by Kate James
Focus, O’Connor. You’re here to do a job.
Ariana’s phone signaled an incoming call. She stepped away, had a brief conversation and walked back.
“They’re ready for us. We’ll get the mobile staircase in place. Those buses—” She motioned to their right. “They’re for the passengers, to take them to the terminal building once you’re finished with them.”
Another car pulled up as she was speaking. It was marked with the United States Homeland Security crest and the words Transportation Security Administration. A tall, slim man with a slight hunch to his shoulders and thinning blond hair got out and approached them.
“This is Federal Security Director Angus Stewart,” Ariana said. “FSD Stewart, meet Captain O’Connor and Officer Clemens of the SDPD K-9 Unit.”
“FSD Stewart,” Logan acknowledged the other man, mildly surprised by the lack of strength in his handshake and the clamminess of his palm. He had an immediate dislike for the TSA director. Judging by Ariana’s body language, she wasn’t a big fan either. “You don’t have explosives detection dogs at this airport?” Logan asked to confirm.
“No. We mostly rely on electronics trace detection technology.”
Logan wasn’t about to get into a debate with Stewart about the relative merits of the two methods of detection. The data showed that dogs were far superior in terms of accuracy and cost effectiveness.
“The report stated that the women were already inebriated when they boarded. Why were they let on the plane to begin with?” Stewart asked.
“Good question, and one I would like the answer to, as well,” Ariana responded.
“If someone had done their job, it could’ve saved us all a lot of hassle.”
The cat’s-eye shape of Ariana’s lids, which hinted at some exotic heritage, narrowed as she held Stewart’s gaze. “FSD Stewart,” she began in a voice that could have doused a raging fire. “Of course you’re aware that passenger boarding is the responsibility of the airline.”
Prickly, Logan thought, but somehow that just made her more intriguing.
“Yeah, I’m aware of that. If the women were that drunk, shouldn’t the people doing the boarding have called security?”
Her light blue irises were icy as a glacier, but she remained silent. Logan had the odd sensation of wanting to squirm even though her steady-eyed scrutiny wasn’t directed at him.
“They didn’t call security nor did they report it to their own management, correct?” Stewart persisted. “They just took the path of least resistance and let the women board.”
“That’s right.”
“This is a ridiculous and unnecessary use of our time due to sloppy procedures,” Stewart sneered.
Despite the improvement in Logan’s disposition, the headache that had been brewing behind his temples began to throb. He longed for his bed. He shifted from one leg to the other. “Yeah, I can understand your frustration,” he cut in. “You must have a lot on your plate, implementing all those recommendations from the Inspector General’s office.” He resented Angus’s jabs at Ariana. He put it down to how tired and irritable he was that the nasty comeback was out of his mouth before he realized it. He’d implicitly referenced the colossal failure of the TSA in a covert testing of its practices conducted by Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General a year ago. The classified results had been leaked and were very much in the public domain. Included in the recommendations was one for the TSA to introduce more dogs, especially at larger airports. Angus must not have gotten the memo.
Angus’s sharp intake of breath told Logan he’d hit the mark. He noted that Ariana’s expression remained inscrutable, but her eyes sparkled. She mouthed the words “thank you.”
He acknowledged it with a slight incline of his head and, when Angus wasn’t looking, a quick grin.
They waited as the mobile staircase was moved into position.
“If everyone is ready, we can start the deplaning,” Logan said and glanced at Stewart for confirmation. The FSD didn’t seem eager to take charge. TSA had jurisdiction, but without detection dogs there was little they could do in this situation. “Okay, then.” Logan turned to Ariana. “Two hundred and six passengers and crew in total, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Boomer and I’ll check them for explosives before they board the buses. Officer Clemens and Darwin will assist. Once the passengers are all off, we’ll sweep the aircraft.”
“I’ll need you to take the two women involved to the division,” Logan addressed the other cops. “Ms. Atkins,” he turned to her again.
“Ariana is fine.”
“All right, Ariana. I would appreciate it if members of your team could hold all passengers until we’re done with the aircraft.”
She nodded. “Of course.”
“Anything you’d like to add?” Logan asked Stewart.
“No. Let’s get this done,” he grumbled.
Man, no wonder TSA had problems, Logan thought as the passengers started to disembark.
Although Darwin was still in training, Logan had Shannon do the primary check of passengers with her dog. It was good experience under low-risk conditions.
They deplaned the two women first. The other passengers followed, their irritation apparent. Who could blame them? They were losing valuable vacation time.
Logan did his best to ignore the pounding in his head, and to be polite and pleasant as he and Boomer did a brief secondary check. When all passengers had disembarked, he and Boomer, aided by Shannon and Darwin, went to work on the aircraft itself. An hour later, and with the headache hammering so hard behind his eyes it made it almost impossible for him to see, Logan led Boomer down the stairs, Shannon and Darwin right behind him.
“Good job, Shannon.” He bent down to scratch Darwin’s ear. “You did great, too,” he praised the dog. “I’ll see you tomorrow to debrief,” he said to Shannon.
