The Blacklist: Reunited

***The Blacklist: Reunited*** is the second book in the trilogy, set in 2023. Five years had passed since the events in The Blacklist. The story begins when Toby Rieper comes back from the dead and haunts Shaunna Royalsden,Amelia Jersey and Ralph Lindsay, which leads them to reunite the original group.

## The five year gap

A lot happens between the end of The Blacklist and the start of The Blacklist: Reunited. Amelia Jersey resigns from The Blacklist (Group) like she promised Vanessa Newton, and Shaunna Royalsden also leaves as she was only originally there for Toby Rieper and she was closer friends with Amelia Jersey. There is a peaceful sense of ending at the end of the first book, and the agents have all accepted that it's time for them to part ways after the tragic events. All of them lose contact with each other.

However, the reputation of The Blacklist (Group) gains a huge boost, and they start to gain more interest, which expands the team to a fully operating Special Ops group. Ralph Lindsay stays in the group, but does not take leadership as he feels real guilt for killing Toby Rieper, although he has not yet told anyone. Frederick Kerber joins The Blacklist (Group) and becomes the leader instead. Harry Stewart remains a receptionist, and Crossroads comes back as a communication assistant. Instead of one connected group, it is now a company that sends individual agents on solo missions.

Ralph Lindsay proposes to Charlotte Lindsay upon his return to Manchester. In 2019, one year after the events of The Blacklist, Ralph Lindsay visits Amelia Jersey in The Blacklist: Interrogation, a short story taking place in Amelia Jersey's new house in Stockport, where she lives with Vanessa Newton (although she is not present at the time as she is working a retail job). They hadn't spoken in the past year. He tells her about his proposal to Charlotte Lindsay and asks Amelia Jersey if she would be his bridesmaid. She is very shocked by this, but says yes. Ralph Lindsay wants to keep the information low, and persuades Amelia Jersey to not tell Vanessa Newton or anyone else, as they wanted only a select number of people at their wedding and neither of them knew Vanessa Newton personally. On the other hand, Amelia Jersey tells Ralph Lindsay that she is planning to travel the world with Vanessa Newton. The pair of them are waiting for Inspector Auckland, who was supposed to interview them about their work in The Blacklist (Group) prior to the London attacks. However when he arrives, the conversation takes a turn as they are strictly interrogated about Toby Rieper's death. Ralph Lindsay is forced by Inspector Auckland to reveal the truth that he had in fact killed Toby Rieper. Amelia Jersey is shocked and upset, but she understands why he had to do it, and defends him. Inspector Auckland secondly attempts to frame Amelia Jersey by implying that she placed Toby Rieper in Buckingham Palace as she didn't let him stay back with Shaunna Royalsden, but he is quickly shut down. Thirdly, he tells them that Diana Kerber was found dead as she committed suicide by hanging (although this was made up), and that before that she left the Strategic Support Unit and passed the role to Penny Steiker. He shows them a letter that he apparently found on Diana Kerber's bed that was written by her, which contained the information he had presented, that would hypothetically take down Toby Rieper, Ralph Lindsay and Amelia Jersey. Inspector Auckland then leaves them in confusion. As they sit there trying to work things out, another inspector knocks on their door; this is the real one that was supposed to come visit them.

During the five years, Shaunna Royalsden drowns in guilt and depression, as she partially blames herself and her injury for Toby Rieper's death. She doesn't partake in anything productive for a while, and also loses contact with her best friend Amelia Jersey and also with Ralph Lindsay. She is left completely alone again. She gets a regular job at an office and lives a very mundane and disappointing part of her life, not being told by Ralph Lindsay about his secret wedding nor being invited. This is because he hasn't told her about the fact that he killed Toby Rieper and he wasn't able to look her in the eyes until she knew the truth.

Amelia Jersey and Vanessa Newton end up travelling around Europe and later some more distant countries between the years 2020 and 2022, and they even spend some time in Morocco with Vanessa Newton's parents. They develop their bond greatly during this time, getting very close and living a relationship with no secrets (except the events in The Blacklist: Interrogation) as they promised each other. Amelia Jersey for the first time in her life feels like she can publicly come out to the world as she feels very comfortable being around Vanessa Newton. She notably changes her visual appearance, having cut her hair shorter and moving to a more laid back non-conforming style. Her and Vanessa Newton spend a lot of time partying and travelling, until moving back to their new house in Stockport in late 2022.

Ralph Lindsay continues working at The Blacklist (Group) and becomes very successful. He buys a house together with Charlotte Lindsay after his proposal, and they get married in 2019. They live a very happy life together, with a common respect and understanding of each other's careers. Although she doesn't have to work, Charlotte Lindsay refuses to stay at home and do nothing so she gets a job in marketing, sometimes helping out at The Blacklist (Group) as well. As Ralph Lindsay heads into his thirties, he starts working out much more and building his physique. He also grows out a beard although his hair style and fashion choices remain similar. Charlotte Lindsay becomes a much bigger part of his life as they start to seriously plan their future together, including a family.