CHAPTER ONE
Luke, Cam, Hex, and Eric stared at the faces of their fellow ‘seniors’. They hated thinking of themselves as senior but it was the truth. Their children were serving on the new division, Shadow Warriors. For some, their grandchildren were serving.
The start of LEGACY, a new division of Gray Wolf was timely. They were struggling to keep up with the business and technology and their wives were asking them to slow down. They didn’t want to wait like their fathers had. They wanted time with the family now.
Luke glanced down at the agenda and sighed. If this was any indication, there wasn’t going to be a lot of ‘down time’ for any of them. Their fathers had cleared the case load just two weeks before. How in the world did they end up with seventeen new cases?
“Hey, Luke,” smirked Nathan, “I think we need a bigger auditorium.” The others laughed and Luke nodded.
“You joke but we just might. I’ll see if there’s any way to expand this one. I can’t believe how much we’ve grown.”
He shook his head and felt the tug at his gut of knowing they were all getting older. If his grandparents were any indication, and his own parents, aunts, and uncles, they’d all be around for a long time. Still, it made a man think.
“Alright, let’s get this moving,” said Eric. “First things first. The medical team, and all our wives, have insisted that we all get our flu and pneumonia vaccines this year. Pneumonia will only be for those over sixty-five. Everyone else, no arguments. We’re not going to go through what we did a few years ago when everyone was sick with the flu and the poor medical team was exhausted.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” grinned Chase.
“I seem to remember you telling Maeve that she should get the will updated and asked her to call the priest,” smiled Hex.
Chase could only laugh at his friends. He wasn’t quite that dramatic, but it wasn’t far off.
“Look, there’s a lot of shit going around right now. The kids have been coming home from school with colds, flu, ear infections, all of it. It’s that time of year and as long as we have children here, we will have our own personal little germ factory.”
“That’s the damn truth,” said Magnus. “Addie has been covering in the pediatric ward because even the nurses are sick.”
“It must be worse this year than in others,” said Eric. “I mean we’re always sick with something but for us, nothing severe. But the general public seems to bring in everything.”
“I’m sure the medical team will keep us informed,” said Luke. “Which reminds me. We have some new doctors and nurses at the clinic. With some of our folks retiring, we needed the help. They were going to be here for personal introductions but they’re slammed.
“We’ve got Dr. Felicity Wilder, worked as a civilian doctor in the field. Great experience and she’s sharp. Dr. Amelia Thorne, former Navy doctor. Dr. Darcie Lawless. No military experience but her father was General David R. Lawless. Many of you served with him. He was a good man and his daughter is amazing.
“They’ve all been interviewed, vetted, researched, and they understand what they’re walking into. If you see them in the cafeteria, introduce yourselves and welcome them.”
“On the nursing side, we hired two male nurses for now but we’ll need more in the coming months. Both of these men are registered nurses but also were medics in the Corps,” said Eric. “We’ve got Quentin Laurier and Jeremy Marlowe.
“The younger Marines on our team knew both men, and in fact, some of our SEALs knew them. These guys were combat, field medics and not only saved lives, but took a few when necessary. They’re the best and we’re damn lucky to have them.”
“Sounds like we’re definitely moving in the right direction,” said Wade. Hex nodded at the younger man.
“Alright, let’s talk about what’s waiting in the wings for us. Remember, these cases shouldn’t be the hardcore shit we were seeing with VG. This should be more local and slightly less deadly,” smirked Hex.
The low chuckles in the room understood that they always hoped for that but didn’t always get it.
“Three protection details coming up,” said Cam. “One is the usual, for the governor at a conference he’s hosting in New Orleans. They just want a few men down there to be sure nothing goes wrong. They’re not expecting any trouble, but we know how that goes.
“The other two are for film stars coming into New Orleans to film a movie. These can be tricky and sometimes annoying as fuck. Then again, sometimes you find your wife. Right, Dom?”
“Damn straight,” he smiled.
They reviewed each of the cases, dividing the members into teams to take the ones that suited their skillsets the most.
The new year started cold and blustery and they were happy that none of the cases would be outdoors. At least not for now.
Just as the team was about to break for lunch, Ajei walked in and smiled at them.
“Sorry to barge in, but we’ve got a problem and we need some help,” she pleaded.
“What’s wrong, babe?” asked Luke.
