Liam turned, startled, as a middle-aged woman stormed toward him, her face twisted in fury. Mrs. Galghar. He barely had time to process her presence before he saw an egg flying at him. Liam easily dodged it with a backstep. The egg hit the gravel, spttering in an instant.

  "Mrs. Galghar?" Bonnie reized her, and so did the others.

  "You think you're some kind of hero, don't you?" Mrs. Galghar screeched as she hurled an, this time toward his forehead, which Liam again avoided quite easily with a slight move of his head.

  These didn't even make Liam use wraith abilities; his Numenorean bloodline was enough.

  "Mrs. Galghar, what are you doing?" Liam asked. He was fused too because the st he heard was that her son had gotten admission to a private school.

  "What's going on?!" she shrieked. "You started all of this! You ruined my son's life! If it weren't for you, he'd still be safe!"

  "Ma'am, please calm down. What are you talking about?" Chris stepped in.

  "Don't you 'calm dowhis boy—he got my son suspended! He made my son fess! And because of that fession, people went to jail! You think they wouldn't retaliate? Do you have any idea what you've done?" Mrs. Galghar said, her voice trembling now.

  "I didn't make your son do anything. He was selling drugs on school grounds. He made that choice, Mrs. Galghar," Liam said, but his brows were furrowed now.

  "You don't uand! Because of you, my son snitched to the police. And now... now a gang has taken him! They kidnapped my boy!"

  The words hit Liam like a punch. He hadn't heard anything about a kidnapping.

  "I didn't know..." Liam could only say that while his mind reeled back to the times when he had sneaked around and gathered evidence.

  "Of course, you didn't know! You don't care! You just had to py the hero, didn't you? Now my son's gone, and it's your fault!" Mrs. Galghar said, and this time she almost lu Liam. But before she could take that ugly step, the guards of the school came iween.

  The school didn't have guards, but after Liam got involved with Stark Industries and military tracts, the police department had provided one officer on duty around the school during school hours.

  "Liam, we should go," Bonnie said as she pced a hand on Liam's arm. Liam took o look as she gred at him while the police officer escorted her away. Liam didn't hate those kids per se. They were teenagers, and they didn't know better. Liam had caught them when they had just started the business for a month or so.

  Liam could see that the families of these kids weren't as funal as his, so some children would grow up in a crooked way. The teenagers needed a ki the ass, which they had received. But kidnapping wasn't something he had expected.

  As always have sequences. But this was not what he had aspired for. Even though this guy was not i, it didn't mean he deserved to be tortured. Liam khat he wasn't some kind of hero, but he was also not some kind of vilin who would kill ahat stepped out of their track.

  At night

  Liam opehe window of his room and slowly crept out. His footsteps couldn't be heard at all, like a cat ing to hunt its prey. Liam was now wearing his new pilot suit and the armor he had made. He didn't have any swords or bows on his back as he didn't o since he could get them instantly from the space box.

  Liam scaled the sides and rooftops of the building effortlessly. The wraith abilities granted him practical invisibility uhe soft moonlight, the arrays of streetlights, and the occasional cars. He reached a particur roof and, for a moment, sed the quiet streets below.

  This was the route he had taken months ago, stalking the drug peddler. He took out his Pulse Bde and threw it on the wall of the apartment. And as expected, there was nobody in the apartment. Before ing here, he had already taken izance of what was going on.

  The drug peddler was in jail, so his pce should be empty. And from the looks of it, the police were yet to know of this pce. Liam opehe half-opened window and sneaked inside quite easily. His eyes adjusted instantly to the dim interior as he sed for anything out of pce.

  Liam took out the Pulse Bde once more and threw it on the ground to get better sonar dete. He himself started to search for any clues that would help him get to the bottom of it.

  It didn't take long for Liam to see a small partment on the side of the room. It was on the floor, and Liam found a small t the side. He pulled out the lid, which then opened ay partment, as he had seen it on the sonar. He looked deeply into the small empty shelf and couldn't find anything that could lead to the person responsible.

  No papers, no ptop, no mobiles. Watg criminal shows made him think that criminals were dumb. Turned out not so much. Though Liam could smell a foul odor from the small partment, this was not a clue. It just reinforced that whoever lived here eddling drugs.

  He did so probably to safeguard himself if there was a warrant to check his pce. But then it struck Liam. If the drug peddler wao hide, he would hide drugs in such a pce where the police would find it difficult to trace. A dog could easily smell the drugs, so why would he keep drugs in such a pce where it would be easy for even the police to find them?

  He looked at the side of the partment, which was attached to the sidewall, and found sh marks on it. It was then that wisdom dawned upon Liam. He didn't need his Pulse Bde to realize that the wall on the side wasn't the same wall as the rest of the apartment. It was a false wall.

  Or rather, the sidewall could be taken out, and from there, one could access the other do.