As he turned away, his lover caught him by an arm, her grip almost desperate. “Don’t leave us, Owen. Please.”
He couldn’t imagine the terror that lent the childlike tone of pleading to her voice. Turning back to her, Owen took her by the shoulder firmly to press his lips briefly to hers. “I’ll be right back,” he breathed against her mouth. “I promise.”
Genny’s lower lip trembled, but she nodded curtly. Owen then left the room, waiting to hear the click of the lock behind him before he commenced to searching the rest of the rooms upstairs. He had perhaps ten minutes before the police arrived, and if someone was still in the house, Owen was sure as hell going to find him.
If he got away again, who knew what the man would do?
There was no one else on the second story. After double-checking the rooms to make absolutely sure, Owen made his way back downstairs. There was only one place left to check: The basement.
Martha had quite a nice finished basement with a furnished room for her husband to watch his sports in. It would happen that the man was away on a business trip when someone broke into his house to attack his wife and stepdaughter.
Tentatively, Owen edged the door to the basement open. It was, as the rest of the house, pitch black. It was very possible that whoever was looking to hurt the girls – whoever had attacked Martha – was down there.
The SEAL took the steps one at a time. The safety on his gun came off and once more, he held the weapon at the ready. Owen knew from memory that there were exactly thirteen steps down into the basement. He was standing on the tenth one when an amorphous figure came barreling at him in the darkness.
Owen fired immediately, but didn’t see if the shot hit. He was knocked off balance by the attacker and the gun was knocked from his hands. He tried to get ahold of the intruder who was, as he had estimated, substantially shorter than him – but the fucker was strong. Despite his smaller size, he threw Owen off as if he weighed half of his two hundred and sixty pounds. The SEAL hit the banister of the stairs and it broke, spilling him onto the floor. A grunt of pain escaped him as he felt a splinter of wood pierce his skin, but that didn’t stop him from finding his feet almost immediately.
With a growl of rage, he leapt after the attacker, forgetting his weapon in his haste. Owen burst onto the main floor in time to see the dark figure, clad entirely in black, shoot out of the front door. Cursing, he followed him, hot on his heels. The door slammed against the side of the house with a sharp crack as Owen shoved it open.
He looked over the expanse of the yard, and then down both sides of the dimly lit road. Nothing. There wasn’t even any sound that might indicate fleeing. Owen strained his ears for a minute that seemed to last for an eternity, but still, there was nothing.
At least not until the distant whine of sirens reached his ears.
The authorities had arrived. Exhaling hotly, Owen sank down onto the porch steps, adrenaline still pumping through his body. He hadn’t been able to get a good look at his attacker. The man, like himself, had been dressed in all black. It was also obvious that he had combat training. He had thrown Owen’s substantial weight like it was nothing.
And he was fast.
Exactly who the hell were they dealing with? Owen had dealt with everything from assassinations to bombings and sabotage, but this…this was on a completely different level. Usually, perpetrators like this acted as a carefully organized group, but they had no indication that Genny’s tormentor was more than a single person.
One single, very malicious person.
His expression hardening, the SEAL set his jaw. He supposed he should be grateful. After all, he could take down one person all by himself.
Chapter Six: New Arrival
As many cops as had been at Owen’s house after the incident with the dead kitten, there were twice as many at Martha’s now. No less than four squad cars arrived, along with a fire engine and an ambulance. Paramedics quickly extracted Genevieve’s mother from the house and loaded her into the ambulance, assuring them that she was fine, just out cold. Gina offered to accompany Martha to the hospital, and so she was helped into the ambulance by one of the paramedics and they were off, sirens blaring.
Genny was checked over for injuries, but other than being scared, she appeared to be perfectly fine. He, on the other hand, had a half-inch thick, half-foot long wooden splinter lodged into his calf. Owen had been so absorbed in trying to catch Genny’s stalker that he’d hardly noticed. He himself was surprised by the extent of his injury, and Genny paled at the sight of it. He was informed that he would have to be treated at the hospital as well, and police offered to take his and Genny’s statements there, after he was discharged.
They were given a police escort to the closest medical center, which happened to be Riperton, and Owen was quickly seen to by a doctor. He sat, stone-faced, on the examination table as the middle-aged woman slowly and painfully extracted the splinter from his leg. It was bloody and ragged, and she explained that the wound would have to be cleaned and examined for minute splinters, which would require an x-ray. When the Doctor left to check on the paperwork, Owen sat in the sterile room with Genevieve beside him, trying to come to terms with what had happened.
She could have been hurt. She and Gina both. If what happened to Martha was any indication, they could have been killed. What would he have done then? And how the hell would he have explained to Sean that his wife and son had been put into harm’s way.
The SEAL struggled against his rising temper. In reality, he didn’t know who to be angry with. Certainly, whoever was terrorizing his girlfriend, but then there was said girlfriend herself. Genny should have called him the moment her mother had been threatened. Going over there by herself had been foolhardy and she most likely knew it. Then, there was Gina. Part of him understood that the woman had just been trying to support her friend, but she was pregnant for God’s sake. Had either of them ever stopped to think?
