A.N
This was supposed to be posted on Sunday but I've been poorly all weekend so sorry!
To the GUEST reviewer who left me a comment about how they're going to wait for me to finish this story before they read it as I have a habit of abandoning my stories and they are plenty of authors to support who actually finish their stories. WOW! 1. NONE of my stories are abandoned. 2. They're all WIP because they are. Just because I have started a new story doesn't mean I'm going to abandon ones I have already written, I currently have chapter in progress for all the stories. 3. I work two jobs making my days pretty much 12 hour working days 5 days a week. Sorry I don't update my stories as much as you would like but at the end of the day I'm fucking tired and just don't have the energy to be staring at a computer screen. 4. Go and support other authors! Why wouldn't I want that? There are some amazing authors on here! Go be supportive! We support each other! But please don't give me shit for having WIP stories that I will write WHEN I HAVE TIME. We are in a pandemic, my workload has tripled! Be a bit more considerate next time yeah? Or if it really bugs you, PM and POLIETLY talk to me like some of my loyal readers have. There was no need for that review.
If anyone else has any other problems then get in touch privately or keep it zipped. Thanks!
Anyway hope you like this next chapter!
Much Love
K xx
"Ana?"
Ana closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath before she turned to her father and smiled. "Yes dad?" She was hoping that he was already in bed but clearly, he had waited up for her. Again.
"Where have you been?" Ray asked looking to his daughter, the bags under his eyes clear from the lack of sleep he had had in recent days. He knew when she was out this late it was never good. "And where is Luke?" He asked looking around slightly for his eldest.
"Out." She replied with a shrug before sighing. "Luke is with Jack sorting out some stuff. He won't be that late." She offered him a small smile.
"Annie…"
"Dad. Please." She cut in looking to him. He always called her Annie when he wanted to get information out of her, even though it never worked so she didn't know why he kept playing the 'Annie' card! "You know what we have said about asking too many questions. Don't." She warned gently.
Ray sighed as he looked to her. "I worry about you. And your brother. Hell, and Jack."
"You don't need to worry we're all fine. Where is mom?" She asked trying to change the subject.
"She's gone down for the night. She's had a rough evening."
Ana frowned as she looked to her father. "Why? What happened?"
"A friend she was in school with had gotten in touch online and asked how the three of you were. A breakdown and two bottles of wine later she caved and went to bed." He briefly explained. "I tried to comfort her best I could…but she wanted to be alone for a while so I respected her wishes."
Ana's jaw tightened. "Fucking idiot." She mumbled to herself with a shake of her head.
"Anastasia." Ray scolded at his daughter's potty mouth.
Ana rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration. "I'm sorry dad but it wasn't exactly an unknown case. It was plastered all over the papers and media. Surely this 'friend' should have joined the dots and crossed the fucking t's. Hell, if she was a real friend to mom then she would have known." She shook her head. "I'll check in on her now before my shower." She told him heading to the stairs. "Don't wait for Luke dad. Just make yourself a hot drink and go to bed." She called down before making the rest of the way up the stairs. Heading down towards her mother's bedroom, she gently opened the door and looked over to her sleeping mother. She was on top of the covers, hugging the elephant teddy to her, still dressed in her clothes. Ana knew she had cried herself to sleep. Again. She could see her eyes were still puffy. Sighing to herself she headed over to the bed and gently sat down beside her and looked to her. "Oh mom." She whispered moving some hair out of her sleeping face. "I wish I could take away your pain. But don't worry. I've got his name now. I'm going to find him and I'm going to destroy him. Just like all the others like him. He'll pay for what he took from us. I'll make sure of it. I promise."
