He shakes his dark head, running a hand through his hair. Goddamn, this man is rakishly handsome, but I’m not going to let it affect me because he’s a criminal with a capital “C.” There’s no way I’m going out with this man tonight, much less for the entire week.
But then he shrugs those broad shoulders.
“No, you didn’t dream anything up. The hijacking happened, but it wasn’t a real incident. It was staged, and actually, I work for the as an Air Marshal for the TSA.”
I stare at him.
“Staged? Are you freaking kidding me?”
He holds up both hands, palms out.
“I apologize because I know that we scared the passengers on board, not to mention the crew. But yeah, the TSA has revamped a lot of its procedures in the last few years due to a rise in in-air incidents, and now mock-hijackings are part of what we do to prepare crew for potential violence.”
I stare at him.
“No way.”
The handsome man merely shrugs.
“It’s true. You must have read about how people are freaking out a lot on planes now.”
I sputter.
“Of course I have! But I thought it was unruly passengers beating up on flight attendants and stuff! It wasn’t straight-up hijackings.”
My handsome date merely shrugs and smirks again.
“Yes, but you’d be surprised,” he drawls. “There have been a lot of threats in recent years, and ever since the War on Terror began twenty years ago, things have changed when it comes to in-flight security. The mock hijack was a test of the crew’s training to ensure that they’re properly prepared to handle all possible crisis situations.”
At his words, I’m too overwhelmed to say anything. So yesterday was totally fake? They put the passengers through hell on earth for what? To test the crew in an emergency situation? I’m astonished and honestly, appalled. The Transportation Security Administration is going to hear from me about this one, that’s for sure.
But still, I stare at the man.
“So you work for the TSA as what? A fake hijacker?”
He shrugs.
“No, like I said, as an air marshal.”
I stare again. This guy is full of surprises.
“So you’re an air marshal,” I repeat slowly.
He nods that dark head.
“Yep. The TSA went on a huge hiring spree a while ago because of the rise in on-air incidents. They put out some job bulletins, and I was hired as an air marshal on a part-time basis.”
Okay, I’m calling bull on this.
“No way does the TSA hire part-time air marshals. It has to be a full-time job.”
But the man just shrugs and smirks again.
“Itusedto be a full-time job, but like I said, things have changed a lot in the past few years. They need to get bodies in through the door, so they changed the staffing requirements. Being part-time is an option now,” he says. “I still go through all the same screening processes and training seminars. I just have fewer flight hours, that’s all.”
I shake my head, hardly able to believe my ears.
“Holy cow.”