When I Found You

He kissed Madison’s cheek and shook Rick’s hand. “I’m very happy for you two.” He offered congratulations to Jessica and Cal a final time. With a wave to everyone else at the table, he hurried out of the lounge.

Logan was glad he’d decided to follow Ariana when he saw that someone else had the same idea. Except Logan was convinced that the other guy’s intentions were less honorable than his, based on the way he was leering. The guy was definitely headed toward Ariana and her car, when Logan dropped a firm hand on his shoulder. “I don’t think so, pal,” he stated in a no-nonsense tone.

“Hey! What the heck?” The man tried to shove Logan’s hand away and took a drunken swing at him.

“I wouldn’t try that again, if I were you.” Logan hung on to him by the back of his shirt and pulled his badge out of his pocket with his other hand. “Go back in the bar and have one of your buddies take you home. You’re in no shape to drive.”

The realization that he was tangling with a cop must have permeated the guy’s alcohol-sodden brain. He mumbled an apology, made two attempts to yank his shirt back into place and, with his head hung and shoulders slumped, hightailed it back into The Runway.

The incident had given Ariana time to get into her car and start backing out, evidently oblivious to the little drama that had unfolded. That annoyed Logan. What kind of a security professional was she, parking in a remote, unlit area of the lot, and so unaware of her surroundings that she didn’t realize that an inebriated jerk had followed her? He didn’t want to think what could’ve happened, if he hadn’t been there to intervene.

Logan’s mood was decidedly sour by the time he stalked up to Ariana’s car and stood in front of it. He could see the surprise register on her face. He stomped over to her window and signaled for her to lower it.

He didn’t let her get a word in before he spoke. “You should know better than to park in the farthest and darkest corner of the lot. What were you thinking?” He hadn’t realized how much it bothered him to contemplate that drunk harassing her.

He couldn’t explain the protectiveness he felt toward her. It wasn’t akin to what he felt for Becca, because there was nothing sister-like about his feelings for Ariana.

“It’s nice to see you, too, Captain,” Ariana said with a forced smile and syrupy-sweet voice. “Are you here to deliver the safety tip of the evening?”

“No.” He’d followed her on impulse and was glad he had. “Did you...” He trailed off, ignoring the curious expression on her face. There was no point enlightening her about what had happened. He was starting to think logically again. Being around Ariana seemed to frazzle his brain. She wasn’t careless. She’d arrived late, after him. The bar and the parking lot were both already full when he got there. She’d probably taken the only spot available.

“Did I what?” she prompted.

“Uh...” He recalled the reason he had followed her out. “Will you have dinner or a drink with me?”

She laughed. Light and airy. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard her laugh, but it appealed to him in a way he couldn’t explain.

She gestured toward the building. “I just had a drink, and, Captain...” she put distinct emphasis on his title “...one drink is my limit if I’m driving.”

It was his turn to chuckle. He rested a hand on her window frame. “I didn’t mean right now.”

An odd expression flitted across her face. “Of course not. Is there a new development I should be aware of?”

Logan didn’t know if she was being coy or had forgotten about their discussion. He never had this much trouble asking a woman out on a date. Despite her laugh, she seemed reserved and, well, standoffish. He had no idea what had changed. He’d thought they’d hit it off the night they’d gone to Buster’s. “No. Not for business. Just a chance to spend some time together...get to know each other better,” he clarified.

Her eyes darkened and a vertical line formed between her brows. She swung her gaze toward the entrance to The Runway before meeting his again. “I think you have enough company to keep you entertained, Captain.”

He wasn’t sure what she meant, but this time her use of his title sounded derogatory.

“C’mon. Have dinner with me.” He offered his best smile. “There’re always the policies to discuss.”

“Thanks, but I’m busy.”

“I haven’t suggested a night yet.”

“Right. Well, that night that you’d be suggesting, I have plans.”

He had to draw his hand away quickly as she raised the window. If he hadn’t taken a step back, she might’ve run over his foot, too, as she pulled away and out of the lot.

Logan heard a hearty laugh and turned toward its source.

Cal stood some twenty feet away, his arm around his wife. Jessica was grinning ear-to-ear.

“Crash and burn! I don’t think I’ve seen you strike out before, Jagger,” Cal remarked.

