The Million-Dollar Heart

"Damn it!"

Leopold was floored for a solid half-hour when he saw the personnel appointment circulate with the new appointments.

Just the other day, he was consoling Soren, warning him to watch his back with the new Director sniffing around for scapegoats. And now, it turned out he was the one who would be dancing to the Director's tune!

The joke was on him, and he was the last to know.

Anna clapped Leopold on the shoulder, a look of sympathy in her eyes. "Captain, looks like I'll be counting on you from here on out."

Soren walked over, tucking the insignia of the third squad into his desk drawer, but his words were for Anna. "Don't jump the gun calling him 'Captain' just yet. We're all drawing lots again to decide who ends up in which team."

Anna blinked in disbelief. She could not fathom landing in Soren's team in this fifty-fifty toss-up!

The whole organization was reshuffling. Anna pulled her lot. When she saw the number "1" glaring back at her, it felt like the sky was crashing down.

Soren glanced over and patted Anna on the shoulder, "Anna, looks like I'll be counting on you from here on out."

"Counting on my foot! More like a curse!" Anna screamed inside.

She raked her fingers through her hair, her real worry was not about who would be the captain.

It was whether she would still be tasked with her original assignment amid this grand reshuffle at the Vanguard Agency.

As it turned out, Anna's concerns were not unfounded.

"Effective immediately, Squad One is on lockdown. All assignments are on hold, and no one leaves without authorization," Vance announced at the morning briefing.

As a member of Squad One, Anna was naturally confined within the Vanguard Agency, ready for orders.

meeting, Percival

the new

with such a grandiose reshuffling

under Vance's direct command, supposedly because the

up, "Percival, this reshuffle is one thing, but having Squad One report directly to the Director? Doesn't that seem off to you?" Percival leaned back. "Has the Director sought you

he? To

stripped of authority so abruptly would

Vanguard Agency to follow Percival. However, there was no way he would not be frustrated

and the Ellington families had been allies for generations. This seemed like a blatant attempt to undermine Percival, maybe even to sideline

out soon enough," Percival said, offering no

the day before. Without the details, Percival could say no

Squad One answering directly to the Director, isn't that a power grab? When the special squad was formed, it

to dilute Percival's power and render him a

day one,

phone rang with the distinct ringtone of the

silence and picked up the

office. I've got a

Percival straightened his suit before

Percival

over two invitations embossed with the Brooks family crest. "My wife would like you and Ms. Hawthorn to join us for dinner tonight. She tried calling Ms. Hawthorn but couldn't get through, so she asked me to deliver

This surprised Percival.

for a family dinner. The formality was ostensibly to celebrate Vance's

to the Brooks and the Edwards families, he was just a man doing business abroad. His

the myriad of events that had befallen them. They hoped to ride the wave of good fortune to attract more business opportunities. The dinner would

implications for the Brooks family and Vivienne, Percival did not commit immediately but did not decline either. He

legendary niece who's got our Deputy so obsessed," Vance said, his tone carrying

a token smile