The mother and son exchanged a look, each swallowing back the words on the tip of their tongues, and turned away in silence.
Once Derek was alone, he pinched the bridge of his nose, a headache throbbing behind his eyes as he tried to steady his pounding heart.
Finally, he picked up the phone and dialed a number.
It was answered almost immediately. "Sir?"
"Keep a close eye on Finch. And Dan, too. Search everyone around them, turn everything upside down if you have to."
Derek''s voice was sharp and cold.
He''d never really trusted Dan, and as for Finch... Well, right now, he trusted no
one.<fn0b76> Th? link to the orig?n of this information r?sts ?n Find1Novel</fn0b76>
All he wanted was to find Susanna and hand her over to Yvonne.
That damn girl-who would''ve guessed her connections would be so tangled? She''d put ck Gate right at the edge of ruin.
"Yes, sir."
Derek was about to hang up when he paused. "Wait. Check around Adelle, too. Quietly."
There was a beat of stunned silence on the other end, then, "Understood."
Derek had never doubted his beloved Adelle before, no matter what had happened or who he suspected over the years.
But now, even she wasn''t above suspicion.
Finch and Adelle stepped outside together, both with grim faces.
"You''ve got people watching Dan, right?" Adelle snapped.
She was still thinking about Yvonne''s hardline tactics from yesterday. It''d be best
to just find Susanna and hand her over to Yvonne as quickly as possible.
Let Yvonne take Susanna and get out of Litamark.
That woman was trouble-leave her here and ck Gate would have even bigger problems.
Finch, still fuming from the dressing down in the study, spat, "Why the hell are they ming us for taking that brat? Do they have any proof?"
Just the mention of Susanna made Finch''s blood boil.
She was nothing but an unwanted child, yet somehow the Quinn family, the Schultz family, even Mr. Miguel, were all ganging up on ck Gate over her. Anyone who didn''t know the story would think Susanna was some big-shot.
Adelle''s face darkened. "They''ve got no proof, but we still have to help find her." That was the worst part.
Let
Everyone knew there was no evidence they''d taken Susanna, but here they were forced to bend over backwards to prove their innocence s
Finch seemed ready to explode. "This is ridiculous."
After Xander made his move on Dan''s turf up at Pigeon Peak, Dan found himself in a tight spot.
He immediately sent people to keep tabs on Finch and Adelle—and even Derek.
He needed to figure out who really had Susanna.
ck Gate was in chaos now, just like Hull had warned: everyone suspicious, everyone turning on each other.
Derek had people watching Dan, Finch, Adelle.
Finch had people watching Dan.
Dan had people watching Finch, Derek, Adelle.
It was a paranoid free-for-all, all for one missing girl-Susanna.
And while they were busy tearing each other apart, Yvonne and Xander were
striking at ck Gate''s key assets.
Some of those assets? They belonged to Adelle, some to Finch.
People were being pushed to the breaking point.
After reviewing thetest hits Xander had made, Yvonne said, "This has
be enough to make them hand t over." s
She wasn''t kidding-Xander had gone for the jugr.
her
He just nodded. "It should do the trick. If they''ve got her, they''ll have to give her
up now."
Suddenly, Yvonne''s phone buzzed.
A local Litamark number shed on the screen. She nced at Xander. "Probably
someone from ck Gate."
"Answer it," he said.
Let''s see what they have to say.
Yvonne picked up. "Hello?"
"Ms. Quinn, it''s Adelle."
"Adelle. Look, if you hand Susaet
over to me now, I can be very reasonable. If you deliver her within the hour. I''ll return your Blue Ridge Estate to you." s
The Blue Ridge Estate one of Adelle''s most valuable properties.
Yvonne and her crew had done their homework, targeting only what really mattered.