“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.
By the time she’d finished, her cat had sauntered over. She bent down and stroked her tortoiseshell-and-white coat. “Hey, Sabrina. How was your day? Better than mine, huh?” she murmured.
Taking her briefcase and placing it on the dining room table, she walked into the kitchen, pulled a Coke Zero out of the fridge and took a drink straight from the can. A second long drink went a considerable way to soothing her parched throat.
Soda can in hand, she walked back to the dining room and set up her laptop.
Her apartment had two bedrooms. The smaller one was configured as an office, but she seldom used it. If she had to work, which she did most nights, she preferred to do it with a view of the ocean, visible through the dining room window.
As her computer booted up, she made herself a large spinach salad for dinner and hunkered down with her laptop to catch up on her emails and various other mundane matters that she hadn’t gotten to during the day. If she had time, she wanted to review her risk map, to decide which area she would next target for improvement.
With a long-suffering meow, Sabrina threaded between her ankles a few times. Ariana couldn’t resist picking her up and taking comfort from cuddling her for a few minutes. When she placed Sabrina back on the ground, the cat leaped onto a chair, curled up and in minutes was snoring contentedly.
Ariana kept working for as long as she felt she was being productive, crawling into bed near midnight.
It seemed she’d just rested her head on the pillow when her alarm went off at five thirty. With bleary eyes and a sluggish body, she got ready for work and wished for a quieter day.
Thankfully, it turned out to be uneventful. Ariana did some follow-up on the incident involving the two drunken women and initiated the hiring process to find Dave’s replacement. On the plus side, she had the opportunity to tour a group of schoolchildren through the airport’s emergency operations center. By late afternoon, she had her second wind and was feeling energized rather than drained. She was engrossed in a proposal Max had presented to her for upgrading their security cameras in the parking garages. An enhanced video management system was her current focus.
The knock on her door frame caused her to jump, and she pressed a hand to her racing heart. Spinning her chair around, she felt her heart rate accelerate further.
Logan stood in the doorway, dressed in indigo jeans and a pale blue polo shirt. She glanced down quickly to see if Boomer was with him. Not seeing