First to Fall Read online

  ‘Oh, Meegan,’ she despaired, removing the items and trying to find their appropriate location on the shelves. ‘What has Mommy told you about picking things up in shops?’

  Meegan just laughed as her mother scolded her and started reaching out for more treasures.

  ‘Stop that!’ Isla pushed the stroller into the centre of the aisle so that Meegan couldn’t reach any of the items.

  ‘Kids can sure be tricky,’ a male voice from behind her noted.

  ‘Yes, they can be very tricky,’ Isla said, turning around. She was greeted by a tall man; she guessed late fifties by the lines on his face and the grey in his hair. He was devilishly handsome though, even more so as he was wearing a pale blue shirt which was unbuttoned enough to hint at an admirable physique.

  ‘Oh, hello, I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Isla Connelly.’ She offered him her hand and blushed profusely when he kissed the back of it in a gentlemanly manner.

  ‘Lovely to meet you. I believe I’ve met your husband.’

  ‘Aiden?’

  ‘Yes, indeed. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Clyde White, I run the local timber company, Avalon Pine.’

  White. A glimmer of recognition ran through Isla’s mind, and it only took a few seconds for her to realise where she had heard that name before and a shiver ran down her spine.

  ‘So have you lived in Avalon for a long time?’ She attempted to make small talk, not wanting the conversation to turn towards the murder trial.

  ‘Yes, a very long time. I have some very dear friends in this town, very loyal friends.’ She didn’t like his tone, it sounded slightly menacing.

  ‘You and your family moved here recently I gather?’

  ‘Yes, that’s right.’ She was beginning to feel nervous.

  ‘I expect you will be wanting to make good friends too. So it is important to stay on the right side of people, don’t you think?’

  ‘Yes, yes of course.’ She placed her hands behind her upon the handle bar of the stroller in case she felt the need to make a swift exit.

  ‘You and your husband seem like a lovely couple. It would be a shame to get off on the wrong foot.’

  ‘Yes, it would.’ Isla was confused as to what Clyde White was trying to imply. ‘Why would we be getting off onto the wrong foot?’

  ‘Well, my dear, you must surely know that your husband is representing the woman who murdered my son.’

  ‘Yes, I do.’ Isla had been hoping that Brandy would not be mentioned. ‘I’m awfully sorry, for the loss of your son,’ she added quickly.

  ‘He was a fine man.’ Clyde seemed wistful for a moment. ‘Does your husband discuss the case with you at all?’ he snapped back to the situation at hand.

  ‘No, not really.’ Isla was saddened by the admission, wishing that Aiden did share more with her.

  ‘Shame. I was hoping that you could help him see sense.’

  ‘See sense?’

  ‘He hasn’t told you?’

  ‘Told me what?’

  ‘He is going to try and have that murdering witch tried for manslaughter because she has told him wicked lies about my son and he has fallen for them. As any red-blooded man would. She is a true beauty, my poor Brandon was long held under her spell.’

  Isla prickled at the mention of Brandy’s beauty. She was already feeling sore about how much time Aiden was spending with her.

  ‘I know my son; he never laid a finger on her. It would be in your family’s best interest to change his mind.’ Clyde White took a step towards Isla. She tightened her grip on the stroller, and from the corner of her eye saw that Andy was no longer at the checkout, he had gone into the back room for something. She was alone with the very angry father of Brandon.

  ‘I’ll talk to him.’

  ‘Good,’ Clyde smiled. He looked past her and saw Meegan playing happily with her penny wheel.

  ‘Is that your daughter? She is lovely.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Isla just wanted to leave.

  ‘It would be an awful shame if something were to happen to her.’ She stared at Clyde in horror; his eyes were now dark and menacing.

  ‘There is nothing worse than losing a child, trust me. I suggest you take good care of her.’ Isla nodded and dashed out of the store.

  She was almost running with the stroller, desperate to get home and lock the door behind her. It was only in the safety of the kitchen did she notice that she had left without paying for her groceries but she was too scared to go back.

