Fourth To Run

Even happy endings aren’t perfect.

At long last, things are looking up for Aiden Connelly. A successful lawyer, now running his own firm, he has earned the respect of the townspeople of Avalon, and he has the woman he loves, Brandy Cotton, by his side.

But Aiden can’t forget the mystery surrounding the death of his friend Justin ten years earlier. When a new tip-off leads him to Mexico and an infamous cartel, he unwittingly unleashes a sinister and dangerous force that follows him back to Avalon. Threatened and afraid, Aiden must form an unlikely alliance with the man who once tried to drive him out of town: Avalon’s sheriff, Buck Fern. These two men will have to turn their backs on the law they uphold to protect their town and those they love.

Also by Carys Jones

Prime Deception

First to Fall (Avalon #1)

Second to Cry (Avalon #2)

Third to Die (Avalon #3)

Fourth to Run

Carys Jones

Copyright

HQ

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2015

Copyright © Carys Jones 2015

Carys Jones asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

E-book Edition © June 2015 ISBN: 9781474034951

Version date: 2018-06-27

CARYS JONES

Carys Jones loves nothing more than to write and create stories which ignite the reader’s imagination. Based in Shropshire, England, Carys lives with her husband, two guinea pigs and her adored canine companion, Rollo. When she’s not writing, Carys likes to indulge her inner geek by watching science fiction films or playing video games. She lists John Green, Jodi Picoult and Virginia Andrews as her favorite authors and draws inspiration for her own work from anything and everything. For Carys, there is no greater feeling than when you lose yourself in a great story and it is that feeling of ultimate escapism which she tries to bring to her books.

Contents

Cover

Blurb

Book List

Title Page

Copyright

Author Bio

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Endpages

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Once Upon a Dream

Aiden rubbed his eyes as they adjusted to the darkness of the bedroom. Turning onto his side, a small smile pulled on the edges of his mouth. He could smell her all around him; the small room carried the sweet scent of vanilla. Reaching forward he navigated the far side of the bed with his hand. He was expecting to find her sleeping soundly beside him. He’d pull her close; plant a soft kiss upon her forehead and then fall back asleep listening to the steady rhythm of her gentle breaths.

But his hand found only empty sheets during his exploration of the bed. Startled, Aiden sat up and squinted against the lack of light. His heart was instantly racing. Clumsily he turned towards his own side of the bed and fumbled for the switch of a nearby lamp. After several attempts he found it and bright, florescent light burned across his face. Wincing, Aiden turned from the lamp and looked back at the bed. With the added light he could see with certainty that it was definitely empty, the sheets pulled back as someone had vacated the room while he slept.

“Brandy?” He called out her name with a strange sense of uncertainty. Each time he awoke and found her sleeping beside him, he feared that he had somehow wandered into a waking dream and that she couldn’t possibly be there. The pillow was indented where her head had previously been but all that remained of her in the room was the vanilla fragrance lurking behind like a pleasant aftertaste.

Aiden raked his hands through his hair and got out of bed. Wearing only his boxers, he headed downstairs, his heart pounding so ferociously in his chest that he could hear it echo in his ears.

“Brandy?” He said her name again, louder and with more clarity, but as he descended the staircase he was met with only more darkness. As his bare feet connected with the wooden floor of the lounge, he noticed the chill in the air which was successfully banishing the oppressive heat of the previous day. Instinctively Aiden looked over to the patio doors which had been pulled open. A cool breeze fluttered in and danced around his bare legs, causing them to prickle with goose bumps.

“Brandy?”

Aiden approached the open doors and looked out into the garden. He immediately saw her, his eyes drawn to her like a moth to a flame. She was sitting cross-legged on the lawn, wearing her nightdress, with her head upturned towards the sky. The moon overhead bathed her in an ethereal silver light making her seem impossibly angelic.

“Brandy, what are you doing out here?” Aiden shivered as he stepped outside and moved towards her. The sun which had previously burned down from above now felt like nothing more than a distant memory.

“Oh, Aid.” Brandy turned her head to look at him, her eyes glistening in the moonlight. “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

“No,” Aiden lowered himself down onto the grass and sat beside her. The moisture which clung to the blades of grass dampened his bare skin.

“I just woke up and realized you weren’t there,” he explained. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Brandy’s lips arched in to a perfect smile and she turned away from him to look back up at the sky.

“I just couldn’t sleep,” she admitted. “I’d forgotten how still the night is here. I never thought I’d miss the sound of car horns.”

Aiden carefully looped an arm across her shoulders. He felt Brandy relax beneath his touch. She was cold but her skin remained smooth.

“I always used to sit and look up at the stars when I lived in Avalon,” Brandy recalled wistfully.

“So much changes down here but they remain constant.”

