From Outback Predator to Texas Queen

shouting numbers, their fa

y tho

a whole weekend wit

e shrill. "Look at her, Matthew! She used to be so

he deserves. Her mother thought she wa

her voice trembling but clear. "Matthew, please. I helped your family

hat over our heads for years. This isn't cruelty, Maria.

ity into a weapon against her. He was justifying this

d, her blonde hair falling over her face. I saw she was wearing a bracelet, one I had given her before I

ace etched with lines of stress I had never seen before.

out for marrying my father, a weak man who had now abandoned her comp

nt a full report. Now. How did t

the screen. He didn't need to speak. The inform

years. The isolation in the Out

d been different. My uncle' s "accident" had b

ompound had ceased. That' s why I h

ed her head. She looke

t married," she whisper

to marry the daughter of a washed-up social

r. A few drunken men near my

e mother too!" one of them

. The new boss, whoever he is, doesn't like messes." He had

voice low and menacing. "Get on you

med, "No, M

hadn't seen in years lit up in her eyes.

she said, her voice ring