Page 11 of Wild Wolf

We climbed into the Porsche and headed across the island to find Austin.

7

Austin lived in the Wharton Tower. It was an upscale dorm with all the amenities. There were coffee and sandwich shops in the lobby and a lounge area. The rec room on the second floor had pool tables, foosball, darts, and a large flatscreen display.

The place was a madhouse in the morning, and it took forever to get an elevator. Fortunately, we missed the rush. We took a stab in the dark and hoped we'd catch Austin in his room. I put a heavy fist against the door to suite #1514.

Music from the stereo inside filtered down the foyer.

I banged louder.

Eventually, footsteps stomped toward the door. The peephole flickered as someone peered out. "What do you want?”

I flashed my badge to the lens. "Coconut County. Open up.”

"You got a warrant?”

"We just need to talk to you about Ophelia Grace.”

He paused for a long moment. "Look, she was alive the last time I saw her.”

"Great. Then you’ve got nothing to worry about. So open the door, and let's talk about it. Otherwise, I'm going to get suspicious. Then I’m gonna come back with a warrant.”

He hesitated for another long moment, then finally pulled open the door. His nervous eyes flicked between the two of us. Austin was a tall guy with mid-length, straight, dark hair that hung into his brown eyes. He had a square face, a muscular physique, and a dumb look.

"Is there any particular reason you're hesitant to talk to us?" I asked.

"You’re cops. Tell me when talking to cops leads to anything good?”

Austin was smarter than he looked.

"We’re just trying to find out what happened," I said in a casual tone.

“I told you. She was alive when I left her. That's all I know.”

"I take it you've seen the news.”

"How could anyone miss it? It's the talk of campus. Everyone is saying she was killed by a werewolf.”

"So, are you worried?"

He looked at me like it was a stupid question. "Werewolves don't exist, and I was the last person to see her alive. Now, there are two cops at my door asking questions. Yeah, I’m a little concerned.”

"We’ve got a witness that says you two got into an altercation on the beach.”

His eyes rounded with surprise. "A witness?”

"You want to tell me what happened?”

Austin hesitated a moment, then shrugged. "I don't know. Everything was going great. We were having a good time. Then she flipped out.”

"Why did she flip out?”

His brow wrinkled with confusion. "If I knew why she flipped out…”

"Maybe you got a little too aggressive.”

"She was totally down for it. I mean, God knows she wasn’t a virgin. I think she already got with half the football team.”