Reckless Abandon (Black Horsemen MC Book 3)

by Sophia Hampton

  Gloria quietly shut down the computer and turned off the lights. The sound of splashing water in the next room over caught her attention as she rounded the corner back through the lobby. From the glass doors leading to the tiny little pool, she could see two figures sitting in a hot tub. They were arguing passionately as the woman rested her wet hand on her dry hair and the man looked away from her as she lectured him.

  Gloria entered the pool area, shutting the door behind them. She took a deep breath, inhaling the chemically rich smell. This was her time to be bold.

  “Mind if I join you?” Gloria pushed down her coverall over her body, revealing her turquoise swimsuit to the couple as they watched.

  Emma shook her head as Thomas stared at Gloria as she strode over to the small, frothy pool. “We were just leaving, actually.” Emma could not hold back her disgust. This half naked, stranger of a woman had interrupted a private, important conversation between her and her husband. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was to sit there and watch as Thomas gawked at her much younger body.

  It was too late. Gloria had already stepped in, using Thomas’s flabby shoulders as support to slide into the steaming water. “No, no. I insist you stay. I could use some company, after all.” She turned her attention to Thomas who had only moved to study Gloria, “I just love meeting new people.”

  “It’s late and we were heading up to bed. Thomas?” Emma tried hard to grab his attention.

  “Thomas Watson. And you?” Thomas outstretched his dripping arm to Gloria who stood and positioned herself closer to him.

  “Gloria Sinclair,” she smiled, shaking his hand. “So, Thomas, what kinda business are you in?”

  “We’re retired.” Emma was terse and short. She wanted nothing more than to get her husband out of the tub and into a cold shower.

  “Well, ain’t you lucky. Must be nice to have that luxury. Did you travel far to get here?”

  “No, no. We’re from Sterling. It’s only a few hours from here. What do you do?” Thomas was entranced.

  Gloria smiled. They were falling right into her hands, “I’m a secret-keeper.”

  “A what?” Emma snorted

  Gloria turned her head and released her force smile. It was time to drop the bomb, “I’m a secret keeper. I find out information on people, things they never want to be told or revealed. And then I keep it—for a price.”

  “You cannot be serious,” Emma replied dubiously. “That sounds like blackmail.”

  “You could call it that,” Gloria admitted, “but my clients prefer to call it secret-keeping. Makes them sound like better people that way, I suppose.”

  “That is the scummiest thing I have ever heard of. I hope you get caught, lady.” Emma had stood and was half way out of the tub as Thomas slowly stood behind her.

  As they exited the pool, Gloria fell back into the warm water, resting her head against the brick. She sighed audibly, “You know what is scummy, Emma? Having a son stealing money from the hard-working men and women of Sterling, Florida.”

  “What did you just say to me?” Emma and Thomas looked down at the small woman floating to the top of the whirlpool.

  Her eyes were closed tight as she smiled wickedly up at them. “Your son, Matthew, he’s a pretty scummy guy. While you might hope I get busted, I sure hope he doesn’t get caught. That’s why you need me.” Gloria opened her eyes and looked directly at Thomas. He had not said a word nor made a move. He just held onto his wife’s hand and looked out the windows that faced the parking lot of the hotel.

  After a few terrible moments, the elder Watson spoke, “What do you want?”

  “Normally I charge an ongoing fee, a ‘rental’ of sorts. But today, I’m gonna be generous. I need four grand in cash at my room door in two hours. Knock three times when you arrive. And if you try anything funny, I’ll call my backup. You might have seen ‘em around today—two fellas in leather jackets? They don’t take kindly on those who call the cops or try to scam their way out of it.”

  “Four thousand dollars and you won’t tell anyone?” Thomas spoke as Emma looked at him longingly. Her body shook as she grew cold and tired.

  “I’m a secret-keeper, Thomas. I only tell when my clients disobey my orders. I would hate to have to call George Endelman at 334-555-8970 to let him know what his Employee of the Year was up to when his back was turned.” Gloria stood and walked out of the pool, becoming face to face with Thomas and Emma. She couldn’t help but to purposefully brush her wet body against Thomas’ arm as she passed to grab a towel and her cover up.

  “Eleven. I’ll be waiting. Three knocks on room 325.” Gloria had said it all as she walked out of the pool, her eyes adjusting to the new musty smell of the lobby area and the dimmed lights of the hallway.

  She focused as she put her senses on high alert. With the Watsons ready to pounce, Emilio on the prowl, and two Devils members lurking, she was looking danger straight in the eye. This hotel was practically a death trap wherever she turned, and the fatal obstacles were growing in number as each hour passed.

  The anticipation was what did the killing, however. Gloria paced her room back and forth in silence as she stood waiting for a sign that she was in the clear. Normally, this would have been an easy transaction done in a familiar place with people she knew or knew of. The Watsons were a different breed of people. They were good, decent folks. And Gloria knew good people were often the hardest to trust and the most unpredictable of all.