  Alone in the office, Aiden was listening to his own thoughts. In the empty silence around him he was beginning to wonder if he was doing the right thing. He was jeopardising his life in Avalon, but surely if he ultimately saved a life, it was all worth it.

  ‘Mr. Connelly?’ Betty’s voice through the intercom startled him.

  ‘Yes, Betty?’ he replied, hoping that her anger had now subsided and she was enquiring as to whether he would like a coffee. He was longing for a drink, his throat felt like sand paper.

  ‘You have a visitor.’ It wasn’t the response he had been hoping for.

  ‘Who is it?’

  ‘Sheriff Buck.’ Aiden’s heart sank even further. He hesitated for a moment, debating making up some kind of excuse as to why he couldn’t see the old man. He knew why he was here, to challenge him on his decision to change Brandy’s plea. Aiden was in no mood to fight her cause at that very moment, the courtroom was the place to defend her integrity, and his own, not the office.

  ‘Mr. Connelly?’

  ‘Send him in,’ he sighed.

  Buck Fern did not need words to convey how he his feeling, his face said it all for him. He regarded Aiden with a mixture of disgust and contempt. He sat down opposite the young lawyer, still not speaking. Aiden humoured the sheriff for a while but then decided that enough was enough.

  ‘Can I help you, Sheriff Fern?’

  He shot Aiden a glance filled with spite.

  ‘I just came here to talk with you, man to man.’

  ‘Very well, let’s talk then.’

  It was the first time since meeting Sheriff Fern that Aiden had seen him appear out of his depth. His old eyes, although angry, were searching helplessly around the room.

  ‘I just want to know why.’ His gaze at last settled on Aiden as he spoke.

  ‘Why what?’ He knew full well what Buck was referring to but asked him all the same.

  ‘Why you are choosing to drag a good man’s name through the mud?’

  ‘I’m not. By all accounts, Brandon was far from a good man.’

  ‘How dare you!’ Buck was enraged. ‘You didn’t know him! You have no right to say that! You are just listening to the cheap lies of an evil little witch who would say anything right now to save her own skin!’

  ‘Calm down, Sheriff Fern, I thought you came here to talk, not shout.’

  Buck Fern exhaled deeply, calming himself. He would have loved nothing more than to wrap Aiden’s tie around his neck until his face went purple. But he had to remain calm; he had to convince this outsider to change his mind.

  ‘You have no proof, only her word.’

  ‘What makes you say that?’

  The old man was silent.

  ‘Well, I suppose since you tried to cover up Brandon’s crimes, you would think that I had no proof. But even you can’t hide everything.’

  ‘You have nothing.’

  ‘The police reports and the hospital files speak for themselves. Brandy doesn’t even have to utter a word for the jury to see, without a doubt, that Brandon abused her.’ Aiden was bluffing, he had evidence, true, but nothing concrete as yet. However, his bluff seemed to work as Sheriff Fern seemed agitated.

  ‘Like I said, you got nothing, Brandon never got in no trouble with the law.’

  ‘Because you always turned up on the scene first to smooth things over. Why did you protect him?’

  Silence.

  ‘Was Clyde White paying you to keep his son’s indiscretions quiet?’


  ‘You don’t know what you are doing,’ Sheriff Fern said softly. ‘If you want to stay in this town, I suggest you drop your current line of enquiry and just do things by the book.’

  ‘Are you threatening me?’

  Silence.

  ‘I won’t be intimidated by the threats of an old, corrupt sheriff. Brandon White routinely abused his young wife to the point where she had no choice but to take his life. Before this case is over I will see to it that the whole of Avalon knows what a monster he was.’

  ‘You are young and full of fire, I respect that. But you are also gullible to the ways of a beautiful woman. She is lying to you. I don’t blame you for being taken in by her; she has a mighty pretty face, like that of an angel. But, even angels fall, Mr. Connelly. She is the devil and you best believe it.’

  ‘You were there, the night Brandon glassed her. Why didn’t you do anything?’

