He nced at Yvonne; she was lost in thought, too, digesting Ronald''sment.


    What had Hull done, right at the beginning?


    She mentally rewound-nothing. He''d had absolutely no reaction.


    Xander voiced it: "No reaction at all?"


    Ronald''s reply cut in, "Hull only started moving against ck Gate after you''d already begun your op. Does that look fast to you?"


    Yvonne was at a loss for words, so was Xander.


    It was obvious. Someone as sharp as Hull should have acted much sooner if Susanna''s disappearance was real.


    Susanna was his woman.


    If he truly believed she''d been taken by ck Gate, never mind what he''d do to those guys-Yvonne herself would''ve felt Hull''s wrath first.


    But what actually happened? Yvonne hadn''t received a single call from Hull. Not even a text. That was not how an angry man would react if his girlfriend had been abducted.


    Yvonne struggled to connect the dots. "Wait, but didn''t he help us fight ck Gate for their stuffter on? If Susanna was really with them, would he just stop at stealing their stuff?"


    Ronald''s silence and Xander''s pointed stare answered the question for her.


    For a moment, their eyes met: was it possible... were they really just that slow on the uptake?


    Yvonne refused to ept this. "...And what about you?" she shot at Ronald.


    “I didn''t know at first, either,” Ronald admitted, “I was guessing.”


    Yvonne''s mouth opened, then closed. Well, so much for ming Ronald-he was just better at guessing. Which apparently meant the rest of them were idiots.


    She sniffed, stinging from the rebuke. "Then, if you guessed, couldn''t you have given me a heads-up?"


    There was no response-Ronald had already hung up.


    That left her and Xander trading helpless looks. Yvonne scrunched up her face in frustration. "Are we really just stupid?"


    Now that Ronald had mentioned it, Hull''sck of rm at the start was undeniably strange.


    Xander was quick to distance himself: "Speak for yourself. I always thought maybe Susanna was with Hull. But then he went after ck Gate so hard, I started to doubt myself."


    Yvonne just groaned inwardly. What a fiasco. One blunder after another. “Maybe I really am a little slow."


    And if that was true... she really owed Dan a huge apology. She remembered Dan, frustrated and swearing up and down he hadn''t. taken Susanna. Has she believed him? No. She''d never once believed him.


    All that time, no matter what Dan said, she''d doubted every word. And now-well, here we are.


    That night, rage and regret tangled inside Yvonne until she broke down and demolished a mountain of hot wings-savagely, with both hands, and not a shred of guilt.


    She hadn''t eaten properly for days, always too nauseated and stressed. But with the truth finally out, she ate like she was devouring Ronald and Hull themselves. "Don''t go overboard," Xander warned, "Your stomach''s still not settled."


    Yvonne shot him a re, mouth full. “Don''t talk to me. I''m starving!”


    The past week had been a mess: everything she ate, she wanted to throw up; and with all that, she''d never felt full.


    Hearing herin about hunger reminded Xander about her recent sickness. He hesitated, then ventured, "Maybe you should see another therapist...?”


    At that, Yvonne''s expression


    darkened "Why? It''s not like I''ve got


    some psychological problem!" She glowered at him. "Ugh, you and Shawn! I don''t even want to start on you guys


    Just thinking about that disaster made her want to scream-Xander and Shawn had tried to help by sending a therapist, who turned out to be more messed up than she**


    was! What a joke.  S to''