Trained To Kill (25 page)

Alex cleared his throat, “Cap, I know
it’s bad. Horrible,” he corrected when Williams snorted. “But we’re
trying to clear it up, to make it right.”

“
Can’t be made right. This
is one of the most fucked-up situations of I’ve had to deal
with.”

Isa stood up and faced him, “I’m sorry
to have to bring this to you. I’ll do whatever I can to make it
right. With you, and Alex, and the NYPD.”

Williams studied Isa’s face and saw a
look of determination and sincerity there that made his heart burn
subside slightly.

“
Alright kid, alright. Let
me think.”

Isa stepped back and Alex squeezed her
hand briefly.

Williams didn’t pace like they did, he
stood at the wide kitchen window with his back straight and arms
crossed.

“
Ok,” he said turning back
and sitting down again. “Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going
to take this and turn it into an excuse to go undercover with
DeCarlo. You, Isa, are going undercover. We use civilians from time
to time, and I use the term civilian loosely. You’re probably
better at this than I am.”

“
So, I have to go back to
DeCarlo after I told him I never want to see him again?”

Williams waved that away, “From what
you said he’ll be glad to see you. Alex can help you, he’s the best
undercover I’ve got. Was I should say.”

“
Was?”

“
You got the transfer
kid.”

“
I did?” Alex looked
stunned. “Well shit.”

“
I thought you wanted
it.”

“
I do, but now with this,
I need to help Isa.”

Isa turned around and planted her
hands on either side of his face, “Hey, no I’ll be fine. You’re not
putting it off because of this. I will handle my own
problems.”

“
Isa, the only reason
we’re doing this is because of me, you probably would have been
fine if you left it alone.”

Williams had gone temporarily deaf; he
didn’t want to hear that.

“
I put us in this mess and
I will fix it.”

Williams turned back around and looked
at them. “Well I’ll be damned.”

“
What?” Alex asked his
friend.

“
You two are gonna be just
fine.” He stood up and went to leave at their perplexed faces, “I’m
going to go back to my family, I’ll start the ball rolling from my
home office, and Isa I’ll call you to start setting this up. But it
might not hurt to call Rafael and ask him what’s going on with
Carmine’s house.”

“
Right. Tomorrow would be
better; he was just here this morning when I told him to leave me
alone.”

“
Whatever you say, you’re
the expert.”

Isa gave him a half smile.

Alex surprised him by giving him a
brief hug at the door. “Careful,” Williams said. “You’re starting
to act like your old man.”

Williams left, and they both collapsed
on the sofa.

“
Well.”

“
Well.”

“
That went better than I
expected. I just hope he can convince the Commander.”

“
I don’t think it’ll be a
problem for him. Congratulations on your transfer.”

“
Thanks, but I’ll still be
helping you.”

“
I know you
will.”

Isa looked at him as she struggled to
remember why she had insisted they be only friends. Alex was
willing to go to bat for her with his boss. Maybe he wouldn’t be as
understanding about the men she had killed, but maybe he wouldn’t
freak out as much as she feared. In any case, she knew she couldn’t
keep stringing James along. Not while she was coming to terms with
her true feelings for Alex.

She went upstairs after Alex had left
and called James.

She met him at his store. He was in
the back in coveralls and a face mask. He had been sanding
something, he explained.

“
What’s up?”

“
James, I…don’t think I
can date you anymore.”

“
Oh. Well shit.” James
pushed off the wall and walked away a few feet before turning back.
“Why?”

“
I’m in love with someone
else.”

James’s eyebrows went up into his
hair. “Who?”

“
His name is Alex; he’s
the cop I’ve been working with on Inferno.”

“
The one that was
undercover?”

“
Yes.”

James whistled lowly and rubbed his
hand over his mouth. “Well, Isa, I’m sorry to see you go. I really
started to like you.”

“
I like you too. I’m
sorry.”

“
No, it’s ok. You’re being
honest about it. And, hey, we’ve only been on a few dates.” James
laughed good-naturedly. “I just hate to lose you. I thought we had
a chance.”

Isa gave him a small smile and kissed
his cheek. “Thanks for everything. You’re a really great guy, and I
had fun.”

“
Yea me too. Maybe once
we’ve settled we can be friends?”

“
I would like
that.”

Chapter 31

Isa stood outside of Rafael DeCarlo’s
townhouse in Lenox Hill, psyching herself up to ring his doorbell.
She really didn’t want to do this but she had to. Williams had
apparently spun such a tale about her to his superiors that if she
didn’t live up to her new reputation with the NYPD, it would come
back and bite them all on the ass. She just hoped she could pull it
off.

The door was opened by a tiny maid in
black pants and white shirt. At least Isa thought it was a maid due
to the duster in her hand. After introducing herself, Isa was shown
into the study where she stood impatiently waiting. It took 20
minutes for him to come. Either he had still been getting dressed
or he was making her wait to punish her for telling him she never
wanted to see him again. She saw what had delayed him when she
heard voices in the hall and she peeked around the door. Rafael was
saying goodbye to a curvy companion. The woman was stunning with
long red hair and an ass that would give JLO a fit. Isa’s jaw
snapped shut when Rafael turned around and started toward her. She
hurriedly pulled her head back into the room.

He came in like he owned the place,
which he did of course, but Isa could see the chip on his
shoulder.

He poured tea from the tray service
next to his desk, and offered Isa some. She declined.