Aiden tilted his head upwards so that he too was gazing upon the stars. It was a clear evening so his vision wasn’t obscured by any stray clouds. All he could see was the impressive infinity that was the universe. Stars glittered against the dense backdrop of the night sky like the rarest of diamonds. Presiding over them all was the silvery face of the moon; full and magical.

With a twinge of regret Aiden realized that this was the first time since moving to Avalon that he’d actually taken the time to fully appreciate the majesty of the night sky. Without the lights of the city to battle against, the natural wonder of the stars in the heavens looked most impressive.

He remembered how as a boy living in Greensburg he’d look up the stars as he lay side by side with his friends in the grass. Seeing those distant suns somehow emboldened them and made them want to do great things. All except Justin. He would roll onto his side and curse the stars for their ability to make his existence seem insignificant.

“There is so much beauty up there,” Brandy whispered in awe. Her soft voice brought Aiden back into the moment and he pulled her close to him as they both continued to look up.

“I wish we could see all the stars, but some are too far away.”

“I remember you telling me once how just because we can’t see a star it doesn’t mean it doesn’t sparkle.” Aiden recalled fondly.

“You remember that?” Brandy lowered her gaze so that she was looking in to his eyes.

“Yeah,” Aiden admitted with a shy smile. “I remember everything about you.”

Beneath the glittering stars he tilted his head down towards Brandy and softly placed his lips upon hers. It felt so good to kiss her, so natural. He raised a hand to stroke her cheek, savoring how she felt beneath his fingertips. He had yearned for so long to be able to touch her in this way.

*

Aiden woke up and stretched. He expected to find himself in his own bed but his senses were suddenly jolted into a state of alertness when he registered the morning sun pressing upon his eyes and the grass beneath his back. Sitting up, Aiden felt lightheaded for a moment, but as the feeling swiftly passed he realized he was in his own back garden. The events from the previous night filtered back to him like a pleasant dream. He’d wandered downstairs and found Brandy sat upon the lawn and then…

A cheeky smile streaked across Aiden’s face. He rubbed his cheeks which were already bristled with morning stubble and awkwardly stood up. His entire body ached from sleeping against the hard ground. But despite the burning tension in his joints, his mood was as bright as the golden morning sunshine. The stars overhead were now gone, replaced by a brilliant ocean of seemingly endless blue sky.

Aiden entered his house and was greeted by the hearty aroma of freshly brewed coffee. He followed the scent towards the kitchen where Brandy was hovering over the stove making pancakes, still in her nightdress.

“Did we actually sleep in the garden?” Aiden laughed as he came up behind her and placed his hands on her slender waist.

“Well, you did,” Brandy laughed lightly. “I just sat and enjoyed the quiet.”

“I thought you missed the noise of the city.”

“I do.” Brandy nodded. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t also enjoy the quiet. I’d forgotten all the things I liked about Avalon. Like how bright the stars shine here.”

“Yeah,” Aiden felt intoxicated by Brandy’s presence. She had the power to make him forget about almost everything. But there was no escaping reality, no matter how much he yearned to.

“Shit!” Aiden’s eyes shot up at the clock on the wall. It told him it was seven in the morning. He needed to be getting ready for work.

“I need to go and shower, I can’t be late again!”

“Don’t you own the firm?” Brandy shouted after him as he sprinted up the stairs towards the bathroom.

“Yes, but try telling Betty that!” Aiden called back.

*

It was just before eight when Aiden arrived at the offices of Copes and May and, predictably, Betty was waiting outside the front door, her purse neatly clasped in her hands. She smiled thinly in greeting at Aiden as he hastily locked his car and fumbled for the keys to the office.

“You know, Betty, you don’t have to wait for me to arrive before opening up,” Aiden told her for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Nonsense,” Betty chided him as she politely waited for him to open the door. “I want you to feel like this firm is yours. Opening up each morning will give you a sense of ownership.”

Aiden wanted to point out that the firm would feel much more like it was his if Betty would stop insisting on telling him what to do. But he was grateful for the old woman’s guidance. She was, after all, just keen to help and make the transition to their new working model all the easier.

Even though the hour was early it was already hot outside. Aiden was glad to enter the dark coolness of the office. Each morning he made sure to turn on the air conditioning so that Betty couldn’t overheat.

“Here’s to a good day,” Betty smiled as she purposefully walked past him towards her desk.

“I’ll go get us some drinks.” Aiden nodded at her. The routine was always the same. Aiden would open up and then head across the street to pick up some drinks and snacks for them. But the weight of words still unspoken were beginning to weigh heavy on Aiden. Betty was oblivious to the fact that Brandy was now living with him. It had been three weeks and she’d yet to step foot beyond his house. He knew he couldn’t keep her a secret forever. And once one person knew, the whole of Avalon would know. Gossip spread faster than any virus ever could.

