The Million-Dollar Heart

Patrick was floored by the girl before him, his words catching in his throat as he fell silent.

Quincy did not bother with further conversation. Grabbing her press pass from the table, she stood up and left.

Patrick tugged at his tie, exhaling a long breath of relief.

Dealing with the devil always comes at a price, he mused.

After leaving Patrick's press conference, Quincy took a shortcut and emerged transformed, her professional aura all but gone.

Dressed in a tank top with overalls and sporting a baseball cap, she slung a canvas bag over her shoulder, the picture of a college student.

She waited at the crossroads until a nondescript black Volkswagen pulled up.

"Are you my Uber?" Quincy asked.

The driver poked his head out, sunglasses masking his eyes. "Yeah, hop in, sweetheart."

Quincy smiled and opened the door. Soon, the Volkswagen blended into the stream of city traffic.

"Captain Wolf, can't you guys get me a better ride next time? This one just doesn't suit my style," Leopold grumbled from the driver's seat, resting one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the door. Percival, seated in the passenger seat, turned his head slightly, disregarding Husky's complaints.

In the backseat, Quincy tipped her cap to greet Vivienne. "Long time no see."

"You've gotten taller." Vivienne smiled back.

They skipped the small talk, diving straight into the heart of the matter.

"Ever since the operation to take down Mark ended, I've been out of the loop, just lying low in Rivenwood. After the lab was blown up by someone named Willa, I got zero instructions. It was not until yesterday that I was suddenly told to come to Sea City and give Patrick his next assignment."

"Have you

is that the boss goes by F-Poison. The orders come through online messages. I've tried tracking him, but there's nothing to trace." Quincy pulled out her phone and showed a forum

trace the source on her laptop but

up since our mentor's days. We can't track it with what we've got," Percival said, looking

years, GTO had upped their game. Plus, the original backdoor was locked away at Vanguard Agency headquarters, probably already compromised by the

internal network was a pipe dream

by the thought of

"As for the bomb on the ship, I was out of the loop. That

"Another team?"

was captured, I thought F-Poison would activate us, the underlings, but it never happened, and the operations kept running smoothly. This leads me to believe Mr. B was not the real second-in-command or that others at her level are still out

you're saying F-Poison has more than one so-called second-in-command like Belle?"

in Sea City. I've yet to figure out who that is," Quincy said, which

not been for this trip to Sea City and the discovery of the bionic

second-in-command after all; she was just

who was in charge

was F-Poison

all I know for now. I'll let you know if

parked the car,

to the back seat. "What's the plan

under the Ashford family's factory.

probably fall to Patrick soon. Once a person gets too big for

knowing smiles,

to take over the Boyd Group. "Where the hell is the contract with the Ashford family? Speak up, you decrepit old fool!" Teresa slammed her hand on the