  However, three knocks did come to Gloria’s hotel room door before eleven. She waited an agonizing minute as she waited to hear the sound of the man or woman’s feet dragging along the carpet as they walked farther away from her room. Using her room’s peephole, she spied outside, but she could not see a soul around.

  Gloria kept the deadbolt on the door as she placed a hand out first. She fell to her knees as she searched for the envelope. Her hand finally touched a rough brown package. Her heart raced. It worked! She unhooked the latch and opened the door enough to pull the package in and then quickly re-lock everything once more.

  The package was loaded with one hundred dollar bills in four stacks of ten. Gloria felt the texture of the green paper in her hand as she untied them from their rubber band. She separated out the money, putting one stack down her top and secured to her bra, another hidden deep in a pair of shoes in her bag, a third in her purse, and the fourth remained in the package clasped in her hands.

  Gloria exited the room as she tripped down the hall. The hallways continued to be a deafening quietness that overtook her as she struggled to make out any signs that she may not be alone. But no one appeared. No one even followed her outside as she started up her car and drove off into the night. She chose right, hoping her intuition would lead her right and away from danger.

  As she made it out to the highway, Gloria finally let go of the package she had clasped in her hands. As she kept one hand on the wheel, she leaned over and unlocked the glove compartment and tossed in the bundle of one thousand dollars. Using some paper and some trash, she covered it up so it was hidden amongst the rubbish of her car.

  She was now free to focus her attention once more to the task at hand. It was nearly midnight and she had finally found the exit to a highway heading back up north. As the states passed her in a blur and the dawn began to break, Gloria finally found courage to pull over to a truck stop outside of an unknown small town.

  Surveying the area, she found herself, once again, alone with herself and her money. An ache came over her as she thought to what Vinny was doing and where he had been. It had been so long since she had heard from him, since she had touched his hot skin and tasted his flesh. He was not the type of company she usually kept, but he became the company that she wanted, especially in times like these where her life had felt so perilously close to ending.

  Gloria remembered all of their small moments as she leaned up against her car and watched the cars on the highway go by. One by one, they sped off to their destination,
all looking certain at where they were coming and going. Gloria was certainly not among them.

  She was not sure where she was running to, but she knew for sure what she was running from. The men in the hotel were just another sign that Gloria had made the right decision to leave while the danger was mounting and the clubs were on her tail.

  From the opposite end of the highway, heading south, she heard what sounded close to long thunder. Its roar tore through the sound of cars and trucks and made itself known throughout the roads. Gloria stood up straight as she placed a hand to her forehead to get a better look through the piercing sun. The gleam of the engines caught her eye first, followed by the outlines of the drivers.

  Motorcycles, dozens of them, rode in parade style with no one breaking rank. Three men flanked the leader of the pack, forming a triangle around him. The rest sat back and followed through every curve, each tracing the path of the rider before him.

  Gloria couldn’t make out the colors, nor identify the men. She was, as she figured, so far from home that seeing the gang ride like a true motorcycle club could just be a one off coincidence. But the men who rode past her looked like they were out hunting, and Gloria knew she was in season.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Beeps, buzzes, voices. Beeps, buzzes, voices. Beeps, buzzes, voices. Vinny could not escape the noise.

  “Rest, Mauricio. Rest! Mama will be in tomorrow to visit.” The sound of his neighbor’s visitor faded into the background over the television. He watched as a young, attractive woman passed by his open curtain as she called out her goodbyes to Mauricio once more.

  A dry, disinterested voice came over the intercom once more, “Paging Doctor Jepson to the emergency room. Doctor Jepson to the emergency room. Code 472.”

  Vinny reached up quickly behind his head to grab a pillow to smother his face and ears. Any relief would be welcome, but the motion made his body go white-hot. Stings of pain surged through him as he grunted in pain. He gritted his teeth as he sputtered out, “Motherfucker!”

  County General Hospital had been his home for over a week now, and it was looking like he was stuck there for the time being. Several stab wounds to vital organs and a massive loss of blood would do that to a man, even one like Vinny.

  He tried to think back on the first day he was in the hospital. It was a blur, really. Vinny’s memory only allowed him to see jumbled faces of concerned people, white-coated doctors all staring down at him as he laid helpless in a gurney. A nurse continued to ask him over and over again who they should call for him. He had come in alone.

  He tried to think of anyone worth calling or informing, but he was coming up blank. His family was long gone. Asking someone in the gang to come would mean more trouble for all of them. So when the nurse leaned over him, phone in his hand, he just whispered the only name he could think of, “Gloria. Call Gloria.”

  But Gloria never came. The nurse could not make out his instructions nor find her information on his phone. She was practically a ghost who had existed only his mind and thoughts. Her presence, or the lack thereof, got him through the times in which he was unsure if he could survive and the moments his mind went numb from boredom.