His expression must have spoken volumes of the turmoil in his mind. Genevieve gingerly raised her hands to cover his on the examination table, her face flushed in a mixture of apology and nerves. “Owen…I know what you’re thinking. What I did was stupid.”
He couldn’t even dignify that with an answer. The green-eyed man was torn between going off on his stubborn lover and holding her so close that they would never be separated again. It had been a long time since he had been so scared. Over two years. “You have to understand…it’s my mom. I panicked. I didn’t want anyone to hurt her.”
“What would you have done if he found you, Genny?” Owen managed, swallowing his sickness at the image that rose in his mind. “If he found you and Gina? How would you have helped your mother then?”
The young woman’s head dropped, her features forlorn as her eyes slid closed in shame. “Genevieve, you need to understand: this is serious. Both of you could have been killed. Whoever is after you is out for blood. We need to start taking steps to protect you- and I don’t mean just cop surveillance and waiting.” He exhaled lowly. It seemed all those months in therapy had helped. He wasn’t tossing chairs and screaming at people. Quite the opposite, in fact. In the adverse situation, Owen found his Zen. The calm and self-assurance that came from the familiar.
Danger was very familiar to him.
Not that he would ever, ever want to endanger Gina or Genny, but this was something that he could deal with. Something he knew how to deal with. “Owen. I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I didn’t call you and I’m sorry that I haven’t been more careful about this.” Taking both of his hands between hers, Genevieve gazed up at him earnestly. “I never wanted you hurt.” At her words, Owen snorted. His little mishap was the least of his worries. As long as he could still use his leg, he’d be fine. “I’m serious!” She attested, her eyes wide.
“If you’re serious, then you’ll listen to me.” He returned immediately, his tone booking no argument. “I want you safe, Genny. You and Gina both.” His stomach dropped as he remembered the pictur
es on his phone. Those would definitely have to be shown to the authorities. They were proof that Genny wasn’t the only target. Anyone who associated with her was fair game as well. “Ok.” She answered him in a low whisper.
Reaching down, Owen cupped her cheek, repeating to himself for the hundredth time in an hour that she was perfectly fine. Just a little shaken.
The moment was broken when the doctor returned, taking them down for Owen’s x-ray. Luckily, there were no stray splinters of wood in his wound and all he required were a couple of stitches. He was on his feet again within the hour. While the pain was irritating, it wasn’t bad enough for him to accept the morphine they offered. He was awake and alert and he didn’t want to lose that. He wanted to give the authorities the most accurate information he could. As he was the only one who’d actually seen the invader, what he told the police might make or break the case.
After his leg had been bandaged up, he and Genny were filling out his discharge paperwork and preparing to speak to Detective Miller when, all at once, Stella burst into the ward. The redhead’s face was flushed and she was trying to catch her breath. It was evident she’d been sprinting.
Genny immediately looked to her friend in surprise. “Stella? I didn’t know you were on duty tonight.”
“Genny, you need to get over to Labor and Delivery, fast.” Stella gasped the words in between gulps of air.
Owen felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. Labor and delivery? What the fuck? “Where’s Gina?” He growled, fearing the worst.
This night just got better and better.
“What’s going on in Labor and Delivery?” Genny replied carefully. Stella groaned.
“Gina. After they brought your mom in and got her situated, she started complaining of stomach pains. She’s gone into labor.”
“Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me.” Owen so rarely heard Genny curse that he was shocked to hear the word spill from her lips. So shocked, in fact, that he was left in her wake when she grabbed her jacket and hauled ass after Stella.
Blinking owlishly, Owen stared after them, utterly lost. He had very suddenly gone from a place in which he felt relatively confident to an arena in which he had no experience at all.
In fact, he was almost more frightened than he’d been going into Martha’s darkened home.
**
The evening was utter and complete chaos.
Genny had been tense from the moment she and Gina left the Latina’s home, and that nervousness had ratcheted upwards when they’d arrived to find her mother incapacitated. Of course, being hunted in a place she once found familiar had been enough to make Genny want to wake up from the situation like an awful nightmare. But, it was all terribly real.
As frightened as she had been, however, the worst thing was seeing Owen’s expression when he burst in, guns blazing. He’d been worried for her – terrified. She could see it even through his cool countenance.
While he was on the examination table, he was very firm with her. Things as she knew them were about to change. But Genevieve knew that the change was necessary to ensure both her safety and the safety of the people around her.
Though she was relieved that Owen’s injuries were relatively minor, and that her mother was OK, that relief soon morphed into another, very different form of panic.
Gina had gone into labor.
It was, perhaps, the worst timing in the cosmos, but Genny wasn’t about to tell her that. The only thing she could do was stay by the woman’s side as her labor quickly progressed. When Genny and Owen arrived in the labor and delivery wing, Gina was already being administered to by a doctor who pronounced her dilated a hefty five centimeters. Gina, being Gina, argued that such a thing was impossible. Her water had broken only ten minutes ago.
The doctor looked at her in exasperation, and Genny could immediately tell that her friend had been giving the man a hard time. But when didn’t she?
