* * *
ARIANA WAS HAVING difficulty concentrating the next morning. Her mind kept straying to Logan and the time they’d spent together over the last couple of days. There was no question. She was falling for him, and hard. The thought made her feel nervous and giddy at the same time.
“I think this’ll be of interest to you,” Max said from Ariana’s office doorway.
She put her coffee mug down and glanced up expectantly. “What?”
“We might know how the explosives were transported into the departure area.”
“How?” she asked, the adrenaline rush kicking in instantaneously.
“Let me show you.” He moved over to her laptop and inserted a USB drive. Opening a video file, he clicked Play.
Ariana watched as an office supply delivery truck pulled up to the loading dock the retail tenants used for their deliveries. A skid was unloaded. A young woman, presumably a representative of one of the retailers, appeared to do a quick inventory check, signed what must have been the bill of lading and cleared the skid through security. On the other side of the screening point someone out of camera range called to her and she walked out of the frame. The skid remained on camera but there was no further activity.
“I don’t understand.”
“Just wait... Ah, here we go,” Max said when a man in dark clothes, his face obscured by a baseball cap, walked into the frame. He turned his head side to side—but not enough to be seen on camera—as if checking that no one was watching him. He moved around some boxes until he found the one he must have been searching for and grabbed it. He rearranged a few more boxes, pulled out a brown paper bag and disappeared.
The clip ended.
Ariana shook her head. “What am I missing?”
Max rewound the clip and paused it where the man had the box tucked under his arm and the bag in his other hand. He zoomed in.
“He’s got a printer cartridge box, by the looks of it, and his...lunch? Wait, did a cartridge go missing from the woman’s inventory?”
Max nodded. “That’s what alerted us. We checked the video files for the date and time of delivery, and this is what we found. The plain brown paper bag? There was nothing on the bill of lading that might have been in that bag. But see here...” He fiddled with her mouse and paused the video clip once more. “It was buried in the middle of all those boxes. We also caught our guy on another camera dumping the bag in a waste receptacle. I don’t think he took anything out of it.”
“Maybe it’s theft. Nothing more sinister.”
Max gave her a wounded expression. “C’mon, Ariana. You really think so? What about the paper bag? And why search the whole skid for a single cartridge box?”
“Okay, so the bag was planted there, along with the cartridge box, when the shipment was packed. There’s nothing in it that would have alerted security during the screen and he obviously didn’t need what was in it.”
Max nodded.
“Assuming the explosives were in the printer cartridge box, the bag must have contained something with a strong enough smell to mask the explosives, if a canine was to check the skid.”
“That’s what I think.”
“Go back to the frame where he’s got the box under his arm, please. Yes. Stop right there. Zoom in. It’s a blue printer cartridge. That could explain the smear on the letter he left us. It must have contained the explosives!”
“You got it.”
“This is significant. Can you get that bill of lading?”
“Already have it.” He reached into his jacket and handed her a folded sheet of paper.
“Thanks for this, Max,” she said as she ejected the USB drive and checked her watch. It was nearing seven thirty. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours at the latest. Let Cyn know when she gets in, would you?”
“Okay. We’ll get him,” Max said emphatically as Ariana put on her jacket.
“Lock up, will you?” she asked.
“No problem.”
Ariana grabbed her phone and called Logan’s cell on her way to her car. It went straight to voice mail. He’d told her his shift was scheduled to end at midnight the night before, and he wasn’t due at the division until noon. She left a short message that she had important news and she’d try to catch him at home. If he got the message before she saw him, she asked that he call her on her cell. She thought about calling him at home but didn’t want to wake him this early, if he was still sleeping.
Once Ariana was in her car and driving to Logan’s, she briefly questioned the wisdom of simply rushing over without an invitation. But she was too energized to wait until she saw him at the airport to show him what she had. She’d left him a message, so she wouldn’t be completely unannounced.
She pulled up in front of his house and was surprised to find a sporty red Mustang in his driveway. Unbidden, her conversation with Max at The Runway about how Logan had gotten his nickname sprang into her mind, as did the image of the two women, one on either side of him. Did the car belong to one of them? To Becca?
She tried his cell number again. It still went directly to voice mail. He might be charging it and not had it with him, she rationalized...or he was still sleeping.
What Max had discovered was too important. It might be the breakthrough they were hoping for. Besides, there had to be a rational reason for the car being there.
Even so, she didn’t want to block the car so she parked in the first available spot along the curb. Hopping out of her car, she walked back and climbed the steps to his front porch.
The sound of a playful bark made her glance to her right.
And it felt as if her heart was lodged in her throat.
Logan was walking along the sidewalk with a lovely young woman. Boomer scampered alongside the couple. Even at a distance, Ariana could see that she was beautiful, with flawless features and thick, near-black hair secured in a high ponytail. She was dressed in loose-fitting yoga pants and an oversize T-shirt. She held a coffee cup in one hand. Dressed casually, she still had an innate elegance.
