First to Fall (18 page)

‘Why did you bring her here? It isn’t the best place for a child.’

‘I thought that if you saw her, saw me…us, you might change your mind.’

‘Change my mind? Mrs. Connelly I don’t understand.’

‘You’ve told my husband that you killed Brandon because he beat you. And now Aiden wants to change your plea from murder to manslaughter. I’m sure you are already aware of all this.’

Brandy remained quiet, still trying to understand why Aiden’s wife had come to see her.

‘Well, people in town aren’t happy. Just the other day, Clyde White, well, he threatened me and my daughter.’

‘He did?’ Brandy cried. ‘That pompous, pig of a man!’

‘Yes, well, if you are still tried for murder, as you were meant to be, he will leave me and my family alone.’

‘So what are you saying?’

‘I’m saying that you may well have wrapped my husband round your little finger and got him to believe your lies but you are not fooling anyone else. Tell him that you lied, that Brandon never laid a hand on you and be tried for murder.’

‘But I’m not lying!’ Brandy protested.

‘I don’t care if you are lying or not. You are putting my family in danger. What difference does it make, if you are tried for manslaughter? You will just spend the rest of your life rotting in a jail cell, is that what you want?’

‘So, you are saying that my life doesn’t matter?’

‘Not as much as my daughter’s life, no!’

Meegan was still placing her hands along the glass wall, giggling softly to herself. Brandy watched her with sad eyes.

‘How old is she?’

‘Two.’

‘My baby would be nearly three.’ Her eyes welled up with tears as she continued to watched Meegan.

‘You have a baby?’ Isla asked, surprised.

‘No, I lost my baby.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘No you’re not.’

Isla was taken aback by Brandy’s abrupt reply.

‘I understand that you want to protect your daughter, but to bring her here, to tell me to lie just because Clyde White spooked you. You are so very different to your husband.’

Brandy was now looking at Aiden’s wife. She was pretty but not stunning. Her face seemed to be permanently contorted into a scowl which suggested that she wasn’t exactly a ray of sunshine.

‘Mr. Connelly is a good, decent man. He is kind and has only ever been nice to me. I find it hard to believe that he would be married to such a cruel, cold woman.’

‘Don’t you dare judge me!’ Isla spat. Meegan cowered at her mother’s angry tone and abruptly stopped playing with the glass and sat very still.

‘You are telling me to put aside my own life for the sake of yours!’

‘I didn’t kill my husband, you did. You deserve everything you get.’ The harsh words came tumbling out of Isla’s mouth before she had the chance to stop them.

‘I bet you fit in real well in Avalon, Mrs. Connelly. You are just as hollow as the rest of them.’

‘I’ll be leaving now.’ Isla stood up and grabbed Meegan.

‘It was so lovely to meet you,’ Brandy said sarcastically.

She watched Mrs. Connelly and her daughter leave, her mind wrapped up in what might have been. That could have been her, holding her own child. Yet now she would never have the chance to be a mother. Even the wife of the man she looked to as her saviour wanted her dead. Perhaps the world would be a better place without her? Holding back tears, Brandy was led back to her cell, thankful for the first time to be alone.

Isla sat with her hands on the wheel in the parking lot of Eastham Ladies Penitentiary. Beside her, Meegan had quickly got over the drama in the interview room and was sleeping soundly in her car seat. She was disturbed by the woman she had become when she was with Brandy. The things she had said, they were just pure evil. And what was worse was that she had behaved that way in front of her own daughter. She had always been the jealous type, with a husband as handsome as Aiden it was hard not to be. But she had never been this bad before. Surely she was not threatened by a woman sat on death row for killing her own husband? In what sick world would Aiden have an affair with such a person? Isla started to cry. If she had even contemplated that Aiden could have had feelings for Brandy, what did that say about the state of their marriage? The person she should really be angry at was herself. Instead she had lashed out at a young girl who was probably already terrified at being so close to her own death. She had acted completely out of character and it was inexcusable. Passion and rage had driven her to this extreme, sat here with her daughter at a prison. Were she and Brandy that different? If under the same circumstances, would she have done the same thing, could she kill? Isla shuddered at the thought.

