Page 3 of The Silence of Monsters

Win

I looked around the dingy hallway with contempt. It led to the apartment where my niece was waiting. The walls and doors were paper thin. I could hear arguing, sex, and laughter filtering out of the different units. I frowned when I caught sight of a rat scurrying from one dark corner to the next. The man standing to my right stiffened, and I heard him swear.

I lifted my eyebrows and glanced at my long-time head of security. “I’m sure you stayed in worse conditions when you were in the military.”

The other man grunted and wiped the look of disgust off his face. “I did, Sir. I can’t imagine your niece running away from home and purposely coming to a place like this. It doesn’t make any sense.”

I grunted in agreement. Rocco Drach hadn’t lived a life of leisure before enlisting in the military. He was a man who worked hard for what he had and appreciated that he could now afford the finer things in life. I hired him to work for me the day I took over as the CEO of the family business, Halliday Inc. Aside from my younger brother, who was devastatingly no longer part of my life, I didn’t trust anyone more than the former military man. Rocco had been right next to me while I did my best to ensure Winnie was raised properly after my brother’s death. He was instrumental in helping me keep my mother’s machinations at bay where the young girl was involved. I had no doubt the intimidating bear of a man was genuinely puzzled at Winnie’s current conduct. She was usually a docile and well-behaved young lady. He had no idea how attached Winnie was to her aunt. No one could see the influence Channing Harvey had over my niece the way I did. The Halliday estate might be Winnie’s house, but Channing was her home. It didn’t matter what I gave the little girl, because whatever Channing offered her was always better.

“Even if it was a tent under a bridge somewhere, Winnie would want to be there if that’s where Channing was. This isn’t the first time Winnie’s tried to sneak away and see her aunt.” I gave the older man a look out of the corner of my eye. “Which is why your team is supposed to know where she is and who she’s with. Keeping my niece safe is your number one priority.”

It wasn’t normal for a thirteen-year-old to need a full security detail; there was nothing normal about your life when you were born a Halliday. I wouldn’t risk my niece’s life just because she had the same last name as me. I couldn’t protect my brother. The least I could do was make sure his daughter was never in danger. I promised as much when I was named her godfather. Winnie was all I had left after my favorite person passed. My little brother’s time was cut too short. I refused to let a repeat happen with his daughter.

When we reached the door to the apartment, I could hear raucous laughter and female voices. One was young and had a soft accent. The other was husky and full of character. Channing wasn’t a smoker, but her voice sounded like it was crafted by cigarettes and whiskey. It was easy to identify anywhere. As was the raspy laugh that followed something my niece said. I lifted my hand to knock on the door, but paused midway when I heard Winnie ask, “What did my mother like to do? I know Grandma won’t let me drop all my lessons, but maybe she’ll consider letting me do something I’m truly interested in if I ask the right way. I need to figure out what it is I might like. Right now, everything feels so pointless and boring.”

“Hmmm… your mom liked to paint, and she liked to dance. She liked to sing. She fronted a band for a short time before she met your dad. She liked a little bit of everything. I can’t think of one thing she stuck with for longer than a few months, though. She wanted to experience everything life had to offer.”

“Oh.” The disappointment was clear in Winnie’s voice. “My piano teacher always tells me I’m a natural, and that I have inherent talent. I thought you were going to say she played an instrument.”

Channing’s voice softened. “You must’ve gotten that from your dad. If I remember right, your dad played the piano and your Uncle Win played the violin when they were kids.”

“I can’t picture Uncle Win playing a violin. I feel like he was born wearing a suit and tie. All he cares about is work.” Winnie giggled, and I felt a bit of pressure in my chest.

I couldn’t recall the last time I heard my niece laugh. She was always somber and serious when we interacted. Channing’s warning that Winnie needed to be allowed a childhood scratched annoyingly at the back of my mind.

Even under the threat of death, I couldn’t and wouldn’t admit the lackadaisical woman might have a point.

I knocked on the door and waited impatiently for Channing to answer. Rocco swore again as another rat hustled down the hallway. He turned pale and gave me a helpless look. If I wasn’t so worried about my niece and frustrated by what was happening at home because of my mother, I would’ve teased him relentlessly. I’d witnessed Rocco face off against any number of opponents with ice in his veins and nerves of steel. I couldn’t believe a fuzzy little rodent was his undoing. He looked like he was seconds away from pulling a gun on the critter.