Getting up from the bed she then quietly headed out, closing the door behind her before she headed into her own room, closing the door behind her. Shrugging out of her jacket she then pulled her cell phone out of her purse and double checked if she had any messages before she tossed the phone on the bed and headed to her en-suite, throwing her hair up into a messy bun before stripping out of her clothes, leaving them on the floor in her way as she stepped into the shower when she was naked. Turning on the hot water she let the hot water flow over her body as she embraced the heat touching her skin. Standing under the water for a few minutes she then grabbed her sponge and body wash and began to wash herself down. When she was done, she turned the shower off and stepped out, grabbing her towel she wrapped it around her before heading back into her room. Drying herself off she then slipped into her pyjamas, grabbed her dirty clothes and tossed them in the laundry bin before climbing into bed. Grabbing her phone, she text her brother to see what was happening.
To: Luke
From: Ana
He still alive?
To: Ana
From: Luke
Yes. He's good I'll give him that. Strong. He can outrun Jack.
To: Luke
From: Ana
I can outrun Jack.
In heels.
To: Ana
From: Luke
Savage
To: Luke
From: Ana
Love you too. Hurry home. Mom's not had a good night and dad's asking questions again. I've steered him off for now but he wants to know where you are. You know he'll worry until you are home.
To: Ana
From: Luke
Ffs. Okay. I'll wait for Jack to start throwing up from all the running then I'll chuck this guy back to his place then head home. Mom okay now?
To: Luke
From: Ana
Yeah, she's asleep. I told dad to head to bed but he's worrying again. Come in to mine when you get in. I'm not going to bed anytime soon.
To: Ana
From: Luke
Research?
To: Luke
From: Ana
You know it. See you later x
Chucking her phone on the bed she then grabbed her iPad and began her research into a one Derek Hunt. She started off the basics. Going through all the social media platforms to see if she could find him. She could remember his face. It certainly wasn't going to be one she was going to be forgetting anytime soon. Hell, she hadn't forgotten and it's been sixteen years since she last saw him.
"Knock, knock." Came Luke's voice an hour later as he stepped into his sister's room and flopped onto the end of her bed.
Putting her iPad down she looked to him. "So. How did he do?"
"Got to say. I'm fucking impressed." He admitted looking to her. "He outran Jack the entire way through. Out benched him." He paused and smirked.
"What?" Ana asked seeing his smirk.
"I may have encouraged a little spar between them."
Ana raised an eyebrow. "And?"
"Uncle John might be on the phone in the morning." He chuckled. "Chris gave him a black eye and bust his lip."
"You're such a bad influence." Ana chuckled.
"Maybe so but Chris is…I haven't seen talent like him for a while."
"You call giving Jack a black eye talent?"
"No but he's fast. You can see he's thinking ahead. He's not just thinking of his next move he's thinking about the move after that. That's rare and not easy to do. He's going to be one hell of an asset to us."
"Do you have his background check?" Ana asked curiously.
Luke nodded. "In my office. Nothing flagged up. Parents died when he was ten. Bounced from foster home to foster home as a kid until he ran away then when he was sixteen. Few arrests but mainly for fighting or petty theft. Caught him checking out your ass earlier so just nipped that little nonsense in the bud before he got any ideas."
Ana couldn't help but roll her eyes. Always chasing the guys away. Though she had to admit to herself. Chris was hot. But she couldn't go there. He was now her employee. She wouldn't cross that line. Knowing she needed to change the topic of conversation she looked to her brother. "And what about Jay? Those two seem really close."
"They are. They were in foster care together. Not related but Jay took him under his wing in his final home. They're pretty much brother's and Adam said you could tell that by the way they worked together. Despite Chris running away, he always kept in touch with Jay. Jay keeps him out of trouble, I think. He holds a lot of anger; I presume it's embedded in him from his childhood. It's common but Jay…he has this effect on Chris. Keeps him check."
Ana raised an eyebrow. "Since when were you a shrink?"
Luke smirked. "I read people well." He chuckled before nodding to her iPad. "Found him yet?"
Ana shook her head and sighed. "Not yet. Who knew Derek Hunt was a fucking popular name?" She rolled her eyes. "I'm not giving up though. He's got to be on the web somewhere. He would have moved with the times. Might need Tom to search the dark web. See if his name pops up."
Luke sighed. "You shouldn't be using Tom. He's unstable. He could easily rat you out to the cops if he has an episode."
