The Million-Dollar Heart

Soren was steaming mad. He had not slept a wink all night due to the excitement, and now his face was flushed red, a sure sign he was ready to throw down if pushed any further. Leopold pulled Soren aside. "Dude, can you keep it down? Do you really want the director to overhear your grumbling? Are you out of your mind, ticking off the brass?"

"You're one to talk, driving around Percival like a chauffeur. Mind your own business and scram!" Soren shoved Leopold away. "No, I've got to have it out with him and find out where the hell he came from." Before the words had fully left his mouth, the office door swung open, and there stood Anna, frowning. "No need for questions, the... the director is here."

Vance strolled in, hands clasped behind his back, a smile playing on his lips as he regarded Soren. "Soren, together with Deputy Director Percival, one of the talented recruits who entered the Vanguard Agency in the same batch. You led your team to second place in the final test, and now you're the captain of Special Squad Three. You also earned a commendation a while back."

Soren, taken aback by how well Vance knew him, could hardly muster a word in response to that sly grin.

Percival stood up and said, "Both of you, out. And close the door behind you."

"Hold on a minute." Vance pulled out his phone and showed the screen to Soren after a few seconds. "I flew here, first class, but don't worry, I won't be filing an expense report."

Leopold quickly tried to lighten the mood. "Boss, you're too generous. Maybe this means us grunts will get a better meal now and then?"

Vance chuckled. "How about I ensure your work meals follow The Sterling Group's cafeteria menu? Wouldn't we want Mr. Sterling to go to the trouble of sending over his recipes daily?" "Please, no, our cafeteria is way too greasy as it is. We're good, really. No need to go to any trouble on our account, Boss," Leopold said, ushering Soren out the door.

Scary man, that Vance. A smiling tiger, no doubt. He had only been around half an hour and had everyone pegged.

With a smiling tiger as the boss and a cold-faced wolf as his deputy, how on earth were they going to survive?

Once outside, Leopold shut the door, dragging Soren with one hand and Anna with the other.

"You were supposed to keep watch, not let them in!" Leopold reprimanded Anna.

Anna sighed heavily, rolling her eyes at Soren, explaining to Leopold, "His shouting drowned out my secret knock. Anyone could have heard him. Even a passing dog would have been turned off by the bad vibes, and you blame me?"

about this in private? Now

"Squad Three, assemble. Three miles weighted

Soren stalked off,

air of authority Vance emitted was on

No easy adversary.

her,

over her shoulder, "I'm in his

else was there to

the Deputy Director's orders: run three

Talk about bad vibes.

the best food. How about we follow their menu for a change, Director?" Vance settled into a chair and gestured for Percival to sit on the sofa beside him. "Let's

down and asked, "What did you need

deliver a personnel appointment. It's from ten years back, but I am indeed the director. The

his word, Vance produced an official

document, accessible only with the proper biometric verification from the person in question and the

been chasing for a while. To take them down, I went undercover. It turned out to be a ten-year mission, knocking out one crime syndicate after another. I moved up the

a brief

I thought I'd make an appearance, steal your thunder a bit. Sorry

nodded. "Right. I have to head back to The Edwards Group's Rivenwood branch for a meeting. To cut a long story short, I'm reshuffling the personnel at headquarters. I'm recommending Thomas for the role of Chief Commander, and I want to integrate the second squad into the first and third. I'm proposing a swap between

was looking to decentralize Leopold's