Chapter 8

It was late afternoon by the time Jake drove them into the tangle of freeways that wound through Los Angeles. Theresa gave him directions to Amanda's house, not an apartment, which surprised him. If she'd been living alone all these years, he wondered how she could afford a home in LA.

"There it is, Jake! Over on the right, the white house with the aqua shutters."

"Okay." He took his foot off the gas and downshifted, a sense of dread churning in his stomach. Small, older stucco homes lined both sides of the street, and they all looked the same except for differences in color. Two cars were parked in the short driveway, forcing him to stop along the curb. He put the truck into park and let it idle, then turned to her with a smile. "Theresa, it was nice riding with you."

"And you, even if you were kind of quiet. I would have liked to get to know you a little bit."

"Why? We'll probably never see each other again." God willing, we won't, because if I see you, I might see her!

Theresa shrugged. "Maybe not, but... Hey, why don't you come in for a minute and meet Amanda? I think she'd wanna meet the guy who rescued her sister from that loser."

Jake chuckled. "Thanks, but no. I really should be moving on." He looked beyond the window, and suddenly the smile wiped off his face.

Theresa, noting where his gaze aimed, turned around. "Manda! Oh my god, I'm so glad to see you!" She opened the door while Amanda pulled on the handle, and they tumbled into each other's arms, hugging and crying. Jake watched, feeling like an unwanted voyeur, wishing he could make a quick break for it, but they were within clearance of the door. He'd have to wait it out, hope Amanda didn't recognize him, and then escape as soon as he could.

"Theresa, I'm so glad you came here! Warren could have killed you," Amanda cried as she still held onto her little sister. With one arm around her, she turned to the cab and looked in at the stranger watching them. She let her arm slide down Theresa's back as she came forward, because the shadows prevented her from getting a good look at her sister's guardian angel. Grinning, she held out her hand and stretched it over the cooler towards him. "Hi, I'm Terri's sister, Amanda."

Butterflies collided inside his stomach, and he realized that after all this time she hadn't changed much. A few more wrinkles, but her skin still looked clear and soft. Her blue eyes were bright with happy tears, and her lips, oh, they still looked as kissable as the day he first met her. His own lips parted, and he calmed himself before he spoke.

"Amanda. My name's Jake. Jake Baldwin. Nice to meet you."

She stared at him, and her mouth hung slack. Her eyes squinted and she studied him as she still hung onto his hand. He tried to disengage it from hers, but she held on tighter. Then she stepped up into the cab and sat where Theresa had shared the journey with him. "Sam? Oh my god, is it you?"

"No, my name's Jake..."

"No! You can't fool me!" She grasped his hand tighter as she felt his skin with her fingers. "I know you. I know your voice. It's you! It may be thirty years later, but I'd know you anywhere!" She dropped his hand, reached out and traced the scar on the side of his chin. "You've changed, but I never forgot your face." Her hand cupped his cheek and he could only stare at her as she blinked back tears. "Why, Sam? Why'd you leave me?"

With no warning, she pulled her hand back and slapped him.

His head whipped into the head rest, and shame filled his eyes. "I'm sorry, Manda."

"I can't even begin to imagine what sort of excuse you could have."

"Nothing that would satisfy you, I suppose. All I can say is I'm sorry. And I'm sorry that my being here reopened old wounds." He turned to face the windshield. "Now, if you get out of my truck, I'll leave, and you'll never have to see me again."

Amanda reached over and turned off the ignition, and she pulled out the keys and put them into her pocket. When his eyes met hers, his were full of shock and anger at her audacity. Hers were full of rage. "Get out of the truck, Sam. Now." He looked down and discovered that the glove compartment was open and she held his gun in her hand.

"Do you even know how to use that?" He noted that the safety was still on.

Her thumb slipped it off as she replied, "You don't want to tempt me, Samuel. Get out, now."

Whenever she called him Samuel, he knew she meant business. "Ohhh, okay, okay. Take it easy." He held up his hands. "I'm going to take off my seat belt now, real slow." He followed up by removing it. "And I'm getting out." He put his hand on the door.

"No! Not that way. This way." Amanda slipped off the seat and got out. "Terri, get that cooler out of there so he can come out."

Theresa got into the truck and looked at Sam with an apology in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into her. She thinks you're her ex-husband..."

