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“First, we need to get the snitch who snitched on us,” Carmine said.
“Agreed,” Alessandro replied. “Let me handle that.”
“Of course, son. I thought you’d step up to the plate. But how are you going to get it done? He’s in a public hospital.”
Alessandro pondered what his father said. “Maybe I’ll start by making a phone call.”
“Maybe that’s a good idea.”
“Make the call now,” Gabriel suggested. “Why wait?”
“Good idea, baby brother. I don’t have anything to be afraid of, but he does.”
Alessandro pulled out his cell phone.
“Dial star sixty-nine, so there’s no trace,” Sofia suggested.
“How do you know how that works?” Gabriel asked, genuinely curious.
“Mind your business, son,” Sofia offered with a wink and a smile.
Alessandro searched for the telephone number of the hospital that housed Ricardo. Once he had it, he dialed the number and asked to be connected to Ricardo’s room.
“One moment, please,” the receptionist answered.
Alessandro listened as the music for waiting started to play. Then the line clicked, and he was put through.
“Hello?” Ricardo answered groggily, having just taken his pain medication. He thought about not answering the phone at all, but maybe it was his mother calling to check on him like she often did.
“You gave us up, didn’t you, Ricardo?”
Despite his fog, he sat up higher in his bed.
“Sorry, you’ve got the wrong number.”
“Oh really?” Alessandro challenged. “Are you sure about that? Because I’m pretty sure I gave the receptionist your name, and she put me through to your room, Ricardo Adele.”
He didn’t get the feeling he could continue with the ‘you got the wrong number line.’
“What do you want?” Oh, how he wished for another shot of the pain meds, sufficient enough to knock him out cold.
“What I want is for you to die a slow, painful death,” Alessandro replied. He could feel his anger growing inside him, and he didn’t try to stifle it.
“Why? Why do you want me dead?” Ricardo asked. He was so sick of the threats to his life.
“Because, Ricardo, you breached your contract.” Alessandro put the call on speakerphone so his family could hear what Ricardo had to say for himself.
“Breached my contract? The Ricci’s found the system. They found it despite every effort to keep it hidden. They threatened my life if I didn’t correct the situation, and you and your family put me up to tamper with it. What was I supposed to do? Huh? What was I supposed to do?”
“Honor your contract,” Alessandro replied.
“And they would have killed me,” Ricardo uttered.
“Well, now you can look forward to us killing you,” Alessandro answered. “Well, not directly, or maybe directly. Haven’t decided yet.”
“What does that even mean?” Ricardo sighed. He was too drugged to express how he really felt. The meds were taking their effect. It was too powerful for him to counter.
“Well, maybe we’ll get someone else to do the dirty deed for us.” Alessandro was getting a kick out of taunting Ricardo. “Or, maybe we’ll get an intern, or a nurse, or a nurse’s aide, or a janitor that happens to work at the hospital to do the dirty deed for us? You know, keep our hands clean.”
