"Bro, I wasn''t—"


    "Beep-beep-"


    Before Yvonne could even finish, Ronald had already hung up on her.


    Yvonne just stared nkly at her phone,pletely thrown.


    She nced over at Xander, who was sitting nearby, smoking.


    Xander looked up. "What did he say?"


    Yvonne frowned. “He said you''re an idiot, and that hanging out with you is making me stupid too."


    Xander just stared at her, his face darkening even more.


    Really, Ronald? After everything he''s pulled, now he''s calling them idiots?


    With the way Ronald schemed, even the brightest minds would have a hard time keeping up with him!


    Xander looked like he was about to explode.


    Yvonne hesitated. "So... it really was my brother who took her?"


    Xander shot her a look. "Did he deny it?"


    Yvonne shook her head.


    Xander shrugged. "There you go."


    If he didn''t even bother to deny it, then who else could have done it?


    "But he called us idiots!" Yvonne protested. "Isn''t he mad because we got it wrong?"


    Her brain felt like it was about to short-circuit. Everything had been such a messtely, she could practically feel her mental hard-drive melting.


    Xander just shook his head. "She''s definitely with him."


    Yvonne pressed, "How are you so sure?"


    She needed something concrete, something to convince herself. After all, if Ronald had really taken someone, wouldn''t he at least tell his own sister?


    Xander leaned back, taking another drag of his cigarette. "Because your other sister-Ste? She''s suddenly not worried anymore."


    Yvonne stared. "Wait... she''s not worried?"


    A memory shed through her mind: Ste, telling her not to freak out, promising Susanna would be fine.


    That... wasn''t right. When Susanna first went missing, Ste would burst into tears every time she called.


    Now, all of a sudden, she was calm? Evenforting Yvonne?


    Yvonne blinked, putting the pieces together, then looked at Xander with wide, blinking eyes.


    Xander gave her a knowing smile. "Figured it out, huh?"


    Yvonne''s mouth twitched. "But... why wouldn''t she tell me?"


    Seriously, Ste! Yvonne always spoiled her, and now Ste was treating her like a clueless puppy?


    Yvonne just sat there, stunned, feeling the storm brewing inside.


    Xander reached out and yfully her cheek, his eyes


    pinct yed us all like 7 "Pretty funny, right


    with a smile. Ronald j


    He tried to sound light, but there was more than a little frustration in his voice.


    Yvonne just gaped. “yed us...?"


    Hearing that, she was honestly at a loss for words.


    Could someone please exin what the hell just happened?


    She''d been running herself ragged for days, desperate to find


    Susanna she''d even threat


    to.


    tear ck Gate apart brick by brick.


    And, to be fair, ck Gate had definitely seen better days after her rampage.<fn601c> Chapters first released on FindN0vel</fn601c>


    But now she finds out Susanna was never even there?


    Fine. Not in ck Gate. Whatever. But how the hell could she have ended up with her own brother?


    She''d been so stressed she''d practically made herself sick, and all this time... Susanna was with Ronald?


    Yvonne just... shut down.


    "How did this even happen? Why


    him? Why is it always him? How did he end up being the one to kidna


    her


    She was officially losing it.


    She''d suspected everyone-ck Gate, Dan, Derek.


    Tap


    Even Adelle, Finch, and those weird twins with the matching bowl cuts...


    She''d put every single person at ck Gate under a microscope!