"Terri, stop wasting time!"

She cringed. "You better listen to her." Terri pulled the cooler out of the truck, and she took it to the porch while Amanda stood waiting for him to get out. She heard the door close and turned to see Jake walking across the front lawn with his hands up. Amanda grabbed one and forced it down.

"Stop that! Just walk toward the house, and don't bring attention to yourself!"

He glanced back at her and complied, then turned to face the house. Amanda stuck the barrel into his back and walked close behind. Terri opened the door for them and followed the two into the house. Sam looked around at the small living room. The whole house was tiny and not much to look at, but he could tell by all the pictures, handcrafted pillows, and a multi-colored quilt on the couch that she furnished it with love.

"Okay, we're inside. I think you can take that out of my back now."

Amanda let out a sound like a growl and hit the back of his head with the butt of the gun.

He collapsed onto the floor. She didn't hit him hard enough to knock him out, just daze him a bit. Jake stayed down and waited for her next move.

"Manda, what is the matter with you?" Terri dropped to her knees and checked to make sure Jake was still breathing. "Why are you doing this to Jake?"

"Sis, I don't care what he told you his name is, he's a liar. Not too surprising." She sneered. "His name is Sam. Sam Axe. That no good slime ball I married long ago."

"No, it can't be the same guy, Manda! He... he was so nice. He took care of me and helped me get away from Warren. I don't think your Sam would have done that."

"Did you tell him about me?" She stood over Sam's prone body with the gun at her side.

"Yeah, but not until we were on the road for awhile." She looked up at Amanda. "Does it matter?"

"So he rescued you, and then you told him you wanted to come here and you told him about me."

"Yeah, that's about it."

Emotions paraded across her face, none of them good. "And what was his reaction? Did he give any indication that he knew me?"

Terri thought about it for a moment. "No, he didn't."

Amanda growled low again and kicked Sam, not hard, but enough to leave a bruise. He cried out, suddenly sat up, and got hold of the gun at her side. He pressed on a pressure point and disarmed her, twisted the gun around and held it in his hand as he dragged himself up off the floor. She breathed heavily and glared at him as she massaged the joint that he manipulated.

"I'm sorry, Amanda, I didn't want to hurt you, but I had to protect you from yourself."

"Why do you care now? You didn't care when you left thirty some years ago!"

He blinked a few times, thinking about what he would say. "When you and I married, I was in over my head. I thought I loved you, I really did. And then I got called up for SEAL training, there was no time to say goodbye." He paused. "I was away for a long time, I know that, and I wanted to write, but I was in places where contacting you was impossible. When I came back, you were gone. Then I found out you were with Mac, and I thought we were done."

"You could have fought for me."

"I could have," Sam said. "But I wasn't sure I wanted to. By that time, I was so confused about us, I didn't know what to do. Then duty called again, and it was a hell of a lot easier to deal with that than with you."

"Coward."

His response came so softly, Amanda almost didn't hear him. "When it came to you, yes, I was."

"And now? Are you still afraid of me?"

The corner of his mouth tipped up. "I probably should be. That was some pretty fancy stuff you pulled. I didn't know you had it in you."

"That's what happens when you marry a Marine."

Sam's face fell. "A... a Marine? You got married to a Marine?"

A slight smile crossed her face. "Think of it as a little bit of revenge against you."

"But, how could you get married again when we're still married?"

"Oh, we haven't been married long. Just a few months, but we've lived together for a lot longer." She paused and waved her hand toward the couch. "You might as well sit down and hear this."

"No thanks, I'd rather stay standing." Sam stayed near the front door and kept the gun in his hand. "I'm all ears."

Amanda stepped a few paces away from him and explained. "A few months ago, I got a phone call from a friend in Miami. Oh, you don't know her, but she knew about you. She said she read in the paper that you were killed in an explosion of a house." She looked at Sam and saw him nodding. "I looked into it and found out that the city had a death certificate with your name on it, so I was free. We went to the courthouse and got married right away."

"I see. Didn't waste any time, did you."

"I wasted thirty years of my life waiting for you to come back. I was an idiot."