  Buck Fern ran his hand over his face in thought.

  ‘Why do you persist on doing this? Let the dead be in peace.’

  ‘But Brandy isn’t dead! You saw what he did to her and yet you did nothing!’

  ‘What goes on between a husband and wife is their business.’

  ‘So you admit that he beat her?’

  ‘No! I’m saying that I answered the 911 call, when I get there she was all cut up, so I sent her over to the hospital to get sorted out. Young couples full of passion are always arguing.’

  ‘Would you ever strike a woman?’

  ‘No!’

  ‘Well, you are acting as though you condone it.’

  ‘You need to leave it be.’

  Aiden could see that Sheriff Fern was beginning to crack; in the old man’s anguish he was releasing snippets of information which could prove vital. He had to seize the opportunity.

  ‘Did Brandon have a drinking problem?’

  ‘Not that I’m aware of.’

  ‘He had a few DUIs, was cautioned a few times for being drunk and disorderly. Sounds like he had a drinking problem to me.’

  ‘Everyone likes to go out and have a few drinks, let loose. Nothing wrong with that. Sometimes he took it too far but he was young, all young guys are like that.’

  ‘The toxicology report from his post mortem is missing.’

  ‘There wasn’t one.’

  ‘It is common procedure to conduct a toxicology report. Where is his? Are you withholding it from me? If you are I will get a warrant to search your offices!’

  ‘I’m not withholding anything. There wasn’t one.’

  ‘Why? Did you stop it? Was he high when he attacked Brandy? Was he doing drugs?’

  Why can’t you accept that he was a decent man?’

  ‘If he was such a decent man, why would his wife kill him?’

  ‘She is mental, Connelly! Evil, driven by spite. You are meant to help deliver justice, stop her killing another man again, not try and destroy the memory of Brandon.’

  Sheriff Fern rose to his feet.

  ‘I believe that we are done here.’

  Aiden also stood and offered the old man his hand; to his surprise he shook it.

  ‘If you take this to court, people will hate you,’ Buck said shaking his hand. ‘Whatever she says Brandon did or didn’t do, to everyone here he was a hero. And he is the one who was stabbed, not her. She is still here. He didn’t deserve to die so why does she deserve to live?’

  ‘I don’t think that she does deserve to die.’

  ‘It is not our place to decide who should live and who should die. It is the Lord’s.’

  Sheriff Fern left the offices of Cope and May Solicitor at Law disheartened. Aiden Connelly was a more stubborn man than he had bargained for. Brandy White’s fate would be decided in court; Buck Fern could only hope that justice would be served.

  Aiden came home to find Isla sat nursing a glass of red wine at the kitchen table. Her eyes were stained red from crying. He placed the flowers he had brought for her on his way home down and went over to comfort his wife.

  ‘Baby, I’m sorry I’ve been so busy with work.’ He rubbed her back soothingly. Isla took a sip from her wine glass as fresh tears began to slide down her cheeks.

  ‘It isn’t that, Aid.’ Her voice was hoarse.

  ‘Then what is it?’ He slid into the chair next to her and cupped her hand in his. ‘I bought you flowers,’ he said weakly, just in case she was still mad with him. She looked over at the flowers momentarily and smiled sadly.

  ‘They are beautiful, thank you.’

  ‘Isla, what’s wrong?’

  ‘I went shopping today with Meegan.’

  ‘Oh, well that’s good, hun. Where is Meegan?’

  ‘She’s sleeping. We went to pick up some groceries. I wanted to make you something special for tea, but when we were there we ran into Clyde White.’

  Aiden tensed. The last thing he wanted was his family being dragged into the circus that now surrounded Brandy’s case.

  ‘What did he say to you?’

  ‘He threatened me!’ Isla was crying profusely, her hands shaking.

  ‘He what?!’ Aiden could barely contain himself. ‘What did he say?’

  Isla was still crying and shaking, struggling to get her words out.

  ‘Baby, calm down and tell me exactly what he said.’ Obeying her husband she drank some more wine to try and steady herself.

