Chapter 18
Win
I stared at the screen in front of me. Rage and the feeling of failure tied my entire body up in knots.
The cameras Rocco had installed in my personal space didn’t record continuously. I couldn’t stand the thought of being watched every minute. And I refused to have prying eyes on my private life, especially since Channing was at the center of it. There was a motion sensor at the doorway and the windows that triggered the camera to capture any movement. I had plenty of images of Channing and Winnie coming and going. There were a handful of pictures of my housekeeper doing her daily duties, and a snap of my arrival when I got back from overseas. However, a picture of whomever came into my home and into my room to cut Channing’s hair was glaringly missing. It seemed like the perpetrator could walk through walls and appear out of thin air.
“Did you find the plans for the manor I asked you to locate?” I glanced at Conrad out of the corner of my eye. My long-suffering assistant knew I was furious at being called away on business while things at home were escalating. The truth was, I could’ve sent Conrad and my CFO or COO to handle the zoning mishap. The only reason I’d been roped into the negotiations was because one of the business partners wanted to set me up with his daughter. She was in charge of the negotiations for the other side. After I informed everyone involved in the crisis that I had recently gotten married, the back and forth dragged on as a highly unprofessional form of punishment. Because of our history and his attention to the littlest detail, there was little question that Conrad was aware of the ulterior motives before he sent me to the UK. He chose to ignore them for a reason.
Conrad cleared his throat and nervously shifted his weight in the antique leather chair. “I emailed you everything I could find. The manor is so old, finding the original design from the seventeen-hundreds is impossible. There have been several renovation projects over the different generations of owners. Including when you redesigned your wing and when the damage from the fire was repaired. I don’t know if it’ll be possible to locate any of the historic plans.” He sighed. “I even checked with the historical society. They have old sketches of the outside and the plans for the gardens, but nothing for the inside. If there are trapdoors and hidden passageways, they’re not on any paperwork I managed to dig up.”
I scowled at him and tapped my fingers on the edge of the armrest. “Dig deeper, Conrad. I need to know how someone is moving around my house undetected.”
My tone made it clear: his job was on the line. I couldn’t stomach the fact that Winnie and Channing weren’t safe under my watch. Every fiber of my being rebelled against sending them away to keep them safe, but it was the right decision. I could no longer write off Winnie’s fear as an overactive imagination. Not after Channing had been sheared like a sheep. Her pretty strawberries-and-cream hair was now chopped into an edgy pixie cut. It was cute and gave the normally sunny redhead a more serious vibe. Channing said she wouldn’t have minded the short style if she’d chosen it for herself, rather than end up with it out of necessity.
My mother accused her of cutting it herself to feed Winnie’s paranoia. I stopped that nonsense conjecture in an instant. I saw Channing’s shock and disbelief when she’d woken up and saw her hair on the pillow. Even if she was an Oscar-winning actress, there was no way to feign that depth of confusion and fear.
Out of spite and an abundance of caution, Channing refused to tell anyone where she was stashing Winnie until it was safe to come home. She told me she was taking her to the last place my mother would ever think of looking. Since I wasn’t an idiot, I immediately figured out that she’d taken our niece to my half-brother for protection. Alistair was a perfect choice. He had a weird loyalty to the name Halliday, even if our family refused to acknowledge him. Winnie was technically his niece, too, so it was unlikely he would let anything happen to her. The kid had enough money to make sure she was well protected, and he owed me a favor neither of us ever mentioned.
I saved his sister when there was no hope. He would never turn down the opportunity to repay that massive debt.
Channing was correct. It was the last place my mother would look for Winnie. She firmly considered the bastard an adversary. It would never occur to her that he might be one of our most important allies instead.
I didn’t want Channing to stay with them, but until I figured out what was happening at my home, I didn’t have the right to force her to stay. Losing her hair was one thing. If someone got close enough to touch her with scissors, they were close enough to use that instrument in much more harmful ways. She was lucky her throat hadn’t been slit while she slept.
I shoved a hand through my hair and continued to glare at my friend. “Did you at least get my mother’s financials?” If there was no sign of my mother’s staff taking money to fuck with everyone I cared about, I needed to look in my backyard. It was possible the people I trusted weren’t as dependable as I thought.
Conrad shifted in his seat again, which made me narrow my eyes. He’d been extra anxious since I focused more on personal matters and less on what was happening at Halliday Inc.
“I sent her personal financials to your email. She has a few businesses that are subsidiaries of Halliday Inc., which have been harder to locate. They were established when your father was at the helm. Most of those have used offshore banks since inception. You know how difficult it is to track anything with those types of accounts.”
“No familiar names popped up in your investigation?” I tried to keep my voice even, but I could hear the hint of accusation in it.
“No.” Conrad kept his eyes on mine, but I noticed a small tremor in his hands. “I still think it’s absurd that you’re suspicious of the staff you handpicked. There isn’t any universe in which Rocco, or I, would ever betray you.”
