When I Found You. Kate James

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ members of her team and watched Logan’s retreating back. He was tall and fit, as would be 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 СКАЧАТЬ