Witches and Whatnots: An Izzy Cooper Novel Read Free Page B

of nature - a monster.
    It was truly breathtaking, but for some reason it seemed unnatural.
    The gardens were too perfect. With Halloween only a few days away, the flowers should be starting to die. Some would still look good, but most wouldn’t.
    That wasn’t the case in Moonlight Dell. As soon as you entered the clearing, it was like the seasons changed and it was suddenly spring.
    Maybe they just had really green thumbs.
    It was strange, but I shrugged it off and continued. There were a couple of shops that didn’t appear to be open, and several empty cottages, but even those were picture perfect. I had the sense that I’d just entered a medieval town in some fairytale, complete with cobblestone streets. The cottages and shops had a Tudor appearance, but they didn’t look old. In fact, everything looked new, as if it had just been built.
    It was beautifully eerie, but again I shrugged it off. 
    Obviously whoever was remodeling the village, knew what they were doing.
    After parking Lady Luck next to one of the empty cottages, I reached beneath the driver’s seat and found my Glock. No matter how peaceful the village appeared to be, I wasn’t going to get caught without my gun.
    It was a slow process, but I was developing the habit of keeping my weapon on me while conducting homicide investigations. I’d learned the hard way that there was no telling when you’d need a gun to help you out of a tight situation.
    After all, there was a reason law enforcement carried guns.
    Getting out of my Mustang, I locked the doors and started walking the cobblestone street, looking for someone to talk to.
    I’d only gone about fifty yards when I came to a cottage. It was lovely, almost as perfect as a painting. Its thatched roof actually had ivy growing over it. Behind the white picket fence, I spied a young woman working in what appeared to be a vegetable or herb garden.
    “Hello!” I waved.
    The woman looked up and smiled. She was as stunning as the village. Her silky brown hair was bound in a French braid, and she had a glowing complexion that some women would kill for.
    Dropping the gardening tool she’d been using, she stood up. “Hello. Can I help you find something?”
    “Well, I don’t know. I was just kind of curious as to what’s going on. I thought the Dell was deserted.”
    “Oh, it was. We moved in a couple of months ago and started fixing it up.” Her smiled widened as she walked toward the fence.
    The closer she got, the more beautiful she was. I admit, I felt a twinge of jealousy that anyone could be so perfect.
    My cop instincts took over, or some kind of instinct anyway. It was entirely possible it was my nasty demon instinct, spurred by my envy of the girl’s perfection. “You must have been keeping a low profile. As far as I know, nobody was aware the Dell was occupied. What are you doing all the way up here?”
    In spite of her display of friendliness, her brown eyes turned cool. “Just cozying up our new home.”
    “Who all lives up here … and what’s your name?”
    Now even her smile turned cool. “Who are you?”
    “I’m sorry. I should have introduced myself. “I’m Special Agent Cooper with the FBI.” Reaching into my back pocket, I pulled out my ID and showed it to her.
    “I see. Is this an official visit then?”
    I shrugged. “Maybe.”
    “Well my name is Tanna Aster, and this is my home.” She lifted a dainty hand and pointed to the cottage.
    “Who else is up here?” I repeated the question, getting right down to business.
    “Right now there are only four of us here, but we hope that over time, we will be able to build up our community.”
    I wondered if she was purposely avoiding an answer to my question. “So there are four of you? Where are the other three residents?”
    “They have gone to the mainland to bring back more building supplies. We still have a lot of work to do in order to get this place into shape.”
    Although to an onlooker Tanna appeared to be