Third to Die Read Online Free Page A

footsteps, which were easily carried in the vast, empty air of the house.
    “She just worries,” Edmond wrinkled his nose slightly as he referenced his wife. “I do miss my scotch though.”
    “You should have told me,” Aiden eyed his friend sternly and leaned forward, clasping his hands together.
    “Told you what?” Edmond feigned mock ignorance. “There’s nothing to tell,” he waved a dismissive hand in front of him.
    “I’ll be better soon enough. Once they’ve poured more of that damn poison into me I’ll kick this thing, just you see!”
    Aiden was about to enquire about how aggressively the cancer had spread when he instead decided to keep his mouth shut, choosing to heed Edna’s advice and humour her husband.
    “So who told you?” Edmond asked, his eyes bright with interest as Edna returned with two long glasses of water.
    “Thanks,” Aiden nodded politely at her and then looked back at Edmond. “Clyde White. I was there earlier to amend his will.”
    “That old dog never could hold his tongue,” Edmond remarked lightly.
    “Did he talk to you about his will?”
    “I know he’s leaving everything to the Copes’ dynasty,” Edmond quipped. “Someone should tell him to hold his horses though, he needs to remember that both our beds are still warm!”
    “I think he’s just worried about you.”
    “He’s just a glory hunter,” Edmond raised an eyebrow as he spoke. “He wants to redeem his family name after all the mess surrounding Brandy’s trial.”
    “That seems a little…dark.”
    “You’ve met Clyde White, haven’t you?”
    “I guess,” Aiden took a sip from his cooled water and glanced around the room. It felt more like God’s waiting room than a sitting area. It scared Aiden how drastically things had changed. It had only been a few short weeks since he’d last seen Edmond and in that time the older man had literally started to fade away.
    “I wish you’d told me,” Aiden reiterated.
    This time Edmond wasn’t so quick to dismiss the comment.
    “I didn’t want to worry you,” he admitted. “Besides, I’ll be back at work in no time. No point making a fuss over nothing.”
    Aiden frowned and looked down at his glass, unable to keep his eyes on Edmond. He looked so feeble, so besieged by sickness. Clearly, it wasn’t nothing.
    “So how long until you’re back, getting in the way of me actually working?” Aiden pulled his mouth into a wry smile, doing his best to humour the older man.
    “Not long, don’t you sweat, young buck,” Edmond chuckled slightly, though his mirth lacked the depth Aiden was accustomed to.
    “A few more bouts of chemo and I’ll be back,” Edmond smiled, but it fell away a little too quickly.
    “Well, Betty and I are missing you.”
    “I bet the old girl is bereft without me there,” Edmond winked. He went to speak again but was silenced by his increasingly laboured breathing.
    “Are you okay? Can I get you anything?” Aiden approached him and placed a concerned hand upon his shoulder.
    Edmond shook his head but didn’t speak. Footsteps hurriedly entered the room and Aiden looked up to see Edna running over with some pills in her hand.
    “Take these,” she urged her husband. Then she looked back at Aiden, “He’s just getting tired. He doesn’t have much energy these days.”
    Edmond took the tablets and sat for a moment, waiting for his breathing to regulate itself. Edna hovered by his side, not taking her eyes off him for a second. Aiden, however, was forced to look away. It was too difficult to watch.
    “Better?” Edna asked anxiously, stroking Edmond’s thinning hair.
    “No energy?” Edmond glanced at his wife, the light returning to his eyes as his chest ceased awkwardly heaving.
    “I’ve more than enough energy, I’ll thank you very much!”
    Edna sighed and rolled her eyes as she straightened and stood up. The moment had passed and her husband was back to his usual cheeky self.
    “Women!” Edmond declared