So, sorry it's been so long since I last updated. I've been super busy.

If I haven't said this yet, I do not own the Alex Cross series.

Enjoy chapter 5, peeps.

The rest of the morning went off as I expected it to. Jannie woke up, noticed that we had a guest in our house, and proceeded to have the following conversation with me:

Jannie: Dad, who's the girl in the guestroom?

Alex: Her name is Anette. She'll be staying with us for awhile.

J: Where did she come from?

A: I'm not really sure, and I don't want you asking her.

J: Why is she just sitting there, staring at the wallpaper? It's not even that cool.

A: I don't know, and I don't want you asking her.

J: Why not?

A: Just 'cause.

J: Just 'cause why?

A: Just 'cause, Jannie! Now got get some breakfast.

Needless to say, I knew it was going to be very difficult to keep Jannie from sending Anette into a nervous breakdown. Ali, however, was a different story entirely. I didn't even know he was up until I heard him talking.

"So you were sleeping on our porch, and you drank our milk?" I heard him say. I quickly rushed to the guestroom to stop him. I stopped, though, when I heard Anette talk.

"Yes, I did. Are you mad at me?"

"No," I heard Ali say. "I just wanted to make sure. But I am a little sad that I can't have any cereal."

"Well, I'm sorry," Anette replied.

"Hey, lady," Ali said, "What's your name? My name's Alex Jr., But you can call me Ali."

"I'm Anette. It's nice to meet you, Ali."

I smiled as Ali tried to say Anette's name. He couldn't seem to do it. Finally, he just said, "Can I just call you Annie?"

I heard a giggle come from the room. It took me a moment to realize that it was Anette. "You can call me that, if you wish," she said. I was shocked at how warm her voice sounded. "That's what my papa calls me, after all. Annie."

I hated to do it, but I entered the room. Anette was sitting on the bed, as was Ali. "Hey there, Ali," I said, picking him up. "Why didn't you tell me you were up?"

"'Cause I was distracted by Annie," he said innocently.

"Well, I hope you weren't bothering her," I said, giving Anette a slight smile.

She shook her head. "Oh, no, Mr. Cross, he wasn't bothering me at all. He's a good little boy, very sweet."

I have to admit, I was surprised. This was the most I had heard Anette talk all morning. And the fact that she was being all warm and friendly just shocked the hell out of me. I guess she and Ali just clicked. He seems to have that affect on people.

"Well, that's good," I said, putting Ali down, "but I'm afraid Ali needs to eat breakfast now."

"Ah, do I have to?" Ali asked, giving me Bambi eyes.

"Yes, you do," I said, laughing slightly. "Besides, Nana's making your favorite. Bacon and eggs."

"Yay!" Ali cheered, running for the door. He stopped, then turned back to face Anette. "I'll come back to talk later, okay? After breakfast."

Anette smiled. "Okay," she said. Ali smiled back, then ran out of the room to the kitchen.

The room went quiet for a moment. Then I said, "Well, you two seemed to be getting along nicely."

"He's cute," Anette said quietly.

I nodded. "That he is." Anette started to say something, then closed her mouth. "What is it?" I asked.

"Is nothing," she muttered quietly.

"No, really, Anette, what were you going to say?"

Anette hesitated, then said, "Where is his matka?"

I blinked. "I'm sorry, Anette, his what?"

She blushed slightly. "Sorry. I don't always realize when I'm not speaking English. His mother. Where is his mother?"

I sighed, as this question brought up painful memories. "I'm sorry," Anette said quietly. "I shouldn't have asked. So sorry."

Looking back at her, I said, "No, no, you're fine, Anette. It's okay to be curious."

"That's not what my papa says," Anette said, somewhat grudgingly. "He gets mad if I ask too many questions."

"Well, I promise you I won't," I said, hoping to reassure her. "Anyway, to answer your question, Ali's mom lives in Seattle, Washington."

"Why does she live there? Doesn't she love Ali?"

"His mother's…not well. She needs some time to think, sort things out."

Anette was quiet for a moment, then said, "You think I'm not well, true?"

I frowned slightly. "What would make you say that, Anette?"

