Excerpt: The MH Endings - Monteford House and Mark Huntley

Outside, a decent wind had picked up, and at first Steve was afraid that it had the power to knock the seemingly frail old man over. Not that Hal the aide, who had insisted on accompanying them over to the Capitol, would have let that happen, but still. Bruce and Steve walked on either side of Monteford, letting Hal trail them.
“Hey, Congressman, gotta ask,” said Bruce, making Steve wince. Clearly Monteford had known the designer for a long time, though, for he looked over with a more or less indulgent expression. “Aren’t you the least bit curious why we want to show Callenheim these pictures?”
Monteford raised his cumulus brows. “The less I know, the better. Especially if this involves my daughter.”
Perhaps this mode of enforced incuriosity had served the Congressman well through his many years as a public servant. Still, Steve shared Bruce’s puzzlement—he would have thought that pictures as strange as the ones they toted would have prompted some probing questions from just about anyone. “Well, we appreciate your helping us out on faith, sir,” Steve put in.
This caused the old man to snort laughter in a way that could have been interpreted as a choking sound, judging from the speed with which Hal nudged Bruce aside and pulled up alongside the Congressman. Once Hal had ascertained that nothing was amiss, he gave them a little distance again, though this time he walked in a line with them.
“Faith’s not the word for it,” said Monteford. “Mostly I just don’t want any part of those doors and whatever non-tax-paying, non-voting realms might be behind them. They’re Sasha’s obsession, not mine, and I leave the consequences of that obsession to her. Understand, son?”
“Uh—of course,” Steve sputtered. He saw Bruce’s eyes popping out too. They’d just assumed that Sasha had kept her father in the dark about the other worlds. Otherwise, given the kind of person he was, wouldn’t the old man have wanted a piece of whatever treasures and glory could be gained beyond the X-doors? Apparently in this instance, fear outweighed greed. Maybe that was the right way to go about it, he thought. Much safer, after all.