I hummed a slight sound of agreement while I watched him with unblinking eyes.
I told him to double check everything and excused him from my sight with a wave of my hand. I was very dissatisfied with his lackluster performance as of late. Once Conrad vacated my office, I called Rocco in. He didn’t take the empty seat. Instead, he stood in front of me with his hands behind his back like he was still in the military.
“What did your people find?” I asked Rocco to have his team investigate all the same things as Conrad to see if the information lined up. I wasn’t ready to share my doubts about Conrad until I had empirical proof that he wasn’t being honest. I couldn’t explain why I harbored suspicions toward my friend, but something hadn’t sat right ever since he was adamantly against my marriage with Channing. No one had protested as much as Conrad, aside from my mother. Rocco picked up on my ulterior motive before I had to explain anything to him.
“I found the plans from before your great grandparents renovated the manor. There is a network of passageways and tunnels underneath the main house. They lead all the way to the cliff face. Your grandparents and parents had most entrances and exits sealed with modern framing and drywall once they took ownership.”
I swore under my breath and knocked a fist on the top of my desk. “Then explain how someone is moving unseen throughout my house.”
Rocco frowned, and his gaze sharpened. “I’m not certain, it’s just a guess, but I think you need to look at the flooring. That’s one part of the manor that hasn’t been ripped up and replaced over the years except in the burned wing.” Our eyes met and I could see that he was recalling something unpleasant. “When I was deployed overseas, one of the most common places for the opposition to hide for an ambush were dugouts under the floor. The estate has been around since the Revolutionary War. I have a feeling there are connected hidey-holes underneath every room for a quick escape. When Channing scouted everything, she never looked under the rugs and floors.”
I sighed, understanding that Conrad had indeed skipped vital information in his debrief.
“What did you find out about my mother? Is she paying off anyone on my staff?” If her staff was clean, mine must be dirty.
Rocco shook his head. “It’s hard to tell. Her personal transactions are murky. She moves money through a lot of untraceable accounts and shell companies. It’s possible, but I can’t say anything is one hundred percent certain.” He coughed and waited until I looked up and caught his gaze. “One of the most suspicious subsidiaries she’s in charge of is a long-term medical care facility. It looks like she invested in it around the time your father’s health started to fail.”
I nodded. “She did. She wanted to make sure he spent his final days surrounded by people under her control.” I laughed. “She was paranoid that someone would coerce him to change his will while he wasn’t in his right mind. Little did she know he amended it to include DeVere.”
Rocco nodded, his expression grave. “But she bought the facility long before your dad fell ill. She started sinking money into it not long after the fire.” He paused for a brief minute and frowned. “This is going to sound like a reach, but are you absolutely sure your brother is buried on the estate? The funeral was rushed. You never saw the body. Your mother never seemed to grieve and was annoyed Winnie was such a mess. None of that is normal when your child dies. Even for a Halliday.”
I blinked because I was too stunned to speak. I had to drink some water before my suddenly parched throat could operate as normal. “Is that a serious question?”
Rocco frowned and lowered his head so that he was looking at the tips of his polished boots. “Colette handled everything after Archie died. There was no autopsy. The death certificate is signed by the coroner who just happens to be married to the mayor of the Cove. The mayor Colette helped get elected. I’ve seen pictures of the damage after the fire. There wasn’t much fuel to feed the flames. I saw Willow’s condition when the firefighters pulled her out of the house. She was injured, but it didn’t appear to be fatal. My guess is that if someone reached her and Archie in time, they would’ve been badly burned, but alive.”
I felt my heart squeeze, and I forgot how to breathe for a second. My vision blurred. I remembered the sorrow that felt suffocating since my brother died. The blame and accusations were sharp spears that were stabbed into my vulnerable places. I never understood why Archie’s choices had anything to do with me. My mother always asserted that if I hadn’t left, things never would’ve spiraled out of control, as if I were responsible for making sure Archie didn’t fall in love with a Harvey.
“Are you trying to tell me that you think my brother is still alive? That my mother is keeping him in the same place she kept my father when he was dying?”
“I’m saying it’s a possibility we need to investigate. Things don’t add up when you scratch beneath the surface. We’ve always accepted your mother’s version of events because you weren’t home. I think she’s gotten too comfortable. Colette has always insisted Willow drugged herself and Archie, then set the fire. She claims no one at the estate knew that Winnie was with Channing that night. None of those assertions are based on fact. If Willow drugged herself when she supposedly drugged Archie, she couldn’t have started the fire. She was smaller than him. It would be nearly impossible for her to wait for him to pass out before she could ignite anything that would burn. If she took something after Archie was knocked out, then she would’ve been alert when the fire started. She would’ve been aware that she was being burned alive. If that were the case, there would’ve been signs of escape or a struggle to survive. No regular human can sit there and let themselves be torched. It’s like they both went to sleep and never woke up, even as the manor burned around them. Smoke inhalation killed Willow. Since there was no autopsy done on Archie, there’s no cause of death on record. The entire situation is suspicious as hell. Especially since the law enforcement in the Cove is under your mother’s influence. This should’ve been discussed long before now.”
