“Wait.”Istopped just as the vehicle pulled to a stop in front of us. “YourcousinVince?Theone who is overseas in theArmy?Nicetry.”
“Yes, sameVince, but he got out of theArmynearly two years ago,” he answered. “Youremember the pictureIshowed you of him?Longblond surfer hair?He’sstill just as ugly now, so you’ll recognize him.”
I did remember the photo.Helooked like several guysIhad gone to school with.Imay have grown up inNorthernCalifornia, but surfers inCaliforniadid not care what part of the state they surfed in, so long as the conditions were great.Ialso recalledVinceas absolutelynotbeing ugly whatsoever.
When the window rolled down, a man’s perfectly chiseled face appeared, shadowed by a light scruffy beard and the typical blond surfer’s hair in disarray.Iremembered the photoArcherhad shown me of the two of them years before.Vincemay have grown up, but his face hadn’t changed much.Ihad a knack for remembering people’s faces and names quite well.ThiswasVince.
“Come on, you two.Quitstaring at my handsome face and get in the car,”Vincesaid with a grin and then winked at me.Yeah, these two were definitely related.Theymay not look the same, but their mannerisms and flirting were very similar.
Archer opened the back door, andIslid in, only for him to push me farther in so he could slide in beside me.Okay,Iguess we were both going to be in the back seat.
“Still on planA?”Vincequestioned casually from the driver’s seat.
“Yeah.Let’smeet the others atAce’sapartment, andI’llfill her in while we drive,”Archerinformed him.
There was a lot to break down from that statement. “Youknow whereIlive?”Iasked him, sinceVinceseemed to pull out of the parking lot without needing to ask for that information.
“Yes,”Archerconfirmed. “We’vegot two of our guys sitting on your place now, just in case anyone suspicious shows up.”
“Inside or outside my place?”Iasked.
I would like to thinkIknew the automatic answer to that, but it was hitting me very quickly that thisArcherwas a different man thanIonce knew.
“Outside.Oneis sitting in the parking lot watching your particular complex building, and the other is out walking a dog around the property. “
“You brought in a fake dog for this?”Iasked because that seemed a bit extreme—granted,I’dnever had a hit taken out on me before, so maybe this was par for the course.
“No, it’sJack’sreal dog,”Archerresponded.
Jack.Ididn’t know that name, butIassumed he worked withArcher, too.Ineeded information.Allof it.
“Alright, well,Idon’t live that far from here, so you’d better get talking,”Isaid, turning to face him. “Giveme all the details.”
“AsImentioned earlier,”Archerbegan. “BackwhenIworked inVegas,Iput a man away for a long time, but he just got out of prison and is hell bent on retaliation.Wordon the street is that he’s already leftNevada—even though that breaks his parole—to come toGeorgiato kill me.Itwas noted through some undercover officers who are knee deep in his mafia group that he also put out a hit on my wife—you—for three million dollars.”
All the air was sucked from my lungs asItook in what he’d just said.Don’task me whyIfocused on one particular point he made, butIwas stuck on it.
“The mafia?”Iasked, my eyebrows surely reaching near the top of my forehead. “Asin,real-lifemafia?”
“Yes,” he responded. “Hewas part of thePaganoFamilysyndicate, but not just any member—an actualPaganofamily member.Theyweren’t too happyIput him away.Hisfamily claims he’s at home inVegasrecovering from a bad case of the flu.Idon’t know if he really is here inGeorgiaor not.”
“Why do you say that?”Iasked.
“Technically, guys at his level don’t usually get their hands dirty, especially after the last time when it landed him in prison,” he explained. “Especiallywhen he knows he’s got eyes watching him.Myguess is that they’ve sent some minions to do the dirty work.”
This made sense. “Sonow what?What’sthe rest of planAlook like?”
“One of our guys,Diego, is camped out in the parking lot of your apartment, keeping an eye on things until we get there,”Archerinformed me. “Oncewe get there,Jackwill do a quick scan of your place, and then you can go inside, butVinceandIwill go with you.”
“WillJackhave his dog when he scans my place?”
“Yes,” he replied. “It’sactually a good thing to have a dog with him in case there is an intruder.Hisdog is well trained, but a stranger won’t know that.”
“I only asked becauseIhave a dog of my own, andIwasn’t sure if his dog would be okay withPercy.”
“Percy?” he asked.
“My pug.”
