Saving the Seal 2: A BWWM Navy Seal Interracial Romance (10 page)

His shower was probably the quickest in recent history, lasting just under ten minutes. The moment he stepped out, he grabbed his phone from the bedside table. The device had been on vibrate, and to his surprise, he found he had five missed calls from Genny in the past five minutes.

His heart dropping into his stomach, Owen quickly called her back. Every time the phone rang he was worried she wouldn’t pick up – and when she finally answered just before it went to voicemail, he exhaled a sigh of relief. “Owen?”

“Genny. Where are you? It’s almost eleven thirty-”

“Owen, I’m at my mom’s house.” The SEAL’s relief began to bleed away as he registered the raw fear in his lover’s voice. Her voice was hushed, as if she were frightened someone might hear her and there was dead silence in the background. If she were at her mom’s house, he would have expected Martha to grab the phone and demand immediately to talk to him. “I got a call from an unknown number while I was at Gina’s, and whoever it was had my mom’s address. I had to come over her and check on her and she’s…she’s unconscious.” There was a low banging in the background and Genny inhaled sharply in terror, making every muscle in Owen’s body tighten immediately. “She’s unconscious and she’s bleeding. Someone knocked her out, Owen, and the power’s out in the house.”

Fuck.
Fuck
. “Where’s Gina?” He immediately demanded, lowering his own volume to match hers.

“She’s in the car. She insisted on coming with me but I made her stay inside and lock the doors. Owen…someone’s in here with us. The person who attacked my mom is still in the house.”

The SEAL felt as if he might be sick. Martha’s house was a half hour away. That was a whole thirty minutes in which he would be helpless to do anything. “Genny, I’m coming.” He promised her, keeping his fear in his gut and his tone resolute. “I’m coming right now. Stay on the phone with me.”

He was already yanking on a pair of jeans, paying no mind to his still-soaking body.

“My phone’s dying. I’m at two percent.” Genny exhaled a shuddering breath. “Owen, I’m scared. I’m
so
scared.”

“I’m coming for you. Sit tight, Gen. Just sit tight.” Owen raced to his truck even as the phone began to crackle, a sign of a wavering signal. Genny’s plea for him to hurry was distorted for a precious few seconds before the line finally went dead. Cursing, Owen shoved it in his back pocket, getting ready to start the truck.

Before he could pull out of the drive, however, his phone buzzed again, signaling a text message. Thinking Genny might have used the last of her juice to send him something, he yanked the device free to look at it.

He was horrified when instead of a text message, he was greeted with the sight of a picture of Genny and Gina sitting in the Latina woman’s living room. The image had obviously been taken with a zoom lens, by someone sitting a safe distance away. The women were smiling, oblivious that they were being watched as they laughed together. Within seconds, Owen received another photo. This one was of Genny putting her ear to Gina’s stomach to listen to the baby move. The next image was slightly more blurry – one of Genny grinning at Stella as they took their lunch break. As if in a nightmare, Owen’s inbox was barraged by no less than ten different images, each one showing Genny in her day to day affairs, with no clue at all that she was being watched.

That she was being
hunted
.

The last image showed the psychiatrist leaning against her locked car door, speaking to Gina through the glass. The car was parked in front of Martha’s house, and the time read 11:14 PM. While he’d been doing push-ups, the stalker had been setting a trap for Genny.

One that she’d fallen for hook, line and sinker.

Taking only an extra minute, Owen headed back into the house. Once in his bedroom, he barely hesitated before removing a pistol from his bedside table. It seemed like a lifetime ago that Genny had put it there, convincing him that he didn’t need it.

It tore him apart to prove her wrong.

Owen thanked whatever deity that existed that there weren’t any cops on the road so late. He made what was normally a thirty minute drive in just under fifteen. He parked three houses down from Martha’s before killing the engine.

Then, he took a brief moment to steel himself.