“
Well, this is a pleasant
surprise bella. What can I do for you?”

“
Do you call Red out there
bella?” Isa asked.

Rafael raised his eyebrows and said,
“Not consistently but I may have said it once or twice, why do you
ask?”

“
I was just curious if
that was a pet name you had for all women or just me.”

“
Just you bella,” Rafael
gave her a slow grin. “I thought you never wanted to see me
again.”

“
Yes, well,” Isa sat in
the chair across from him. “We had a sticky situation the other
night and I want to make sure it’s been handled.”

“
It has been of
course.”

“
How?”

“
You want details?” he
asked suspiciously.

“
Yes I want details.
Coltello’s ass isn’t the only one on the line if you screwed
something up.”

He said nothing for a moment, just
studied her face with narrowed eyes.

She wouldn’t let her heart speed up.
He would probably see her pulse from there.

“
Very well.” He told her
what they had done in flat short sentences, almost as if he were
reciting from a manual.

“
So the bodies have been
disposed of and the house sanitized,” he finished.

“
What about the two in the
bedroom?”

“
They were taken to the
alley of a stripclub and dumped by the back door. I’m sure they
made it home fine.”

“
I see,” Isa gave a small
puff of relived breath. “And what about the cops? You said they
wouldn’t come asking questions. Why is that? You have
protection?”

“
Of course I
do.”

“
Good. I couldn’t
determine if anyone has called it in, or reported Carmine
missing.”

“
Not that I know of. Not
yet.”

Isa nodded, seemingly lost in
thought.

“
Are you truly that
worried bella?”

“
Of course I am, this
could be the end of both of us if anything backfires.”

“
I would never let
anything happen to you.”

Isa tilted her head, studying him. She
let him see a little confusion in her face.

“
What is it?”

“
I just don’t understand
why you would go to such lengths for me. Alex was so upset after
you left. I had to talk him out of calling his boss.”

“
Thank you for doing
that.”

Isa shrugged, “Well it wouldn’t have
been good for me either.”

“
He was going to turn you
in?”

“
No, of course not. He
just thought he could explain everything away, but I convinced him
it would just put everyone under a spot light, including him and
me.”

“
And he agreed with
you?”

“
Yes,” Isa nodded for
emphasis. She wanted to let a little uncertainty about Alex show to
give Rafael some tiny bit of hope, but not put Alex in Rafael’s
crosshairs. It was a delicate line to draw.

“
Good.”

Isa nodded again, looking away to
study her surroundings, acting almost as if she didn’t want to
leave yet.

“
So, who was Red out
there? Your girlfriend?”

“
For the
night.”

“
Have you ever been
married?”

“
Once. She was killed. It
was the main reason I moved to New York when I did. Things were not
safe in Naples.”

“
I see. I’m sorry she was
killed.”

“
Thank you. It was a
longtime ago. We married very young.”

He came around the desk and leaned
back on it in front of her. She had to look way up to see his
face.

“
Are you alright
bella?”

“
Yes,” She gave him an
irritated look, one that she didn’t need to fake.

“
You seem out of
sorts.”

Isa stood so he wasn’t towering over
her. “Look I’m sorry for bothering you; I just wanted to know
everything was taken care of.”

He grabbed her arm when she went to
leave, she looked at it until he let go.

“
That’s not what I meant.”
He straightened up beside her. “Why are you suddenly interested in
my personal life?”

Isa had been prepared for this
question. She knew he would be suspicious of her actually wanting
to talk to him. Isa fidgeted for a moment, debating whether to
answer him.

She crossed her arms angling her body
slightly away from him. “That night, Coltello said something to me
that I can’t forget about, and then it made me think about what you
said when we first met, about how talented I was.”

“
What did Coltello
say?”

“
He said he admired my
work.”

Rafael nodded telling her he knew that
she was talking about Riley and Rosenthal.

“
I told Alex a little
about my past, but he’s a cop and it’s hard for him to deal.” She
blew out a breath. “I guess it was just sort of nice to have people
who understood why I did what I did in my past.”

She wasn’t worried about the NYPD
listening on her wire. She had left no trace of herself on Riley or
Rosenthal, and she could tell them that had all been made up. She
just hoped Rafael didn’t go into any detail.

“
Are you surprised that he
wouldn’t like it?”

“
No. No,” she repeated
with a frown. “I don’t know what I’m saying,” she sighed. “I should
go.”

“
My offer stills stands
Isadora.”

She looked at him for along moment
from the doorway. Giving him a long considering look, she nodded
and left. She fished out her sunglasses and put them on. She left
quickly in case he was watching out the window, and gave his house
one last backward glance.

Chapter 32

Life was a funny thing. Here she was,
Isadora La Beau trained assassin and past killer, in a conference
room with three cops going over the recording she had taken from
Rafael’s that morning. It was enough to make her want to study up
on the philosophy of fate.

She rubbed her brow and drank more
coffee. She was tired. They were debating the best way to
“discover” the bodies so that Rafael wouldn’t be suspicious of her.
They settled on a training exercise for new recruits. Finally, Isa
thought. She wanted to get Alex and get out of here. Not that she
hated it there, but she was getting a bit antsy. Actually she had
been rather enjoying herself up until her headache began. It wasn’t
so bad being around cops. They joked and jabbed at each other, but
she could see how they interacted like a family and how dedicated
they were to the job. Just like Alex.