  Vinny had never been one to lean on anyone. He hated the thought of being someone’s bitch or companion. Women were for fucking and leaving. They were cold companionship with an expiration date. But she had served a purpose in his life. She had been the one there for him after his last injury to his rib. She had stayed by his side, cooked his food, and washed his hair. No woman was supposed to play that role, but she had managed to do it all and more.

  But she had made her escape. The two of them had magically found a way out for her by faking her capture by the Devils. The last time he had seen her, she had a bag in her hand as he destroyed her townhome bit by bit. He couldn’t leave a sign that she may come back. And, now, he was starting to come to terms with that.

  Vinny attempted to push himself up to sitting. His hands trembled as he held onto the metal bar and lifted his hips up. The same burning feeling instantly came back, causing him to spasm under his weight. But he pushed through. Sitting like an invalid in this dank hospital room was not going to get him anywhere. He had to get better. He had to make his own escape – and fast.

  A piercing sound flooded his ears. He turned his head towards his monitor to watch it light up like a Christmas tree. Red, green, and yellow lights flashed as he watched his own heart rate numbers climb higher and higher and higher. It only took moments before a nurse in pink and white scrubs burst through the door. A mask covered her face, but Vinny could see her annoyance with her piercing eyes. What he was doing was obviously not allowed.

  “Mr. Di Molto, I have told you you’re not allowed to sit up.”

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Vinny lifted his hands slowly in defense as she pressed a button on his bed to forcefully lay him back down.

  “No, I’m not ‘fucking kidding’ you. If you refuse to stay put, I’ll ask Sargent Tully to let me restrain you to this bed.”

  A police officer had been assigned to him the second he was back from the operating room. As the cops had seen it, a man with over twenty stab wounds to his torso, back, and legs had to have gotten into trouble or was in danger of trouble finding them again.

  But when Vinny refused to nark and tell the officers what happened that night at the back of the restaurant, the attention turned to him. It was clear he was not just an innocent victim. Background checks and old police reports identified him and his affiliations with the Black Horsemen.

  No way the police would let someone with his reputation out of their sight. A police officer by the name of Tully had, instead, been assigned to sit at the nurses’ station to keep an eye out for him and any other Horsemen who dared to show themselves in public.

  The last thing Vinny was afraid of was the cops or the incessantly bossy nurse. He muttered under his breath as he sank back down in the white sheets of the hospital bed, “I’d like to see you try.”

  He watched the nurse reach up towards the monitor above his head as she pushed several buttons in rapid succession, resetting the system back to normal and clearing the lights and alert sounds. Without another word, she turned her back towards him and walked out the door, slamming it behind her.

  Without a second hesitation, he sprung into action. Vinny reached underneath him and grabbed the handful of pills he had been saving since earlier the week. He was going to need every bit of pain medication he could get to pull off what came next. With a gulp, he ingested at least ten of them, letting the rest spill out back onto the bed.

  He then placed his pillow in his mouth, smothering the sound of a scream as he pushed himself up to sitting once more. The first alarm began to buzz almost instantly, but he was quick. He had studied his nurse enough to know the pattern. And without missing a step, his alarm was reset and then turned off.

  Vinny knew he had only minutes before a nurse or doctor noticed his monitors were no longer picking up his signal. He turned his legs off the side of the bed and allowed them to touch the ground. As he took his first painful step forward, he was pulled back by the tug of his wires and IV lines. He pulled each off quickly, like a bandage. Small drops of blood pooled along his arms where the needles were resting.

  Once dressed in the bloody and cut clothing he came in with, he rummaged through the hospital closet for something, anything to conceal himself with. He opened the next compartment, the one belonging to his hospital bed roommate. He could see a neat pile of clothing and a baseball hat sitting on top of the built-in dresser.

  Mauricio’s clothing was baggy and gray – not at all Vinny’s style. But he knew walking around in a blood-soaked shirt with his face completely exposed was the quickest way to get caught and returned. He placed the cap over his head and tucked his dark hair behind his ear as the wide black brim lowered to cover his eyes. He grabbed the wallet from the pocket of the man’s jeans and went through the contents. Thirty bucks and a ho
st of credit cards and ID cards were messily stacked in the leather pockets. Vinny helped himself to what he thought he would need.

  “Thanks, Mauricio,” he whispered quietly knowing the man laying next to him had no idea what was going on. The thin sheet between them had concealed everything.

  Vinny quietly opened the door leading out to the hallway. An unfamiliar nurse smiled at him as he quickly turned back towards the room and shouted, “See ya later, man. Feel better.” It covered his tracks as she continued in one direction, and he went the other way through the dark corridor towards where he thought the elevators were.

  “Excuse me? Sir?” A woman’s persistent, shrill voice made him turn. With his head tucked towards his chin, his eyes careful not to make contact, she looked him over and over again before asking, “Who are you visiting today?”

  “Mauricio. Just leaving.” He lowered his voice almost comically. He was not great at disguising himself.

  “All right. Have a nice day.” Vinny could tell she had not exactly bought it. She had walked straight into his old room. Only minutes later, she heard him shout for help from the nurse he first passed by.