When I Found You

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.

She was walking through the passenger concourse when her phone rang. Seeing Max’s name and number on the caller ID, she answered without slowing her pace. “What’s up?”

She could tell right away that there was a problem, from the tone of his voice.

“We had another security breach early this morning. A passenger wandered out of the secure international departure lounge into the domestic area.”

“How did that happen?” Ariana asked, switching her phone to her other ear.

“The door had been left propped open.”

“What? That can’t be right.”

“Sadly it is.”

“But that’s a secure door. Only about twenty of us can open it.” Ariana moved to the edge of the corridor and stopped. “Do we know who left the door open?”

“We checked the video footage. It was Dave Langdon. For whatever reason, he hung around the airport last night. He wasn’t on duty, but he didn’t go home after our incident yesterday. He must’ve slept in the office and gone out to the airfield early this morning. On his way back, he passed through from the international to the domestic area and left the door open. We have him on camera.”

“What was he doing on the airfield?”

“You’d have to ask him. My guess would be he went out to have a smoke. Can you believe it? All for the sake of saving himself a couple hundred yards of walking?”

Ariana did a slow turn to face the wall. “You’ve got to be joking. Even if he was stupid enough to do that, why didn’t the door alarm go off?” She knew it was programmed to do so.

“We’re trying to determine that.”

“Get me the video file. I want to see it as soon as possible. Check his restricted area identity card record for the entire evening, too, would you?”

“Sure. Why?”

“If he accessed any other secure areas while off duty, I want to know about it.”

“Okay.”

“And the passenger? What happened to him?”

“It seemed to be an honest mistake. We took him through security again and to his proper departure lounge. He’s probably boarding his flight now.”

“Was there anyone else impacted?” Ariana was hoping not, given the earliness of the hour. If other passengers were involved, in addition to inconveniencing them, it could have caused flight delays.

“Fortunately not.”

“All right. Let’s discuss it once I’ve had a chance to watch the video. And I want to see Dave, if he’s here.” This could be the last strike for Dave Langdon, if in fact he had left that door open. “Wait, are you in your office now?”

“I am.”

“And you’ve got the video file cued up?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m closer to your office than mine.” Max was in the terminal, near the screening areas, for rapid response if needed. Her space was in the administration section. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Ariana holstered her phone. Since the day she’d started, she’d been trying to tighten security at the airport. If she’d learned one thing from her time working for a private security company before she’d joined San Diego International, policies and protocols had to be tight, effective and strictly adhered to. Not that her predecessor had been lax, but times had changed, and she’d been steadily making improvements to the extent her budget allowed. The TSA covert testing outcome had been a wake-up call. Yet every time she felt she took a step forward, there seemed to be something else that dragged her back. She bought two coffees on her way to Max’s office. Handing one to him as she entered, she placed the other on the corner of his desk. “Show me.”

Max held his chair out for her and started the video clip. Dave’s face wasn’t visible, but his movements, general body type and the clothing he wore—the same he’d had on that day—left little doubt that it was him. And if that wasn’t damning enough, Max confirmed that Dave had used his access card to open the door.

When the video segment ended, Ariana rose. Leaning against Max’s desk, she took a sip of her coffee. “Dave’s not stupid. He’d realize we’d know it was him. Does he want to get fired?”

Max shrugged. “I can’t answer that. I’ve never been able to figure the guy out.”

“Is he in the building?”

“Last time I checked before you got here, yeah.”

“Get him to my office in fifteen minutes. I need to talk to Human Resources first.”

* * *

IT WAS A crazy morning for Ariana. As much as she disliked Dave Langdon’s attitude, she hated firing people more. Human Resources had supported her decision and the deed was done. Dave had tried to deny that it was him. He’d claimed that he’d stayed at the airport overnight because he and his wife had had an argument that morning, and she’d kicked him out. He claimed that he’d slept in the office and hadn’t been walking around. That it must’ve been someone else who’d lifted his card and accessed the secure area.

He made the point that he’d changed, as she could see for herself, so the clothes he’d worn yesterday had been stuffed into his locker. He suggested someone could have taken them. When he’d realized that she wasn’t buying it, that she was really going to terminate him, he’d become belligerent and threatening. So much so that she reminded him she could have him escorted off airport property immediately. In the end, she persuaded him that wouldn’t be in his best interest, and allowed him to save face. She let him pack up his belongings, and Max walked him out.

The rest of the day hadn’t gone much better for Ariana. It seemed to be one niggling problem after another. It was well past six when she finally left.

Ariana let herself into her apartment, tossed her bag and keys on the hall table, and pulled the restraining band from her ponytail. She dragged her fingers through the length of her hair, slipped out of her shoes and placed them neatly inside the hall closet.