Aiden lingered at the back of the church as Father West concluded his sermon. He waited patiently as the priest thanked each of his parishioners for coming before approaching him.

‘Ah, Mr. Connelly!’

‘Father West.’

‘How very good to see you! Did you enjoy the service?’

‘To be honest I only caught the end of it. I came to see you.’

Father West smiled in surprise.

‘To what do I owe the pleasure?’

They wandered back into the pleasant cool of the church and settled down in a front pew.

‘Brandy’s trial is only a few days away now.’

‘Yes, I am aware.’ Father West gazed sadly past Aiden.

‘Well, I need your help.’

‘My help?’ His attention quickly returned to the young lawyer.

‘I’ve no doubt that you have heard that I am no longer going to have Brandy tried for murder. I think that she can stand for manslaughter.’

‘Which means?’

‘That her life would at least be spared.’

‘That is a brave move, Mr. Connelly.’

‘Yeah,’ Aiden sighed. ‘People around here aren’t exactly being supportive. That is why I need you.’

‘Me?’

‘I need you to go on the stand.’

As a priest, Father West reflected, you tread a fine line each and every day, between being somebody’s confidant and doing what is right. If someone confesses to you committing a crime to ease their conscience and make peace with God, you have no right to hand them over to the authorities. You must keep their secret and bear it as your own. There was a time when Brandy White confided in her priest about the terrible struggles she was having to endure in her marriage. Father West did what he thought was right, going to talk things over with Brandon. It had been the wrong decision. He was reluctant to meddle in her affairs again.

‘You know what he did to her,’ Aiden was saying now. ‘Brandy told me that she spoke with you about it, that you tried to reason with Brandon, just before she lost her baby.’

‘Perhaps if I had kept my mouth shut that child would be here today.’ Father West felt heavy with guilt.

‘For all we know he may have beat the kid too. At least now she is free of his abuse.’

‘Not really, she has just exchanged one prison for another.’

‘If you speak on the stand, a priest, no one will dare question you. You are revered in town. With your testimony the judge will have no choice but to charge Brandy with manslaughter. He may be lenient and give her thirty years, which means that she could be a free woman by the time she is 55, which would give her plenty of life left to live.’

‘Yes, but it isn’t that easy,’ the priest said wearily.

‘Why isn’t it? All you have to do is stand there and tell the truth!’

‘As you said, Mr. Connelly, I am revered in town because I am their connection to God. They look to me as someone that they can trust. If I got up and said what I know about Brandon, their perception of me will change. It may even challenge their faith. As much as I have a duty to Brandy, I also have a duty to Avalon. The truth will hurt so many people.’

‘She has no one to fight for her, Father. If you won’t stand up for her, who will?’

‘You.’ Father West placed his hand on Aiden’s shoulder. ‘You have taken on the entire town in order to try and save her and I admire you greatly for that. But my place is here, in my church, not in a courtroom.’

Aiden shrugged his hand off.

‘But she needs you. If she dies over this you will have blood on your hands.’

‘How dare you speak to me like that?’ Father West shot up, angry. ‘You can leave now, Mr. Connelly.’

‘Gladly.’ Aiden got to his feet and smoothed his shirt down. ‘Your loyalty lies with God, not with Avalon or any of the assholes who live here. Your job is to keep people’s faith alive. How can you turn your back on her knowing what she has been through?’

‘If I don’t testify?’

‘I have some evidence but it is not nearly enough. Buck Fern will contest every document I produce, I know he will. Brandy has no one who knows her like you do. Only you and I are aware of the atrocities Brandon committed towards her. If you stay silent, how can you come and preach to people about forgiveness and God’s will?’

Father West was torn. His feelings for Brandy had already clouded his judgement once before, he would be foolish to let it happen again. But Aiden Connelly was a good, decent man, he could see that. He was willing to sacrifice his reputation, his livelihood, in order to preserve a young woman’s life. Surely he was man enough to do the same?

‘I’ll do it. Just tell me where to be.’

Aiden smiled. He had worried for a moment that the priest would fail him but it looked like he was coming through. With Father West testifying that Brandon had indeed abused his wife, Brandy would surely walk with a life sentence. The likes of Buck Fern and Clyde White would have to eat their words as they learnt the sordid truth about their beloved Brandon.

