Chapter 11

11

The first thing Chad did when he made it to the hospital the next morning was hunt down the woman he wanted. Genny usually had the ten-to-six shift in the ED. He worked from nine until six-thirty or so, one floor up in the pediatrics wing. He had five practicing pediatricians under his supervision. He was a busy man.

But not too busy to check on Genny. He’d had a lot of time the night before to think about Genny Hiller. To figure out what it was he wanted. Chad most certainly knew what he wanted from that woman now.

He found her in Chantal’s room. Chantal was awake, showered, dressed, and about to be discharged. He should have just checked in with Chantal first. He wrapped his sister, barely bigger than his tiny dictator of a mother, into his arms for a moment.

He was so damned thankful that he could.

He didn’t think he’d hugged his kid sister since their nephew’s funeral, almost six years ago.

No more. He was going to make sure his family knew he loved each and every one of them. From now on, he was hugging Chantal every time he saw her. And his niece and his sister-in-law and his mother, while he was at it, too.

“Hey, kid. I thought you might get out today.”

“I’m ready to go home,” Chantal said in an irritated tone.

“She’s not going home,” a male voice said from behind Chad. He turned. Their older brother stood there in the doorway. He had on his TSP Major Crimes polo, signaling he was in work mode. “Whether she likes it or not.”

Mr. TSP had arrived.

Charlie had put in his retirement papers three months ago. But after some really nasty things had happened to his teammates, Charlie had agreed to stay on a few more months. He and his wife were going to concentrate on expanding the rental property business she had started years ago—and Charlie was going to work as a private security consultant part-time for a friend’s extremely wealthy wife. Charlie said he wanted to spend time with his wife and infants, his grown daughter, and his siblings and parents now.

Chad suspected the realities of retirement would drive Charlie insane. “Where is she going?”

“I’ve arranged for her—and Gene—to stay at the Barratt for as long as needed. Mom and Dad, too. I’ve called in some favors to make it happen. Until we can catch the guys responsible for this.” Charlie leveled a look at Chantal. “I want to know you are safe so I can focus on finding them. Gene and Calvin will be in the suite right next door. Mom and Dad will be on the other side. Look at it as a vacation. Meanwhile, Chad and Charlotte are going to watch their own backs, and call me if anything out of the ordinary happens. As will the Hillers and everyone else out there.”

“But what about my rabbits, and the ranch, and my orders?” Chantal asked. Chantal was into weaving tapestries or something. She coddled those rabbits of hers ridiculously so. And had her own studio where she did something with a loom. She’d never let him inside to see what she did all day.

He’d never pushed, though. It was time he did. Time he knew his sister.

“Bring the bun-buns to the ranch,” Genny said. “I know how to take care of them. You really can’t go home. It isn’t safe. And your parents would worry so much.”

Genny apparently knew the right cards to play.

Within an hour, Chantal had been discharged, and arrangements had been made for Chad and Genny to head back to his parents’ ranch that evening to fetch the rabbits. With one of Charlie’s pals guarding the place in the meantime.

Chad was going to take the opportunity with Genny to get exactly what he wanted from her.

He just had to figure out how to make that happen.