Aiden was just starting to feel like he belonged. In the morning people would greet him with a smile. In bequeathing his firm to Aiden, his late colleague Edmond had publically placed a seal of approval upon the younger man and Avalon had responded. He wasn’t a pariah; he was almost one of them. If the town learned that Brandy was now in his life all that would change, he’d go back to being demonized. As loath as he was to admit it, Aiden quite liked being in people’s good graces. It certainly made working in Avalon much easier.

“Here you go.” Aiden placed a Styrofoam cup of earl grey tea and a croissant upon Betty’s desk. She nodded politely at Aiden and then returned her attention to her computer screen where she was already busily managing emails which had come in.

Aiden moved beyond her towards his own office. It was a sleek, modern space with hard wood floors and a grand desk boasting two computer monitors. Cooled air was already circulating thanks to the air conditioning system. Aiden dropped his briefcase by his desk and sat down in his leather chair. With a sigh he recalled that it hadn’t always been like this. When he first worked at Copes and May, the offices were shabby and he hadn’t been alone. His graze drifted, as it always did, to the part of the room where Edmond Copes’ desk had once stood.

A hole opened up in Aiden’s chest as he recalled the older man who had brought him to Avalon in the first place. Aiden lifted his cup of fresh coffee and toasted the emptiness.

“Here’s to you, Edmond.”

Aiden felt his shoulders slump as he considered that Edmond would have been the one person in Avalon who would have welcomed Brandy’s return, the one person who would have embraced Aiden’s new-found happiness.

Rubbing his hand across his eyes, Aiden did his best to banish his sorrow and focus on the working day ahead.

*

Aiden was about to leave the office for the day when his phone started vibrating in his pocket. With a slight groan he retrieved it, assuming it was a work call which would delay his departure. His heart seized in his chest when he saw a Chicago number flashing on the screen. Quickly he dragged his finger across the digital screen and answered the call.

“Hello?” His tone was curt and formal.

“Daddy?” came a light voice from the other end of the line.

Aiden felt his entire body sag with surprised delight.

“Meegan!” He gripped the phone, pressing it tightly against his ear. He didn’t want to miss a single sound his daughter made.

“How are you, sweetheart?”

“I have three new Barbies!” Meegan told her father proudly.

“Three?” Aiden smiled to himself. “That’s a lot.”

Two of them he’d sent to her by courier delivery. He felt relieved to know that they had arrived safely.

“Bonnie, Mindy and…” Meegan prolonged the ‘and’ as she struggled to remember the name of her third new doll. Aiden heard someone whisper a name in the background.

“Blue!” Meegan squealed excitedly, delighted to have remembered all their names.

“Those are lovely names,” Aiden told her warmly.

“Me choose!”

“You’re a clever girl.”

“Give Mommy the phone.” He heard Isla’s voice and Aiden straightened in his seat. Seconds later she had replaced Meegan on the call.

“Aid, hey.” Her tone wasn’t cold but it wasn’t warm either.

“Isla, hi.” Aiden tried to sound equally neutral as he nervously unbuttoned the top of his shirt.

“She really wanted to call you,” Isla explained, sounding almost apologetic.

“That’s fine!” Aiden insisted a little too enthusiastically. “I love hearing from her! From you both,” he added diplomatically.

“Thanks for the dolls, she loved them.”

“I’m glad they got there okay.”

“So what’s new with you?” Isla brightened slightly as she asked the question. Aiden felt his airwaves begin to constrict as he nervously floundered on the other end of the line. Isla, like the rest of Avalon, had yet to find out that he was now living with Brandy. He feared that if he invoked his estranged wife’s jealousy she could keep Meegan from him to be cruel. He liked to think that Isla wouldn’t sink to such levels but he also didn’t want to test her capacity for petty revenge.

“Not much.” Aiden shrugged as he sat at his desk. “I’ve been busy with work, just trying to get everything straight since—” His voice broke off. Since Edmond’s death. But he couldn’t bring himself to say the words, they still felt too final.

“I bet it has been busy…adjusting,” Isla replied carefully.

“What about you? What’s new with you?”

“I should really go,” Isla announced a little too quickly. For a moment Aiden wondered if it was just his imagination as she suddenly seemed extremely worked up.

“Isla, is everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything is fine, I’m just late for a yoga class. Maybe next time call a bit later.”

Aiden was about to point out that he hadn’t been the one to make the call but the line went dead before he could speak. Bemused, he pulled the cell phone from his ear and regarded it suspiciously. Isla was definitely acting strangely. Was she hiding something? The thought made his pulse quicken.