‘Brandy is lucky to have you on her case. Anyone else would have just let it be.’

‘I know.’

‘Your wife must be very proud of you.’

Aiden merely nodded, knowing full well that of all the things Isla currently felt towards him, pride was most certainly not one of them.

As Aiden left the church he remembered an old quote: ‘If God is on our side, how can we lose?’ Indeed, how could he now lose, with Father West on his side? Avalon may well fear the likes of Clyde White and Buck Fern, but surely they feared God even more? He headed over to his offices, jubilant, but knew better than to believe he had won just yet.

In the quiet cool of the office Aiden sat and collected his thoughts. Brandy’s trial was fast approaching and he needed to be ready. Knowing that Father West would be testifying helped calm a lot of his nerves. Once the trial was over things could settle down again. He’d take Isla and Meegan out somewhere nice for the day to help make things better. Even though his wife had threatened to leave him if he continued with the manslaughter plea he wasn’t backing down. He knew it was just an idle threat from her; she made so many of them that he was used to it by now.

Aiden had been working solidly for an hour when Edmond Cope came bustling through the door, laden down with files.

‘Morning, Edmond, are you feeling better?’ His partner certainly appeared to be in perfect health as he settled himself down at his desk.

‘Ahh, yes, Aiden my lad, feeling grand now.’ Calling him ‘lad’ signified that he was not feeling any animosity towards him over the case which Aiden was extremely thankful for. Edmond Cope was a kind and warm gentleman whom he would have hated to have lost as a friend over it all.

‘Glad to have you back.’ He smiled at Edmond fondly.

‘It is good to be back. Mrs. Cope just fusses over me all the time when I’m at home. Don’t get a minute’s peace!’

Edmond spent a few moments arranging the clutter on his desk before pressing down on the intercom button.

‘Betty, two coffees,’ he said sharply.

‘Right away,’ came her crackled response.

‘Hope the old girl has been all right with you, son. She was just very fond of Brandon and can’t take to the revelation that perhaps he, you know…’

‘It isOK, I understand. A lot of people have been quite sore about it all.’

‘I’ve no doubt!’ Edmond laughed. ‘Folks round here can be mighty mean when they want to be.’

‘Well…’ Aiden hesitated before carrying on. He wanted to confide in someone and felt that he could trust Edmond. He hadn’t turned his back on him like everyone else had which said something.

‘My wife thinks that Clyde White threatened her and my daughter in the grocery store.’ He went with his gut instinct and blurted it out. ‘I mean, I’ve met the guy and he seemed fine. I’m hoping it was just to scare her and me. He wouldn’t ever do anything, would he?’

‘What, Clyde?’ Edmond’s eyes were wide with surprise. ‘I’d say no, son, but he is tight with Buck Fern. Those two go way back. I’ve known him in the past, when people have really pissed him off, to have them inundated with speeding fines and parking tickets, small stuff like that. He’d never hurt a soul though.’

‘Parking tickets I can handle. She is just pretty spooked.’

‘I can imagine. But it will all be over soon and be yesterday’s news. You just need to buckle down and ride out the rest of the storm.’

‘Yeah, I’ve just got a feeling that things are going to get a lot worse before they get any better.’

As Betty placed down the coffee mugs she smiled warmly at Edmond but didn’t even glance up at Aiden. He didn’t like making people mad like this but it had to be done. Edmond chuckled to himself when she left the room.

‘She’s a stubborn old mule, I’ll say that much for her!’

‘I hope she doesn’t stay stubborn for long though.’

‘No, give her a couple of days and like most women, she will have calmed down and realised she was making a fuss over nothing.’

Aiden wondered how things were going to be after the trial. He knew that it was all dependent upon the final verdict. If Brandy were to die, people would be happy; if she were allowed to live he was expecting a hefty backlash of anger from Avalon. Either way, he lost.

‘How is the case coming along, you all ready?’

‘As ready as I’ll ever be.’

‘It will need to be watertight if you want it to stick.’

‘Yeah, I know.’

The evidence that he had gathered was flimsy at best, and Brandy didn’t have the best track record for honesty. As long as Father West took to the stand as he had said he would, things would be fine.