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

“Exactly. The ritual is to be performed in order to ‘get’ something back from the universe. It’s usually fame and fortune, that sort of thing,” Effie said. “He, more than anything else in the world, wanted his band to be famous. He used to jokingly ask me if I could magically make that happen for him and now, I realize that maybe he wasn’t joking.”

“Jake’s body is missing,” Miller added. “Is that part of the process?”

“Yes,” Effie and Kate answered in unison.

“You need the body of someone with a broken heart and a tormented soul,” Kate explained. “I know, super dramatic, right?” She chuckled for a moment. “Yeah, so if Jake was really going through it, and Max knew about it, then he would be the perfect victim. You make a ritual site, bring a body up there and then bang! You get one wish out of the witchy gods above.”

“How do we prove this? What can we do next?” I asked.

“Get the wolf to sniff out Jake’s body!” Ryder exclaimed.

“Ew, no!” Effie scoffed. “Look, we have a few things going on here. First things first, was Jake the right fit for this ceremony. Maybe his wife knows if he was bummed out about something, you should speak to her.”

“I’d be bummed out if I was in a relationship with that women, but sure,” I said. “We can ask.”

“Great. Ryder, have you seen any other sites like that one when you’ve been hiking?” Kate asked.

“No. Well, I’ve never seen one with scorched earth before, but I’ve seen gaps in the trees with big flat rocks,” he answered.

“Hmmm,” Kate mused. “I just don’t know how Tim could be involved. He had a cut on his hand, and he was in the clearing which would tie him to all this, but I don’t get why he and Max would be in on it together.”

“Are you serious?” Miller smiled. “I figured you two had your finger on the pulse around here.”

“What are you talking about?” Effie asked.

“The old bassist in the band developed crippling carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands, so they kicked him out,” Miller said.

“That was kind of them,” I chimed.

“That left them with an opening. They held open auditions if I remember correctly. Within a week they were playing gigs around town again with their new line up…” he said, raising his eyebrows as high up on his forehead as he could. He was looking right at Effie and Kate to figure out what he was hinting at, they both stared blankly back at him.

“Tim is the new bassist,” I sighed. “Right? That’s why he is involved in all this, he is in the band with Max.”

“Exactly!” Miller said, lifting a hand for a high five before lowering it quickly as I was too far away to participate. “I think they got another new guitarist as well. I haven’t seen them perform recently though.”

“We really have a type, huh sis?” Kate frowned.

“I feel sorry for both of us, equally,” Effie said, reaching over to wrap her arms around her sister.

“Hey, sorry to break up the pity party, but what are we supposed to do next?” I asked again.

“Speak to Jake’s wife. If this is all really happening, which I am still kinda hoping it isn’t, then I will need to study the book and look for a way to end it. If they have performed a ritual sacrifice for personal gain, and it pays off… well, they would become unstoppable. I’m talking Justin Bieber levels of fame, only evil!” Kate said.

“I thought Justin Bieber was evil,” Effie said.

“No, you’re thinking of Justin Trudeau,” Kate replied.

“No I’m not. Trudeau isn’t evil, he’s Canadian!”

“So is Bieber!” Kate shrieked.

“Let’s go,” I signaled to Ryder and Miller. We all stood up and walked out of the house as a three. Greta emerged from nowhere and hovered to the right of Ryder, making a weird movement with her face as if she was trying to sniff his hair.

It was a well-known fact that Greta had the hots for Ryder, I think she was less than pleased that he appeared to have a crush on me.

“Greta,” Ryder said. “How are things?”

“Oh you know, I’m dead now so I don’t spend as much time washing my hair or shaving my legs now. I have so much more time to do whatever I like,” she grinned. If this was her idea of flirty talk then I needed to give her some tips, not like I had any idea how to speak to guys in a sexy way either.

“Miller and I need to go and speak to Jake’s wife. I think it’s best we go as the peacekeeper/police officer duo because she is already abrasive and I think she will respond negatively to us bringing along a third person,” I said. “Sorry.”

Ryder took a deep breath and then turned to Greta once again. “Why don’t we go on a hike back to my store, for old times’ sake?”

“Yes please!” Greta squealed. Ryder gave me a glance to see if his attempts to make me jealous were working. My mind was too busy to think about my stupid love triangle. Miller and I walked up to the high street where he flagged down a taxi. I was surprised that such a small place had a taxi firm, but when I saw the driver it seemed to make sense.

“Hey, Sadie!” Wes shouted as we slid into the back of the cab. Wes had been the driver of the bus that had taken me from the airport to the beach on the day I arrived. Miller leaned closer to give Wes an address and soon the car was bumbling across the island to Mrs. Hall’s house.

We drove in silence for the most part. Wes hummed along to many a tune from the car radio and I found myself staring out of the window and the