Saving the Seal 2: A BWWM Navy Seal Interracial Romance (17 page)

“You broke my fucking arm you
bastard
!” Owen flinched in shock. The voice that came from the redhead’s throat sounded nothing like the Stella he knew. The tone was guttural, low, and full of hatred. “My arm!”

“Stella, what are you
doing
?” Genevieve gasped. “Why are you dressed like that? Owen,” She turned to her lover, her expression panicked. “Let her go! We have to call an ambulance!”

“No.” Owen’s reply was firm and curt. As he said it, Stella twisted in his grip, yowling like an angry cat as she did everything in her power to try and reach for the gun that lie on the floor beside them. “Genny, we need to call the units on duty and get them up here as quick as possible.”

“But…Stella…” Genevieve’s chest was heaving as she tried to process the events before her, “What’s going on? I don’t understand.”

“You never understood
anything
.” Stella spat, her eyes narrow in fury. “And you never will.
I
should have been made department head after Kant was put away.
Me
, not you!”

“Stella…” Genny’s expression was horrified, and Owen could feel her heart break, even as he kept a tight hold on the woman in his grip. “What are you saying?”

“You’re a
whore!
” Genny reeled as if she had been physically struck at the words Stella flung at her. “A lying, cheating, ingratiating
whore,
and I hate you! I
hate you!
” The way she screamed the words was almost inhuman, and Owen felt his stomach turn at the sick violence in them.

Before them, Genny was shaking her head in denial, unwilling to believe her eyes. “No.
No.
”

Fucking hell. This was completely messed up – in every way imaginable. “Genny,” Owen kept his voice as calm as he could. “Go to the bedroom, get my phone, and call the officers on duty. Do it now.”

Tears of shock and hurt began to slide down the young woman’s cheeks. She appeared frozen in place, and if she didn’t move, they would be locked in this stalemate until someone came to check on them. “
Genevieve
!” Owen’s sharp tone cracked through the air like a whip, jerking the psychiatrist to attention. “Get to the phone.
NOW.”

With a sob, the dark-skinned woman clutched a blanket to her nude form as she stood before rushing back towards the bedroom. Once she had disappeared, Stella went limp in his grip, muttering to herself.

“
Whore
.
Fucking whore
.”

Owen closed his eyes tightly, her words ringing in his ears. What in God’s name was this?

Chapter Nine: The Bitter Truth

Stella confessed to everything.

Even days after, when Genny sat in her office in Riperton filling out the woman’s termination paperwork, she still couldn’t believe it. What she’d seen had shaken her to the core, and the story that unraveled had made her question not only herself, but everything she believed in.

There wasn’t a time where Stella hadn’t envied her. According to the woman’s written confession, even when they first met, she admired Genny just as much as she’d been jealous of her. Genevieve was one of the finest minds in the department, had superior patient rehabilitation rates, and even though she devoted herself to the job unto abandoning her social life, everyone admired her.

At first, Stella wanted to learn from her – to be her friend and be taken under her wing. But then, as it became clear that she wouldn’t ever be able to have Genny’s way with patients, she began to hate her. She had stood by Genevieve only in hopes that some of the young Doctor’s acclaim would rub off on she herself.

When Doctor Kant had been deposed as head of the department, Stella, having worked at Riperton longer, would have naturally taken his place. However, she was passed over in favor of Genevieve in light of the younger Doctor’s role in exposing Kant’s crime, and also in favor of Genny’s superior treatment record.

It had apparently been too much for Stella to take.

Using the onus of hatred accrued by those who believed Genevieve had framed Kant as her disguise, she had begun to use the information accrued by her knowledge of her “friend” to stalk and terrorize her. She used a cell phone with an encrypted sim card to send threatening messages to both she and Owen, and she had even kidnapped a small child from his parents to deliver a very special package.

Stella, in detail, described the night that she broke into Martha’s home. She’d taken pictures of Genny and Gina at the older woman’s house to show them that she knew their every move, then she visited Martha with the pretense of giving her some baked goods. When she was allowed into the home, she attacked the unsuspecting woman. When Martha resisted, she bludgeoned her into unconsciousness. Then, she cut the power to lie in wait for Genny to arrive.

She toyed with her prey, but hesitated in killing the pregnant Gina when she entered. When Stella retreated to the basement to plan her next move, Owen had arrived. She detailed their struggle in the basement, shoving him over the banister and fleeing from the house before the police arrived.

After that, she had played a waiting game – pretending to be one of Genevieve’s closest companions while secretly plotting her demise. She allowed the younger doctor a false sense of security just before threatening her again, keeping her exhausted “friend” on her toes.

She’d suspected that Genny would still want to go to the mountains in the wake of her final scare, and so she’d hidden beneath all the junk in the back of Owen’s truck when the authorities switched shifts. She waited patiently – over fifteen hours in the cold – for her chance to strike.

And then Owen had thwarted her.

When she thought about it, Genny felt sick. She and Stella had been friends for
so
long. She had been the first person to welcome her into the office when she arrived at Riperton. Genny had gone to Stella’s nieces’ and nephews’ birthday parties, met her parents, and taken weekend trips with her! They always confided in one another and Genny knew that if she could trust
no one
else, at least she could depend on Stella.

And then Stella had tried to kill her. All over a job.

All at once, Riperton was stifling her. So much had gone wrong for Genevieve here. Patients lost and exploited, people lied to and terrorized...if this was what being her wrought, maybe she didn’t belong in the hospital after all. She began to think that maybe the position wasn’t the best for her – and as much as she dreaded trying to find another job, maybe it was time to leave Riperton behind.

Especially with Stella no longer by her side.

