Page 68 of Mafia Queen
“He could be wired.”
“He could be dying,” I snap.
With Dario between the gate and me, he lets me push him off.
“What hap—?” Celia says from behind me, brought out by the commotion.
“Get the first aid kit and sheets.” She’s already halfway to the house when I shout the last command. “And alcohol. A lot of it.”
Celia passes Loretta, who follows her to get the supplies. Dario gives up on me and climbs the ladder to the top of the stone guardhouse.
Armando’s on his back just outside the gate. Vito crouches about six feet away from him while the other guys hang back.
“You sure, Mando?” Vito takes a bent step closer. “They didn’t plant nothing on you?”
“Something.” Armando’s booming voice has been reduced to a breathy scratch, and there’s something wrong with his speech.
“What kind of something?”
“It won’t hurt you.”
“Show it to us,” Dario calls from above.
“No. It’s…” He shakes his head and swallows with difficulty. “Only Violetta.”
“They using you to get us to open the gate?” Vito asks.
“Just a message.” He’s talking as if he’s weak and in pain, but even past that, he sounds as if he’s talking with a new mouth.
“We ain’t gonna let her near you. Not before you’re checked. You know that.”
“Then check me,stunad.” Armando groans in pain. “Get to it.”
Vito takes a deep breath and scurries to Armando, opening his jacket. “Oh, Jesus fuck.”
Dario calls from atop a stone pillar, “Faster!”
“I’m sorry, man,” Vito says, gingerly patting down Armando’s body.
I’ve been daring to get closer, but now I’m at the gate, and the angle has changed enough to reveal what upset Vito. Armando’s shirt is gone, and his torso is a mess of blood and tissue. His gut has been cut open.
Blood loss.
Shock.
Infection.
I know how to stabilize him, but I’m not a doctor. I’m not even a nurse.
Face covered in nervous sweat, Vito bolts up to standing position. “He’s clear!”
The men jump down from the posts. The gate opens.
I rush through. “Armando!”
He kind of smiles. He’s missing two teeth, which explains the sudden speech impediment. “Good to see you.”
The men pull him up and bring him inside the gate. It closes. They’re about to drop him, which means they’d have to pick him up again.