I rubbed a hand across my chin and felt my perception of one of the most defining moments of my life shift. “You’re telling me you think my mother drugged them and started the fire, then somehow managed to get Archie out and left Willow to die? Do you think she murdered my brother’s wife? And tried to murder my niece, as well?” Unfiltered disbelief colored every word, not because I couldn’t imagine my mother as a killer, but because this questionable behavior happened underneath my nose, and I never realized it. How was I fit to run a multibillion-dollar empire if I couldn’t keep my home in order? And how could my mother ever call anyone else crazy? If any of this actually occurred, she wasn’t right in the head. I never questioned the tragedy surrounding Archie and his family. I didn’t have time. My dad’s health failed so quickly after my brother’s death. Then I was trying to fill his shoes at Halliday Inc. Amid all of that, my mother started threatening to hurt herself if I didn’t do exactly what she wanted. I was strung so tightly for so long, it never occurred to me that the pressure from the past might be a smoke show to keep me from taking a closer look at my mother’s nefarious intentions. If I was too busy running the company to question what was happening at home, she would benefit from my inattention. A prick of doubt jabbed into my churning thoughts as I wondered if my father’s sudden decline was as unpreventable as I always believed.
Rocco’s voice pulled me out of my dark thoughts. “I need some time to ask around. I want to check out the medical facility. Privacy laws will shield most of the staff, but I know how to get the information I want. I’ll try to keep things quiet but your mother has eyes and ears everywhere. If I kick over the hornets’ nest, the queen is going to attack.”
I let my head flop back so that I was staring sightlessly at the ceiling. It felt like icy cold fingertips were crawling up my spine. My stomach clenched. I worried I might throw up.
“Rocco, even if by some miracle Archie survived the fire, what does that have to do with someone sneaking around my house?”
The big man shrugged a meaty shoulder. “I can’t answer that. But Winnie is his daughter. If I was lucky enough to come back from the dead, the first thing I would want to do is see my loved ones.”
I barked out a hysterical laugh. I always felt like my life wasn’t real. I often imagined I was mechanically playing a role I’d been assigned from birth. Nothing was mine. I was just a placeholder until a real Halliday came along. These fresh revelations made me feel even more distant from the man I was supposed to be. My mother was cold and unfeeling. I’d been aware that nothing mattered to her more than the name Halliday and all that came with it. It shouldn’t come as a shock that the woman might be capable of murder. But the thought of her letting me grieve all these years was astounding. And Winnie. How could she ever justify depriving an emotionally delicate child from her parents? If Rocco’s conjecture had any truth to it, my mother was a monster.
“Now that we know Conrad isn’t being upfront with me, figure out how deep he’s in with my mother. Get an idea of how long he’s been selling me out. I need solid proof to confront him.” The man had too much access to me to let him go without leverage. “I always knew his refusal to cut off his family was going to be his downfall. All these years, they’ve never been happy with what he could provide. They always wanted more. That’s a weakness my mother couldn’t help but exploit. I’ll bang around the floors at the manor myself to keep any suspicion to a minimum. This is un-fucking-believable.”
Rocco nodded and quietly asked, “What are you going to do if Archie is alive?”
I could only shake my head. What was the proper reaction if a beloved family member came back from the dead? And how would I explain any of this to Winnie? My heart rampaged in protest when I imagined trying to tell Channing. For years, she’d had to live under the stigma of being the sister of the woman who ruined the youngest Halliday. She listened as her sister was blamed and defamed. She watched her family fall apart as the only piece of Willow that remained was forcibly ripped away from her. She always said she hated me, and I let it roll off my back. Now, she would have a legitimate reason. How could she care about the man whose mother murdered her sister? It was no different from having anything to do with the woman whose sister supposedly killed my brother. There didn’t appear to be a scenario where she and I made any sense together.
I sent Rocco off to bring me facts. I was searching around my desk, looking for painkillers, when an assistant called to let me know Channing was at the front desk and wanted to come up to my office. I informed everyone in the building to let her up if she made an appearance. Channing refused to accept special treatment and waited until she had permission to see me before stepping into the executive elevator.
I ran through everything I’d just learned before she opened the door. I wasn’t sure how much I should tell her since nothing was verified. I didn’t want to face off against her and my mother at the same time. I’d gotten used to having her on my side as my reluctant teammate. I was loath to lose her.
I decided I would tell her about the possibility that trapdoors were under the floors. She was hellbent on finding the secret passages. It felt like a reasonable compromise for the time being.
When she entered my office, it felt like the sun peeked out from behind the darkest rain clouds. Her short hair was ruffled from the wind, and she was dressed casually, as always. She didn’t fit in with the people working in this billion-dollar skyscraper.
Because of her, I now understood that neither did I.