Third to Die

by Carys Jones

  Aiden was standing just beyond the burger bar. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and stared forlornly at the ground. He kept replaying past events in his mind. Justin had never mentioned that he was smuggling drugs, if he had then Aiden might have been able to talk him out of it thus saving his life. For so long he had believed that Justin’s death had been a tragic accident, but now to know that he died deliberately by someone’s hand was almost too much to bear.

  Why hadn’t Justin trusted Aiden enough to share with him his secret? Why didn’t he tell him about the cartel? About the drugs? They had been best friends, hadn’t they?

  “How’s Isla?” Guy asked brightly as he headed back to Aiden, trying to make polite small talk.

  “We’re getting divorced,” Aiden replied flatly.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, that sucks.”

  “Actually, I’m not sure it does.”

  “Aiden, are you okay?”

  “Do you ever feel like everything you held to be true is actually just a lie?” Aiden pondered.

  Guy shrugged nonchalantly.

  “Sometimes, I guess that happens to us all.”

  “I thought I was a husband, a decent father. I thought I was Justin’s close friend. What if it turns out that I was actually never any of those things?”

  “Look,” Guy placed a comforting hand upon Aiden’s shoulder. “You’ve been dealt a couple of tough breaks, we’ve all been there. I’m sorry your friend kept secrets from you, I imagine it was difficult for him to do so. If you need me in the future…” Guy pulled a pristine white business card from his pocket and passed it to Aiden. He glanced briefly at the embossed details.

  “I thought that after today we were done?” Aiden frowned as he read Guy’s cell phone number upon the card.

  “Maybe that was yet another truth which turned out to be a lie,” Guy raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. “You just seem like you could use a friend,” he released Aiden’s shoulder to pat him on the back.

  “Are you happy, Guy? You made some controversial decisions, do you still stand by them or do you wonder what might have been if you’d done things differently?”

  “I never look back,” Guy pointed at Aiden, “and neither should you. If you spend too much time looking back you just end up with a sore neck.”

  “I guess,” Aiden turned the business card over in his hand. It looked expensive.

  “Take care, Connelly,” Guy waved briefly and was soon gone from sight.

  Aiden placed the business card in his pocket beside Justin’s updated death certificate. Soon he’d return to Greensburg and give Mrs. Thompson the new certificate. He knew that John and Alex were also waiting upon his return, waiting on answers. But it wasn’t just the residents of Greensburg that needed him. He had to go back home to Avalon, open up the doors to Copes and May and start making good on his promise to Edmond. First, there was one final person he had to visit in Chicago.

  *

  Brandy kissed her aunt on the cheek before heading out the front door of the salon. With her working day concluded, she was in high spirits. The wind danced through her hair as she stepped on to the sidewalk, causing it to cascade behind her like an ethereal veil. Pulling her coat tight, Brandy walked into the wind. Instead of crossing the street and heading towards her apartment building, she carried straight on. She wasn’t ready to face the loneliness of her apartment, not yet. She wanted to prolong her current buzz for as long as possible.

  Aiden knocked on the door for the third time. The sound bounced back into the corridor. Holding his breath he waited. Still the door remained closed. Raising his fist he paused just before he connected it with the painted wood. What if she wasn’t in? He knew he should have called first but, in his eagerness to see her, he’d decided to bypass something as arbitrary as a phone call. Releasing his fist he ran his hand through his hair.

  What if she was there and was just choosing to ignore him? He couldn’t blame her. He kept breaking any promises he made to her. He eyed the peep-hole embedded into the door warily. Was she stood there on the other side watching him? No, she’d never do that. She was too kind to leave him waiting. That meant that she wasn’t in. Aiden quickly racked his mind; where else could she be? His flight was leaving in just under three hours, he was running out of time.

  *

  The forgotten ballroom was empty as Brandy quietly walked in. She sighed contentedly as she approached her beloved white piano. Removing her coat she hung it neatly over the back of a nearby chair and then sat down on the small piano bench.