The door swung open, and I automatically looked down at Channing. She wasn’t a short woman. She wasn’t tall either. In fact, everything about her was in the middle of two extremes. She wasn’t heavy, but she wasn’t thin. She wasn’t loud, but no one would ever mistake her for being quiet. Channing wasn’t someone who took herself, or anyone else, too seriously. However, she was far from easygoing. I never claimed to know her very well, but I’d paid close attention to her since both she and her sister disrupted my regimented life when we were all kids. She might come across as ordinary. However, Channing was anything but. She could do what no Halliday ever could. Love. She loved effortlessly in a big, bold, unforgettable way.

The redhead looked at me in surprise, her gaze darting past me to watch Rocco. I usually traveled with more than a one-man security detail. The look on her face clearly showed that she didn’t think I would take her advice and come for Winnie on my own.

“Are you going to let me in?” I asked curtly. It was evident she didn’t want to permit me to enter.

Channing swished the end of her long ponytail over her shoulder and moved to the side. Her hair was strawberry blond, the same as Winnie’s. Her eyes were a hazel brown-blue-green combo, whereas my niece’s were a green and gold swirl. There were enough similarities; it was obvious Winnie took more after the Harvey side of the family than the Hallidays. The similarity irritated my mother to no end every time she looked at the young girl.

Channing waved a hand covered in silver rings toward the interior of the tiny apartment. My niece jumped to her feet when our gazes locked. She clasped her hands together nervously and darted her gaze between me and her aunt.

The apartment was cramped and old. But it was spotlessly clean. There were no signs of the furry visitors in the hallway. Thank goodness. The décor was bright and eclectic. The couch where Winnie had been sitting was an ungodly shade of lime green that would be offensive anywhere else. It felt oddly fitting in Channing’s home.

“I’m sorry I left and snuck away to the city. I didn’t mean to leave my phone on the train. I was going to call you once I found Aunt Channing’s store and ask if I could stay with her for a few days. I didn’t intend to make you worry.” Winnie gulped and tightened her hands into fists. “I wouldn’t have had to run away if you would let me see Aunt Channing when I asked.”

Channing and I exchanged a look. Her eyes were filled with accusation. My look in return was filled with dissatisfaction. I never denied that I purposely limited Winnie’s access to the woman I publicly deemed an unfit influence. The reasons to keep them apart were far too complex for a teenager to understand. They were so complicated I wasn’t certain I understood them half the time. At the core of the problem was the fact that nothing good, aside from Winnie, ever came from mixing the Harveys and the Hallidays together.

I hated it when my brother Archie fell in love with Channing’s older sister, Willow. I was beyond upset when he told me he got her pregnant and was planning to marry her despite our parents’ objections. It was a terrible idea from the jump. My mother would never let him have a moment’s peace if he defied her.

The Harveys were like a family from a nostalgic blue-collar sitcom. Each was a character in their own right. My family could never understand or be bothered with their issues. My parents were a union orchestrated between two powerful families. Love and happiness had no place between husband and wife. No one on my brother’s side of the situation would lower themselves by being sympathetic toward the young couple. What they did, instead, was try to buy Willow off and threaten the rest of her family to keep their daughter away from Archie. My mother was relentless in her quest to break up the two of them.

Unfortunately, Willow and Channing’s scumbag father took the money my mother offered and disappeared. A revelation that only came out after my brother returned home with his wife and daughter. There was no way my mother was going to let Willow forget the kind of horrible person her father was. She was ruthless with her criticism.

The Harveys had no place in the world of the Hallidays.

After Archie and Willow died in the fire, I assumed I would never have to deal with them again. Little did I know Winnie was going to be the string that tied us together for eternity. I vastly underestimated how desperately she was going to need a connection to her mother’s family — Channing, in particular.

“We can talk about visitation after we get home. It’s late, and you have school tomorrow. We need to leave as quickly as possible.” I glanced at Channing. She was frowning at me, but didn’t say anything to contradict my orders.

“I’m not going.” Winnie crossed her arms over her chest and braced her feet. I could tell she was gearing up for a battle tonight, and I might have to haul her out of this apartment over my shoulder. “I’m staying with Aunt Channing unless you promise you’ll let me see her whenever I want. I hate the estate. I hate school and all the extra things Grandma makes me do afterward. I don’t want to go to a private school in Switzerland.” She started crying and her face turned red. “You’re never home, and you never listen to me when I try to talk to you.”

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