Chapter 1

1

Chad Fields was a man on a mission.

A determined man.

One who would not fail.

He was going to get Genesis Hiller. It was as simple as that. One way or the other.

She was his prey.

She had the information he was looking for.

His baby sister was missing. Chad was using every skill he had gained through his years working in medicine to not let the panic show. Chantal had been walking from his parents’ ranch to this one and had disappeared between them. And then the text had come. The threats. Someone had taken his sister to get back at their older brother Charlie—a cop. No one knew where she was now. But Charlie and his team were looking for her.

He adored Chantal. She’d been his shadow for most of her childhood. Until he had left for college when she was just ten. They had grown apart then—but it didn’t change the fact that she was one of the two women in the world he loved more than anyone else.

Chantal and his mother.

His mother was quietly freaking—something the fiery Jane Fields was not known to do. He didn’t know how to make it right. For any of them.

Instead, they just sat where they were in the Hillers’ damned living room. Waiting.

Except… for Genesis Hiller.

His sister’s friend. She was still dressed in the same pale pink scrubs she’d worn that day in the Barratt County Gen ED, and she was more agitated than he had ever seen her. Which was saying a lot.

Genesis was dramatic. Passionate.

About everything.

Now she was just terrified.

Well, so was he. But… she was hiding something. He was sure of it. Chad knew the little witch was holding something back. And they didn’t have time for that.

He waited until she wasn’t surrounded by her brothers.

That’s when he struck.

When no one was watching. Chad definitely wasn’t stupid—and there were four of the five Hiller brothers right there.

The fifth was missing. With Chad’s sister. Everyone thought Gene Hiller was out there with Chantal. Somewhere. In trouble. Or dead.

Chances were high Gene was dead. But that was something no one was ready to put into words. If Genesis knew something… he was going to get her.

It was so easy to do. She was small, lightweight, and never expected him to do it.

Chad wrapped his hands around her narrow waist and just lifted the girl he’d known her entire life right off her ridiculously little feet—and carried her into the small hallway powder room. He had her now.

It was a tight fit—but he managed.

She wasn’t very big, after all.

Exactly what he’d wanted—her. Not able to escape. He trapped her against the back wall—right there between the toilet and the sink. Eyes of the purest hazel he had ever seen widened behind plastic-rimmed glasses, and she just stared up at him. Gawking.

“What… are you doing? Have you finally lost it? I mean, Chantal and I were certain you would eventually but… ”

“Shut up. I have questions.” He knew he was big and intimidating—he’d heard it before. And he was definitely coming on too forcefully at the moment. But… “My sister is missing. And there is something you aren’t telling me.”

“I told Charlie everything I know.” A stubborn look crossed her face. She wiggled in his hold—pressing flat against him and wiggling. “Let me go. I need to get out there.”

“What are you going to do, go rushing to her rescue?” He didn’t mean it to come out as harshly as it did, but damn it… Genesis wasn’t exactly the riding to the rescue type.

More like the one to need rescuing than anything.

“I’m going to be out there for the people I care about when they need me most. You should try it sometime.” She stomped on his foot, hard. But… she didn’t do much damage. “Get out of the way.”

“You’re going to tell me what it is my sister has been hiding. I know you know exactly what I’m talking about. So… if you want out of here—spill it. Now.”

“Yes, Dr. Arrogance, whatever you say, Dr. Arrogance… Your every wish is my command, Dr. Arrogance… ”

“Quit deflecting. What do you know? What’s going on with my sister?”

“Besides the fact that she’s missing?” And there was the fear…

Genesis was almost panicking. He could see it now.

He wrapped his hands around her elbows, surprised at how soft her skin was. He brushed his thumbs over her inner elbows absently. “Genesis, tell me. She’s my little sister. And she’s been hiding something for months.”

“It’s not my secret to tell.”

“Then you’re not getting out of here—until someone finds us.”

“What will you tell them then?”

“I don’t know. That you are lying and know more than you are admitting? Or… that… ” He knew exactly what would stress her out the most and he played that card. Ruthlessly. “You lured me in here to distract me… by seducing me… and I was inclined to let you.”

The eyes widened even more. The cheeks beneath her childish freckles paled even more. “Don’t be disgusting. Like I would ever sink so low. I have standards, Chad. Standards.”

But she was shaking against him now, where she hadn’t been before. He held the power. Chad knew it.

The whole guy-girl thing had always made her nervous. He had known that for years. This was the first time he’d ever used it against her, though. He tangled his fingers in her ponytail. “Tell me, Genesis. What do you know?”

“She… was diagnosed Type 1 seven months ago, Chad. She wears an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor. She’s on ten-day sensors. I told Charlie, but… I didn’t want to worry your mom any more than necessary right now. Or your dad.”

Chad let her go. That wasn’t… what he’d expected to hear. He’d expected to hear about a secret boyfriend, or something. Not this. “Why would she keep that quiet?”

Genesis shrugged. They were pressed so close together, he felt her front shift with the movement. “She didn’t want to worry your family. Your mom—she’s hovered obsessively over Chan since Jaden died, and Charlotte was shot and then in that car accident. And what happened recently in Finley Creek to Charlotte and her friends. Then Rory and the twins… so much Chan can barely breathe sometimes.”

Jaden, his nephew, had passed away from a congenital health defect no one had known about shortly after his seventeenth birthday several years ago. He had been the only grandchild—until Chad’s older brother had remarried and had twins—at fifty. Well, the only known grandchild. Charlie had had an adult daughter from a one-night stand when he’d been twenty-one no one had known about. That was how they’d gotten Chad’s niece Charlotte. Though no one really knew her that well yet.

After Jaden’s death, Chantal had moved back home to help their parents get through. She hadn’t really left, though it had been almost six years now. His mom just freaked whenever Chantal talked about moving out. “But this isn’t something she should have hidden.”

“She was insistent. And… I made her agree I wouldn’t spill the beans, if she let me help her get things figured out.” Her fingers spread over his chest. “She is doing well. Healthy. We have it figured out. The pump and monitors work well for her. But… I don’t know when she changed the sensor last. She dates it in her log—and on her phone. I think it was eight days ago. But I don’t know for sure. And her infusion set… she changed it yesterday morning when I was there. It’s a three-day.”

So they had two days to find his sister. If they were lucky. And all they could do was hope and pray she had what she needed in the meantime.

His fingers tightened on Genesis’s elbow. He looked at her as a rush of anger went through him. Chantal should have told him. He was her big brother. He was a doctor. He could have helped her get through the changes being diagnosed with a chronic health condition brought.

Instead, she’d kept it hidden, going to Genesis instead.

Chantal hadn’t told him. Why?

Didn’t she know him, trust him, at all?

There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for his little sister. Maybe he hadn’t shown her that in recent years, but it was the truth. He adored her.

He just hoped he got the chance to tell her that.

He looked down. Just as tears spilled over. Oh, hell. He’d made Genesis cry.

He pulled Genesis closer, and just held her while she cried, his head resting on her hair. She felt so… fragile against him right now. He wanted to make it better for her now, but knew he couldn’t.

But he… could hold her.

That was just what he did.