  Without the warmth her coat provided, she shivered slightly in the cool of the vast room. The months were growing colder now and she wondered when, if ever, the hotel would turn on the heating.

  Gently, Brandy lowered her fingers on to the ivory keys. She let them rest there for a moment, and then she began to play. She’d only been able to memorize a few songs during her lessons. There was one she was particularly fond of; it was the melody she had played for Aiden. As she performed the familiar tune she tried to lose herself in the music. She didn’t want to think about Aiden anymore. He’d let her down yet again. His drunken promises of meeting with her had come to nothing. Brandy felt foolish to keep believing in him.

  She pressed down hard as she played a chord. The sound reverberated through the wooden piano and echoed around the ballroom. She continued to press heavily upon the keys, her shoulders rising and falling with each note.

  She wouldn’t let him in, never again. Each time he called she filled up like a hopeful balloon, only to have him swiftly pop her fragile exterior, leaving her utterly deflated. Brandy vigorously pressed more keys, the song reaching its conclusion. She bit her lip as she played in an attempt to stop her emotions spewing out of her and covering the piano.

  The song finished and Brandy lifted her hands from the keys. She was trembling and breathing hard.

  “That was beautiful.”

  Her breath caught in her throat when she heard the familiar voice. She wanted to turn round, to see if it was really him but she forced herself to remain facing the piano. She heard his footsteps approaching her.

  “It’s a pleasure to listen to you play,” he said softly, a few feet behind her.

  Brandy closed her eyes with pained frustration and swivelled round on the bench. When she looked up, Aiden was there, wearing a crumpled shirt and a sorrowful expression. He seemed different somehow, like a worn-out version of his usual self. She saw the dark circles beneath his eyes, the new lines across his forehead.

  “I went by your apartment,” he explained nervously, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets. “When you weren’t there I figured you’d be here.”

  “I’m often here.” Brandy replied curtly.

  “I was hoping we could talk,” Aiden took a tentative step towards her. Brandy scowled at him.

  “I’ve nothing to say.”

  She wished he hadn’t come there, to her sanctuary. To the place where they’d had their intoxicating first kiss. He was soiling it all with his presence. If he didn’t want her, why couldn’t he just let her go? Why did he insist on continually torturing her? Didn’t he know it was torture to see him and not be able to have him?

  “Brandy, I’m so sorry I didn’t come and see you last week.”

  Brandy clenched her jaw.

  “I wanted to see you, desperately, believe me. But something happened back in Avalon.”

  Brandy maintained a stony silence.

  “Edmond…” Aiden sniffed and wiped a raised a hand and wiped it across his eyes. “Edmond passed.”

  This managed to melt the ice coating Brandy’s welcome. Her whole body wilted and she shot Aiden a woeful glance.

  “Edmond? Are you serious? He died?”

  Aiden nodded, suddenly unable to speak. In less than a second Brandy had left the piano bench and crossed the distance between them. She flung her arms around Aiden, squeezing him tight. She smelled of vanilla and strawberries.

  “Oh God, I
didn’t know. I’m so sorry, Aiden.”

  Lifting his arms, Aiden held her against him. His body shuddered with grief but he couldn’t escape how amazing it felt to be so close to her.

  “I didn’t know…” she leaned back to look up at him with tear-filled eyes. “He’s such a good man, Aiden. What happened?”

  “Cancer,” Aiden managed to cough out Edmond’s assailant.

  “Oh God,” Brandy burrowed her head back into his chest. “This is what you wanted to tell me, isn’t it? That Edmond was sick?”

  “Actually,” Aiden placed one hand upon the small of her back and used the other to gently stroke her cheek.

  “There was something else I wanted to discuss with you.”

  “What?” Brandy sniffed and tried to blink back some of her tears.

  Aiden took her hand in his and gently guided her back to the piano bench so that they could both sit down. He continued to hold her hand as he began to talk.

  “I wanted to talk to you about me, about us. Brandy, I’m getting a divorce. Isla has already moved back to Chicago.”

