The Million-Dollar Heart

Keith's voice dropped to a whisper, "No, I'm not leaving Rivenwood. With the officials and their hounds on my tail, I need a hideout in some secluded part of Rivenwood. Stock it with a month's worth of water and provisions."

"Let them loosen their grip on the borders, then you can sneak me out."

Brady hadn't expected this casual contact, who hadn't been activated for ages, to be so resourceful.

But now wasn't the time for nitpicking. He took a deep breath and said, "Fine, as long as you're not afraid of being caught by Vivienne and her crew. And remember, if you betray us, we, the Abernathys, won't spare anyone you care about!"

The next day.

Vivienne woke up from a good night's sleep unfazed by the news of Keith's escape.

She had anticipated this outcome, "Keith, always a thorn in our side since the Littleton debacle. Must be one of the Abernathys' moles in the force."

In the car, Anna raised her voice, "Ms. Vivienne, isn't it better that he's vanished?"

Leopold's incredulous voice came through the speaker, "Better? Anna, are you still half asleep?! How do we dig into the Abernathys without a lead?"

The front passenger seat pursed their lips in silence, turning away to massage their temples, not wanting to engage further with Leopold.

Vivienne, even from the backseat, could feel the frustration, "If Keith is off the grid, we can spin the story however we want. Whose side was he on? Use your head!" Leopold was stunned, "Really? But Vivienne, without solid evidence, won't we face complaints?"

"The Abernathys wouldn't dare," Percival couldn't stand Leopold's periodic brain fades.

Leopold finally got it, "So, we're hunting for a legitimate reason to raid the Abernathys. Percival, why didn't you just say so? What's with the riddles this early in the morning?" Pausing, Leopold added, "And don't we already have enough on them? Why go through all this trouble just for an excuse?"

He was lost at the complexity that seemed to thicken around Vivienne and Percival's plans.

matters turning unnecessarily

gave him a look

mimed locking his

they arrived

and Percival stepped out, followed by Anna, Leopold,

a slick

a jab at Vivienne but she

between shades of

had already taken his seat among the

too - Gavin,

scanned the room, her gaze pausing briefly before a smile played on

to Percival, "Looks

room, "Let's wait. Harrison is more useful to them than Gavin. They might drop Gavin, but not

a stoic face, "He

Vivienne raised an eyebrow.

"Got a tip. Someone's already en route to

smirked, "Wonder how much Gavin's willing to pay

"Vivienne, you've

Gavin had to die.

by their

would meet his end was a matter of whimsy. Vivienne's smile didn't waver as the judge entered and

presenting their cases. As the plaintiff, Jerry spoke first, "The Littleton incident a decade ago wasn't thoroughly investigated." "For ten years, my client has been gathering evidence." He handed documents to the judge, "These papers prove

specially flown in from

Upon hearing Jerry's accusations,

for Jerry to finish before finally speaking up: "I object! Your honor, this incident happened a decade ago. The original recipe was destroyed long ago; how can we verify