Free First to Fall by Carys Jones Page A

Aiden sighed in frustration and followed Meegan upstairs, thankful for the temporary distraction from yet another disagreement with his wife. He’d known it would be a difficult transition for them but Isla was struggling to adapt to her new life. She’d been so comfortable in Chicago; the city suited her. Sometimes Aiden feared he’d made a mistake taking her to a town so far removed from all that she had known and loved.
    He stood and watched Meegan sleeping for a while. She looked so angelic and peaceful. She had only made it up until Snow White meets the dwarfs in the woods when her eyelids grew too heavy and she slipped into that beautiful, dreamless serenity of sleep that only the innocence of youth can bring.
    Downstairs Aiden could hear cupboards banging; Isla was clearly still mad. Her immature attitude really grated on him sometimes. Meegan was trying to sleep yet she was still childishly making a commotion to get his attention. As much as he just wanted to ignore her and get to bed himself, he could not risk her waking their daughter so he went downstairs to face the fire.
    ‘Oh, here you are,’ she said nastily, placing the remains of the night’s dishes into the appropriate cupboards.
    ‘I’m sorry I worked late.’
    ‘I know you are.’
    ‘Then what is wrong?’
    She sat down at the table and looked up at him with sad eyes.
    ‘I’m worried you are not attracted to me any more.’
    ‘Don’t be silly.’ He reached out to stroke her cheek but she pushed him away.
    ‘I’m not being silly, we used to do it all the time and now…’
    ‘Now, we have a little girl to think about.’ Aiden sat down opposite her and held her hands in his. ‘Isla, you are beautiful, I fancy the pants off you baby, you know that.’ She began to smile and her anger seemed to subside. As usual, Aiden found that complimenting her was the best way to get her to calm down.
    ‘When you were late home, and then when you blew me off, it just felt like we were slipping back into our old ways and I don’t want that.’
    ‘I don’t want that either. And we are not. Tonight was a one-off, I swear. This case is just bigger than I thought, that’s all.’
    ‘Bigger? I thought it was an open, shut case?’
    Aiden ran his hands through his hair. He wasn’t in the right frame of mind to start discussing the case, he just wanted to switch off for the night. He went to the fridge to get another beer, hoping to avoid her questions.
    ‘Want one?’ He asked from the welcoming cool of the open fridge door. Isla nodded so he grabbed a second bottle and handed it to her.
    ‘Aid, the case, why is it bigger than you thought?’
    ‘I don’t know, honey,’ he took a deep, long swig from his bottle. ‘It is a murder case, sure as hell. But I don’t get why she did it.’
    ‘Could it be what the French call a “crime of passion”?’
    ‘I suppose…perhaps.’ Aiden thought it over.
    ‘Maybe the husband was having an affair.’
    ‘It’s a possibility. I just need to do some more digging around. I’m heading to the prison tomorrow.’
    ‘Again?!’
    ‘Yes, again, I need to ask her a few more questions.’
    ‘What else can she say apart from, I’m guilty?’
    ‘It is more complicated than that.’
    ‘Complicated how?’
    ‘I can’t go into it,’ Aiden explained dismissively.
    ‘You’re too attached to this case,’ Isla noted, her eyes narrowing. She’d developed a keen perception of men over the years and she sensed something in her husband now that she didn’t like.
    ‘No, it’s not the case you are attached to, it’s the girl, the accused,’ she declared, her tone growing cold.
    ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ Aiden replied empathically. ‘It’s just that this is my first case here and I want to make a good impression.’
    Isla’s face remained frozen in annoyance, her lips pouting.
    ‘Why don’t we go upstairs?’ Aiden asked suggestively, deciding to change tack and not wanting to discuss things about