Trained To Kill (9 page)

Alex hit the sirens and made a U-turn.
The van’s tires squealed as it floored it to the left. Alex
followed, dodging joggers and nannies. Shit, this is not a good
place for a high speed pursuit. Alex kept the can in sight and
radioed their location for back-up. He followed the van with room
to spare. He didn’t want to spook them into running people
over.

The van hit Broadway and got stuck in
a traffic jam. Alex watched as the van turned and headed down a one
way street, the wrong way. Alex had no choice but to follow.
Luckily the jam wasn’t as bad this way, but he saw the van hit the
sidewalk a few times to avoid cars. Unfortunately, this put more
pedestrians in its way. He saw a man go flying backwards into a
pack of trash cans to avoid it. Alex radioed to send
paramedics.

The van hit 5th on two wheels and was
finally going the right direction. Alex felt it safe enough to tap
the back bumper. The van decided to repay him by shooting out the
side window. He couldn’t get a good look at the shooter, but he
could tell they held a nine millimeter berretta which put nice
spider webs in his windshield.

Alex backed up a bit, but as soon as
the shooter retreated he tapped the van again. His backup had
finally found them and one car decided to squeeze up next to the
van. They really didn’t like that. The van missed a biker by a few
centimeters. Alex had enough. He pulled out his gun and shot the
back left tire. He was surprised it actually worked though. The van
continued for a few yards, but then started to wobble, and the
police cars surrounded the van and the officers jumped out,
clearing people as best they could, while keeping their guns
trained on the van. No one had emerged.

“
NYPD! Drop your weapons
out of the window. NOW!” Alex yelled, inching closer to the
van.

They watched, no one saying anything
as the front window powered down and a gun fell to the
ground.

“
Open the door slowly, put
your hands out through the window and step out.”

The driver and passenger both did as
Alex said, and the officers immediately swarmed and cuffed the two
men.

“
Take them to the station
guys. I’ll be there soon. Thanks for the help.”

“
Sure thing
Jax.

Lester Pruitt hadn’t been home, so
Alex had hauled ass back to the station to visit his van buddies.
Unfortunately, they weren’t talking. They had already opted to wait
for their lawyers. Alex’s conversation with the DA was short. He
needed to know why they had been following him. He didn’t give a
shit about the stolen van right now. She promised Alex to talk it
out with the lawyers.

Chapter 14

Alex pulled up to his apartment at
3:00 pm. Isa was already there, sitting cross-legged on the hood of
her Mustang waiting for him, watching him pull-up. She hopped down
and ran to the passenger side jumping in almost before he had
stopped.

“
You don’t look frozen so
I guess you haven’t been waiting long.”

“
Nope,” Isa said simply.
Her hair was back in a twisty braided bun that Alex had absolutely
no idea how to even begin to accomplish, but he admired it.
Especially the way some wispy strands fell free against her neck.
He wanted to push them away and kiss her there just below her ear.
Whoa. Get a grip Jackson.

Finishing his inventory, he saw she
had on jeans and a blue peacoat, fingerless gloves and something
hot and steaming in a cup.

“
Is that
coffee?”

“
Yes,” Isa said
suspiciously.

Alex tore his eyes from the cup and
looked into her green ones, “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to
share?”

She handed him the cup, “Let’s
go.”

“
Ah, bless
you.”

He drove one handed, and after a few
sips, handed it back to Isa. She drank the rest of it and for some
odd reason it gave a small thrill that she didn’t even think twice
about drinking from the same cup as him.

The maintenance guys had been nice
enough to give him a new rusted out Fairlane while his windshield
was being fixed. It smelled like old cheese.

“
I have a question,” Isa
said, looking over at him while he drove.

“
What?”

“
Do you consider yourself
an actor?”

“
You mean while I’m
undercover?”

“
Uh-huh.”

“
Hell no. It’s
investigating. Trying to get information from people without them
knowing why.”

“
So…lying?”

“
Exactly.”

Isa laughed out loud
briefly.

He smiled over at her and said she
said, “Do you get tired of lying all the time?”

“
I do but I learned fast
to keep it simple, keep it close to the truth. I had a good trainer
and partner. He’s my Captain now.”

Isa smiled at the hint of pride in his
voice. She was turned sideways in her seat watching him with her
head resting as he spoke. He noticed how she always gave her
complete attention when he spoke.

“
It does take a toll,”
Alex continued. “A lot of Narcos get burned out fast or start
using. I’m going on a vacation after this case is wrapped and I’m
looking into a transfer out of Narcotics.”

They were stopped in a small traffic
jam so Alex turned and looked at her fully.

“
Where are you going to go
on vacation?”

“
Nowhere, just relax with
my family.”

“
Family?” Isa asked
gently.

“
Yea. Father, 2 brothers,
one sister, she’s the baby, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews.” Alex
smiled. “I’m not married and I have no children of my own so it’s
nice to be around them when I can. I don’t see a lot of them when
I’m undercover.”

“
No, I expect you
wouldn’t. That must be hard. Not knowing where you are or if you’re
in danger.”

Alex nodded. It was a conversation he
and his brothers had often.

Isa sat up straight when Alex pulled
over and parked at the curb.

“
So who are we after?” It
was back to business.

“
Dougie,” Alex said.
“Small time pusher, works close to your area. He’ll probably know
Ricky.”

They sat for a minute taking in the
people on the street. Alex noticed Isa’s mannerisms; he had noticed
them last night as well. She watched the streets like a cop. Taking
in details like breath, her eyes never ceased scanning the area for
threats. He thought about their conversation last night, about her
stepfather and her training. Had she been trained in police
work?

