The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Actually, Victoria was slumped in the back seat, her head down, furiously tapping away at her phone: "I told you, bringing Sophie along was a surefire way to botch things up. Told you so."

Vivienne, who seemed to have some spare time on her hands lately, responded quickly: "Without Sophie, the plan was doomed from the start."

"Don't think for a second that I don't know what you're up to."

Victoria let out an almost imperceptible hiss, thinking to herself that Vivienne was even better at mind games than she was, and she was an Abernathy.

Shaking her head, she started furiously typing a defense: "Well, it's not like I had a choice, did I? You can't expect me to blow my cover in front of Harrison now, can you? Sophie was the only smokescreen we had, or else, we wouldn't have been able to make our getaway so early."

Vivienne replied, "Mind your words. Anyway, I've got another task for you."

"You're not seriously expecting me to nab Harrison's latest research, are you?" Victoria's grip on her phone tightened as she sneakily glanced at Harrison.

The man was seated in the front, absorbed in something on his own device.

Noticing her gaze, he looked up, and the moment their eyes met, a surge of irritation flooded Victoria.

She glared at him before dropping her gaze back to her phone to continue typing: "That's a no-go. Harrison's as cunning as a fox. He's only off his game because you've been pushing him too hard. I'd rather have a hundred arguments with Gavin than deal with him."

Vivienne's text came through, tinged with an evident sense of amusement at Victoria's wariness towards Harrison.

But she wasn't actually expecting Victoria to undertake that mission: "You don't have to. Your task for the next few days is to protect Gavin."

Victoria stared at her phone in disbelief for a solid ten minutes, half-convinced she had somehow time-traveled.

reading this right? Is my vision

rubbed her eyes and looked again. No,

was Vivienne thinking? Had she been

a moment, she regained her composure and typed a rapid response: "Are you okay? Are you still Vivienne?

"...Are you

cousin-in-law. If you've been body-snatched, I, as a humanitarian, owe it to her to arrange a

are you or

Vivienne: "...I'm not!"

why on earth would you want me to protect Gavin? And with my limited skills, I should be the one under

Victoria: "..."

That night.

inkiness shrouded the night sky, leaving only a few night-shift officers half-asleep, while most

silence in the precinct's holding

tossing and turning in his cell, unable to find sleep amid the noise from nearby

bail him out, there had been no word. His wife's pleas to Madeline had only been met with promises to "do her best." Restlessness turned into acute pain as Kipling curled up, clutching his stomach in agony,

were drowned out by the snoring, sweat beading on his forehead as panic set in, "Anyone?! Help me! I've been

attention of a neighboring inmate, irritated by the disturbance, "What's with all the noise? Want me to shut you up for

was beyond anger. Realizing someone was finally listening, he rolled off the bed and dragged himself to the bars, "Mate, please, I need help. It's my stomach... it's really bad." His pleas, growing fainter, sounded almost ghostly in the quiet

alarmed, banged on

cell

door, he yelled, "Officers! We

"What's all the racket?!"

This isn't death row. How's