(Release Day) Exclusive Excerpt: “First To Fall” by Carys Jones
Title: First To Fall
Lawyer Aiden Connelly has traded the frenzy of Chicago for a slower pace in sleepy Avalon – and his first case appears to be as open-and-shut as he could hope for. Hired to defend a local ex-beauty queen accused of murdering her husband, he’s confident that he’ll have the case closed in record time. But below the surface lurks a darker truth…
Suddenly, a quiet backwater has transformed into a dangerous pressure cooker. In a town where everyone knows everyone, gathering evidence should be easy… but the harder Aiden searches, the more he appreciates how tangled this net of loyalties is. And as he digs deeper, Aiden begins to realise that his very first case in Avalon could be the beginning of his undoing…
Despite being surrounded by
luscious acres of green grass none grew within the walls of the immense prison.
Aiden wondered if this was a result of all the electrical fencing, or if nature
just knew that she was not welcome here. This was a place for those who did not
deserve to hear the sweet lullaby of birdsong, or breathe in the luscious scent
of a blooming flower. Here, the condemned were at the last outpost before hell,
but no doubt many felt like they were already there. Whilst from a distance
Eastham looked impressive, once inside you realized just how imposing a
structure can really be. Aiden had only just arrived but was already looking
forward to being able to drive away.
‘Freedom’, he mused to
himself, ‘is much too underrated’.
Inside was not much better.
The air felt decidedly cooler and the indifferent grey of the stone had crept
along the interior walls in the form of paint. Green doors, though the colour
of baby sick, were a welcome break from the dismal decorating. Aiden was led
along countless corridors, his footsteps echoing on the plastic tiled floors.
He was ushered through so many security gates that he began to worry if he was
ever going to be able to get back out.
‘Prisoner 929 is in maximum
security.’ The burly female guard had told him when he had finally made it to
reception, her voice monotonous as if she had forgotten how to express emotion.
He was currently being led by another, equally ample female form, down a
labyrinth of corridors. His palms were sweaty and his attempts to make small
talk had not even been acknowledged. The women who worked there were tough; he
supposed that they had to be. But no matter how tough they were, he knew that
they would be no match for what lay behind the locked doors which they were now
passing by. Aiden had expected hands grasping through railings, voices crying
out their innocence, but all was quiet. Those cells he passed where you could
see in, the lone occupants were sat, sometimes reading, sometimes just staring
into space; none so much as fluttered an eyelid as he clomped past.
Finally he was motioned
into a small room where one wall was made entirely of Perspex glass. Beyond the
glass, there was a lone chair facing him which was flanked by two guards. On
Aiden’s side of the glass there was a basic desk and a plastic chair.
‘929 will be with you
shortly’, the woman told him. ‘I’ll wait for you outside.’ Aiden nodded and thanked
her but she was already gone before the words had even left his mouth. He moved
the chair and positioned himself opposite the other currently vacant chair.
Placing his briefcase on the desk he took out a Dictaphone and a notebook. He
had no idea what to expect from Prisoner 929.
How amazing does First To Fall sound?!
happy reading!