Or was it someone? His mind darkened as he imagined a new man in both his wife and daughter’s life. He was about to call them back when the door to his office creaked open and Betty peered round to look at him.

“I’m heading home if that’s alright with you Mr— Sorry, Aiden?” Her glasses were perched precariously on the end of her nose as she looked down through them to regard him.

“That’s fine, Betty. I’m clocking off now too.” Aiden smiled and stood up and began rummaging in his pocket for the keys to both the office and his car.

“The sun hasn’t stopped shining today,” Betty commented by the door.

“It’s been a beautiful day,” Aiden agreed.

“He always loved sunny days,” Betty said with a bittersweet smile as her gaze dropped to the ground.

“Yes.” Aiden nodded and shrugged on his jacket. “He did.”

*

Brandy was standing in the small kitchen of Aiden’s home facing the cooker. All around her the cupboard doors were wide open exposing their contents. She scanned the interior of each cupboard as she remained rooted to the spot.

There were tins of corn and beans, boxes of cereals, bags of sugar. Brandy tried to take a mental inventory of everything that was on display. She was so consumed by the task that she failed to hear Aiden’s car pulling up on the driveway or the subsequent opening of the front door. She was still standing gazing around the kitchen intently when Aiden came up behind her and looped an arm around her waist before gently grazing her cheek with a warm kiss.

Brandy jumped at his touch. He’d surprised her. But what was more surprising was the realization that she’d spent the better part of an hour staring into the cupboards.

“What time is it?” she asked with a start.

“Quarter past five,” Aiden explained as he moved past her to drop his briefcase on to the table. He glanced around at the open cupboards and noticed Brandy’s pained expression.

“Is everything alright?”

Brandy nodded stiffly but her lips pulled into a sharp line.

“Are you sure?” Aiden took a step towards her and placed his hands on her slight shoulders.

“How come all the cupboards are open?”

Brandy’s lower lip started to tremble.

“I…,” She cleared her throat nervously. “I was just trying to get to know my way around your kitchen. Trying to learn where everything was but…” her entire body crumpled and she raised a hand to her temple and sighed.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Aiden asked tenderly.

“It’s everything!” Brandy shook herself loose of his grip and stepped back from him. “It’s this kitchen, this house, this place!”

She gestured around the room as she spoke.

“I wanted to cook you dinner, to make this place feel homely but I can’t because this isn’t my home, it’s hers. Everywhere I go she’s there. I feel like an … intruder!”

Brandy thought of the apartment she had left back in Chicago. A space which had firmly been hers. Now she was a stranger in a home living in another woman’s shadow and it was taking its toll on her.

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

“I’m not being ridiculous!” Brandy cried defensively. “This was her home, Aiden. Where she lived with you, with your daughter. She chose the drapes, the carpets. She made this place a home and now I’m here like some imposter! I hate myself sometimes!”

Frustrated tears glistened in Brandy’s dark eyes.

“First of all, she didn’t choose the drapes, or the carpets. Nothing has been done to the house since I moved here. Second, you are not an imposter! Don’t ever hate yourself!”

“Then why keep me locked inside like some secret shame?” Brandy shot at him, her pooled tears now burning against the heat of the accusation. “I’ve not been out once, Aiden! And this was my home town once!”

“I didn’t think you’d want to go out!” Aiden defended himself. “I thought you wanted to remain here, away from the judgement of Avalon.”

“I did, I do!” Brandy threw her hands in to the air in frustration. “I was building a life for myself in Chicago…” The anger in her eyes thawed into sorrow. Slowly she lowered herself in to a nearby dining chair.

“I had my piano and the salon. I had purpose. I was discovering who I was. Here, it’s like I’m Brandy White again instead of being Brandy Cotton. I just sit in a house all day and wait for my man to return.”

She dropped her head in o her hands. Aiden placed a comforting hand on her back and pulled another chair up beside her.

“I didn’t know you felt like that.”

“I want to feel proud to be here.” Brandy lifted her head and wiped some stray tears from her cheeks.

“I want to walk the streets of Avalon and hold my head up high. I want to keep playing my piano and I want your house to feel like home.”

“And it will,” Aiden insisted, reaching forward and tucking a stray lock of bright-blonde hair behind her ear.

“It takes time to adjust,” he sympathized. “And you’re right, this house should feel like home to you. Tomorrow, let’s go to Home Depot and you can pick out everything you like. Hell, you can even order a piano online if you like!”

“Really?” Brandy’s face brightened, revealing her magnetic smile which instantly lit up the room.

But her smile quickly died on her lips as she furrowed her brow and looked at Aiden with concern pinching at the edge of her eyes.

“I can’t just take your money, Aiden. I have some of my own to pay for things but not much. I need to pay my own way. I can’t be a kept woman like I was with Brandon.”