Judging by the hour and their attire, there was no question in Ariana’s mind. The red Mustang belonged to the woman, and she’d spent the night.
Ariana sucked in a huge gulp of air while she tried to rationalize that Logan didn’t owe her anything—they really didn’t have what could be called a relationship. Yet...
In her mind, she’d been well on the way.
The woman laughed at something Logan said.
This must be Becca, Ariana decided, and her vision blurred. She needed to get away from Logan’s house before they saw her. As a large cube van temporarily blocked Ariana’s view of them, she took the opportunity to dash back to her car. She was fumbling to unlock her door when they reappeared on the other side of the van. She saw Logan look directly at her as she wrenched open her door. Desperate to get away to save at least some of her pride and dignity, she jumped in, backed up quickly and would have torn away from the curb if Logan hadn’t sprinted forward and blocked her path.
“Whoa!” he yelled loud enough that she could hear him inside her car and over the sound of the radio. “What’s wrong and where are you going?” His arms were spread, and she inched the vehicle forward in an effort to get him to move before she fell apart right in front of him and his girlfriend.
He didn’t budge. He simply slapped his hands on her hood.
There was a car parked behind her and Logan in front. She couldn’t move her vehicle without running him over. Looking around, searching for a means of escape, her eyes locked on the woman standing some distance away, Boomer sitting quietly at her side. She was sipping her coffee and watching the interplay with apparent curiosity.
Ariana knew she had to get away before what remained of her composure disintegrated. She opened her window and leaned out. “Logan, please,”
she pleaded. “Move so I can leave.”
He cautiously edged his way around the side of her vehicle. He must have realized that if he gave her an inch, she’d take off. Reaching the driver’s side, he leaned his arms on the window frame.
She was staring straight ahead, trying hard to ignore him.
“Ariana, what’s up?” he asked softly.
He extended a hand to touch her face but she jerked her head out of the way.
“What’s gotten into you?”
She swallowed hard. She looked briefly at the woman who stood drinking from her cup, unperturbed and giving every indication that she was amused by the little drama unfolding in front of her.
Logan followed Ariana’s gaze. “Oh, for Pete’s sake!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.
Ariana’s head snapped toward him. She didn’t understand his exasperation. Seeing an opportunity, she moved her car forward, but Logan forestalled her with a hand on her shoulder.
“Just hold on a minute!” He signaled to the woman with his other hand for her to join them.
Ariana was horrified. Did he actually intend to make a friendly introduction? Glancing at the woman again as she reached Logan’s side and seeing her smile, Ariana could only marvel why she didn’t seem at all troubled by the occurrence.
“Ariana, I’d like you to meet Rebecca.” Logan paused until Ariana’s eyes met his again.
She’d been correct. This was Becca.
“My sister,” he added.
Ariana felt the flush across her face.
“Becca, this is Ariana. The woman I was telling you about.”
To Ariana’s chagrin, Becca grinned disarmingly and extended a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ariana.” She spared a glance for her brother. “Logan has told me a lot about you.”
No longer panicked, Ariana immediately saw the family resemblance. The hair, the eyes, the build and the easy smile. Embarrassment replaced Ariana’s anger. “Oh. Well,” she stammered. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
Appearing relieved that the crisis had passed, Logan stepped back from her car. “Ariana, why don’t you park? I’ll put Boomer in his kennel. Come join us for a cup of coffee.”
With her mind cleared, she remembered the reason she’d come over unannounced to begin with. “Logan, I... I’m sorry to intrude, but we might have a break in the case.”
Over mugs of coffee, Ariana showed Logan the video clip and the copy of the bill of lading, and summarized what she and Max had concluded. Logan agreed with her. He made a couple of phone calls and got the ball rolling to see if they could figure out how the cartridge box got into the shipment and if it had been tampered with. “We should have some answers before the end of the morning. I have to go to the division early in case we need to move on it right away. I need to get ready.”
“Well, I’ll go, then, and get back to work, too.”
Logan rose and rested a hand on her back. “Stay and finish your coffee. There’s nothing more you can do at present. Leave it with me. Becca will be here awhile longer and she can lock up when she goes.” He glanced at Becca for confirmation.
She nodded.
Once Ariana got over her embarrassment for how she’d behaved—which wasn’t easy—she found she liked Logan’s sister a great deal. Becca was intelligent, had a great sense of humor and was obviously very fond of her brother. Becca explained to Ariana why she’d spent the night at her brother’s place. Although she was over her heartache, her ex, Winslow, had apparently decided that he wanted her back and had become a nuisance.
“My loving, overprotective big brother wanted to intercede. I assured him that it wasn’t serious enough for a restraining order. It wasn’t an easy sell, but I can be quite stubborn, if need be,” she said with an impish grin. “He grudgingly dropped the idea. To avoid uncomfortable confrontations, I’ve been hanging out here on and off, knowing Winslow isn’t foolish enough—or brave enough—to cause a stir at a cop’s house,” she said with another smirk.
They both glanced up as Logan came back into the kitchen. “You two okay?” he asked as he poured more coffee into his mug and refreshed theirs.
