Cops 02 - Love on the Run (13 page)

When he opened the door, Bianca hesitated. At his questioning look, she said, “I know it’s late, but do you think you could stay with me for a little while? I’m just not ready to be alone right now.”

“Yeah.” He smiled and placed a soft kiss against her forehead. “I think I can do that.”

Bianca’s stomach rumbled loudly, and it reminded her that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She’d been so excited about her plans with Tony that she’d skipped lunch in favor of the dinner they were supposed to have together.

It wasn’t like she and Tony had never eaten together before. But this was different.

When Tony was at her house the previous night, they’d both admitted to feelings that ran deeper than just friendship. They both agreed their relationship had become more than just physical.

Before he’d left, Tony asked her out. On a real date. Where they could get dressed up and go out together as a couple. It was an unspoken acknowledgment that was supposed to mark the beginning of something more between them.

Now that it was finally here, Tony was late. Really late. Like, more than an hour late.

He was supposed to pick her up at nine o’clock, and they were going to have a late dinner.

She glanced at her watch. It was after ten-thirty, and he still hadn’t arrived.

At first, Bianca figured he’d probably gotten delayed because of work. But the later it got, the more worried she became. She was just about to call his cell phone when her doorbell rang. After she spoke to him on the intercom system, Bianca pressed the buzzer to unlock the outside door and let him into the building.

She waited for him at her apartment door. When Bianca saw him, her smile instantly dissolved at the look on his face.

“What happened?”

“Funny you should ask that.” He chuckled humorlessly. “I was just about to ask you the same thing.” He brushed past her as he walked into her apartment.

Bianca closed the door. “What’s wrong, Tony? Did something happen?” He stood with his back to her, and when he turned around to face her, there was so much anger in his eyes that Bianca had to force herself not to take a step back.

“Oh, yeah, something definitely happened. I made the mistake of trusting you, and in return, you hung my ass out to dry.”

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t —”

“You didn’t what?” he yelled. “You didn’t lie to me? You didn’t use the information that I gave to you in confidence and distort it to not only make Jack and me look bad, but the whole goddamn department look like a bunch of fuckups just sitting around while Dimitryi runs around committing rapes and murders all over the city?”

“No! I’d never do that to you, to Jack. You should know that!” Bianca’s mind spun as she tried to figure out what was going on. The last time she talked to Tony a few hours ago, everything was fine. Now, he looked at her like she disgusted him. She didn’t understand why Tony would accuse her of doing something like that, why he’d ever think she’d betray him that way. Didn’t he know how she felt about him?

“I’ll tell you what I know. I know that I saw the nine o’clock news on the news station that you work for run a report on the story you wrote that was filled with information that you got from me. Shit, your boy Greenley mentioned everything but Dimitryi’s home address and social security number.”

Bianca was shaking her head even as he spoke. “That’s not possible. It can’t be. I’m not even done with the story yet. It’s not scheduled to air for another three weeks.”

“Well, apparently somebody at your station decided to run it early.”

“I just don’t understand…” Bianca closed her eyes as she stood there, too shocked to speak. It all felt so unreal, and she tried to convince herself that this wasn’t really happening.

God, please let it be a dream, some really bad nightmare that I’m going to wake up from. Please just let me open my eyes and see Tony looking at me with that familiar heat and desire in his brown eyes instead of the hatred and betrayal that fill them right now.

“That makes two of us.” He ran a hand over his head. “I thought we had an agreement.

I thought that you weren’t going to run any stories without me seeing them first. I thought you understood how serious this is, how dangerous it can be. Your name was attached to that bullshit story. And once Dimitryi and his people get wind of it, this won’t be a problem for just me; it’ll be a problem for you, too.” He paced back and forth across her floor before he turned and glared at her again.