  Brandy stared at him in amazement.

  “Are you serious?” she whispered.

  “Yes,” Aiden nodded, smiling lightly.

  “But what about your daughter?” Brandy wondered anxiously. This made Aiden’s smile fall away.

  “She’s…” he avoided Brandy’s gaze and looked around the neglected space of the ballroom.

  Brandy squeezed his hand tightly.

  “Meegan will be living with Isla, here in the city. But she’ll come and see me regularly; I’ll still be a huge part of her life.”

  “Oh, Aiden.”

  “It’s for the best,” Aiden insisted. “Brandy, Isla and I hadn’t been happy for quite some time. Us separating is the kindest thing we could have done for our daughter.”

  Brandy nodded though she wasn’t sure she understood.

  “But that’s why I’m here,” he turned to look at Brandy, starring deep into her dark eyes. “I want you to come back to Avalon with me. I want us to finally be together.”

  “Aiden…” Before she could respond he pressed his lips against hers. He felt soft and warm. Brandy kissed him back. The heat of their embrace made everything else melt away. Aiden’s hands slid up her back and into her hair.

  Brandy pressed her tongue against his. Her whole body radiated with desire. But something darkened the moment. She pulled away from him, breathing hard. Avalon.

  “You want me to go back to Avalon?” she asked, feeling horrified.

  “Yes,” Aiden grinned and planted a secondary kiss upon her cheek. “Come back with me and we can start our life together.”

  “But I can’t start a life in Avalon,” Brandy shook her head.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I had a life there, Aiden. A terrible life which I’ve been trying to escape from. I couldn’t go back there to the town which hates me, to the town which blames me for Brandon’s death. All Avalon holds for me is a handful of unwanted ghosts. I don’t ever want to go back there.”

  Aiden paled at her words.

  “Why don’t you come to Chicago?” Brandy suggested, brightening at the prospect. “I’ve got an apartment here, you’d easily find a new job. We could start a life here! And then you’d be close to your daughter!”

  A life in Chicago made perfect sense. Brandy imagined waking up beside Aiden each morning, sitting beside him on her sofa in the evening watching the rain fall over the city as they curled up to enjoy a classic movie.

  “I can’t come to Chicago,” Aiden told her sadly.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I made a promise to Edmond. I promised him that I’d continue to run Copes and May after he’d…” His voice broke away, unable to finish the sentence. It still felt too finite to refer to Edmond as having died.

  “But, Aiden, you can’t sacrifice your life and your happiness for a promise you made,” Brandy told him as she gently tucked a stray hair back behind his ear. Aiden shivered with delight at the intimacy of the touch.

  “I wish I could stay here, with you,” he admitted. “Brandy, I want to be with you more than anything. But I have to honour Edmond’s wish, you know that, don’t you?”

  Brandy forced herself to smile as droplets of tears began to coat her porcelain cheeks.

  “Aiden, you wouldn’t be you if you didn’t feel the need to go back to Avalon for Edmond’s sake,” she told him sadly.

  “I’d follow you anywhere, anywhere except there.”

  She stood up and went to pull on her coat.

  “Please consider it,” Aiden pleaded. “Avalon was once your home, Brandy. It could be again. And I’d be there to shield you from any cruel words.”

  “Thank you,” Brandy slid into her trench coat. “But it’s about time I started fighting my own battles.”

  She came back over to Aiden and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Avalon exists solely in my past now,” she told him sincerely. “I don’t ever want it in my future.”

  “Brandy, please,” Aiden felt the heat of his tears warming his face. “I want us to be together, you’re all I think about.”

  Brandy gave him a bittersweet smile as she backed away from him.

  “I love you, Aiden Connelly,” she whispered. “I love you even more for wanting to honour Edmond’s wishes. A lesser man would just walk away.”

  “Brandy!” Aiden hastily clamoured to his feet, preparing to chase after her.

  “Don’t follow me!” Brandy held a hand up to him, her palm facing him, acting as a barrier.

