Black-Belt Cop Choked a Nurse in Sparring — Then Her Navy SEAL Past Made Him Regret It
Chapter 22
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She answered immediately."Ms. Cole?" A voice she didn't know. "This is the director's office at Denton General. I'm calling to inform you that we've received a formal legal communication today regarding your employment status. A civil suit has been filed naming you as a defendant by Officer Dale Rork, alleging defamation and tortious interference with his professional duties." A pause. "Hospital legal has been notified. HR is asking you to come in Monday morning before your shift."She stood in the changing area with her coat halfway on and the ambient noise of the gym filtering through the door.A civil suit. Not a complaint, not a union call: a lawsuit filed in civil court naming her by name, targeting her employment, running parallel to the departmental review—designed to bury her in legal costs and professional uncertainty before the hearing could be decided."Ms. Cole, are you there?""Yes," she said. "I'll be there Monday."She hung up. She finished putting her coat on. She pushed through the door to the main floor where Quinn was still there, talking quietly to Steph.And when he looked at her face, he excused himself from the conversation and came across the room. He read her expression before she said a word."What happened?" he said.She told him. She kept her voice level and her account specific. And she did not, despite the sharp and specific fear that was moving through her right now, allow it to make her voice unsteady.When she finished, Quinn was quiet for a moment. "He filed it today," he said. "Same day he received the formal hearing notice.""Yes.""He has a lawyer who had this ready in advance." Quinn's voice was controlled, but something in it had shifted: not anger, but the tonal quality of someone whose assessment of a situation has just changed significantly. "This isn't improvisation. He's been preparing a legal response since he got the complaint notice.""I know," she said."Savannah..." He stopped. "This is going to get to the press. The Tribune reporter already has your name. A civil filing is public record."She looked at him. "I know that, too.""Are you okay?"It was the second time in two weeks someone had asked her that question in a way that meant something, and she took a moment to answer it honestly."No," she said. "Not right now." A breath. "But I'm not done."Quinn held her gaze for a moment with an expression she'd seen exactly once before: on the face of a surgeon who'd just finished a procedure he wasn't sure would work and was watching the monitors for the answer."Sandoval needs to know tonight," he said."I know.""And Savannah... there's something I didn't tell you. Something I've been holding until the right time." He stopped. "The wrong time is now, which means the right time was earlier, and I'm sorry for that."She looked at him. "What is it?"He glanced around the gym, assessing the room with the automatic habit of someone for whom that was always the first step. Then he looked back at her.