“After all the time that we spent talking about this, and after all your claims of how you wanted to be a voice for the victims, that pack of lies was the best you could do? I thought this issue meant more to you, I thought that I meant…”

His voice trailed off. He was so hurt, so angry, Bianca could practically see the emotions rolling off him in waves. She took a step toward him, but he pinned her with a furious look that stopped her in her tracks. “Tony, you have to know that I wouldn’t do that to you.” Her voice was thick, her chest so tight that she could barely breathe. She could see everything between them unraveling in front of her, before it even had a chance to truly begin. “I don’t know what Richard reported, but it wasn’t my story.”

“Really? Well, if it wasn’t your story, explain to me how all of your information ended up in it?”

“I don’t know! I never told anyone about our conversations. No one knew that you were my source within the police department. Please believe me, Tony. Please trust that I would never lie to you about this.”

“Trust?” He looked incredulous. “You want to talk to me about trust after this?” Tony got right up in her face. “Tell me something, Bianca. Was it all a lie? All the conversations we had, all the things we shared, was any of it real for you? Did your cousin even exist, or did you just make her up so that I’d feel sorry for you and help you out?”

“Stop it!” Bianca shouted, and her body shook from Tony’s verbal attack. “You fucking bastard! How could you say that? I never lied to you about my life, about my feelings, and especially not about Jazmin. You know how important she was to me.” She knew Tony was upset and deliberately trying to hurt her. But it didn’t lesson the pain of his words.

“At this point, I don’t know shit anymore, Bianca.” Such turmoil and anguish filled his eyes that it hurt to even look at him. “I thought I knew you, but I guess I was wrong. I would never have thought you were so ambitious, so ruthless that you’d do anything for a story, including fucking me for months just to get information. I hope it was worth it.”

Without another word, he walked out of her apartment and left her standing there staring at the empty space where he’d stood.

*

“Where have you been?” Dimitryi demanded when Reggie answered the phone. “I’ve been trying to reach you for the past twenty-four hours.”

“I apologize, Dimitryi.” Reggie’s voice was carefully respectful. “I’ve been busy cleaning up Viktor’s messes. He’s —”

“I didn’t call to talk about Viktor,” Dimitryi snapped. “There are more important matters to discuss.”

“I understand, but I think you’ll want to hear about this.” Reggie ignored Dimitryi’s outburst and filled him in on the attempted escape at one of the houses Viktor guarded and the death of two more guards.

“And you’re sure the woman is dead?”

“Yes,” Reggie confirmed. “She is now.”

“Do you think she was able to tell the police anything?” “It doesn’t appear that she did.” Considering Reggie had knocked out most of her teeth, it was highly unlikely that she’d been able to say much of anything at all.

“I’m concerned about Viktor, Dimitryi. I don’t think he’s as trustworthy as he used to be.”

“Are you suggesting that he purposely allowed the girl to escape?”

“No.” Reggie’s tone was dismissive. “I think that was just a case of neglect on the part of those two idiots who worked under him. I’m referring to the change in his personality since we had that other issue with him. I just don’t think his loyalty is as it should be anymore.”

“I trust your judgment,” Dimitryi finally said. “Watch him carefully, and if your concerns end up being justified, he’ll be eliminated. But enough about Viktor. We have another issue.” He paused, and Reggie waited for him to continue.

“Since you’ve obviously been busy with Viktor, I take it you didn’t see the evening news.”

“Uh…no.” Reggie frowned. “I didn’t.”

“There was a fascinating story on trafficking that you would have enjoyed, particularly the parts that alluded to my involvement in it.”

“Who reported it?” Reggie had known Dimitryi long enough to know exactly where this conversation was headed.

“Richard Greenley. Although it appears that Bianca Mendez made some contributions to the story as well.” Reggie was familiar with Richard Greenley from seeing him on TV, but it was the woman’s name that stood out. She was a friend of Tate and Parker, and that made her a serious problem.

“I want you to see to it that Mr. Greenley isn’t around to do another story.”

“What about the woman?” Reggie asked, surprised that Dimitryi wouldn’t want to get rid of them both. “If her name was mentioned too, that means she probably worked on this story with him and has information as well.”

