Gloria’s face dropped almost instantly. Her tan skin turned pale as her eyes widened in fear. She shook her head as her body began to tremble slightly under the strain of the rope pulling at her limbs. She began to shout at her captor, “Why, Vinny! What the fuck! You were supposed to protect me. That was the deal!”
“I’m breakin’ it, just like you broke it when you ran to the Devils. No one else could have played it better than you. You gave me that info that could have gotten me killed. Now I’m supposed to believe you conveniently got back to help me and the Horsemen?”
The thoughts had been running through Vinny’s head the entirety of the night. Gloria had fallen asleep quickly on his chest. He studied her body carefully, as if it was, yet again, the last time he would see her. She was still glistening from the rain outside as the moisture reflected off the glow of the full moon shining through the window.
She had said she loved him. She had told him like it was her last confession, her last chance. And maybe it was. Maybe this was part of her next play. Maybe this seduction was just another tactic to get back to him. The possibilities flew past him one by one.
And in each case, the idea of her truly loving him seemed insignificant compared to the probability that she was working with the enemy. After all, what was love to someone like him or Gloria? It was a feeling totally reserved for fairy tales and children. It didn’t exist in their world. No one had time to feel that much and that hard. Emotions like that only led to pain like the one that the Devils and Gloria had planned for him.
After several hours of playing each of his next moves out, he settled on the one that made the most sense to him: Gloria had to die, and he had to do it, as he requested, in the presence of Benni for confirmation. In the earliest morning hours, he ran to his utility closet, took out a slack of rope he had used to tie up his bike, and waited until the sun shone.
As she began to stir, Vinny tied her up tight to the bed. As he tied the last knot above her head, he leaned over to where her head had fell to the side. Her wild, tangled mess of a hair covered her eyes and forehead. Without thinking, he used his fingers to softly push the strands behind her ears. His touch caused her to turn her head towards his hand so that he cupped her cheek and jaw. The smooth, warm breath traced his wrist and palm.
He set her head back down on the bed and moved back to his place in the doorway. It would not be long now. She would be gone forever. And if that was to be their last touch, that was perfect enough for him.
Now that Gloria understood her fate, she had no choice but to fight it. Vinny was so resolved, so convinced this was the right choice. She screamed, she fought; she twisted and pulled with all of her force against her binds. But he just watched over her until the phone in his jean pocket began to vibrate.
He walked out of the room and into the hallway. Gloria continued to thrash against the ties, but she had quieted. She wanted to hear everything that was to come to her. She knew that if she knew the truth, she would be more motivated to break out than ever before.
“Benni?” Vinny was relieved that his leader had finally gotten back to him. He had messaged Benni almost three hours earlier when he had first tied Gloria to the bed. It was not like him to take his time on answering one of his men back, especially with a situation like this.
“Yeah? What’s goin’ on?” Benni was unusually short. He barked at the phone as if he had a million better things to do than to listen to Vinny.
“It’s Gloria. She came back last night. I’ve got her here at the apartment with me.” Vinny was not sure if he should make himself come off as excited or elated. What he actually sounded like was more of resigned solemnness.
The other line paused. Vinny could faintly hear the voices of others in the background. They whispered quickly back and forth until Benni returned, “What do you mean Gloria’s back?”
Vinny was taken aback. This was a man that had just commanded him to return Gloria to him as soon as he could without any questions asked. Now he sounded more suspicious and weary. Vinny started from the beginning, “She showed up at my door with this story that she had ran to Florida, or something, and that the Devils sent out scouts to find her. She managed to get some information and was back.”
“Hmmm.” Benni was giving nothing away. “Bring you and her in. We’ll talk about this later.”
“What ti—“ A loud bang from the other end of the receiver stopped him. He shouted back, “What the fuck was that?”
He listened to the sound of rustling and shouting. Whatever was happening in the background was a blur of shouts and hollers. He could hear Benni in the distance shout some profanities aggressively, but his voice got farther and farther away from wherever he had left his phone. And then, without another sound, there was a click and the line went dead.
Vinny was left wondering what had happened to the man on the other line. But before he could think more of it, he had to deal with his own emergency in his bedroom. Gloria had managed to kick herself out of her ties and was now working on her arms.
He held back a smile. She had managed to make an even bigger mess of his clean ties. But this wasn’t a time to find her endearing or to play it cute. He had one job left, and that was to get Gloria to Benni as soon as possible.
Vinny walked over to the bed and unhooked where he had tied her hands. Gloria’s body shot up quickly as she tried to spin herself off of the other side of the bed, but her legs were still bound to one another. She fell face first on to the carpet. Vinny picked her up by her arm and sat her back up in the bed. He picked up her still damp dress from the same place it was tossed the night before and commanded her to get dressed.
She remembered her nakedness as modesty took over. She may have slept with him just hours ago, but he was a different man to her now. He wasn’t her lover. He was her executioner. She was not about to share her intimate parts with him for his enjoyment.
Vinny took notice of her arms that now covered her breasts and her leg that hooked to cover the pale skin of her pussy. He nodded towards her and waited with his back turned. He hated to admit how much he wanted to watch her get dressed, to see her carefully pull down the blue dress over her head and hips.