In an attempt to soothe her, Genny took the woman’s hands, trying to coach her through contractions and hoping that she didn’t break her fingers. Gina demanded that they try to get Sean on the line, but it was easier said than done. When he left, the captain knew that there was a chance he’d miss the birth, and at that moment, no one on his base could get hold of him.
So Gina proceeded to take her frustration out on everyone present, from the doctors to Genny and Owen themselves. When the SEAL, looking beyond flummoxed at the situation he found himself in, offered to hold Gina’s hand while his lover went to the bathroom, Genny looked at him skeptically. She went as fast as she could, but by the time she returned, Owen was grimacing in pain.
He’d had all the fingers on his right hand broken twice, he attested, and it hadn’t hurt as much as Gina trying to mangle him through her contractions.
After that little proclamation, Genny shooed him from the room, obviously irritated at his imperious tone. She implied that he should take the time before the baby was born to speak to the police, who were waiting pretty patiently, considering the circumstances. She could tell that he was relieved to take his leave, and while he was gone, she concentrated on calming Gina.
Her companion was her usual brash self, ordering people around in both English and Spanish, cursing up a storm and going on and on about how she was going to kill her husband when he finally got back to her.
However, as the hours drew on, Gina’s threats slowly gave way to pangs of fear and, ultimately, she shed a few tears. Drawing Genny close, she confided in her how scared she was that Sean would never get to see his son…that something would happen either to her husband, or to her and the baby in childbirth.
Though Genny wasn’t a medical doctor, she assured Gina that she was – as the doctor assured them – progressing perfectly normally, if a little fast. Everything would be fine.
Genny, Gina and Owen had arrived at the hospital around twelve thirty in the morning. Around five AM, Gina went into the last stages of labor.
Genny quickly called her lover back into the room, reassuring both he and Gina as the process played out before their eyes. She didn’t think she’d ever seen Owen look so out of his element as he did watching Gina struggle to bring her son into the world. While, at first, he couldn’t do much more than stand there like a deer in headlights as both the doctor and Genny coached Gina through her breathing, ultimately, the SEAL pulled his cellphone from his pocket, set his jaw, and began filming the experience for his captain.
Despite how insane their evening had been, Genny couldn’t help but smile.
She was proud of him.
Luis Sebastian Morales was born at six AM, weighing in at eight pounds and eleven ounces. The sound of his newborn cries splitting the air were some of the most beautiful sounds Genny had ever heard.
Gina accepted her child, sobbing, as the doctors cut the umbilical cord as she cooed to him. Their first moments together were captured via Owen’s cell phone camera, recorded for all time in posterity. To Genny’s surprise, her boyfriend’s eyes seemed to gleam with emotion as he looked down at Gina and Luis.
The psychiatrist felt her own heart constrict as she watched the scene. Would Owen look the same way when his own child was born, she wondered? Would he have that expression of bewilderment, elation, and complete awe?
She could only imagine.
After the baby was born, things quieted down considerably. The doctors took Luis to make sure that he was healthy and to thoroughly clean him, and Gina promptly passed out from exhaustion. Owen, too, was close to falling asleep where he sat in the hall when his cell phone rang.
It was Sean – better late than never – and the SEAL spoke to his CO drowsily. Yes, Gina was fine. The whole thing had gone well. His son was perfect, ten fingers and ten toes. There were tons of pictures and a video, and he’d send them as soon as they hung up. After extracting a promise to have Gina call him as soon as she woke up, Sean reluctantly let his fellow SEAL go.
Owen slumped back against the wall, visibly exhausted.
With a small smile, Genny leaned against him. “You OK?”
Her boyfriend groaned. “I need to sleep.”
No kidding.
Unfortunately, however, the police were still waiting for them to finish their statements. On top of that, Genny had to go make sure her mother was alright and resting comfortably. Not to mention Owen was honor bound to let Sean speak to Gina when she woke up.
She pecked the green-eyed man on the cheek sweetly. In the past twenty four hours, he’d shown her more courage than she’d ever seen anyone exhibit. He’d been put through situations that would leave most men bewildered and comatose, and yet here he sat.
It made her think that he might be ready for active duty sooner than she would have thought.
When she told him so, Owen’s lips turned up in an amused, sleepy gesture. “I have to admit, Gen, if I had to go take commission right this second, I might skip it.”
Genny laughed softly. Sunlight was just beginning to trickle in from the window at the end of the hall and the floor was finally quiet. It was a moment of serenity before they had to face everything beyond the hospital walls.
Honestly, at that point, Genny was willing to take what she could get. Curling up against Owen, she closed her eyes, promising herself that she was just going to rest them for a few minutes.
By the time she woke up, it was noon.
Groggily, the young woman took in her surroundings and found herself in an armchair in her mother’s hospital room, a blanket draped over her.
Martha Thomas was awake and alert, and the police were busy questioning her about the break in.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. After the authorities were finished questioning her mother, it was Genny’s turn. She told them as best she could what had happened, and the detectives slowly began to piece together the crime scene.
Saving the Seal 2: A BWWM Navy Seal Interracial Romance Page 8