She shook her head. "Never mind, Mr. Cross. Forget I said anything."

I looked at her, sighed, then nodded. "All right, Anette. I will." I gave her a slight smile, then headed towards the door. "Oh, and Anette," I said, turning back to face her.

"Yes, Mr. Cross?"

" Some friends of mine are coming over for dinner tonight. Just thought I'd let you know." I gave her this information with the hope that she wouldn't panic when Sampson and Billie came over. Instead I seemed to have caused it to happen sooner.

Anette began to breathe very fast, and her eyes were wide. "Fr…friends?" she stuttered. "Frie…friends?! Friends coming over. Friends coming over. Friends coming over!!!" This last bit she screamed.

Rushing over to her, I said, "Anette, what's wrong?"

"Don't want to. Don't want to. Don't want to! Oh, god, I don't want to!!" She started sobbing. "No more. I no do it no more. No more for friends. No more for friends. Don't…don't want to! I no gonna…no…no… Zastav to, aby bylo zastavit, Bože, aby to zastavit!!!" She broke down in to tears, tearing at her hair.

Now, of course, I had no idea why she was panicking, or what the hell she said in whatever language that was. But I did know that something was wrong, and that I had to help her. "Anette, tell me what's wrong," I said, calmly as I could, placing a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Just about the exact opposite happened.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed, quickly moving away from me, her eyes full of a fear I've never known. I stared at her a moment, an anger welling up in me so strong that I felt the need to break something. I wasn't mad at Anette though.

I stood up and quietly said, "Do you want me to leave, Anette?" She looked at me, tears in her eyes, and nodded. "All right," I said, walking towards the door. "Maybe you should rest for a while. You seem tired." She didn't answer me. Looking back at her, I saw it was because she had buried her face in her backpack, sobbing uncontrollably. I felt a lump form in my throat, and I left the room.

Walking into the kitchen, I saw four faces looking at me with concern. Obviously Anette's little episode had been heard by the whole block. "Alex…" Nana said, looking at me worried.

"Not…now, Nana," I said, trying to control my anger. I picked up a mug and tried to fill it with coffee, but failed as my hands were shaking too much.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Damon asked, a cautious tone to his voice.

I hesitated for a moment, then said, "I know what's wrong with Anette."

"What's wrong with Annie, daddy?" Ali asked, looking as though he might start crying as well. "Is she hurt?"

"No…Not exactly."

"Oh, for goodness sake, Alex. Just tell us what's wrong," Nana said sharply.

"I don't know if it's something I want the kids to hear."

"They'll find out eventually!" Nana barked. "So just tell us."

Staring into my coffee mug, I said slowly, "I don't know the specifics, who did it, how long they did, those sort of things, but I do know this: Annie's messed up for a reason." I looked at my family, and they could see the anger in my eyes. "Anette's been sexually abused. And by her behavior, I'd say a lot." Angry, I turned away from the others.

"Oh, Alex," Nana said, coming up and patting my shoulder. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," I said, remembering how she had screamed when I had touched her.

"Well, why don't you call a service or something?"

"Because I need more evidence that just what I have!" I snapped.

Nana stared at me a long moment. "No need to take it out on the rest of us, Alex," she said coolly.

I took a breath, then said, "I'm sorry, Nana. It's just…she won't talk to me. She won't tell me anything! All I said was that I had friends coming over, and she just panicked! I want to help her, but I can't when she won't let me."

"Alex," Nana said softly, "she may not want your help. For goodness sake, you just met her a few hours ago."

"I know," I said, still trying to calm down. "It just makes me mad that someone could do something to such an innocent girl and get away with it! It's not right!"

"That's just the way of the world, Alex," Nana said, giving me another pat on the shoulder before returning to the kitchen.

I knew she was right. I knew that life wasn't fair, and that it never would be. But that didn't mean I couldn't be mad. In fact, I wasn't mad, I was furious. As I stood there, hearing Anette's sobs echo down the hallway, I swore that I would find whoever was responsible for this. Because even though life wasn't fair, there was still justice. And finding the creep who had abused Annie and punishing him was the greatest form of justice I could think of.

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