Anne McGarrett

Chapter 9

The icepack wasn't a lot of help in fact it seemed to be making the pain in her ribs worse rather than better. After about 10 minutes she gave up and went to take it inside, but as she got up she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. When she took it out to see who it was from her heart dropped, it was from her boyfriend.

'You better have kept your mouth shut. You know what will happen if you breathe a word to anyone'

Before Anne had a chance to respond her phone pinged with another message from Kyle.

'You better not be ignoring me'

'Don't ignore me. If I have to find you to get an answer I will and if I need to do that I'll make sure you regret it'

Anne could feel herself starting to panic at the messages starting to come in from Kyle. She knew she couldn't tell him that her Brother knew, at least partly, what had happened. If she did that there was no telling what he would do, but it would be the same if she ignored him. She had done that once before and had wound up with a broken wrist. Fortunately Steve had been on a mission when the incident occurred so had been none the wiser as to what had happened. In the end she decided she would lie to Kyle and hope he didn't find out.

'I haven't said a word to anyone. I won't'

'Make sure you don't. You know what will happen if you do'

Anne didn't respond any further she didn't want to argue with Kyle. There wasn't any point it never went anywhere and always ended up with him threatening or hurling abuse at her.

When she walked back into the house she heard water running and assumed that Steve had gone for a shower. She felt guilty about dropping what had happened on him, although he hadn't really given her a choice. She just hoped he wouldn't ask too many more questions, at least not at the moment.

Anne settled herself on the couch and started looking through an old photo album that she found on a shelf. She smiled as she found old pictures of her family and her best friend. She didn't hear her Brother come into the room and jumped slightly when he spoke.

'Did the ice help?' he asked smiling at the fact he had startled his Sister

'Not really, but my ribs don't hurt too bad just now'

'Ok' he stated unconvinced 'Are you gonna be ok by yourself today?. We've just caught a case but I can let Danny run with it if you need me here'

Anne smiled sadly at her Brother. He must have been really concerned about her if he was considering not going into work 'I'll be ok. Listen, I uh just wanted to say thank you for yesterday and earlier. You didn't need to do any of that, I really did appreciate it' she said looking down not meeting Steve's gaze. He sat down beside her and she felt his fingers under her chin as he lifted her head up so she was looking at him.

'Any time, any where that you need me I'm there. I don't care how stupid you think it is or how scared you are of what might happen. You call me and I'm there. I promise you I will always protect you and if I can't I will make sure I find someone that can' Anne gave him a small smile and the siblings sat in silence for a few minutes before Steve had to head to work 'I love you. Call me if you need anything and I mean anything' Once he had received a nod from his Sister Steve headed out the door.