  “Shakespeare had it wrong,” she tilted her head to the left as she looked at Aiden. “There is nothing sweet in parting, there is only sorrow.”

  Aiden watched her leave, struggling to breathe against the lump forming in his throat. He would be returning to Avalon alone simply because he felt compelled to honour the promise he’d made to a dead man. Aiden was starting to fear that rather than being a good man, he was just a stupid one.

  Chapter Eleven

  Laying to Rest

  John and Alex leaned forward expectantly from their side of the booth in the diner. Aiden registered their eager expressions and thumbed the death certificate he was holding nervously.

  He felt completely drained. He’d no sooner arrived back in Avalon when he was back on the road, returning to Greensburg.

  “So what did you find out?” Alex pressed him for details. “Did you find out what really happened to Justin?”

  Aiden ran one hand through his unwashed hair. He hadn’t even had time to shower. He could feel the grime of the city still clinging to him. But a part of him wanted it there. As long as he still smelled of car exhausts and street-side vendors, he was somehow connected to Brandy. He’d felt like a ghost since he walked out of the old hotel where she loved to play piano. He was moving around in a daze of disbelief. He always thought that somehow they’d end up together, that they’d get their happy ending but Brandy was resolute in her decision to not return to Avalon and Aiden couldn’t blame her. No one in their right mind would return to the town which had been so desperate to destroy them.

  “Aiden?” John spoke up, looking worried. He peered out at Aiden from beneath the peak of a dirtied cap.

  Aiden cleared his throat.

  “I did find out what happened to Justin.”

  “And?” Alex was growing impatient. He’d come out of work to meet with Aiden on short notice, he was still in uniform and potentially still on the clock. He had little time to waste.

  “I got this,” Aiden unfolded the updated death certificate and slid it across the laminated table to his old high school friends. They knotted their heads together as they looked down at it.

  “Wait, so Justin did die in a motorcycle accident?” it didn’t take long for Alex to scan the new details on the document. His shoulders sunk with disappointment.

  “Yes,” Aiden nodded, inhaling sharply. “Apparently the guy that hit him, some
truck driver, was under investigation with the FBI for smuggling drugs, which was why the files were sealed.”

  “Jesus,” Alex shook his head despondently. “That’s why they kept it secret all these years? Because the guy that hit him was crooked?”

  “They said the file shouldn’t have been left open,” Aiden lied. “Apparently it was an oversight which they were really apologetic about.”

  “An oversight?” Alex’s nostrils flared with rage. “We’re talking about Justin’s death here!”

  “I know,” Aiden said softly, placating him. “I felt exactly the same way, believe me, I told them how angry I was with how everything had been dealt with.”

  “I kept thinking it hadn’t just been an accident,” John admitted sadly, still eyeing the death certificate with caution.

  “I know what you mean,” Alex agreed, leaning back in the booth as his anger began to give way to sorrow.

  “I thought it would be a more deliberate hand of fate which had killed Justin. An accident just seems so…trivial. He deserved a more grand departure.”

  “Yeah…he did,” John clasped his hands together and looked down intently at them.

  “Well, we appreciate you looking into everything,” Alex told Aiden politely. The canyon which existed between them had briefly been bridged when they were bound by their common cause in searching for the truth about Justin, but now that issue was resolved the chasm had stretched even wider so that the bridge failed to reach both sides.

  “I was happy to,” Aiden smiled thinly. “I’m just glad we could get closure.”

  “Mmm.” John pushed the death certificate back towards Aiden. “I thought closure was supposed to feel better than this? I still feel…lost.”

  “I think we’ll always feel that way about Justin,” Aiden folded the document back up and placed it back in his pocket.

  “I’ll leave this with Justin’s mom before I leave town.”

  “She’ll appreciate that,” Alex noted.

  “So that’s it, you’re just leaving?” John didn’t even try to conceal his disappointment.

  “John, I’ve got to get back to Avalon for work.”

  “I just thought, well, we both thought…” John’s voice trailed off and he looked away from his companions.