Cops 02 - Love on the Run Read Free Page B

conversation with him unless they were part of a larger group.
    “Sure.” He motioned toward the empty seat across from him. “Have a seat.” Bianca hesitated, and she glanced uncomfortably at Pops. He gave her a knowing look, as if he could sense that she wanted some privacy, and he quickly excused himself and headed back to the kitchen.
    Once Bianca sat down, Tony studied her while she toyed with the paper napkin on the table. As he waited for her to tell him what was on her mind, he noticed her cautious expression. It was obvious that she was trying to conceal her real thoughts and feelings from him.
    Tony tried to mask his irritation. They’d known each other for three months and had seen each other damn near every single day since they’d first met. After all this time, it annoyed the shit out of him to see that Bianca still couldn’t bring herself to feel comfortable around him.
    Bianca finally spoke. “I saw you and Jack this morning at that murder scene over in Humboldt Park. You two are handling that case, right?”
    Tony merely nodded. The fact that Bianca was at the scene wasn’t all that surprising, considering she was a reporter. He remained silent, unsure where she was going with the conversation.
    “So…” She cleared her throat. “I wanted to propose a partnership.”
    “Partnership.” Tony stared at her, feeling even more confused by her comment.
    “Yeah,” she rushed on. “You know, a little sharing of information between two cooperating agencies.”
    Tony sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest as the meaning of Bianca’s words finally sank in. “What are you trying to do, get me fired?” He made sure his voice sounded reprimanding. “You’ve been around long enough to know that the department doesn’t permit the police to make official statements to the media — especially about active investigations.”
    “I know.” A guilty smile flitted across her face. “That’s why I was thinking of something a little more…off the record.”
    Tony was already shaking his head, even as she said the words. “Wait, wait.” She spoke quickly, holding up a hand to stop him from talking. “Just hear me out before you say no. Please.”
    There was something about the way she stared at him, her gorgeous green eyes anxious and silently asking for help, her teeth worrying her full lower lip, and he already knew what his answer was going to be. With a sigh, he nodded slightly and waited for her to speak.
    “I know that a lot of the cases you and Jack investigate are linked to Dimitryi Ivanov.
    And if my guess is correct, so is the homicide scene from this morning. I’m working on a similar investigation, so us pairing together would be perfect.”
    “Really.” Tony frowned. “And what investigation is that?”
    “Well, I’ve been doing a lot of research for a story I’m working on about human trafficking and the sex trade business.”
    Jesus. Tony could only stare at her in shocked silence. He didn’t know what he’d expected for Bianca to say, but that was definitely not it.
    “Human trafficking, huh?” Tony struggled to keep his voice neutral.
    “Yeah,” she continued, completely unaware of just how upsetting her words were to him. Of all the things Bianca could have chosen to investigate, she just had to pick this one.
    Hell, she would be safer playing with a loaded handgun than she would being anywhere near this whole sex trafficking issue.
    “I figured that we could get together and compare notes.” Bianca shrugged. “Who knows, maybe we’ll both learn something new that will help our investigations. So, what do you think?”
    Tony continued to stare at Bianca. It was a horrible idea. In fact, it was quite possibly the worst fucking idea he’d ever heard.
    He’d been working with these types of cases long enough to know just how dangerous and deadly the people behind the scenes could be. This world was definitely not for the faint of heart, and some of