As soon as Dan walked in, Finch''s eyes were zing with anger.


    But with Derek''s imposing presence looming over the room, Finch managed to bite his tongue and stay quiet-at least for the moment.


    Dan sauntered over to the desk, looking asid-back as ever, pulled out a chair, and flopped down. Not an ounce of worry on his face he didn''t look like someone who''d just suffered a major loss.


    Watching Dan act so nonchnt, Finch was all but convinced Susanna was in his hands.


    "Dad," Finch finally ground out, shooting a sharp look at Derek.


    Finch had spent the better part of thest hour badmouthing Dan to their father before Dan even showed up. After all, he and his mother had lost the most in this whole mess-especially his mother''s assets.


    Meanwhile, Dan''s only real loss was Pine Ridge, which Xander had seized, but other than that, he seemed to being out of this pretty much unscathed. Finch and his mom, though? This whole thing was driving them insane.


    In the current state of ck Gate, it seemed like whoever lost the least had the highest chance of having Susanna.


    Derek raised a hand, shutting Finch up before he could keep ranting.


    He turned to Dan, eyes narrowing, voice cold and sharp.


    Dan just shrugged, "If you called me here to hear the same old crap about


    handing over Susanna, don''t waste my time. She''s not with me."


    Before Derek could say a word, Finch burst out, "Who else could it be? You''re the one who brought that woman back-she slipped out from under your control, didn''t she? So now you''re after that brat to threaten her!"


    By "that woman," he meant Lacey. The "brat"? Susanna.


    Dan shot Derek a sideways grin, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Brat, huh? That''s rich."


    He turned to Finch with a look that sent a chill down the guy''s spine.


    Finch''s chest tightened under Dan''s gaze. "You-"


    "Enough," Derek snapped, his patience gone, cutting Finch off mid-sentence. Finch tried again. "Dad! Dan''s barely lost anything-just Pine Ridge, that''s it!"


    Dan smirked, "You lost more, so doesn''t that make you and your mom the prime suspects for taking Susanna?"


    Finch bristled. "You-"


    "Otherwise, why do you think everyone''s beening after you two so hard?" Dan shot back.


    Over thest twenty-four hours, Finch and Adelle had practically been plucked clean. Sure, th the whole


    bay family was feeling the heat,


    but those two had it the worst by far.  s


    Derek''s head was pounding from all the shouting kle mmed his fist on the desk, making everything rattle. "Enough! Both of you, zip i belongs to s>


    He''d called them in to solve problems, not to give him a migraine.


    The room finally went quiet, though Finch red daggers at Dan-if looks could kill, Dan would''ve been toast.


    Derek rubbed his temples, sighing, "Odds are, Susanna isn''t even in the Murray family''s hands right now."


    Finch protested, "Dad-!"


    "I said enough!" Derek shot Finch a warning re.


    Dan raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"


    Derek leaned forward, voice grave. "She''s not with any of us. We don''t even know which group has her Whatever beef you two have, put it asipe: Focus on finding her that''s all that matters now."


    100


    belongs to s


    Finch exploded, "Why should we? We don''t have the brat, so why are we the


    ones getting hunted down?"<fn15da> This update is avable on find~novel</fn15da>


    He was fuming. They never had her-yet Xander, Hull, even the Quinn family, were all on their backs, tearing them apart.