Logan knew the reputation he had at the division. He didn’t know how he’d earned it. He was no more a player than most single cops. Although he avoided romantic entanglements, he tried to never hurt a woman he was seeing. That was more than could be said for some of the others. Having a witness to his strikeout with Ariana was mildly embarrassing, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. “It’s not the first time, nor do I expect it’ll be the last,” he said pleasantly. Waving good-night to Cal and Jess, he headed to his own vehicle.

It irked him more than he cared to admit that the beautiful security executive had brushed him off. There was no denying his attraction to her. When they’d ended their evening at Buster’s, she wouldn’t commit to dinner but he was certain the appeal hadn’t been one-sided.

Logan shrugged. Probably for the best if it didn’t go anywhere. At least until he either finished training Shannon or hired a replacement for Brody.

And of course, there was the whole reason why he avoided getting serious with women and why he’d procrastinated calling Ariana. Despite how happy his close friends were in their relationships, he’d seen up close, with his mother, what being married to a cop could do to a person.

His attraction to Ariana was unlike anything he could remember experiencing before, and he wasn’t prepared to risk thinking long term.

CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_4f570425-e058-56b9-9ed4-a9f463b6e31e)

MONDAY MORNING IN the terminal building, on her way to her office, Ariana grabbed a coffee—strong with a splash of milk. She placed the cup on her desk, her bag beside it. Sitting down, she turned to slide her laptop into its docking station and stared in surprise at the plain white envelope propped up against her monitor. It hadn’t been there when she’d left Friday night. Few people had access to her office: a cleaner, her duty supervisor, Max, Cyn and herself.

A quick scan of her office revealed nothing else was out of place. She nearly reached in her drawer to pull out a pair of blue latex gloves, to put them on before she handled the envelope.

She chuckled at herself. It was undoubtedly a corporate memo that had been delivered to her door and the cleaning lady had brought it in. Overreacting was an occupational hazard in her field, always expecting the unexpected from simple situations. As the saying went, you planned for the worst and hoped for the best. Ariana slit the envelope open, pulled out the single sheet of paper and unfolded it.

Reading the typed message, she felt a rush of adrenaline.

She snatched up the phone, began dialing, then stopped. It was before seven in the morning, and Cyn wouldn’t be in for an hour. She called her duty supervisor instead. “Get me the video footage for the hall outside my office, would you please, Trevor?”

“Of course. What time frame would you like?”

Ariana gave him the duration between when she’d left the office Friday evening and when she’d arrived just now.

“Anything you want me to check for?”

She considered his offer and decided that, under the circumstances, she wanted to do it herself. “No, thanks. Just get me the file as soon as you can.”

“Right away, boss.”

She quickly composed and sent out an incident notification. The message would reach the appropriate parties at all the devices they had registered in the system. She added Logan to the distribution list, because he wasn’t registered in the system as one of the normal recipients. After hitting Send, she tried FSD Stewart’s cell number. When it went straight to voice mail, she didn’t bother leaving a message. The emergency notification system would already have done that.

Ariana’s next call was to the San Diego Police Department and Logan. Last Friday morning she’d been thinking about him, and contemplating calling him to take him up on his suggestion about dinner. What a difference a couple of days made. More accurately, what a difference it made learning about his reputation and witnessing firsthand how he’d earned it.

She assumed it would be Logan, working in collaboration with the federal authorities, who’d be looking into the letter she was holding. He was the key contact regarding the investigation of the two women on the Barbados-bound flight; it made sense he’d be assigned for this latest development, too. The officers stationed at the airport would be supporting the investigation, but Logan would probably be the lead for the SDPD. Unable to reach him, she left an urgent message for him to get back to her. She called the division’s dispatch and advised them, too. Her final call was to her boss, Calvin Murdoch, the airport’s CEO.

If genuine, this had the potential for being a significant occurrence. In keeping with protocol, he needed to be informed that she was initiating their critical incident response plan. Calvin would have to be available for key decisions on her recommendation, such as a possible ground stop, diversion of aircraft and—if it came down to it—an evacuation of the airport or portions of it. He didn’t answer his cell and wasn’t in his office so she asked his executive assistant, Marlene Harris, to have him call her as soon as possible.

When Cyn poked her head into her office, Ariana was glad that her assistant had arrived early. “We have a situation. I need you to get Molly for me,” she said, referring to the vice president of communications for the airport.

Cyn gave her a questioning look but didn’t say a word. She knew that Ariana would fill her in when she had the time and if appropriate. Ariana said silent thanks, as she had on many occasions over the past year, that she had someone of Cyn’s qualifications and caliber to support her.