  ‘He said…he told me to look after Meegan.’

  ‘Well, hun, that sounds more like advice than a threat.’ He started to relax, concluding that as usual his wife was overreacting. He reasoned that she was perhaps putting on this whole charade to make him feel guilty about their argument.

  ‘No, Aid, it was how he said it! He was really menacing, saying how awful it was to lose a child.’

  ‘Well, he has lost a child. I’m sure you just misinterpreted what he meant.’

  ‘No!’ She was starting to get angry now. ‘He was trying to scare me! He asked me to talk to you about the case, to try and get you to change your mind.’

  ‘If that’s the case, he is being unreasonable, I’ll talk to him.’

  ‘That won’t help, Aid. Don’t you see? You are turning everyone against us! This has to end!’

  Aiden hung his head in shame. He had brought his troubles at work onto his own doorstep. He should have known just how low people would be willing to sink in order to preserve Brandon’s memory. But he expected more from Clyde White. He had clearly misjudged the businessman.

  ‘Why have you changed the plea? I don’t understand!’

  ‘Because it wasn’t murder. It was a crime of passion. She doesn’t deserve to die for what she did; I can’t stand by and let her be persecuted for a crime she had no choice but to commit.’

  ‘No, you said yourself it was open, shut!’

  ‘Well, it isn’t.’

  ‘Why, Aid, are you doing this? Why do you have to put your ass on the line for this woman? She’s sat in jail where no one can get to her whilst you are putting your family in danger! This needs to end; you are going to try her for murder!’

  ‘No, I’m not.’

  ‘Yes!’ Isla screamed hysterically. ‘You are not going to put your family through hell after we have moved heaven and earth to do as you please!’

  ‘I can’t let her die.’

  ‘Why not, she killed him didn’t she?’

  ‘Yes, but…’

  ‘There is no but, Aiden. She did it, end of story. Why do you insist on making this so difficult? Do you really think that he hit her? Or do you think that she is just trying to save her own skin?’

  ‘I think that he hit her.’

  ‘Well, maybe she deserved it,’ Isla said spitefully, rage surging through her body.

  ‘That is a vile thing to say, even for you,’ Aiden replied in disgust.

  ‘Do you ever stop to think why people are defending Brandon so intently? You never knew him; all you are hearing is one side of the story. He was clearly a good man who didn’t deserve to die. You are being
taken in by that bitch’s lies!’

  ‘But they aren’t lies.’

  ‘Yes, Aiden, they are.’ She stood up, wine glass in hand. ‘And now, because of what an idiot you have been, I have people threatening me, threatening our daughter! If you don’t care about protecting me at least give a damn about her! I don’t feel safe here any more!’

  ‘You are safe, Clyde White is just trying to scare you, to get to me.’ Aiden hoped his words were true. He needed Isla to believe him; he needed her to calm down.

  ‘No, you are going to change the plea else so help me, I’ll leave you! I’ll walk, Aiden! And I’ll take Meegan with me! Are you going to risk losing it all just to stop some little slut from getting what she deserves?’ She wobbled slightly on her feet as she yelled at him.

  ‘You’ve been drinking, we will talk about this another time.’ He took the wine glass from her hand and tossed the remaining crimson liquid down the sink.

  Isla’s eyes gleamed with tears and fury.

  ‘This has to end, Aid.’

  ‘And it will.’

  ‘I don’t want to lose you over this.’ She broke down and fell into his arms. He held her close, feeling her tears soak through his shirt and onto his skin. He hated doing this to her, but he had to stand firm. Clyde White was using dirty, sneaky tactics. Aiden wouldn’t sink so low, he could only hope that the evidence would speak for itself once they were in the courtroom.

  ‘Do you really think that her life is worth saving?’ She looked up at her husband, her anger starting to subside.

  ‘Baby, any life is worth saving.’

  ‘I hope you are right.’ Aiden knew he was right. He had consulted his conscience time and again over Brandy White and had decided to follow his gut instinct. Only time would tell if he had made the right decision.