"He's fine as long as he's been taking his medication." Ana grumbled with a roll of her eyes. "Plus, he's family. He's not going to rat us out. Jack will make sure he's okay."
Luke looked at her. Tom and Jack were family, their cousins but with Tom's diagnosis of schizophrenia a couple of years ago, they tried not to get him involved like Jack was. It was too much of a risk.
Ana could see he was worried. "Don't worry." Ana told him looking to him. "I'll give it a couple of days. If I can't find anything then we will have to use Tom as a last resort."
Luke gave a slight nod. "Okay. But give it a couple of days. Really dig deep. Use Adam and Daniel to see if they can find some information on him."
"Did they report back about how Jay got on?" Ana then asked remember she had told him to go with them.
Luke nodded. "He's a solid guy. Naturally they made him dump the body. Lazy fucks." He rolled his eyes and sighed. "I don't know how long we can keep them."
Ana shrugged. "Then get rid of them." She simply told them. "You know how it goes. If it doesn't feel right then eliminate the problem. If they are a problem for you. Then get rid. Just make sure it's a proper clean up. No traces left behind."
Luke gave a nod. "I'll be keeping an eye on them that's for sure."
"Get Chris's perspective on them." Ana suggested to him. "They said Chris is mouthy. And he certainly didn't have any fears of airing himself in the car when you dropped me off. Get his vibe on the two. We know they're fucking idiots but let's see how Chris feel about them."
"He's a rookie."
"A rookie who has been around the block since he was a kid. He may be new to the team but he's not stupid. Same with Jay. They are assets. Use them to your advantage." She let a yawn pass her lips. "Now get out. I'm tired."
Luke chuckled as he got up. Kissing his sister's head, he then frowned. "How was mom?"
"Sleeping and hugging the elephant." Ana sighed as she looked to him. "Dad said she drank two bottles tonight. He's looking so…frail….he hasn't slept properly in days. The bags under his eyes are bigger than my handbags right now."
"When all this is over…he'll get better…" Luke promised with a soft smile.
"But will it ever be over?" Ana asked. "Look at what we are doing Luke…it's not going to end because we rid the world of Derek Hunt. We've got a taste of it now. It's going to be hard to give up."
"It'll be hard." Luke began as he tucked Ana in and moved her iPad to her side table. "But not impossible." He finished with a smile. "You're my baby sister, Ana. You really think I'm going to let you live this life forever?" He chuckled and shook his head. "Get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." Smiling he headed out of the bedroom, knocking off Ana's light he quietly closed her door before he then raised an eyebrow seeing his father stood there. "Dad…"
"Where have you been?" Raymond Steele asked his son in his no nonsense tone.
Luke sighed heading to his own room. "Dad. Don't do this. You know not to ask questions."
"Luke…all I do is worry. About both of you."
Stopping in his tracks, he turned and looked to his father. "You don't need to worry." He told him. "Dad…all you need to know is that Ana is safe and I'm looking after her." He promised her. "Everything is going to be alright but please do not ask any questions. The less you know the better."
"But…"
"No buts dad." Luke cut in. "Have you been in to see mom?"
Ray sighed and nodded. "She's fast asleep. The only time she looks at peace." He told him with a shake of his head. "I just wish I could take her pain away."
"I know." Luke whispered. "I wish I could take away both of your pains."
"I deal." Ray shrugged.
"You're still hurting though."
"It'll never stop hurting." Ray simply told him. "But I have you and I have your sister." He looked to him. "You just make sure it stays that way."
Luke nodded. "I will don't worry." He promised. "Now, please. Go and get some rest." He told him.
Ray sighed and nodded. "Okay. I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight, son."
"Goodnight dad. Sleep tight." He smiled to him before he went into his own room, closing the door behind he let a sigh before he got himself ready for bed. He could see his parents in pain every single day and it broke both his and Ana's hearts. All they wanted was to be able to take their pain away. It's what both he and Ana wanted. To just take all the pain away.
A.N
I don't know about you guys, but i love Ana and Luke as siblings!