Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath

Yvonne was getting a bit anxious.

She dreaded Ronald's silence because when he clammed up, it meant he was plotting something big.

"You know, I miss Star too," she said.

Hearing this stirred a wave of unexpected emotion within Stella.

Ronald snorted. "You were in cahoots with Skye, and now you claim you can't reach her?"

Yvonne replied, "I really don't know. She gave me a number, but now she's unreachable."

Yvonne was on the brink of losing it.

What on earth was Skye up to? It was bad enough if others couldn't get hold of her, but Yvonne was her boss, for crying out loud.

Skye had taken so much from her, and now, when Yvonne had instructions, Skye was nowhere to be found. What was she playing at?

"Hey, maybe you could have Idris intercept her or something? Umm... where is he?"

Yvonne asked the last question with a note of trepidation. For years, she had avoided speaking of him, and no one had dared to touch the scar on her heart.

In her mind, she had even accepted his death, holding a solemn vigil for him in the corners of her memory.

Yet, now Ronald was saying he'd seen him.

The long-buried emotions in Yvonne's heart seemed to spring to life, sudden and overwhelming, like a desert blooming after an unexpected rain. Ronald furrowed his brow, "This is your mess..."

"Come on, I'm your sister. Can you really bear to see me live like a widow forever?"

That had been Yvonne's plan. The person who mattered most to her was gone, and she had decided to live her life in mourning for him. Ronald's breath hitched.

words, didn't fully grasp the conversation between him and Yvonne, but she

down at her, meeting her wide, watery eyes, and instantly understood

phone, "You really can't get in touch

Believe me. I wouldn't

Yvonne meant

Yvonne wasn't the type to

and gently pinch her cheek, then spoke into the phone,

middle of a desert, two hundred miles from any

he

visited once but

impressed with

the

e there. Content besthe

not be him.

fell over the

Yvonne didn't respond, Ronald added, "Idris saw him. But he didn't

the man

go see

front of

didn't see him burned

Stella were left

who they

the man who had made Yvonne swap her

disappearing just when Yvonne had fallen

sighed. "I'll send a few people with you.

remote, had become a haven for all sorts

Yvonne replied, "No need."