Even as Genevieve’s eyes clouded with tears, she told herself she wouldn’t cry. Owen and Detective Miller had tried to get her to take a few days off work to process everything, but the young woman was scared that if she stayed at home, she might be overwhelmed with her grief. Stella was going to be incarcerated for the rest of her life and she didn’t, for one split second, regret anything that she’d done. Not killing animals in cold blood, kidnapping a child, assaulting a middle aged woman, and not attempting murder.

Twice.

It was just…wrong. Everything about it was wrong.

At a soft knock on her door, Genny quickly dashed moisture from her cheeks. “Yes?”

Tina poked her head in, her expression sympathetic. Everyone in the office was having a hard time wrapping their heads around the events of the past week. Not one doctor in the department believed that Stella would have hurt a fly…and they’d all been proved wrong. “Jonas is in the waiting room, Genevieve.”

Taking a deep breath, Genny composed herself. How could she have forgotten that she and Jonas’ last appointment was today? The bus for his retreat left the next morning, and honestly, Genny wondered if she’d still be at Riperton when he returned. “Tell him to come on back, Tina.”

The receptionist nodded briefly before leaving the office.

When she did so, Genny stared down at the papers on her desk. There was only one final signature needed before Stella’s termination would be complete. With a heavy heart, she scribbled her name in the blank, closing the chapter on anything that had been, or would ever be between them.

“Doctor Thomas?”

Genny’s head jerked up as she turned the papers face down on her desk. “Jonas.” She forced a smile. “It’s good to see you. How are you?”

“I’m…good.” The young man hesitated for a beat before answering her. Slowly, he made his way to his usual chair to take a seat. He seemed, Genevieve noticed, somewhat sad, even if his nervousness had much improved.

“Really? Good?” She inquired gently. “You seem a little upset.”

Jonas shrugged, his eyes falling into his lap. He fidgeted for a moment – something Genny knew he did when he was having difficulty speaking about his feelings. “Jonas, it’s alright. You know there’s no judgement here.”

He swallowed thickly before finally speaking. “I’m sorry about Stella.”

Genevieve’s stomach twisted painfully and it took everything she had not to show it on her face. “I heard about what happened with her…” Jonas went on, his voice trembling slightly. “And I’m sorry. I know she was your friend.” His breath hitched as he went on. “I don’t have any friends.”

“Nonsense.” Instinctually, Genny reached out to cover Jonas’ hand with her own where it lay at the edge of her desk. She knew that he liked Stella – it must be hard for him to hear what she had done. In that, they were very much alike. “I’m your friend, Jonas. And you’ll soon have many more.”

“…at the camp?” He inquired tentatively.

He was scared. Even though they had come to the decision that the rehabilitation would be the best thing for him, he was nervous. It was only natural. This would be the first time that Jonas had interacted with people outside of Riperton. He was bound to be a little apprehensive.

“Yes, at the camp.” Genny nodded firmly. “And
after
the camp. I’m sure you’ll make lots of friends.”

Slowly, Jonas nodded, before his gaze rose to meet hers once more. “Doctor Thomas…I know it hurts. To lose someone you love…but you still have lots of people who love you, even if Stella is gone.”

For a moment, Genny was rendered speechless. In all the time she and Jonas had worked together, she had been the one comforting him. Now, the tables had been turned.

It was appropriate, perhaps, as this might be their last meeting.

“Jonas?” He arched a brow in inquiry at her question. Genny’s next words left her impulsively. She’d been feeling utterly terrible for the past week and nothing anyone said or did had been able to help her until Jonas. If someone in a place as dark as the one he was could find hope, then she couldn’t stop trying. “How would you like to come to dinner at my house tonight?” The young man’s eyes widened in shock, but Genny forged on. “To celebrate your going off to camp tomorrow. It would be just you, me, my boyfriend, and his dog. Eddie’s really very sweet. Like a puppy.”

Jonas immediately went back to fidgeting. “I…I don’t know.”

Now Genny was determined. “It will be good for you. Consider it the beginning of the next step on your journey.”

For a long moment, Jonas was silent, twisting his fingers over and over one another. Finally, he gave her a low, timid answer. “Ok.”

Genny’s lips curved into her first genuine smile in what seemed like forever. “Wonderful. I’ll make sure we get all the right people to agree and tell Owen to expect a guest.” It would, no doubt, be ten times easier now that she didn’t have a police entourage following her everywhere she went.

Since Stella had been arrested, Detective Miller had
finally
disbanded the security detail that hounded her for the past six months and Genny was beginning to re-acclimate to having time to herself. In an attempt to cheer her up, Gina commented that at least she wouldn’t have to worry about Peeping Toms anymore, but at the time, Genny had been too upset to find the humor in the statement.

Tonight, she decided, she was going to have a good time. She’d give one of her best patients a nice send off and start trying to come to terms with the lot she’d been dealt.

The house seemed almost lonely without a cop car in front of it.

After having all the necessary paperwork signed off on, Genny headed home an hour early to start preparing dinner. Jonas was set to arrive at the house at around seven PM. The driver for the family home at which he was staying would drop him off and pick him up at ten – plenty of time for them to say their goodbyes.

Of course, Owen wasn’t too enthusiastic about having a visitor so soon after the stalker debacle. Though he wasn’t as vocal in his disbelief as Genny had been, the young woman knew that he, too, had been shaken by Stella’s seamless betrayal. In fact, until the red-headed doctor had actually submitted her confession, Owen had been convinced there had been some kind of mistake.

He insisted that Stella couldn’t have been the one at Martha’s house – cited that the bloody footprint he saw in the kitchen had most definitely been male, as had the attacker he fought in the basement. His protests, however, stopped when Stella’s story came to light. She knew what he had been wearing the night they’d fought, and detailed blow by blow the conflict that had taken place between them. Ultimately, Owen had to admit that maybe his senses had been dulled by the adrenaline of the moment.