“I can go back to the division with you now, if you’d like.”
Logan couldn’t fault her for enthusiasm, but going back to the division was the last thing he wanted to do. “Thanks for offering, but there’s no need. We can cover it tomorrow.”
“Great. Thanks.” Shannon said her goodbyes and headed back to her SUV with Darwin.
As Logan and Boomer walked back to where Ariana, Max and the others waited, all eyes were on him, but it was Ariana’s gaze he held. It surprised him that he felt a powerful tug of attraction despite his blinding headache. “The aircraft’s clear,” he announced, trying not to stare at her. “There was no sign of explosives on board. Not unexpected.”
Ariana glanced at Boomer, but held her position. “No, it’s not,” she agreed, her gaze lingering a moment longer on the dog. “You’ve taken the women into custody?”
Logan nodded, and just that slight movement made his head feel as if it was about to explode. “Yeah. They should be on their way to the division by now.” He glanced around, noting that Stewart and his car were gone, too. “What happened to the FSD?”
“He had more pressing matters to attend to.”
There was that hint of a smile again. Logan wished he was feeling better so he could’ve taken some time to get to know her. That wasn’t happening today, though. “Nice to meet you. Thank you for your cooperation,” he mumbled and started to move toward his vehicle.
“That’s it?” Ariana called after him. “Officer Brody usually stayed on site to discuss the incident with us.”
Logan turned back. He nearly winced from the sharp pain that cleaved through this head. “I’ll write up a report at the division. You’ll have a copy tomorrow.” Answering his phone when it vibrated, he trudged off with Boomer beside him.
* * *
ARIANA STOOD WITH the other members of her team and watched Logan’s retreating back. He was tall and fit, as would b
e expected for his job. The short-cropped black hair and the way he moved would have told her “cop” even if she didn’t already know it. She hadn’t expected to like him, but she did. He’d scored major points with her when he’d taken that shot at the FSD. Two other area airports were part of Angus’s responsibilities along with San Diego International. The average failure rate for the covert testing of the three was actually higher than the abysmal national average of 95 percent. And, Angus loved to criticize her.
Ariana liked the spirit Logan had displayed. Not many people would go toe-to-toe with a Transportation Security Administration director. Yet he appeared weary as he walked away. Uncharacteristic, from what she’d heard about him.
She felt a flutter in her belly, and this time it wasn’t caused by her unease with the dog trotting along beside him.
She hadn’t intended to eavesdrop on his telephone conversation, but since her attention was focused on him, she unintentionally overheard his side of it.
“Look, Becca, I’m sorry I left while you were sleeping this morning, but I can’t be with you 24/7. I have a job, for Pete’s sake! You’ve got to...”
He was too far for Ariana to hear anything else. She found herself unexpectedly—and unreasonably—annoyed at what sounded like the cop having walked out on his girlfriend. Or was she bothered by the fact that he had a girlfriend?
Ridiculous!
She might have found him attractive, with that rough and rugged, macho thing he had going on, but she wasn’t interested in him...or anyone. Her career came first. She’d been in her job for barely a year, and in the airport industry that was nothing. In addition, she’d always avoided relationships in the workplace. Logan might not be employed by the airport, but it was close enough. Also, based on what she’d heard, he was seeing someone.
“Well, that was an incredible waste of time and money.”
Ariana spun around to face Dave Langdon, one of the supervisors in her department. A former SDPD officer, he’d worked at the airport for over ten years, first as a security guard and the last four as a supervisor. Dave was one of the people who consistently made her feel like a newbie. Conversely, she’d questioned time and time again why Dave had been kept on as long as he had. He might have experience, but his work ethic was lacking and she couldn’t find a kinder phrase to describe him than “mean-spirited.” She knew he’d applied for her job, and it didn’t surprise her that he’d been passed over.
“Do you have a problem with the FAA protocols, Dave?” she retorted, referring to the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Nah. It’s just a lot of trouble for two drunken women. You know how the airport’s CEO and the board are all about keeping expenses down these days. This’ll cost us and the airline.”
“What would you have done differently?” Ariana asked, her voice cool and professional. It wasn’t her style to challenge an employee in front of others.
Dave had defied her authority before. It had never been overt enough for her to call him on it officially, but it had been an undercurrent since she’d been in her position. Now he was sounding a lot like FSD Stewart and doing it in front of two other members of her team, who stood silent and watching.
“It always has to be your way, doesn’t it? Those of us who’ve been on the job would do it differently.” He stalked off before she could respond.
And there it was again. That disdainful tone he used with the innuendo that he was better than she was, because he’d been a police officer. She didn’t think Dave had any way of knowing about her failure to get on the force because of her health condition, but he seemed to like dropping those little barbs. She’d worry about that later.
Seeing the outrage on Max’s face, she gave him a look that left no doubt that she didn’t want to talk about Dave. The other security officer, a young man she’d hired recently, was obviously uneasy with what he’d heard, if the pink tips of his ears and the fact that he was preoccupied with studying his shoes were indications. She couldn’t be concerned about his reaction either. Right now, she still had work to do.