“Leave her for now.” Dimitryi spoke after a long pause. “If one of them has an accident, people will think it’s just an unfortunate coincidence. But if they both turn up dead, it’ll raise suspicions, especially with Tate and Parker. I don’t need them nosing around us any more than they already are. And if she’s smart, she’ll take a hint and forget all about the story.”

“And if she doesn’t?” Reggie asked.

“If not, she’ll be next.”

Bianca sat at the desk in Richard’s office and waited for him to arrive. She’d been up all night, her confrontation with Tony the previous night leaving her so physically drained and emotionally devastated that she couldn’t sleep.

She had no idea how long she’d stood there after Tony left. She’d waited for him to come back, to hold and touch her, to tell her that he didn’t hate her in spite of his anger. She waited to hear him say that he believed her and still trusted her, that he still wanted her.

That moment never came, so she’d come into work instead, determined to figure out what the fuck was going on.

By the time the sun finally rose outside, Bianca had left “upset” behind a long time ago and had moved on to “out-and-out incensed.” And all of it was directed at that son of a bitch, Richard.

She watched the piece he’d done at least a dozen times, listened in disgust as he twisted and altered her words, looked on in disbelief as he outright lied about the facts in her story.

Despite the pain it caused, after she’d seen the news clip, Bianca couldn’t blame Tony for the way he reacted, couldn’t be angry with him for thinking that she’d betrayed him. She knew that if the situation had been reversed, she’d think the exact same thing.

“There you are!” Traci suddenly appeared in the doorway, her expression a mixture of relief and worry. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I called you on your cell phone all last night, but I couldn’t reach you.”

Bianca remembered how she’d left work early to pamper herself a little bit before her date with Tony. The memory was enough to make her want to break down. God, it shouldn’t hurt so much just to think about another person. It felt like someone had reached into her chest and had a death grip on her heart.

“I wasn’t home,” she finally said. “I wanted to tell you something before Richard got in.” Traci glanced over her shoulder before she walked further into the office. “I saw him in your office after you’d left yesterday.

He was on your laptop, and when I came in and asked what he was doing, that sawed-off little fucker had the nerve to tell me to mind my own business. He’s done some really shitty things to other reporters in the past, but nothing like this. I’m so sorry this happened to you, Bianca.”

Traci looked so stricken that Bianca managed to find a smile for her. “It’s not your fault, Traci,” she told the other woman. “Thank you for trying to give me the heads-up. It’s nice to know that someone’s watching my back around here.”

Although she truly appreciated Traci telling her, it wasn’t necessary. Bianca had already figured out how Richard had gotten the information. She’d been so excited about going out with Tony that she’d left her laptop at work. The actual story wasn’t saved on it, but all of her notes from her conversations with Tony were there. Richard had obviously used that information to create that piece of crap that he wanted to pass off as a legitimate story.

“What the hell are you two doing in my office?” Richard’s outraged voice suddenly filled the room.

“Not nearly as much as you were doing in my office yesterday,” Bianca shot back. She stood and stormed toward him. “Who in the fuck do you think you are to change my story without consulting with me first?” Her teeth were so tightly clenched, she could feel her jaw throbbing. “You know that piece wasn’t supposed to air for nearly a month. You had no right to change the schedule without letting me know in advance.”

“As the senior investigative reporter and the senior editor on this team, I have the right to make changes to any story, including when to run it.” Richard brushed past her and sat down at his desk.

“Does it also give you the right to hack into my computer and illegally remove information that didn’t belong to you?”

“Hey, you should be thanking me instead of giving me attitude.” Richard gave her a smug smile. “I took your ordinary story and made it extraordinary.”

Bianca didn’t think it was possible to hate someone as much as she hated him. “No, you stole my research. You lied and twisted the facts and tried to ruin the reputations of good people who work hard to stop these kinds of crimes.”

Richard shrugged unconcernedly. “I gave our audience what they wanted. I gave them a story that was interesting and entertaining, instead of one that would have bored them to death.”

In that moment, Bianca knew that she was capable of killing another person with her bare hands. Bianca didn’t bother to waste another word on Richard as she walked out of his office.