“Oh, yeah,” Becca supplied. “It’s nice to have a woman to chat to about my...uh, recent problems.”
Ariana noticed the searching look Logan gave Becca.
“Not to worry, big brother. No change in how I feel about Winslow. I’m happy he’s in my past, and he’ll stay there.” She motioned with her coffee mug toward Ariana. “I’m so glad I got a chance to meet you!”
Checking his watch, Logan gave Becca’s ponytail a gentle tug. Next, he brushed his lips over Ariana’s. “I better get going.” Placing his mug in the dishwasher, he walked toward the hallway.
“So tell me, Ariana, what exactly is it that a beautiful, intelligent woman like you sees in my brother?” Becca asked just as Logan was about to turn the corner, her voice laced with as much humor as affection.
He paused and glanced over his shoulder. “I might come to question the wisdom of leaving you two alone,” he said with a smile and a wink at Ariana, before heading out of the kitchen.
* * *
ARIANA FELT AS if she was floating on a cloud as she walked through the terminal building.
She was crazy about Logan!
Who would have thought that something so exceptional could have resulted from a disaster?
Her euphoria stayed with her as she breezed by Cyn’s desk on her way to her office. She started up her computer, and began reviewing and responding to emails. The splint on her broken finger slowed her progress, but by midday, she was almost done.
“What are you doing sitting here?”
Ariana jumped at the unexpected interruption as much as the harsh tone of Logan’s voice coming from her doorway.
“And you’re having your lunch?” The question sounded accusatory.
She glanced at the plate beside her computer with her half-eaten sandwich on it. “Is that a problem?” she asked. “Even a dedicated police officer, such as you, must eat now and then.”
She could see Logan was perplexed. Well, so was she. She had no idea what had brought on his mood. “Did you learn anything about the printer cartridges?”
He gave a slight shake of his head. “Nothing substantive.”
“Then what’s wrong?” She didn’t understand why he was behaving the way he was.
“I want to know why you’re sitting in your office having lunch when you’ve got an active shooter incident in Terminal 2.”
Ariana could feel the blood drain from her face and she shot out of her chair. “An active shooter incident...?” Her voice trailed off. “What’s happening? Why wasn’t I informed?”
The confusion on Logan’s face intensified. “What are you talking about? You sent the notification as incident commander—”
“What?” The word exploded from her. “I didn’t send a notification, and I’m not aware of any incident at the airport.”
Logan stepped into her office. “Do you have an emergency operations training exercise underway?”
She shook her head. “No. We don’t have them during the day and certainly not at peak traffic times. When we do hold them, we provide advance notice to all law enforcement organizations and most participate. You would’ve known if we were.”
He pulled his cell phone out of its holster and held it out to her. “Then how do you explain this?”
Ariana quickly read the notification. Her shoulders sagged and her exhalation was an audible gush of air. It was a notification of an active shooter incident. It called for immediate evacuation of Terminal 2 and a request for police response. The notice had her electronic signature as incident commander on the bottom. Whoever sent it had to have had her passcode for access to use the notification system.
She felt nauseous and unsteady as she handed Logan’s phone back to him and grabbed her own. She dialed Max’s number and could hear in his voice what she’d feared. “Max, what are you doing?”
“I’m overseeing the evacuation of Terminal 2, as you directed.”
“What’s the status of the active shooter incident?”
“We haven’t seen or heard anything, Ariana. I was about to contact you to find out the exact location.”
Ariana sucked in three deep breaths. “Abort the evacuation. Do a sweep of Terminal 2, just to be sure. I don’t think you’ll find anything, but check anyway.”
“Then why did you send the notification? What’s going on, Ariana?”
Ariana’s eyes met Logan’s. “I didn’t send out a notification.”
“Your signature...your authorization passcode. How’s that possible?” Max asked.
“I don’t know.” Her voice dropped to a near whisper. “We need to find out and fast.”
She sat down and turned to her computer to check her sent messages. There was no record of the email there or in her trash folder. That didn’t mean much. Whoever sent it could have deleted it immediately. She’d have her computer checked. The airport’s IT people would be able to determine if the message originated from her laptop.
She called the airport’s chief information officer, outlined the situation, gave him the time stamp from Logan’s copy of the email and asked that he get a search done for the IP address and location it was sent from. He was understandably concerned and said he’d have Wayne Gallagher look into it immediately. When he mentioned Wayne’s name, Ariana thought to ask if there had been any progress on determining how her identity card had been duplicated. He assured her that if there had been any developments, he would have informed her immediately. In view of the significance, he’d assigned another tech, Tyler Adams, one of their cybersecurity specialists, to work with Wayne, but they hadn’t come up with anything, and at this stage he doubted they would.
Ariana made a quick call to Calvin’s office. He was out, but of course he would have received the notification on his cell phone. Ariana gave the information to Marlene and asked that she communicate it to her boss the first chance she got. Ariana didn’t want Calvin hearing about this latest fiasco from someone else.