Trained To Kill by Emily Duncan Page A

their glasses and left. “What languages do you
speak?”
    “ All the romance
languages.”
    “ Is there any other
kind?”
    Isa grinned and continued, “Japanese
and Chinese. Oh and some Russian.”
    “ Wow, I’m beginning to
think Maarten and Jorge were laughing at me.”
    “ How so?”
    “ Well I only speak 5
languages.”
    Isa laughed harder and James leaned
over his elbows and grinned back at her.
    “ No, sadly I only speak
English.”
    “ Don’t be sad, English is
extremely difficult.”
    “ It is. I got a C minus on
my English AP Test in High School. Ok, so the languages you know, I
assume, because of the traveling. Where have you been?”
    “ Name it.”
    “ A challenge?” He sat back
in his seat, crossing his arms and watched her. “Japan?”
    “ Clever.”
    “ Russia, France, England,
Portugal, Italy, China.”
    “ You are absolutely
correct. Among others.”
    “ So where’s your favorite
place to be?”
    Isa sipped her wine and picked at the
salad that came with her dinner while she considered. “I’m not
sure. I loved Japan, but that could be because of where I was at
that time in my life.”
    “ What was happening at the
time?”
    Isa smiled sadly and said, “My little
sister Anna had just died and I left New Orleans, wandering around.
I ended up in Japan studying under a Sensei. He and a friend I met,
Ben, they helped me out in a big way.”
    “ I’m sorry about
Anna.”
    “ Thank you.”
    “ My brother died when we
were five. He was my twin. He drowned in the lake where we were
vacationing that summer.”
    “ That’s terrible. I’m so
sorry.”
    “ Well, it was a long time
ago. I imagine you’re still mourning Anna. How long has it
been?”
    “ Nine years.”
    James nodded his head and they were
quiet while the waiter brought their dishes. She had ordered veal
parmesan, James the lasagna.
    “ Well, on a lighter note.
I don’t think your description of yourself was
accurate.”
    “ Oh no?”
    “ No, you are absolutely
nothing like a Victoria’s Secret model only prettier. With your
blonde hair and green eyes. Hideous,” he tsked.
    Isa choked on her laugh and veal.
“Well I’m disappointed too; I thought you would at least put on a
fake Hitler mustache.”
    He looked up at her in astonishment.
“Damn, I should have thought of that.”
    “ Right?”
    “ Now I’m disappointed in
me too.”
    Isa shook her head in mock
shame.
    “ So, what do you do,”
James asked.
    “ I own a couple of
businesses with a partner.”
    “ Oh cool, what
kind?”
    “ A dojo and a nightclub,
The Inferno.”
    “ A dojo, I see you put
your money where your heart is. Do you enjoy it?”
    “ Well, I’m mostly a silent
partner. We’ve had some trouble recently with the club, but other
than that, Ben takes care of the day to day stuff.”
    “ What trouble?”
    “ There were some low level
mafia dealing drugs out of the club and a police man was undercover
and he arrested them. They caused some damage and there were some
people involved…it’s just a mess.”
    “ I saw that in the paper,
that was just a few days ago.”
    “ Yes.”
    “ Wow, what’s going to
happen?”
    “ Well the damage is
already under repair, and we’ll open up again next weekend. As to
the people involved, I don’t know what will happen, it depends on
the DA and the lawyers I suppose.”
    “ Are you and your partner
in any trouble?”
    “ Not at the moment. The
police are still investigating.”
    “ Well I hope everything
works out ok. That sounds like a major headache.”
    “ Let’s hope
so.”
    Dr. Jannsen was right, Isa liked James
a lot. Even if they never went out again, she had a nice time. So,
why was that image of Alex still floating in her mind? Stop
thinking about a cop for God’s sake. Do you want to rot in prison?
Isa scolded herself.
    James was nice and funny and safe. Or
so he seemed. And he had nothing crazy in his background that Isa
could find when she had done a background check on him