After Shock (#2 - Semper Fi Series)

5 Years Later

Amanda Vickers felt the all too familiar jolt as the plane took off. She couldn’t believe she’d let Natasha and Joe talk her into this. What was she thinking? She’d managed to take some time off, but if it went too long, she wasn’t sure if she’d still have a job.

Her mind wandered to Dan. She missed him something fierce right now. It had been five years since his up-armored Humvee ran over the I.E.D. that took his, and Aaron’s, life.

Washington D.C. was not her idea of a good time, nor was it going to be a fun trip. She wasn’t going on a tourist trip and she sure wasn’t going to meet the President. She’d been asked to go to D.C. to meet with "Max" Mackson, Paul Reinhardt, Jeff Zimmerman, and Leroy Connelly. Max knew Dan in Iraq, and these guys were his security go-to guys for serious or undercover operations. Amanda wasn’t sure she knew what it was even about. All she knew was that Max had requested her input.

Max, Paul, Leroy, and Jeff had helped her friend, Adam, and his wife, Renee, during a difficulty that happened over a year before.Renee’s ex-lunatic tried to kidnap her and kill Adam. He managed to kidnap Amanda instead, and the whole thing could’ve gone really bad if it hadn’t been for the team. After “the maniac” had been shot, thanks to Joe’s quick hand, they’d decided to become an official Security Agency, calling it Semper Fi. Amanda, though still a detective for the local police in her hometown, was glad to help when she could. Some situations just required a woman. That thought made her suppress a chuckle. Men always needed women’s help, whether they wanted to admit it or not.

Adam and Renee just welcomed their baby girl, Savannah Jade, a few months ago. Amanda was so glad Adam (Hart to his friends) was finally happy. He’d seen enough and been through enough. It was about time.

This would be an interesting trip, in the least. Paul and Amanda had become very good friends since that first job they worked together. He was sure nice. Amanda just wasn’t sure a relationship was something she wanted. It was one thing to break up with a person, or even be divorced, but to be widowed after two years of marriage... that was a different story. She knew she’d compare every man she was ever interested in to Dan for the rest of her life. And, in her opinion, it wasn’t fair to the other man.

Paul knew that Dan had died in combat. He just didn’t know about Amanda’s life since that most horrible event took place. No woman should be widowed at twenty-three, ever. It had happened for centuries before, but in this day and age, when people lived into their eighties, nineties and even past one hundred, twenty-three was but a blink in the fabric of eternity. Still, they were the best two years of her life. A smile accompanied the tear rolling down her face. She looked out the window to avoid other passengers who might be curious or concerned by her sudden emotional state.

__________________________

Paul had another hour before Amanda’s plane landed. They’d become so close since they met over a year ago. He liked everything about Amanda. She was nice to look at, too, but he’d never been hung up on looks. Paul preferred a woman who could keep his attention with intellect. She was definitely intelligent. She had a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice that she earned before she’d married her husband. She was a beautiful woman. At 5’8” she was a redhead with fire in her personality to back it up. She had dyed her fiery locks for the mission to help the Hartman’s, but it had grown back out and she’d trimmed it until the unnatural color was gone. She knew everything there was to know about her job, and didn’t back down from a fight. She’d even punched her abductor several times. "Firecracker" was her new nickname that Paul called her.

In regards to her deceased spouse, Paul didn’t personally know Dan, but he’d heard many a story about him. Max had been his Commanding Officer when he died. He knew that Dan died doing the job that he loved; the one he thought he was born to do.