The Watcher

My anger, still hot from the stranger in the hallway and Ben’s easy denials, swung toward her like a compass finding north.

“You’ve been very helpful,” I said, the words sharp. “Checking doors. Hiding things. Knowing the house better than I do after only a few days. Or however long you’ve supposedly been coming here.”

Moira paused, duster still against the wood. Her expression stayed mild, but something older flickered behind her eyes.

“I’m only doing the job I was hired for, Mrs. Harmon.”

“Are you?” I stepped closer. The residual stretch from the black toy upstairs and the bruise Constance had left on my breast made every movement feel charged. “Because from where I’m standing it looks like you appeared out of nowhere, my husband acts like you’ve always belonged, and now a boy I don’t know is upstairs with my daughter while you offer to ‘keep an eye’ on the doors. What else are you managing in this house that I haven’t been told about?”

Her mouth curved in the smallest, most careful smile. “Nothing that isn’t already yours.”

The words landed with deliberate weight. Before I could answer, a firm knock sounded at the front door.

Three sharp raps.

The sound cracked through the room and my temper with it. I spun toward the entryway, heat flooding my face.

“Of course,” I muttered. “Of course someone else just walks up to this house like they own it.”

I crossed the living room in four strides and yanked the door open hard enough that it banged against the stopper.

Constance Langdon stood on the porch in a deep green dress, pearls at her throat, a small paper bag in one hand and that same knowing half-smile already in place. She took in my expression, the tension still radiating off me, and her eyes brightened with something like satisfaction.

“Bad time, darlin’?” she asked lightly. “You look ready to breathe fire. I brought fresh sage. Thought the last bundle might have burned down by now.”

Behind me I felt Moira go very still.

I stared at Constance, anger still thrumming under my skin, and realized the day was only getting started.