It had been two years since he was in the field, but he had to draw on the calm he’d once been able to harness on covert missions. Somehow, he had to forget that his heart was pounding out of his chest and that he didn’t know if the woman he loved was alright.

Not only had whoever was stalking her hurt her mother and lured her here tonight, but he or she had also been watching her while they’d believed the police had everything in hand.

Apparently, things could not be more out of hand.

Owen left his truck, careful to close the door quietly. He had worn all black, which would help him hide his presence on the already dark street. As quickly as he could, the SEAL made his way down to three twenty two Maple Wood Way.

As Genevieve had mentioned, there wasn’t a single light on in the house. The young woman’s hybrid was parked in the driveway, and Owen approached it without a sound, his pistol held at the ready. His grip was steady, and he was calm.

It took him less than two minutes to ascertain that Gina had left the car, making him curse inwardly. What the hell had she been thinking? The woman was eight months pregnant and she wanted to put herself and her baby into a potentially dangerous situation. When he found Gina, he fully intended to chew her out in the manner that she so enjoyed doing to him.

That was
after
he made sure that she and the baby were alright.

And then there was Genny to worry about as well.

Wary that whoever was in the house might have accomplices, Owen stuck to the shadows. He reached the door quickly and turned the knob, finding it open.

The house was eerily silent. Usually even at this hour, Martha would be bustling around in the kitchen, making something or other. But Genny had told him that the intruder had assaulted her mother. The notion turned his stomach. There was a special place in hell reserved for those who hurt the elderly and children, and as far as he was concerned, he was about to send the perpetrator there.

Owen made his way through the first floor, slowly but surely. He cleared the entryway, then the living room and dining room before heading into the kitchen.

The room was a complete and utter mess. Pots and pans had been overturned, spilling half-cooked food over the floor. There were obvious signs of a struggle and, Owen noted with dismay, droplets of blood on the floor.

Martha had been hurt badly.

There was enough blood to make a partial print from where the intruder had stepped into it, and from that print, Owen was able to learn more about the identity of his enemy. It was a man, perhaps a little over six feet, maybe two hundred pounds even. That would mean that he was fairly fit. He was wearing standard issue military boots, but as said boots were distributed around the world, there was no way of knowing the predator’s nationality.

Still, it was nice to know that he had at least six inches and sixty pounds on the man.

Owen moved soundlessly from the room, checking his corners before he made his way upstairs. He couldn’t help the creaking of the wooden steps in the old house and instead merely did his best to step as lightly as possible.

Though he was strongly tempted to call Gina and see if she answered, he didn’t want to put either woman in a compromising position. He also wanted to keep the element of surprise. The first door on the left was the guest bedroom, and Owen opened it in a smooth motion, sweeping the room with the barrel of the pistol.

It was empty.

The guest bathroom and sewing room were as well, which led him to the end of the hall and the master bathroom. As Owen lowered his hand to the knob, a low thud emitted from behind the door and he tensed.

Occupied.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open, ready to face his enemy.

“Owen!” Instead, he was greeted by the sight of both Gina and Genny huddled around the immobile form of Martha on the bed. The moment her eyes fell on him, the psychiatrist leapt to her feet, throwing herself into his arms. Owen barely had a split second to thumb the safety on the gun before he caught her, crushing her warmth against him.

She was alright. Thank fucking
God.
“Genny.” He cupped her face, finding her frightened gaze. “Are you alright? Are Gina and the baby alright?”

“We’re fine.” She returned in a hushed tone. He noticed then that she was trembling like a leaf. “But my Mom’s been out for a while, and she’s got a head wound. She needs an ambulance. Gina left her phone at home.”

Of course she had. Owen bit back a groan before extracting his own phone to call nine one one. Within minutes, the cops announced that they would send someone over and Owen hugged Genny to him tightly once more before shooting Gina a warning glance. “The two of you stay here and lock the door. I’m going to search the rest of the house.”

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.