Page 74 of Restart & New Revenge
“I didn’t for sure until today,”Hectorsaid. “WhenRoccoandIwere transportingArcherto the vape shop,Archermentioned you all had arrestedJoeyfor gambling.Thatworked perfectly, because ifGiovanniwas going to report that he found you andArcherdead at the vape shop that he just happened to visit,Joeywould already be in custody for the gambling, so the police would have access to him beforeJoeycould piece anything together about being framed.”
“But what about you andRocco?”Vinceasked.
“At the very end, when we metGiovanniat the vape shop, he made a comment about finishingMatteo’slast request,”Hectorsaid. “Irealized then that he meant to killRoccoand me and make it look likeJoeyasked us to do the hit for him.Becausewith us dead, there would be no way to corroborateJoey’sversion of events.”
“Holy crap,”Iwhispered.Istarted to ask what would happen next but was interrupted as a doctor walked into the room.
“Family ofArcherPapadopoulos?” he asked.
Vince andIimmediately stood up.
“Surgery went well,” the doctor explained. “He’sstill in theICUuntil he wakes up but should be moved to a recovery room soon.Hehad significant blood loss, but thankfully, the bullet didn’t hit any major arteries.Weretrieved the bullet and patched him up nicely.We’lllikely keep him here for the next forty-eight hours at least, though, to be sure he doesn’t develop an infection.”
“When can we see him?”Iasked.
“Once he’s awake and moved into his room, a nurse will come get you,” the doctor replied. “Myguess is that will be in about an hour or so.”
Vince andIthanked the doctor and made our way back to our seats just asAxelwalked back into the room.Wefilled him in on everything the doctor had just told us, and he offered to go callWadeandJackand fill them in.
“Umm,Sissy,” my sister’s voice suddenly sounded from behind me.
Iris and her protective detail,OfficerNolan, were standing at the entrance to the waiting area, and she was staring atHectorwith confusion and curiosity.
“Why are you hanging out withCreepyMcCreepersonversion ofPedroPascalfrom the hotel?”
Vince snorted beside me, andNolan’scheek twitched.
“You meanHector?”Iasked her, using my thumb to point at him next to me.
“You know him?” she asked me.
“It’s a long story,”Itold her. “Havea seat.”
“So, he’s one of the good guys?”
“Yes, he’s definitely one of the good guys,”Itold her.
She nodded and started to move toward me but kept her eyes onHectorfor some reason.
“SorryIcalled youCreepyMcCreeperson,” she said to him as she got close and then pointed to me and stuck out her other hand toward him. “I’mIrisO’Hara, this one’s sister.Ididn’t know you were a good guy whenIsaw you in the hotel.”
“HectorMadeira,” he said, leaning forward from his chair, and shook her hand. “Youweren’t supposed to knowIwas a good guy at the time, so don’t worry about it.”
The two of them exchanged some kind of weird look beforeHectorstood up and announced he was leaving.
“I gotta head out.Theboss wants to put a protective detail on me until all thisPaganoshit blows over,”Hectortold us. “I’llcheck in onArchertomorrow, but let him knowIwas by.”
After he left,Ifilled my sister in on everything that had happened, and then we waited anxiously until we were allowed to go seeArcher.
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I woke to incessant beeping and an older woman staring at me.
“Welcome back to the real world,Mr.Papadopoulos,” said the woman, whoInow realized was a nurse based on the scrubs she was wearing. “Howare you feeling?”
“LikeIwas shot,”Igroaned, my voice sounding very raspy.
