Page 29 of The Silence of Monsters

My hands curled into fists. Talking to her was like banging my head against a brick wall. She was so rigid and unforgiving. She couldn’t even admit that Channing played an enormous role in helping the little girl heal after she’d lost everything. There was nothing I could say that would change her mind. It felt like I’d been traveling along this barren and lonely stretch of road for a very long time. I was tired of the journey. There were some roads you shouldn’t go down.

“I’ve told you repeatedly that what you think where Winnie is concerned is irrelevant. I make the decisions related to her health and wellbeing. While I don’t believe she saw a monster in her room, I do think something spooked her. She’s been timid and afraid long before Channing came to the manor. Even if what she saw is a byproduct of inherited mental illness, the solution isn’t to send her away for repair like she’s a broken piece of equipment. If Winnie is struggling, then so am I. I won’t let her face her challenges alone.” I narrowed my eyes at my mother and forced myself to release my fists. “And neither will Channing. That is why Winnie has been so insistent on keeping her aunt in her life for all these years.”

I sighed heavily and shoved a hand through my hair. I was ready to pull out the strands in aggravation. There was no getting around the fact that I could no longer trust my mother not to harm Winnie. Be it intentional or accidental.

This was the perfect time to leave the manor and the Cove behind. This place was toxic on numerous levels, and Winnie was scared out of her ever-loving mind. There had to be a reasonable explanation for what was happening in this house, but no matter how much manpower I threw at the problem, nothing was discovered. Now my suite had more cameras and surveillance than an airport. I felt like I was living in a fishbowl. The added level of security was the only reason Channing hadn’t snatched up our niece and made a run for the hills. The redhead was as worried about Winnie’s mental state just as much as the teenager. She kept reminding me about her things that had gone missing since she came to the manor. And she wouldn’t let go of the thought that someone came into the suite and killed her plants on purpose. While Channing never came out and said she believed Winnie might’ve seen a monster, she was more open-minded about the whole situation than I was.

“I don’t understand why you’re defending a Harvey. You’ve always agreed Winnie was better off not emulating anything from that side of her family. If I didn’t know any better, I might think that woman has you under a magic spell. Are you sure she’s not manipulating you? She would take Winnie away from you in a heartbeat.”

“I never agreed with anything you’ve said about the Harveys. Especially Channing.” But I never opposed her when she spoke harshly about them. “If I ever mentioned the benefits of having Channing around, you’d stubbornly refuse to acknowledge it. I tried to stay indifferent to her because I was terrified that you’d try to destroy her if you realized I felt otherwise. I don’t agree with every decision Channing has made, but I know she genuinely loves Winnie.” I paused and exhaled a harsh breath. “I can’t say the same about you, Mother.”

I pushed to my feet and gave my mother a hard look. A lot of decisions I’d been avoiding had reached a tipping point. What sense did it make that I single-handedly controlled the financial future of thousands of Halliday Inc. employees and investors, but I couldn’t make a single selfish choice for myself? If I had to choose who I wanted to live with, Channing won over my mother, hands down.

“If you think I will allow anyone to turn my granddaughter against me, you’re delusional, Winchester.” My mother’s tone dripped with warning.

I turned my back on her and headed toward the door. “You said the same thing to Willow about Archie. Look how that ended up. One of these days, hopefully, you’ll realize your focus should be on the people inside these castle walls, and not the ancestors who built them. This manor is nothing more than a haunted house.” Where ghosts were treated better than the living.

I stopped in the hallway when she snapped at my retreating back, “Just remember, I taught you how to fight, Win. If you want to be my opponent instead of my son, don’t come crawling back when you regret that choice.”

“You’re so certain you’ll win?” I didn’t bother to close the door, and I heard more expensive tableware shatter following the thinly veiled taunt.

When I started back to my wing of the house, I ran into Channing. She was sitting at the base of the massive staircase and her gaze was directed toward the library I’d just exited. I put a hand on the railing near her head and leaned on the carved wooden banister.

“Did you enjoy the show?” I tried to keep my tone flippant, but I could hear the disgust in my voice. The conversation with my mother was loud enough to carry through the large house. I was glad Winnie was at school. Otherwise, she couldn’t help but overhear all the horrible things her grandmother said about her.

Channing looked up at me with a frown. “All these years, I thought you hated me and genuinely believed that I was a bad influence on Winnie. Why didn’t you ever explain that you were being an asshole to keep your mother off your back? A simple conversation could’ve saved us so much strife.”

I rolled my head to crack my neck and release the tension that had me in a chokehold. “I’m not used to explaining myself. And there were times when I didn’t approve of what, and who, you were doing. As single-minded as my mother can be, she can sniff out bullshit from a hundred miles away. If I told you I was only pretending, she would’ve figured it out. Once she did, she would’ve come after you twice as hard to prove a point. You may think I fucked up your life to get you where I wanted you. My mother makes me look like an amateur when it comes to dismantling all that one might hold dear.” My mom’s bullshit detector was the reason I never considered trying to pass off our marriage as the real deal. She would’ve seen through the farce instantly. “Do you know that her parents passed away in a horrific car accident shortly before she married my father? She refused to move the wedding date. The funeral and nuptials were back-to-back. Imagine being raised by someone who couldn’t even fake grief over such a huge loss.”

