Hallow Haven Cozy Mysteries Bundle Books 1-3 by Mara Webb (books to read fiction .txt) 📕

I heard the bizarre sound of harmonizing over kazoo music that could only mean one thing; Wes was back. The song stopped and then I heard two loud splashes, followed by a few seconds of silence, then heavy footsteps climbing up the stairs to the house. Wes and an unknown woman were both dripping wet and bickering in the living room.

“Doc, he’s through here,” Miller called out.

A woman walked through the door and I immediately thought she was a relative of Effie and Kates. Her hair was twisted up into a bun but was a vibrant pink color. I only know two people in Hallow Haven that were so passionate about hair dye, she had to be another sister or something.

“Jeff, can you tell me what happened?” she said, crouching by his side.

She had a bag with her that seemed to somehow be completely dry and when she opened it, she began to pull out gauze, gloves and ointments. I hadn’t even met a doctor with hair like that before. She was so beautiful, and I couldn’t help but look over to see if Miller was watching her. He seemed too busy talking to Wes about something.

“What’s this I hear about lemonade?” Jeff chuckled from his chair.

“Oh!” Wes called, jogging across the room with the drink in his hand. “Sorry, man. I thought I’d let the Doc take care of things first. You know I’d never deprive J-man of his favorite beverage!”

Jeff thanked him, then started to slurp the pink liquid up through the straw so fast that the cup was empty in seconds. “Ahhh,” Jeff sighed. “I needed that. Just what the doctor ordered,” he smiled.

“Actually, I’d rather you didn’t drink so much of that stuff, Jeff,” the doctor said, but then a grin cracked the stern expression and she seemed instantly more approachable. Dang, her smile made her even more attractive than she had been moments earlier.

“You’ve not met Brielle, have you?” Miller asked. I shook my head.

“Hi, I’ve heard so much about you and I would have come over to introduce myself already but…” Brielle said, trailing off.

“Brielle is actually another one of the cousins,” Miller smiled. “Effie and Kate’s cousin from the other side of the family. Which I guess means we are related, but not by blood and I don’t know what the name is for what we are to each other.”

Miller was Effie and Kate’s second cousin. I have never understood the relationship tree in general, but in Hallow Haven it was a real headache. That whole ‘first cousin once removed’ thing, I just don’t get it. What does it mean?

“Yes, one of the cousins. Their great-grandfather was a werewolf… I’m not from that blood line,” she smiled. “Anyway, Jeff, I’ve given you a few stitches and your pupils are responding nicely, so I think you’ve been very lucky. I would like you to be observed for twenty-four hours just to check for any signs of concussion, and obviously because I just adore your wonderful company.”

“Alright! Party in the Wes-mobile!” Wes hollered. “Let’s go, J-dog. I’ll get you to the doctor’s surgery like a champ!”

“I don’t doubt it,” Jeff grinned. “Shame I’ll be soaking wet when I get there.”

“I know a little magic that can dry us all off when we get there,” Brielle said. So, she was a witch too. Of course she was, everyone on this island had something going on. “Are you guys coming?”

Miller and I looked at each other. “We need to get back to Green Holt,” Miller answered. “I’ll have a team come over and assess the crime scene here and we can look into some witnesses, see if anyone saw someone swimming to or from the house.”

Didn’t I see something swimming away earlier? Maybe it hadn’t been a water snake after all.

“Green Holt?” Jeff said, suddenly sounding very serious. “Wh— what are you doing over on Green Holt?” he asked.

“We found a body and… well actually we had a few questions that we wanted to ask you, so perhaps we can visit you tomorrow when you are feeling better and speak to you then,” Miller replied.

Jeff had been helped to his feet by Brielle but was now slumping backwards into the chair again. His face had turned pale, and his hands were trembling.

“Jeff?” Brielle said. “How are you doing? Can you tell me what’s going on?” She crouched down and pulled out her pen light to inspect his pupils again.

“I… it’s not safe there,” Jeff stuttered. “You need to be careful. Please, promise me you won’t stay there a moment longer than you need to.”

“I need to get him to the surgery, now,” Brielle said. “He seems to be going into a form of shock, not uncommon after a traumatic incident like this. Come back tomorrow if you have questions, by all means, but now is not a good time.”

Brielle and Wes propped Jeff up between them both and escorted him out of the house while Miller and I stood out of the way. I followed them to the front door and watched as they reached the part of the stairs where the flood waters began. Brielle snapped her fingers and a bright yellow backboard appeared, like the ones used by paramedics that are carrying someone away from a car accident with a neck brace on.

Wes and Brielle helped Jeff to lay down on the backboard and strap him in securely. Brielle then cast some sort of charm over it to allow it to float gently above their heads as they walked through the flood waters to Wes’s taxi. I wanted to see how they planned to get Jeff into the car like that, or how they were planning to get into the car. I can barely pull myself out of a swimming pool when my feet can reach the bottom.

Miller called me back into the house and I turned to see what he wanted.

“I need you to come in here for a moment,”