Trained To Kill (26 page)

They had all been impressed by Isa’s
background and how she had manipulated Rafael. So far her new
reputation was intact, and Williams had given Isa a subtle
thumbs-up earlier. He was a little bit of a dork, and Isa liked
him, and not just because she would be forever grateful for his
trust in Alex, and by extension, her. He was a great cop because he
cared. Isa could see that from the way he interacted with his men,
and he didn’t judge her on her past. Isa could see a lot of him in
Alex. She knew he had been a big part of his life both personally
and professionally.

Alex stuck his head around the door
frame and caught her eye. He gave her a come on gesture with his
chin, and she left grateful for the distraction.

“
How’s it
going?”

“
Good, I think they’ve
reached a decision.”

Alex grinned, “Excellent, then we can
get out of here.”

As they spoke the cops filed out of
the conference room, all of them ribbing Alex on hitting the
jackpot with Isa.

“
They like you,” Alex
explained.

Williams stopped beside them, “Yes
they do. They’re impressed.”

Isa said nothing, she wasn’t overly
humble, but neither was she a glory hound.

“
So, they’re going to
search for the bodies.”

“
Tomorrow morning bright
and early. Training exercise for new recruits with cadaver
dogs.”

“
Nice.”

“
Hopefully there will be
no suspicions on Isa. We still don’t know who he has in his
pockets. He’s pretty damned sure of himself.”

“
That’s why you kept it to
the bare minimum right?”

“
Right. Only us, Jenson,
Merrick and the Commander.”

“
Good.”

“
You ready to
go?”

“
Yes.”

“
Alright, we’ll be in
touch Isa.” She nodded at Williams.

“
In touch? Aren’t you
done?”

“
We’ll see.”

“
We’ll see?”

“
Let’s discuss it at home
dear,” she said in a perfect imitation of a New England 1950’s
house wife.

“
Yes dear,” he mocked her
back. She smiled up at him. They rounded the corner and almost
smacked right into Detective Parker Daniels.

“
Jax,” Parker said in
surprise. Her eyes zeroed in on Isa.

“
Parker. How’s it
going?”

“
Fine. Fine,” she said
again as her eyes drifted back to Isa.

“
Detective Parker Daniels,
this is Isadora La Beau.”

“
Hello,” Isa said
politely.

“
Hi.”

There was a bit of an awkward silence
as Parker seemed to be scrutinizing Isa’s face.

“
Well, I gotta run. Good
to see you Jax,” she said while walking backward flashing him a
brilliant smile.

He sent a short wave over his
shoulder, and smiled when Isa bumped her shoulder into his
side.

“
It is good to see you
Jax.”

“
It is isn’t it? I am very
good to see.”

Her shoulders shook with laughter that
she held in, since it was fairly quiet in the room.

He grinned down at her and they
stopped by his desk so he could retrieve his jacket.

There was must have been some sort of
silent signal, because the next thing she knew cops from around the
room that weren’t caught up in something, came over to meet her.
She could see Alex was a popular guy as she watched him out of the
corner of her eye while she shook hands and remembered names. They
were all curious about how they had met over Alex’s case and her
club, and they stood there chatting with his friends for a few
minutes before Alex begged off, saying it had been a long day. None
of them knew she was involved with the sting on DeCarlo. They
thought she was here to see Alex.

On the drive home they discussed what
she had and Williams had talked about. They wanted her to stay in
with DeCarlo gaining his trust little by little to see what else
she could learn. “But,” she continued as Alex frowned. “I told him
they needed to see what surveillance was already on him from your
Organized Crime Task Force and the FBI. We don’t want to step on
any toes. He agreed. I think he just got a little excited over the
possibilities.”

“
Ok. I think you’re right.
There’s already surveillance on him. There has to be. He’s too well
known. Williams isn’t trying to get DeCarlo for Carmine’s murder,
he’s just trying to find the bodies and to let the Commander know
you weren’t trying to cover up any murders and I wasn’t helping
you. I really don’t want you getting mixed up with OC or the FBI.
They’ll treat you like their property.”

“
I know Alex. I don’t want
to either. I was willing to help with Carmine because I caused the
mess. But to keep doing it would be too much.”

“
We’ll talk to
Williams.”

“
Alright.”

Alex smiled over at her as he got the
car moving again. “Don’t sound so maudlin, it’ll be
fine.”

“
I’m not maudlin. You read
too much.”

“
Speaking of which, I need
to go to the library. I’m done with my stack.”

Isa smiled over at him. It was one of
her favorite things that Isa had found out about Alex. His love of
books. He read everything from classics and biographies to mystery
and sci-fi. She swears she saw him reading a romance novel the
other night, but he had distracted her before she could see
it.

He took a right to detour to the
library, and it was that deviation from course that probably saved
their lives. A block ahead where they would have normally gone, a
van sat at the curb waiting for them. The van made a U-turn in the
middle of traffic and the screeching tires had both Isa and Alex
looking out the back window. The van revved the engine and came up
beside their car and side-swiped them, trying to force them into an
alleyway. Alex punched the gas and managed to stay on the
road.

“
Son of a bitch! Can you
see the driver?”

Isa squinted out the window, “No, it’s
too dark.”

“
Dammit.”

“
Keep going!”

The window was rolling down, and Isa
saw a mini-Uzi pop out. “Get down!” she yelled, pushing on Alex’s
head. The sound of the gun wasn’t very impressive, until the
windows started shattering. Alex yelled at Isa to call 911 for
back-up. She fumbled out her cell phone “Shit, shit, shit!” and
relayed the situation.

