hour. We didn’t stay that long. It was a long boat ride back to Coconut Key.”

“I take it the filmmakers were alive and well when you left?"

Summer nodded.

"Would you say it was 1:00 AM, 2:00 AM when you left?”

Her face scrunched up as she thought about it. "I'd say it was closer to 2:00 AM. Like I said, it was late, and it's a long ride out there. I didn't want to camp on the island. I think they were staying.”

"Did you see anyone else on the island while you were there?”

Her face soured. "There were a couple of frat guys that showed up. Bunch of drunk assholes. But they left after Draven got in their face.”

"We saw that.”

Summer’s eyes rounded again. "You saw that? Oh, I thought they deleted that footage.”

I shrugged. "Apparently not.”