“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.
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 known 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.
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