The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

On the other side of town.

Leopold, with Adam in tow, strolled through the labyrinthine streets of Rivenwood's largest urban village.

Twisting alleys had Leopold nursing a headache. Without his trusty GPS, he half-expected Adam to lead him into an unfamiliar alleyway for a swift, unseen dispatch.

"When are we getting there?" Thomas surveyed the surrounding high-rises, nearly indistinguishable from one another.

Above, a tangle of clotheslines and electric wires-a fire trap if there ever was one.

And to think, someone working for the Abernathy family lived in such a place? Quite the understatement.

Adam led the way, occasionally glancing back to ensure Leopold and Thomas's group kept pace. "Just up ahead. This place, it's a maze. Looks like there are many ways through, but most are dead ends. Without a local guide, it's easy to get lost." Leopold noted, "I heard you guys have dorms. Why does Keith choose to live here?" A hint of frustration crossed Adam's face. "Who knows what goes through his mind? An orphan, yet he insists on living amidst this chaos. I've offered him a dorm room multiple times, but he always refuses, claiming he needs his freedom." "Talking about the intern salary not even hitting eight grand, in a place as pricey as Rivenwood, even these rundown flats cost a couple grand a month. Half his salary gone just on rent, not to mention commuting and living expenses. Barely saves anything by month's end." Adam had more to say about Keith. "And that kid keeps dreaming about getting married. With his spending habits, which girl would even consider?" Leopold and Thomas listened in silence.

Glancing back at their team, Leopold had his suspicions. Claiming to dislike restrictions was probably just an excuse for avoiding too close a contact with Abernathy family members in the dorms.

Their conversation meandered, extracting even Keith's police academy entry date.

As they neared the end of their chat, they finally arrived at the base of Keith's building. Rivenwood, well past midnight.

Only a few scattered lights were on; the rest of the building was shrouded in darkness, impossible to tell if anyone was home. Adam led them into the building, which had only recently been fitted with a new elevator.

Crammed into the elevator, they barely fit; had they not left two men at the entrance to keep watch, they'd have exceeded its weight limit.

Reaching Keith's floor, they faced a metal door covered in flyers, looking as if no one had lived there for ages.

Adam, under Leopold and Thomas's watchful eyes, raised his hand to knock but was stopped by Leopold. "Let's not spook anyone." Thomas, with his universal key, stepped forward. "I owe you one, huh? Dragged out in the middle of the night for Percival's task." His complaint was lighthearted, his hands deft.

The door creaked open.

Leopold, ready for anything, entered first. "See it as an opportunity to shine. Just stay behind me; wouldn't want Keith catching you off guard again." "In this darkness, who knows where he's hiding." Zzzap...

Before Thomas could finish, the sound of an electric current cut through, the room suddenly flooded with light.

Adam tensed, instinctively readying for a fight, then heard a click. The room lit up, revealing its emptiness.

Thomas, deadpan, turned to Adam. "Why didn't you just turn on the lights first?" Silence fell.

Adam, trying not to laugh, caught Leopold's embarrassed glance. For a moment, Leopold wished the earth would swallow him whole.

Coughing awkwardly, Leopold quickly shifted blto Thomas's hasty actions. "I brought you for backup, not trouble." Thomas, peering inside, retorted, "Does it look like anyone's here?" "How can there be no one... Keith must be here..." Mr. Sterling's confidence faded as he took in the room. No sign of Keith or any recent activity.

Adam inwardly cursed. Where the hell had Keith gone? The small apartment, barely a studio, left nowhere to hide. From the neatly made bed to the half-eaten snacks on the table, everything was in plain view.

Thomas clapped a rigid Leopold on the shoulder. "Let's head back. Tto issue that warrant, as Percival said." Adam, finally catching up, protested. "Isn't this too sudden?" Issuing a warrant for an intern could ruin Keith's career.

Thomas's reply was curt, dragging a dazed Leopold away. "Not sudden at all. Middle of the night, he's neither at the hospital with the sick criminal, at home, nor at the station.

Something's off." "He's probably out there, plotting his escape." As they left, Adam couldn't argue. Despite being part of the police force, there was no justifying Keith's absence.

They had arrived with a mission, and now, they left with more questions than answers.

Little did they know, just a stone's throw from the house, a shadowy figure emerged from the darkness after they had left.

Keith's dark eyes glinted alarmingly in the night as he clutched his phone, his voice deep and serious, "They're gone. When are your guys coming to getout of here?!" Brady's voice, deliberately disguised to be ambiguous, snapped, "You screw up something this simple and expect us to clean up your mess?!" Keith's face showed no sign of fear as he scoffed, "If you're so great, why didn't you do it yourself?" His pointed question caught Brady et off guard, leaving him with nothing to say but a huff, "At least Kipling took the poison. Now, unless the Sheldon family is still around or the Specter Healer comes out of hiding, even the Almighty couldn't save Kipling." Toward the end, Brady didn't forget to remind Keith to stay hidden.

No matter where he was, they couldn't let Vivienne and her crew catch him. "Don't even think about going back to your place. I'll arrange a new identity and a safe house for you. Tonight, we're getting you and your mother out of Rivenwood."