Witches and Whatnots: An Izzy Cooper Novel (5 page)

A good night’s sleep didn’t do much for me, mainly because I didn’t get a good night’s sleep. I spent most of it pondering the Zane Dupree dilemma.

Part of it could be hormones. He was the hottest vampire ever, even compared to those guys who played vampires in the movies.

But that wasn’t the only thing bothering me. What really had me puzzled was that I kept seeing him as Edward Beaufort, and even worse was the fact it was like a memory, though it had to be someone else’s memory.

Feeling like a zombie extra in a movie about the apocalypse, I set myself on autopilot and started for work.

Figuring there was no way I was going to make it to the lighthouse in one piece, unless I had some go-juice, I detoured to the Quick Stop for some coffee.

The little convenience store was all decked out for Halloween, complete with fake spider webs obscuring the windows and grinning skeletons.

I wasn’t ready for Halloween at all. In fact, I hadn’t even gotten around to taking out my rubber tarantula.

Thinking of Halloween made me think of my grandmother. Granny had made every holiday special for Annabelle and I.

Every Halloween Granny Stella would make up a big pot of chili, and there would always be spiced cider and caramel apples. My stomach ached with hunger just thinking about her homemade chili.

There had to be a way to find out what happened to my grandmother. If only people would quit murdering each other so I could concentrate on finding her.

After paying for a large cup of coffee, I took several swallows and almost immediately felt the caffeine zing.

One day I’d really have to do something about my caffeine addiction, but no way was it going to be today. I was too tired and had way too much on my plate.

The Misty Haven Carnival opened today, which meant there was a chance someone would go nutty and commit murder. It was during these big community events that I was reminded of the fact that Mystique Island was made up of not so normal people. We had witches, werewolves, and vampires. With Julius living on the island, I couldn’t leave out demons either. After talking with Delia, it was becoming very clear that I really had no idea what odd and diverse people we had on the island.

Maybe they could pull off a carnival with no major problems, but I wasn’t placing any bets on it.

I was a little surprised to find that Tim wasn’t in the office, which meant I’d have to wait to invite him to the ball with me.

“Where’s Tim?” I asked Ayden, who was busy searching through a file cabinet for something.

“He’s at the Sheriff’s Office, questioning a suspect.”

“Really? We have a suspect?” I wasn’t quite sure I believed it. Nothing was ever that easy. “Who is it and how come no one called me?”

A frown tugged at the corners of Ayden’s mouth. “I did call you, but you didn’t pick up.”

“I don’t think so,” I argued, as I was fishing my phone from my pants pocket.

Sure enough, there was a missed called from my boss. I was really going to have to think about turning my stereo down during work hours. Not that I would actually do it, but I could think about it.

I gave him a sheepish grin. “Sorry. I didn’t hear my phone ring.”

“Hmm.” He didn’t seem convinced.

“Who is the suspect?”

“Josh Baker … one of his fellow employees.”

“You have it all wrong.” I shook my head. “The perp is going to be a woman.”

“What makes you so sure of that?”

Sinking into my desk chair, I told him what I’d found out from Delia during my visit to Sunnyside, and about the witness who could place the last victim with a woman.

The lines around his face became more prominent as his frown deepened. “I wonder if there is a supernatural creature that isn’t on this island?”

Poor Ayden!

My boss was a good guy, and a good agent, but he just wasn’t born into the life of a supernatural. He’d lived in blissful ignorance of things that go bump in the night, until his family was murdered by a vampire. That’s when he discovered and joined the ACMU, and very quickly discovered that vampires weren’t the only monsters.

“Well look on the bright side. At least this will help narrow down the suspect list. We won’t have to waste time with the vampires.” I pointed out.

Ayden would have liked to blame everything on the vampires, especially Zane Dupree, but he was too professional for that. He’d go where the clues took him.

Sighing, he stood up. “I think I’ll help Tim out with the interrogation. The kid might at least be able to give us a good timeline. You and Tim both need to be at that carnival tonight,” he reminded me, though I didn’t really need reminding. If there were some succubus draining men of their life force, the carnival would be a good place for her to strike.

* * *

The transformation of the old Marsh Estate was complete. It had gone from a derelict, crumbling mansion, to a beautiful resort. Where there had once been overgrowth and weeds, there were now beautifully manicured lawns and flower gardens. Thousands of white twinkle lights added to the magical atmosphere of the Misty Haven Resort.

The carnival had been erected on the vast expanse of lawn, west of the estate. Zane had outdone himself for sure. Not only were there lots of carnival rides, but there was also food, games, and even several booths by local vendors.

He knew exactly how to secure the loyalty of the islanders.

The colorful lights of the rides brought me back to my childhood, and the traveling carnival that would come to town every summer.

The air was filled with the scent of freshly popped popcorn and hotdogs. It all seemed so innocent, it boggled the mind to think there was very likely a ruthless killer lurking among the carnival goers.

I was so accustomed to not having fun that I had no idea what to do when I was surrounded by fun. Lost in a maze of lights and game booths, I scanned the crowd. That’s when I saw Annabelle standing next to the booth she was running for the Sandcastle.

Dressed as a pub wench, she had her long auburn tresses tucked beneath a cap. It would seem my sister had figured out a way to drum up business for the new pub she’d opened inside the resort.

