actually.” She gives a glowing smile, but rolls her eyes. “Mitch is dragging me to see Beverly Hills Cop Two.”
I grin. Knowing her, she’ll spend the whole night biting her tongue, trying not to point out the plethora of inaccuracies that all cop movies seem to have. Just like I would. “So he’s willing to give it another shot, huh?”
“Uh-huh. But this is the third time I’ve stood him up this month. He’s already given me the ‘you never have time for me’ speech. One more time and he’s going to walk.”
“Turn on the charm. You can keep him from bailing out on you.”
“Don’t be so sure,” she grumbles. “Every guy has a breaking point, even if the chick is as hot as us.”
“Truth.”
It’s the same for every homicide detective. The grueling hours, the danger, the cases that drag on for months, even years. Every detective knows what this job does to a cop’s love life.
Julie picks up her coffee, stares morosely at the cold liquid, and puts it back. “This is gonna sound sappy, but until I met Mitch, it seemed like the only guys man enough to handle our job are in my dreams, you know?”
“I hear ya.”
I inwardly wince. The only man I dream about is a killer who slashes his way into my dreams with red eyes and a blazing sword. A man who I’ve never told anyone about because if I did, they’d have me committed.
“I don’t suppose you could tell me if you see a future between us? Mitch and me, I mean?”
I look down at my gloves, resisting the temptation to pull one off and grab her hand. “Nope.”
“Oh, come on, just once?” She clasps her hands. “Pretty please? I’ll get your coffee every day for a whole year. The good stuff from Cream On Top.”
“Nice try. You know the rules. I never read friends except in special circumstances.”
“But this is a special circumstance,” she moans tragically. “It’s my love life on the line.”
I snicker. “Nope.”
“Some best friend you are.”
“Bite me.”
Glancing out her window and then mine, I tug my gloves more firmly onto my hands. Nervous habit.
“If Ricky stiffs us, I’ll shoot him,” I say. “Three people dead and everyone in this city’s too afraid to set foot in a bank. We have to catch these assholes.”
She looks out at the clearing, at the brick building where Ricky is supposed to talk Ritter and his gang of bank robbers into going, allowing us to sneak up on them. “I don’t think he’s coming—”
“Psst!”
I jerk my head to the side. Ricky’s head is sticking out of the trees outside Julie’s window. I click my teeth and wave him toward the car.
Ricky gives a furtive look around, opens the passenger’s side door, and scrambles in. His face is pale and sweaty.
“You’re late,” I tell him.
“Sorry. My lady likes her Ricky time.” He flashes a smarmy smile.
With his fake-looking blond hair, that mustache, and an uneven patch of scruff on his chin, Ricky Talvert looks like a sleazy porn star. The idea of him trying to seduce a girl makes me shudder.
Julie flicks a look at me and rolls her eyes. “Liar. You were probably sitting at home trying to decide whether to bail on us or not.”
“Fuck you, Detective.” Ricky puts the collar of his faded leather jacket up, hunching down in the seat, his gaze darting everywhere at once. “I told Ritter I was gonna be late, Cass. He’s on his way.”
“Where did you park the van?” I ask.
“Down the road.” He jerks his thumb at the path behind us and curls his lip at Julie’s suspicious look. “You girls are gonna hook me up with the get out of jail free card before I stick my neck out any further than I already have.”
“Yeah, right,” I say. “I bet you just wanted to scope out the scene first. Give yourself a chance to weasel out of this.”
“Relax, sweet cheeks. The van’s there. It’s got all the surveillance equipment they want.”
I tamp down the urge to tell him off for calling me sweet cheeks. Sexism comes with the job. If I flipped out every time a guy said shit like that, I’d drive myself to an early grave. “Whatever. Just get it done.”
Ricky wrings his hands. “Just so we’re clear here, girls, I get full immunity, right?”
An unexpected empathy for him pricks me. There was a time when I worked for guys as dangerous as Ritter. Still would be if a guy with