Page 15 of Wild Tempest

His face wrinkled with confusion. “I didn’t assault anyone.”

“On Whistler Cay you did.”

I don’t think Draven was the sharpest tool in the shed. But he could count. With four deputies and two campus police officers, the big guy decided to comply.

JD ratcheted the cuffs around Draven’s thick wrists and read him his rights. I searched his backpack and found his pistol.

We escorted him across campus to a patrol car. Jack stuffed him in the back. Draven was taken to the station. After he was processed, we paid him a visit in the interrogation room.

JD and I took a seat across the table from him.

“I didn’t do anything,“ he said. “Those guys were being assholes, making the girls uncomfortable. I asked them to leave nicely. They wouldn’t. What was I supposed to do? I didn’t want the situation to escalate.”

I laughed. “It escalated when you pulled the gun.”

“Would you rather I’d beaten the shit out of those snot-nosed little pricks?”

Draven was a big guy, and there was no doubt he could hold his own in a scrap.

“What happened after the frat guys left the island?” I asked.

“We continued the ceremony.”

"Did the witch appear?" JD asked dryly.

Draven sneered at him. "We obviously didn't prove ourselves worthy.”

"Did you get into an altercation with the filmmakers?”

His brow wrinkled like it was a silly question. "No. Those guys were cool. The girl was cute. They all seemed genuinely interested in what we were doing. Not skeptical at all.”

"We believe somebody killed them."

Draven’s eyes rounded. "They're dead?”

"There's a high probability.”

"Don’t look at me, man. I didn't kill anybody.”

10

"Possessing a firearm on campus is a third-degree felony," I said.

Draven’s face stiffened. "I didn't know that.”

"Why are you carrying a pistol around?”

"Why do you carry a pistol around? It's a dangerous place. You never know when some whack job is going to start plugging classmates and teachers. I think it's bullshit. I should be able to defend myself anywhere.”

We left him in the interrogation room and joined the sheriff in the hallway.

"I don't think he's our guy," I said.

"Let’s see if the ammo in his gun matches the shell casings found at the scene," Daniels said. "Find those bodies. This is going to be a tough case without them.”

"They're probably at the bottom of the ocean right now," I said with a solemn expression.

The sheriff frowned and shook his head. "Keep on it.”