Sam studied the floor for a few seconds before replying. He raised his head and looked directly at her. "I should have tried to contact you to arrange a divorce. I can't even tell you why I didn't, because anything I say will be a sorry excuse." He let out a breath. "So, what do we do now, since I'm not really dead, you're married to me and this other guy? But if we go through divorce proceedings now, I'm gonna have to get back on-grid and be Sam Axe again, and that won't be so good for me."

She crossed her arms in front of herself. "Why? Somebody trying to kill you? It'd serve you right."

"No. It's a long story, and I'm sure you wouldn't care. Let's just say it involves the government and my freedom."

"Sam, what did you do?"

He was surprised by her shocked look, and he fought a smug smile attempting to creep onto his face. "You look like you don't believe that I could do anything that's worthy of jail for the rest of my life."

"As much as I hate you for abandoning me, I don't think you could ever do something that bad. My friend told me about some of the things you and your friends were doing in Miami. Honorable things. Maybe the execution wasn't exactly legal all the time, but you were cleaning up the streets." Her expression softened slightly. "I don't think you could have done anything so terrible to be put away for life."

Sam relaxed a little, but he still stayed on his guard. "Thanks, Manda. I appreciate that."

"Now that you're here, it would be so easy for me to call the authorities and report you." She smirked at him. "I wonder if they're offering a reward. I could do some nice upgrading of the house."

As he watched a sly grin cross Amanda's face, he felt more vulnerable than he had in a long time. He kept his respirations even and calmed himself. She wanted to see him sweat, but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction. And to think he'd felt sorry for leaving her and neglecting her all those years. When she turned to Mac for more than just a shoulder to cry on, he divorced her in his mind. Not that he was ever lilly white, but the least she could have done was waited a bit longer until he could reach her. She must not have loved him that much, either. That was what hurt the most.

"Relax, Sam." Amanda crossed the room, stopped in front of him, and said, "As tempting as it is, I can't bring myself to do it. Maybe there's a piece of me that still loves you enough to protect you. It's crazy."

Just then, the back door slammed, and a male voice called out. "Manda? Where are you?"

"I'm in here, Kurt. We have a guest."

A tall, lean, muscular man Sam's age walked into the room. His hair was cut in the traditional jar shape of a Marine. He wore a sweaty t-shirt with Marines emblazoned on it. He wiped his greasy hands with a cloth, and as he stepped into the living room his eyes went to the man standing with Amanda.

"Holy crap. Sam!"

"Kurt." Surprised, Sam stared at his old schoolmate. "What the... you turned, man!"

"Yeah, well, after graduation I guess I decided that being a Marine was better than a squid." He grasped the rag in one hand as he grinned and came forward to give him a bear hug. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought Terri here to her sister, although I didn't know right away who her sister was." He gave him a sheepish smile as he broke away. "And I was hoping to find some people who can help me and my friends clear things up with, um, a certain government agency."

"You got yourself in some deep stuff, eh, Axe?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

"Could it cost me my career if this agency finds out you're staying here?"

Sam nodded again. "Most likely."

Kurt glanced at Amanda, who looked at him with uncertainty in her eyes. "Okay. Why don't you at least stay the night, and we'll figure out something tomorrow?"

Sam's gaze slipped to Amanda. "Only if you're okay with it, Manda. I don't want to do anything that might hurt you again. And I promise, that once things are cleared up, I will do everything I can to get our marriage dissolved so there are no problems for you and Kurt."

"Okay." Amanda nodded. "Sam?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry I pulled your gun on you and kicked you. I was just so mad, I didn't know what else to do."

He laughed. "I don't blame you one bit. I think I've been kicking myself mentally for a lot of years because of how I left you. It gave me a lot of scars too."

She suddenly felt uncomfortable and made a move toward the kitchen. "I'll get some supper started. Why don't you guys hang out? I bet you have a lot to talk about."

"Yeah. Let's go out on the porch and shoot the breeze. It's cooler out there, in the shade, and pretty closed off. It'll be safe to talk there." He stopped at the fridge. "Hey, want a beer?"

It was like asking a parched man if he wanted water. Sam grinned. "You betcha!" He accepted the bottle, twisted off the cap, and asked, "Hey, what about my truck out front?"

"If somebody asks, we'll say Terri bought it," Kurt said.

"Sounds like a good idea. Thanks, Kurt. Amanda." He nodded to her as he followed Kurt out the sliding glass doors to the porch.