Dan had just gotten off the phone with Xander, still seething with anger, when he heard cktower was calling for him.


    He spat out two words, annoyed: "Not going!"


    Carroll, ever the eager assistant, chimed in, "Want me to tell them that?"


    "Wait..."


    "What now?"


    Dan sighed, "Get the car ready."


    Honestly, he hadn''t been in a rush about this whole Susanna thing. He figured Yvonne and Xander could handle it themselves and ask around if they needed help.


    But this woman—she was like a rabid dog,shing out at everyone when she couldn''t find her target.


    Now, thanks to her, he had to get involved in the wild goose chase too.


    Just thinking about it made Dan''s blood boil.


    Meanwhile, on Xander''s side of town-


    Yvonne mmed back a ss of milk in one gulp, fuming. "Still not tough enough, huh?"


    She''d been repeating that line sincest night.


    She was convinced ck Gate wouldn''t give up Susanna because they hadn''t hit them hard enough yet.


    It was like they hadn''t suffered losses big enough-nothingpared to what Lacey took from them back in the day.


    So, they''d rather take the hit than hand someone over!


    Xander just looked at her, deep in thought, but said nothing.


    Yvonne raked a hand through her hair. "Jeez, I''ve nevere up against someone this stubborn!"


    Even after everything they''d done, they still hadn''t gotten what they wanted. First time for everything, she supposed.


    "If we don''t find Susanna soon, Star''s gonna be heartbroken. She wasforting me on the phonest night, can you believe that?"


    Mentioning Ste made Yvonne feel a pang of guilt.


    She felt like she''d let her little sister down-especially knowing how much Susanna had looked out for Ste during all those years in Portis City.


    Xander raised a brow. "She wasforting you?"


    "Yeah! She told me not to worry, even though I could tell she was really anxious herself Still, she put On a brave face for me. How can


    someone be so sweet?"  s


    Yvonne''s voice wavered with emotion.


    Xander''s eyes darkened, something unreadable passing through. "Sheforted you?"


    "Hey, what''s that supposed to mean? My sister''s not some bratty diva like Regina!" Yvonne huffed.


    Regina''s reputation for being high-maintenance was infamous back in Ferrond.


    Xander just shook his head.


    Was this really about being bratty?


    He remembered how frantic Ste


    had been when Susanna went


    missing. Now she wasforting. Yvonne instead... Content Belongs to s


    Something about it just didn''t add up.


    Given how close Ste and Susanna were, there was no way she''d be so calm unless something else was going on.


    Yvonne barreled on, "I don''t care, just go after anything else you''ve got your eye on-take it!"


    Dammit, the Quinn family never used to be like this. Now they were basically raiding ck Gate.


    Xander gave Yvonne a long, thoughtful look that made her squirm.


    "What''s with that look?"


    "Nothing," he replied, "just wondering if Susanna''s really in ck—"


    "Let''s just hope she''s alive!" Yvonne cut him off, voice tight.


    Xander paused, turning that thought over in his mind.


    Alive or not...?


    He closed his eyes, sifting through every reaction since Susanna disappeared. Hull, Ste, Yvonne... everyone''s behavior had seemed normal.


    But as he lingered on the words "sheforted me," Xander''s eyes snapped open, fixing on Yvonne.


    Yvonne kept rambling, insisting they needed to push ck Gate even harder.


    Her wild spection eventuallynded on Adelle.


    She was convinced Adelle was the most likely culprit—after all, Lacey and Adelle had fought over the same Lacey had a offit,


    man years ago cources from


    d she''d taken i


    ck Gate when she left.


    belongs to s


    With all that history, Adelle would definitely be worried about Lacey and Derek


    rekindling their old me.<fn14e5> Chapters first released on find?novel</fn14e5>