They exited the car and met on the
sidewalk. If Thorn’s reputation was everything he had heard, and he
hoped some of it had been exaggerated, he could only imagine the
hell Isa had lived. Imagining her pain and loneliness, Alex felt a
throb in his chest right under his heart.

It robbed him of his breath. Why did
Alex feel that pain inside himself for her? He wasn’t exactly the
compassionate type. Even so, his stomach was clenched and his blood
boiled thinking about what she had gone through. He knew she had
nearly been killed the night Thorn had died.

Isa stopped Alex with a hand on his
arm. “You know I’m betting we won’t get much out of Dougie with
that look on your face.”

“
What look,” he
snapped.

Isa raised her brows. “The one that
says I feel like ripping someone’s fucking head off with my bare
hands.”

She slid her hand down his jacket
sleeve and lifted his arm up by the cuff to show his clenched fist.
Alex felt that caress like a shot down to his groin. It hadn’t been
a deliberate sexual move on her part, but tell that to his
dick.

He looked at his fist and unclenched
it. Lifting his eyes stare into hers, he wanted to tell her what
he’d been thinking. Wanted to. He made a decision.

“
I was thinking about our
conversation last night, about what you told me about Thorn.” He
paused for her reaction and when she nodded, continued. “Thinking
about reading the newspapers the day after he died. Thinking about
why you had to kill him. What he did to you to make you need to
kill him. And then I was thinking, I wish I could go back and kill
him before he hurt you.”

Isa stood still, listening to his
explanation for what had put that look on his face. A look that
made even her want to take a step back. When he finished speaking
she let go of his sleeve and he fished around for a
cigarette.

She rubbed her hands over her face and
they walked to the door. The moment had passed to say
anything.

She would have to think of something
later. What was she supposed to do with that? It was a confession,
she knew that. Cops didn’t go around saying they wanted to murder
people lightly. Or, she thought, was that just a natural instinct
to protect because he was a good man and a cop? Shit, she had no
idea.

Alex flicked his cigarette and opened
the door to the bar for her. She walked in and Alex’s confession
went to the back burner, she had to pay attention in
here.

Isa took one look around and instantly
knew the type of people she would be dealing with, and she knew
exactly what she could and would do if anyone harassed them. This
was something universal in the world. The Dive Bar. No matter where
she went or how far she traveled, she could always count on a dive
bar for a good fight if she was feeling anxious and needed to let
off steam. Oddly enough she felt comfortable in these
surroundings.

Isa let Alex lead the way. He walked
to the back where the pool tables were stashed, and over to a table
with four men. Dougie was lining up a shot when Alex approached.
Isa trailed behind slowly, watching his back. The men all stopped,
looked at Alex and then over at Isa leaning against the
wall.

“
Hey Dougie,” Alex said.
“Need a word with you.”

“
Hold up Jax, I got $2,000
riding on this shot.”

Doug lined it up and sank it, without
pause. He straightened up and grinned, he had a tooth missing
toward the back. Lovely, Isa thought. He collected his money and
the men dispersed. Dougie walked over to his table and downed a
shot. Alex sat across from him. Isa hung back not wanting to crowd
Dougie.

Dougie seemed not to have any interest
in her anyway. He was smiling at Alex like a cat with
cream.

“
Hey Jax, looking fine
today.” Huh, no wonder he had no interest in me, Isa
thought.

Alex smiled at Dougie and leaned
forward placing his elbows on the table.

“
Thanks Dougie. I’m
looking for a guy, Ricky Evans. You know him? He works around here,
West Village?”

“
Yeah, yeah Ricky. What
about him? But more important Jax when you gonna come over and let
me show you Rambo?”

“
I don’t wanna meet Rambo,
Dougie. Rambo scares me.”

“
Ha!” Dougie threw his
back and laughed.

“
Ricky?” Alex
asked.

“
Haven’t seen him for a
few days,” Dougie said.

Isa stepped forward but Alex shot her
a look. She stopped.

“
Do you know where he was
or what he was doing the last time you saw him?”

“
Nah, why don’t you try
his apartment?”

“
Not there.”

“
His girl’s then. What the
fuck do I care?”

Alex sat back, “Where’s his girl
live?”

“
Shit man everyone knows
he be banging that crack ho Ci-Ci over at Space’s.

“
What’s her last
name?”

“
Shit do I know man? Why
you wanna know so bad anyway?”

“
We think he’s in trouble
Dougie,” Alex said earnestly. “We need to find him.”

Alex looked over at Isa again, this
time in invitation. She walked over and straddled a
chair.

“
Dougie, Ricky’s a friend
of mine. I need to find him and make sure he’s ok.”

“
Maybe you’re the one he’s
hiding from sweet cheeks, or maybe it’s the Sergeant over
here.”

Alex eased back in his
chair.

“
Yea, that’s right Mr.
Policeman, you’re out and that’s all I’ve got to say to
you.”

Dougie went to stand up and Isa swept
her leg out, tripping him back into his seat. She stood up quickly
and leaned over him. “We’re not done Dougie.”

Alex sat still not wanting to
interfere. He was very interested in what she would do, and if he
would stop her. He crossed his arms over his chest signaling to
Dougie that he wasn’t running the show, and waited.

Dougie snorted and went to stand
again. Isa grabbed two of his fingers and exerted pressure, Dougie
grunted. She twisted his arm back using his fingers as leverage,
forcing him back into his chair. His arm was at an odd angle and
Alex could see Dougie couldn’t move.

“
Now let’s try this
again,” Isa said. “Where is Ricky?”

Alex watched sweat pop-up on Dougie’s
forehead even though it was barely 40 degrees in the
bar.