Xander wished he could just sew Shawn''s mouth shut.


    Honestly, the more he thought about it, the more he figured Shawn really needed to be sent off to hang out with Finley for a while-maybe then he''d learn to keep that big mouth of his in check.


    "It''s your sister-inw, Yvonne!" Xander said, trying to keep his patience.


    Shawn blinked. "What about Yvonne?"


    "She''s under a ton of stress after everything that''s happened. I think she needs to see a therapist."


    Shawn was quiet for a moment. Yvonne? See a therapist? In his experience, Yvonne was one of the toughest people he knew-mentally unbreakable, or so he''d thought.


    "Really? She needs therapy? Are you sure it''s that bad?"


    Xander sighed, exasperated. "She threw up! You tell me is that not serious?"


    Shawn''s breath caught. "Yeah, that''s pretty serious. Maybe she should talk to someone."


    If Yvonne was literally getting sick from stress, things were worse than he''d thought. Now even Shawn agreed a therapist was a must.


    "Alright, don''t worry. I''ll find the best therapist in town for her."


    Xander grunted his approval and hung up.


    Meanwhile, Yvonne was doubled over, retching so hard she felt like she might lose her liver.


    Xander handed her a bottle of water. "Look, now that we know Susanna''s with your brother, why are you still so stressed? Or-don''t tell me you''re feeling bad about going after Dan?"


    There was a definite chill in Xander''s tone whenever he mentioned Dan''s name.


    Yvonne snatched the bottle and smacked him on the arm. "What kind of nonsense is that?"


    Feeling bad about going after Dan? Seriously? That was rich, even for Xander.


    Xander just shrugged. "Then what are you so stressed about? You look like death warmed over."


    Yvonne red at him, but honestly-she didn''t have a good answer. Every time she got anxioustely, she felt nauseous. This whole mess was driving her insane.


    She unscrewed the cap and rinsed out her mouth. "Do me a favor-quit bringing up that kind of crap."


    Every time Xander tested her


    or Dan, it was like he waset


    pointing out again and again, just how foolish she''d been in the past.


    Looking back, her crush on Dan felt downright idiotic.


    Xander snorted. "So, can I dig in now?"


    "Go ahead. My brother probably kept all this from me because he was worried


    we''d react like this and slow Hull down."


    Now, they had to be even more ruthless than before.


    Let Ronald see for himself-his sister


    nothing like him. She


    didn''te


    all sentimental andre


    distracted by rtionships. >


    Well, at least if he was going to fall for someone, it was Star. Anyone else would''ve been a nightmare.


    After just a few words from e


    Xander went straight for ck Gate''s most critical


    resources doubling dawand sending more people than ever.


    Hull caught wind of the situation and jumped into action too.


    Now, ck Gate was truly under a storm cloud-so much so that every day, it felt like the whole ce was shaking apart.


    Every morning, people woke up to discover ck Gate had lost something else overnight.


    When Derek finally got the news, he lost it.


    "So they really used Susanna as bait!" he spat, grinding his teeth.


    Caden looked grim, staring at the floor. Things were officially out of control, and


    nobody really knew what to say anymore.


    "Did they find her?" Derek demanded.


    He meant Finch and Dan. Those two had been at each other''s throats for years- nobody ever dreamed they''d work together.


    But now...


    Caden shook his head, face like stone. "No. Nothing yet."


    Derek''s expression darkened. No word. No sign. Not finding Susanna was thest thing ck Gate needed right now.