Alex slammed on the brakes to avoid a
head on collision with stopped traffic, and they watched the van
pull hard to the right and up on to the side walk. Alex backed-up a
few feet and turned the car onto a side street, trying to get away
from the traffic. They didn’t need stray bullets catching
civilians.

“
Are they
following?”

“
Yes.” Isa relayed their
change in direction to the 911 operator, and she heard the faint
sound of sirens coming their way.

The van heard it too because they went
left instead of right. Alex tried to turn around to keep them in
their sights but a group of tourists crossing the street stopped
him.

“
Shit!” Alex beat his fist
on the steering wheel. Isa told the 911 operator the make and model
of the van and the direction they were going. She gave them their
contact information and hung up.

“
Well, that was
exciting.”

“
Ha!” Alex
puffed.

“
Now who do we think that
was?”

“
I have no freakin’ clue,”
Alex said. “Carmine is dead. Do you think Rafael…?”

“
I don’t know.”

“
Honestly, that could have
been anyone. Someone I busted maybe.”

“
Well luckily I got the
plates.”

“
You think the plates are
legit?”

“
Probably not, but we can
try and back-trace.”

“
It couldn’t have been the
same ones that followed me last time. They’re still
jail.”

“
Last time?”

“
Oh right. A van, very
much like that one was following me and it had been stolen, so I
reversed the tail and they started shooting at me. We caught them
though.”

Alex blew out a breath to calm his
heartbeat. “So, library?”

Isa shook her head, “Fine.”

They went in and Alex dumped his books
in the return bucket. He wandered up and down the aisles searching
for his favorite authors and the books he hadn’t yet read. Isa
followed silently behind him, still thinking. Was it DeCarlo? Could
he be after Alex because of her?

Isa let it go to the back of her mind.
There was something else she needed to discuss with him, and in
light of what just happened, she didn’t’ want to wait another
minute to tell him. Life was too unpredictable. “Alex,” she
whispered.

“
Yea?” He said absently,
still perusing the titles.

“
I broke it off with
James.”

Alex’s head whipped up and he stared
at Isa struck dumb. “You…why?” he managed.

“
Because I’m…I think I’ve
been falling for you this whole time.”

Alex stared for another minute a look
of wonder coming into his eyes, and he slowly reached up and placed
his hand on her cheek and his eyes went dark. The next thing she
knew, her back was pressed up against a shelf and he was inhaling
her tongue. She hit his back hard, and he lifted his head.
“What?”

“
We are in public. Knock
it off.”

“
We’re going home
now.”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her
after him, practically running. His books were
forgotten.

They rushed into Isa’s house and up
the stairs. Alex pulled her around and kissed her. It was the kind
of kiss that went through your skin and into your bones. She felt
the zing in her blood travel from the top of her head down to her
toes that curled in pleasure. She lifted her leg and wrapped it
around Alex’s lean, muscular hip. The kiss grew until there was
nowhere left to take it except one place and Isa didn’t want to
stop this time. She moved like a cat, shedding her clothes and
helping Alex with his. They were naked against each other. There
was no shyness or hesitation for either of them. He felt so good.
His skin was so warm it was as if he had a constant fever, but that
was just Alex. He warmed her up from the inside out and thawed her
frozen blood. They moved together, perfectly in sync. He was inside
of her almost before either of them realized it. They still lay on
their sides with her leg up over his hip, and he grabbed it now,
pulling her closer so he could go in deeper. They both moaned as he
did. It felt so good; she never wanted it to stop. But they were
both so excited by this first connection that they couldn’t control
themselves. They moved faster and harder against each other, the
friction right where Isa needed it the most. Their mouths never
lost contact. She came out of herself, and only floated back down
when she felt Alex easing her back around. She felt him spoon her
and wrap his arm around her, holding her close as they both fell
asleep.

The next morning, they were tangled
together. It was hard to tell where her legs ended and his began.
Alex felt her move her entire body in an undulating arc against
him, and he hardened instantly at the contact. He was kissing her
before he was fully awake but he saw her grinning at him. He was
awake now. He flipped her over on her back and he heard her
“oomph”. Her body was incredible, so soft and flexible. He could
bend her in many interesting positions and he couldn’t wait to
experiment. But for now he loomed over her and she lifted her legs,
wrapping them around his waist breathlessly waiting for him to
move. He waited because he wanted to look at her. She was so
incredibly beautiful. Her face was flushed, her green eyes bright,
and her hair a mess on the pillow behind her.

“
Alex, please.”

She smiled and wrapped her arms around
his neck. He was effectively cocooned in her heat and he was in
heaven. He lowered down on top of her and adjusted their bodies
until he was ready, and then he began to move. The first sensation
of being inside her was like magic. Alex never wanted it to end. It
was slower this time. They had both relaxed after that first
intense time last night. He moved and then she moved, and together
they created a dance unlike any other. As he fell, she rose and on
and on, until they were both gasping for breath.

Isa shifted and pushed him until he
was on his back. She planted a knee on either side of his thighs,
straddling him. She took his face in her hands, kissing him. Alex
stayed still, letting her do as she wished. But soon he was
straining against her, wanting to take control. He fought it, but
had to open his mouth, sweeping his tongue inside. She went along,
their tongues tangling. She was rocking her hips against him
gently. Almost as if she was afraid to hurt him. He laughed inside
his head. She was so adorable it was going to kill him. He smoothed
his palms up her thighs, to her hips and jerked her forward,
ramming her pelvis against his. Isa jerked her head back and cried
out.