Dave hadn’t been far off in his “waste of time and money” comment, she thought as she drove back to the terminal building with Max. She’d already squandered at least five hours of her own time getting the report writing and follow-up done. Considerable departmental resources had also been expended. Since the cuts, she didn’t have a lot of room in her budget.
She understood that as nonsensical as it might seem to have brought the plane back, the pilot had no real choice once a threat had been made, despite the considerable expense to the airline and the airport. She hoped the women had learned an important lesson.
It had been a shock, although not an unpleasant one, to learn that Officer Tom Brody was gone from the police department.
She wondered again how a guy like Brody had been able to get on the force in the first place.
Ariana’s thoughts veered back to Logan as she unlocked her office. She was glad that she wouldn’t have to see Brody again, although she wasn’t convinced that SDPD K-9 Unit captain Logan O’Connor would be easier to deal with, for entirely different reasons.
As much as Ariana tried to concentrate while she worked on her report, Logan kept creeping back into her thoughts. It was obvious that he knew what he was doing, and it would be difficult to find fault with him professionally from what she’d seen. And on a personal level? When Logan smiled, he was hard to resist. But what was all that she’d overheard about him sneaking out on his girlfriend in the middle of the night?
She was attracted to him, no question, but he was definitely off-limits.
With her mind wandering, Ariana lost track of where she’d been in her report to her boss. She had to finish it before she could go home. She refocused, and ten minutes later she clicked Send. The email, with her report attached, was on its way to Calvin Murdoch, the airport’s chief executive officer.
The final task of her day complete, she felt as if she’d crashed into a wall. She hated to think of the mood she’d be in tomorrow, if she didn’t get home and recharge.
CHAPTER TWO
ALL LOGAN WANTED to do was fall into bed and get some sleep. He didn’t care that it wasn’t even nine yet. As soon as he took the turn onto his street, he knew that wasn’t going to happen.
Becca’s red Mustang was parked in his driveway. As he got closer, he could see her sitting on the bottom step of his porch, legs crossed, elbows on her knees, her chin resting on her fisted hands.
Although she had a key to his place, she must have forgotten it.
She looked sad and forlorn. He couldn’t hold back the sigh, but thankfully it escaped before he’d gotten out of his SUV. As soon as he let Boomer jump out of the back, the dog bounded over to Becca, enthusiastically nuzzling and licking her. She shoved Boomer’s head away and wiped her face with the back of her hand.
Logan leaned against his truck and folded his arms across his chest. He’d figured if anyone could cheer Becca up, it would’ve been Boomer. Yet she just kept pushing him away. He resolved the impasse by climbing into her lap—no easy feat for an eighty-five-pound dog. Boomer whimpered and rested his head on Becca’s shoulder. Finally giving in, Becca wrapped her arms around the dog and buried her head in his glossy fur.
Almost instantaneously, her body convulsed with sobs.
Logan sighed again, and dropped down on the step, draping his arm around her.
“Men...are...horrid,” she managed between sniffles.
It was the same refrain Logan had been hearing for days now. He turned his head toward her. “Yes, we are. It’s a burden we have to bear.”
Becca jerked her head up, bumping his chin. Logan let out a muffled “ouch.”
“No, I didn’t mean you,” she protested.
He tested his jaw, and rubbed it to ease the discomfort. He’d always kno
wn she had a hard head, but this was the first time he’d felt the brunt of it physically. “I’m a man, aren’t I?”
She gave him a watery smile. “Brothers, especially good ones like you, don’t fall into that category.”
He was relieved to see the smile, as feeble as it might have been. It was the first he’d seen from her in days, since she’d broken up with that punk Winslow after she’d caught him cheating on her. Becca had done the right thing, but Logan hated to see her hurt. So much so, he was tempted to have a chat with Winslow—what kind of a name was Winslow anyway? “There are lots of women who might disagree with you,” he joked, hoping to keep her spirits up.
“What do they know?” she said, and her smile firmed.
Sleep was overrated, Logan decided. Becca had been his top priority since they’d lost their parents. Since then, it had been just him and his kid sister.
He wished he could’ve spared Becca the heartbreak of a first love gone wrong. As he couldn’t, the least he could do was support her and help her through it. “How about I throw some burgers on the grill and you make the salad?”
“It’s got to be nine o’clock by now,” Becca said with a hiccup.
“At least. Have you had dinner?”
She averted her gaze. “No.”
“Lunch?”
“I had a bowl of ice cream.”
Logan rose. “There you go. I’m making us dinner. I’ll even toss the salad myself.”
He held his hand out to her. When she placed hers into his, he tugged her to her feet, eliciting an annoyed whine from Boomer as he was dumped unceremoniously from her lap.
“C’mon,” he said and whistled for Boomer to follow.
* * *
DESPITE THE LATE NIGHT, Ariana was at work at seven the following morning, as usual. She didn’t get as much done the evening before as she’d hoped, because her thoughts kept drifting back to the events of the day and a tall, attractive cop. Although she could appreciate looks, they weren’t of highest importance on her list, so she didn’t understand why she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about Logan.