Ty Johnson stood in the middle of the arrivals area at Terminal 2 of the Los Angeles International Airport, plain old LAX to the locals. This was one upside to being six feet four inches tall. People he was collecting from the airport couldn’t exactly miss him.
Just look out for the huge black dude with the bad attitude and shades.
Not that he’d needed to give a description on this occasion.
He checked the time on his phone, then the screen above his head. Lock’s plane out of JFK had landed fifteen minutes ago, which meant he should appear any moment now.
Ryan Lock was Ty’s business partner and best friend. He’d been in New York for the past few days conducting a counter-security review for a Russian oligarch. It would have involved finding the holes in the man’s existing security arrangements, showing how a hostile party could exploit them, and telling him how they could patch them up. Lock saw this as an elaborate game, one that sharpened his own, already razor-edged, close-protection skills. Ty liked the fact that these gigs paid the kind of money it had taken him a year to earn when he’d worked for Uncle Sam.
Ty had stayed in California because of some minor legal difficulties involving his part in ending an armed hostage situation at a hospital in Long Beach. A man he’d served with in the Corps had flipped out when the staff had refused to treat an injured animal he’d brought in. Ty was facing a number of charges that would likely be dropped but for now it was easier for him to stay in California.
Lock appeared, carrying an overnight bag and a laptop case. He threaded his way confidently through the throng.
As Ty headed over to intercept him, Lock suddenly changed direction, picking up his pace and veering left, heading toward the exit that would take him outside to the nearest parking structure.
Weird, thought Ty, as he briefly lost sight of his friend.
Maybe he should have texted to let him know he was picking him up. No matter. He edged his way through the throng to intercept him.
Ty stopped in his tracks as he saw Lock pick up his girlfriend, Carmen Lazaro, and spin her round before planting a kiss on her lips. She ran her hands through his hair and pulled him in for an even more passionate smooch.
“Damn,” Ty muttered.
He wasn’t big on PDAs (public displays of affection), and until right now he’d thought Lock wasn’t either. Ty started to back up, away from the happy couple. He turned and began to head in the opposite direction.
“Ty!” Lock called.
Ty pretended not to hear and kept walking.
“Ty, wait up!”
There was nothing else for it. Ty turned around, doing his best to pretend that he hadn’t already seen him.
Lock was walking toward him, hand in hand with Carmen. “You here to pick me up?” he asked.
“Yeah,” said Ty, shuffling his feet. “I didn’t realize Carmen was meeting you.”
Carmen smiled at him. “I had a free day. Well, technically, I’m working at home.”
Lock squeezed her hand. “Was that what we were going to call it? Working from home?”
She playfully punched Lock’s arm. “Behave.”
“Absolutely not,” said Lock.
Lock had it bad. He never lacked for female attention, but this was the first serious relationship he’d been in since his fiancée had died right here in Los Angeles. With the job that they did, relationships were hard to establish and even tougher to maintain. Ty was pleased for his friend, but he didn’t want a courtside seat for all the mushy stuff.
“You kids go do whatever it was you planned,” said Ty.
“Hang on a sec,” said Lock. “Did I miss anything while I was up there? The WiFi was down so I haven’t checked email or messages.”
“Yeah, but it can wait.”
“Sure it can,” said Carmen, pulling at Lock’s hand.
“What was it?”
“Some Chinese guy’s been calling. Li Yeng. Name ring any bells?”
“Can’t say it does. What did he want?”
“To speak with you. Wouldn’t say why. But he’s called like four times in the past three hours.”
“Sorry,” Lock said to Carmen, and turned to Ty. “You have a number for him?”
“Sure,” said Ty, handing Lock his cell. “It’s the last call right there.”
“I’ll be two minutes and then we can split,” Lock said to Carmen.
“It’s fine.”
Lock moved away from them to make the call, leaving Ty alone with Carmen.
“Kind of awkward,” said Carmen. “We should probably coordinate airport pickup.”
“I thought you’d be at work,” said Ty.
“Ty, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but are you jealous?”
“Jealous? What do you mean?” he said, feigning ignorance. Ty knew exactly what she was driving at.
“Well, you and Ryan are tight. Best buds. Joined at the hip almost. Then I come along, and all of a sudden you don’t get to collect him from the airport anymore.”
“You’re messing with me, right?”
She grinned. “Maybe just a little.”
Lock walked over to them. He handed Ty his phone.
“What’s the deal?” said Ty.
Carmen had already read the change in Lock’s demeanor. “Something tells me our plans for the day just took a hit.”
“I’ll make it up to you.”
“Serious?” said Ty.
Lock nodded. “Double abduction in Arcadia.”
“Abduction or kidnapping?” said Ty.
“Too early to say. No ransom demand’s been made, but that’s not unusual at this stage.”
“You want me to call the office, see what I can find out?” Carmen asked.
“No point. The cops haven’t been told, and that’s the way the family wants it to stay. For now anyway.”