Annabelle was enterprising. I had to give her that. She’d started with an old ship and turned it into the Sandbar Pub, and now she was expanding to the new resort. She didn’t seem to have the same distrust for Dupree that the rest of the islanders had. Either that or she was blinded by the prospect of increasing her bottom dollar. If I were placing bets, I’d bet it was the latter.

I pushed my way through two men who were, in my opinion, paying Annabelle a little too much attention, considering their wives were across the walkway throwing darts at balloons with their kids.

The men gave me the expected dirty looks, but then left to join their families.

“How’s business?” I asked my little sister.

Annabelle smiled, her green eyes glittering with a certain wickedness that only she seemed to be able to achieve, while still putting off an air of innocence. “Getting better by the minute.”

“Annabelle.” Tim nodded, his glasses falling down his nose as he did.

“Hello, Tim.” Her smile widened. “The two of you must be working tonight, seeing how you don’t look like you are having any fun.”

“We are kind of working,” I told her. “Ayden wants us to keep an eye on things so no one else gets hurt.”

“So you don’t have a suspect yet?” Annabelle asked, though she didn’t seem too worried. Her smile never left her face.

Tim shook his head. “We’re closing in though.”

I wasn’t sure if he was lying to make Annabelle feel better, or himself. Come to think of it, I wasn’t even aware that angels
could
lie. That was something to keep in mind.

Annabelle draped an arm around my shoulder. “Sis … I’m worried about you. All you do is work. You should go have some fun … ride the roller coaster or Ferris wheel. When you’re done, come and find me. I’ll give the two of you a Jack and Coke, on the house.”

I wasn’t so sure about the roller coaster, but the drink sounded good. It had been a long time since I’d gotten falling down drunk.

Who was I kidding? I’d never gotten falling down drunk, though I’d thought about it more than once.

Instead of going to the rides, as Annabelle suggested, Tim and I strolled through the carnival, taking note of anyone who seemed a little off. My mental notebook got full real quick. Funny that I’d never noticed how many suspicious characters we had living on Mystique Island.

Nodding toward the Ferris wheel, Tim asked, “Feel like taking a ride?”

Shaking my head, I pointed to a dark ride with a façade made to look like a huge gray stone castle. “That looks fun.”

Tim’s eyes focused on the large red neon sign of the Blood Zone and his mouth twisted into a sour frown. “Seriously? Don’t you get enough of that kind of thing at work?”

“Humor me.” I laughed. “After all, I do have a dark side to me right now, remember?”

Sighing, Tim began walking toward the Blood Zone.

I had barely put one foot in front of the other when I saw him. Frozen in place, I stared at the figure standing on the ledge, just above the glowing bloody letters of the Blood Zone. Although I’d never seen him before, I knew exactly who it was. He was wearing a black tuxedo, with a long tail and a matching top hat, along with pristine white gloves and a black walking cane.

His eyes were like an abyss of darkness, made even more startling by their contrast to his very pasty complexion.

Why after all this time was a just now seeing him?

I just hoped Mister Grim was here to check up on me, instead of collect me.

Forcing a smile, I brought a hand up and waved. The dark figure waved back, and then as suddenly as he’d appeared, he was gone.

“Are you coming?” Tim had stopped and was looking back at me, a curious expression on his face.

“Yeah.” I trotted up beside him and then asked, “What do you know about the Grim Reaper?”

With Tim being an angel, so he claimed, I figured he should know something about the Angel of Death.

“Why?” he drew his brows together.

“I just saw him, standing right there.” I pointed to the ledge on the façade. “Do you think he’s checking up on me?”

Tim shrugged. “Could be, but he doesn’t have to reveal himself to do that. I would say more than likely he is here to collect someone and thought it was a good time to give you a reminder.”

Folding my arms in front of me, I leaned against the metal railing that was used to keep the line for the ride in order. “I was afraid of that.”

“That he would give you a reminder?” Tim asked.

“That … or he was here to collect someone.”

I scanned the crowd, trying to decide who it would be and how they would bite the big one. “Who do you think it is?”

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that he is here to get someone who’s going to go immediately. It could be hours from now, or it could even be someone who went a few days ago and hasn’t yet followed him to the other side,” Tim explained, as he pulled the little red tickets from his pocket.

Ayden had given us a bunch of tickets, compliments of the FBI.

“One of these days we need to have a long talk. I had no idea you knew so much about these otherworldly things,” I commented as I searched for my own tickets.

True, I’d always known he was a genius, but when one added the fact that Tim was also an angel, it became obvious that he could become a walking - talking encyclopedia for these other realms, which was definitely something we needed.

Just as I was about to say something else, I was interrupted by a light tap on my shoulder.

Zane stood there, smiling his smug smile. “Miss Cooper … would you ride with me?”

He was so presumptuous!

So why did my heart flutter at the sight of him?

“I kind of already had plans to ride with Tim.”

“I’m cool,” Tim jumped in.

I gave him one of my, don’t you dare looks, but he ignored it.

“Actually, I think I need a drink and something to eat. When you get done, meet me by the Corndog Palace. “Tim pointed to a little booth with a huge corndog suspended above it.

Without giving me time to protest, Tim jumped the railing to get out of line.

Turning to Zane, I gave him a scathing look. “That was rude.”

He shrugged. “Not really. He didn’t want to get on this ride anyway.”

Zane was probably right about that.

“So have you found any monsters or killers yet?” he asked, nudging a little closer to me.

“Only one,” I snapped, still irritated with him for driving Tim off.