Channing swore softly and shook her head. “All this time, I thought we were enemies when we were co-conspirators instead.” She sounded like she was in disbelief over the revelation. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you, Chester?”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “In business, you never want the opposition to know your next move.” I met her curious gaze with a serious one of my own. “We’re going to have to figure out a plan for Winnie. I can take both of you to the city, but that won’t stop my mother from interfering. Winnie’s current mental state complicates things. One thing my mother said that I do agree with is that Winnie needs professional help.”

Channing propped her hand on her chin as she watched me with bright, clear eyes. “I don’t think it hurts to find someone safe for her to talk to. It’s hard for her to reconcile the conflicting feelings of having everything except the one thing she really wants. She’s never been allowed to grieve the loss of her parents freely.” She pointed at me with her free hand. “None of that takes away from the fact that there is something strange happening in this house. I don’t believe Winnie is hallucinating or that she’s delusional. She’s scared.”

“A strange man never came into this house. You’ve seen all the camera footage from that day. Unless someone climbed up the cliff and came in through my wing, there was never an intruder.” We’d had this same conversation backward and forward since the day she rushed home from the city to take care of Winnie.

Channing poked my leg with her finger. “I’ve said it over and over again — this is coming from inside the house. What would an intruder want with my stuff when they could take one of your watches? They could snag a single pair of your cufflinks and pay for their life of crime for years to come. It doesn’t make any sense that only Winnie and I are targeted.”

I put my hand on the top of her head and messed up her hair. I liked how soft it felt when it brushed against my palm.

“I’ve vetted and re-vetted anyone who’s had access to this house for the last six months. I haven’t found a single red flag.” Everyone who worked for my mom was squeaky clean.

“Did you have your mother investigated? She benefits the most if my sanity is questioned. She’s been pushing to send Winnie away. It’s obvious she doesn’t like that you have the final say in what happens in our niece’s life. I’ve never met more of a control freak than her.” Her eyebrows arched upward. “Including you.”

“You really think my mother is skulking around in the dark, sneaking in and out of rooms, just to mess with your head?” The image I conjured was ridiculous. There wasn’t a chance in hell my mother would ever do anything so improper.

Channing shrugged. I moved my hand and bent to cup her face. I ran my thumb over her plump bottom lip and watched her multi-colored eyes darken.

“I don’t think she’s physically doing anything, but I think she has someone doing it on her behalf. Nothing happens under this roof without her knowledge. Something changed not too long ago when Winnie started telling you the house was haunted. You wrote it off as her imagination, but there’s more to it. If I had the connections at my disposal that you do, I’d investigate what Colette was up to around the time Winnie started hearing things. And I’d dig into the background of this house. It’s been around since the days people were allowed to own other people.” She made a disgusted face at the thought and frowned. “Didn’t they make buildings with secret tunnels and passageways between rooms to keep the staff separate from the homeowners? The sounds are coming from the walls, Win. You keep insisting that there’s a logical explanation for everything, but you refuse to believe the simplest explanation is the answer.”

I matched her scowl as a vague recollection from my childhood tickled the back of my brain. Archie and I liked to play hide and seek when we were younger. In a house this big, the hiding places were too numerous to count. During one particular game, I couldn’t locate my younger brother anywhere. I looked high and low. Eventually, I had to ask the staff to help me figure out where he was hiding. To my utter shock, behind an armoire rumored to have first come over on the Mayflower, was a hidden entryway. Archie appeared to be very familiar with the secret space, but he was punished by my mother when she found out he was playing around with such a valuable piece of furniture. Anyone who admitted they knew what Archie was up to was fired on the spot. She had the door bolted shut, and the incident faded to make room for far more traumatic memories.

People might question Channing’s intellect since she didn’t have an advanced degree, but anyone who did was an idiot. There was a lot to be said for strong common sense and keen critical-thinking skills. If you dropped Channing into any situation, there was a solid chance she would figure out how to manage it before everyone else. Our marriage was a perfect example.

I shifted my hold on her face so I could stroke my thumb along her jawline. “You’re right. I need to dig deeper. I’ve been going about things in a rational way. The person who thinks it’s fun to terrorize a vulnerable teenager clearly isn’t behaving in a logical way.” My mother accused me of wanting to be her enemy. It might be time I started to treat her that way. I dropped a kiss on top of Channing’s head. “I was serious about taking you and Winnie out of this house. I need some time to arrange things. Can you be patient with me, Harvey?”

She gave me a smirk. I wanted to kiss it off her face when she taunted, “Is that the first time you’ve ever asked for something instead of demanding it?”

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