“No. I don’t know what happened, but Jackie asked me to cover for her.”
“Why?”
“She had to take him to the emergency room at the hospital.”
My heart stopped, then began to gallop. My lips seemed frozen, and it took a minute to get the words out. “Do you know why?”
He shook his head. “Not exactly. But she didn’t sound too concerned. She told me she’d check back in a few hours, but there wasn’t a lot on the schedule. I did cancel a couple of appointments for him though.”
“What hospital?”
“Uh… she didn’t say.” He hadn’t been too concerned until I’d showed up. Although my tone was even, my face had gone white, and I sounded a little breathless. It made him worried. Did I know something he didn’t know? Was Manetto having health issues?
“Okay. I’ll give her a call.”
“Good. Let me know what’s going on.”
“Sure.”
I stepped into my office and took a couple of deep breaths to calm down. It couldn’t be too bad, right? With a heavy heart, I practically dragged myself over to my chair. Sitting, I pulled out my cell and tried Uncle Joey’s phone first.
It rang forever before going to voice mail. I left a short message to call me, and tried Jackie. Her phone rang forever too. With my voice pitched a little high, I left another message before disconnecting.
Maybe Ramos would know something? I put the call through to him and held my breath. Come on… pick up, pick up. It went to voice mail, and I nearly sobbed. I swallowed and left another message, which I was sure sounded frantic, even though I tried to hold it together… but seriously? What the freak?
If it wasn’t a big deal, then why hadn’t she told Ricky? It had to be an emergency of some sort to take him to the hospital. Did that mean he’d had a heart attack, or a stroke, or something horrible like that? If she’d driven him, rather than call an ambulance, maybe it wasn’t as serious, but that still didn’t mean it wasn’t bad.
The picture of my family, along with all the Manettos in New York, caught my gaze. I zeroed in on Uncle Joey’s face. His usually hard, mob-boss expression had transformed into a smile of happiness. He stood beside Miguel, beaming with pride.
I swallowed, noticing a wooden plaque with gold engraving beside the photo. When had this been added to my desk? I picked it up and read the inscription. “No good deed goes unpunished.”
My breath hitched, and tears filled my eyes. I blinked rapidly to hold them back, remembering the exact day he’d threatened to put that on my door, and there it was. I wiped the tears from my cheeks and caught sight of the beautiful painting hanging on my wall.
He’d bought that just for me, and had placed it in this office so I could enjoy it. I remembered him saying that it reminded him of me. What had he said exactly? That I was like a burst of color rising out of the darkness? That sounded about right. He’d also told me that I’d made a difference in his life.
Well… he’d certainly made a difference in my life too. Who would have thought I’d be worrying over a mob boss? Still, I couldn’t imagine my life without him. What would I do if he died? I closed my eyes and swallowed past the lump in my throat, and tried not to cry. But I couldn’t stop the worry. I didn’t want him to die. I wasn’t ready to lose him.
Time stretched on. I tried to wait more than five minutes, but I just couldn’t do it. I picked up my phone, ready to call them all again. Before I pressed the numbers, a knock sounded at my door. It opened, and Ramos poked his head in. I sprang from my chair and rushed toward him.
“What’s going on? Is Uncle Joey okay?”
“Yeah… he’s okay.”
My breath whooshed out, and I threw my arms around him, needing the support. “I was so worried. What happened?” He held me tight, enjoying the feel of me in his arms. He understood my worry and was sorry he hadn’t been able to answer his phone.
I pulled away, but he didn’t want to let go of me just yet. So I gave in and relaxed against him. He held me tightly, like he needed that contact. After a few seconds passed, worry tightened my stomach. I listened to his mind, but his thoughts were blocked. Did that mean Uncle Joey was okay for now, but Ramos still had bad news to tell me?
I pulled away, and this time, Ramos let me go. A crooked grin broke over his face. “That was nice.”
I smacked his arm. “What’s going on? Is Uncle Joey okay or not?”
“Yes. He’s fine.”
“Then what happened?”
He huffed out a breath and shook his head. “Did you feel that earthquake?”
My brows drew together. “Yes, but what has that got to do with it?”
“Well… Manetto was… playing… with his knife. You know how he carries them around. He likes to get them out once in a while and flip them like this.” He made a motion with his hand.
I shook my head. “I’ve never seen him do that.”
Ramos shrugged. “Well… when the earthquake struck, he’d just flipped the knife. With all the shaking, he missed catching it, and it fell straight into his foot.”
“Oh… ow… I bet that hurt.”
“Yeah, it went right through his shoe.” Ramos was there when it happened, and I picked up his memory of seeing that knife standing straight up in Uncle Joey’s foot. “He pulled it out, but Jackie insisted on taking him to the hospital. After the x-ray, they decided that he didn’t need surgery to reattach anything, so they’re stitching him up and sending him home. I got your call on my way back here.”
I snapped my jaw shut, and shook my head. “That’s a relief.” I let out a breath