There was to be no more moments like this. Whatever they had, whatever they shared was behind them. Before them was the long walk to Gloria’s fate with Vinny leading the way. Before the day would end, he would have her blood on his hands, and he had to start acknowledging that now.
When her shadow settled once again on the side of the bed, Vinny grabbed her arm. Sucking back all of the words he wanted to say, he instead commanded her, “Take your bag.” He pointed towards her backpack and the purse that were sitting in the corner of the room behind the desk.
Gloria followed his orders. When she turned back around, he had her black notebook and phone in his hands. He was rummaging through the pages, ripping out some of the sheets. Gloria shouted defensively, “What are you doing? You can’t do that.”
He looked at her quizzically. She was about to meet her maker and all she could care about was whatever was in this notebook. He explained, “You say you have information? Well, I want it. But I’d rather not anyone see the stuff about me, you get me?”
Gloria pointed out, “Why bring it? It’s not like any of you will believe me anyway.”
He shrugged. His eyes were still glancing over a page that had notes about him and their deal. She had written out every interaction, every moment they had shared. There were notes about their limited time working over the people of Jackman’s Tavern. There was a line about him and Quimby torturing the couple in their own home. And he was not surprised to see she had even recorded when they fucked. She was nothing if not detailed and organized.
He shut the small leather book hard in his hands, curled it from the spine, and stuck it in his back pocket with her cellphone. Without looking up at her, he slowly said, “It’s time to go. They are expecting you.”
She backed herself back to the wall as he
motioned towards her arm. She burst out into a sob as she cried out into the quiet of his apartment, “Please! No! Vinny! Please don’t do this…You cannot do this…Vinny!”
He took hold of her waist, pulling her down just as he had in the bed. She had managed to grab hold of a dresser that toppled with her with a large thud. He stepped over the mess as she found herself completely cornered. There was no more running. Vinny had won.
His hands and arms dragged her down the hallway past where the television and kitchen light were still both on. She did not say another word, nor did she attempt to fight her way out. She was dead weight in his arms. Together they made their way to Gloria’s car. He pushed her into the backseat and buckled himself into the front. He moved the rearview mirror from pointing at her somber, cold face to the road behind them.
They both listened to the sound of the car tires dragging over the gravel and the unwitting people pass them by in cars just like hers. Neither dared say another word to the other. Their silence was sacred. Both were comforted by the familiar passing of the telephone poles and trees in the wind along the back roads of their journey.
Vinny drove too fast. He had wanted to prolong this as long as he could. Each moment that her presence sank in with him, he grew more and more unsure that she was working with the Devils. Everything seemed equally probable and improbable. But now he had to make the decision: bring her to her death or take to the road. However, before he could change his mind and work out a plan, the parking lot to the building where the Horsemen operated from had come into view.
There was only one way.
Gloria got out of the car on her own. She paused at the door, waiting for him to walk towards her. She took in the sight of the morning sun, the sound of the birds singing their version of the blues, and the gentle crisp air blowing through her hair and in the fabric of her dress. Her eyes closed as Vinny, once again, grabbed her arms and pulled her towards the building.
As he expected, Quimby was waiting for him just before he could enter the building. The man looked more puffed up than ever. He had a devilish grin on his face as he recognized the tattered and tired Gloria in Vinny’s grasp.
“Ya find that bitch? You son of a gun. I didn’t think you had it in you. I mean, I heard about all the shit you pulled in the past, but after you wussied out on that job with Junior’s family, I thought you had lost your balls.” He slapped Vinny on the back as he led him inside. Gloria dragged behind them with little resistance.
The Black Horsemen’s headquarters was eerily silent. The men who were there sat huddled at the group’s tables, their bodies turned from the open door. They had clearly heard who was coming in, but they refused to acknowledge Vinny’s, or even Gloria’s, presence.
“Just sit back here.” Quimby had escorted them to a room in the back of the old factory. “Benni’s in a meeting. I’ll bring him out when he’s done.” With a snicker, he shut the door quietly, leaving Vinny and Gloria alone together once more.
The sound of a click from the outside lock sent Vinny in a panic. His eyes darted up and down her body and then back at the room they were put in. “Gloria, we have to get out of here.” He grabbed hold of her hands and dragged her to the tall, rectangular window.
“What? What are you talkin’ about? You just brought me here to be killed, and now you’re tellin’ me we have to escape? What’s goin’ on?”
Vinny had not taken a second to respond. He was stacking furniture to stand upon. The chair on the table finally lifted him high enough to reach the metal clasps. The top section of the window opened just wide enough for him to slide out. “I’ve got to find Benni. Stay here.”
He lifted his leg to climb out, but Gloria’s plea caught him. “What! You can’t leave me alone here without tellin’ me what’s up!”
He jumped down quietly, his boots landing with a soft thud. He took his hands upon his shoulders as he leaned towards her and whispered, “Listen, that guy out there – do you recognize him?”
Gloria had noticed the man’s face and voice. It was one she could never forget. The image of him dragging a woman’s lifeless body down the stairs by her hair was engrained in her memory. She nodded in response as she swallowed hard.
“Something’s goin’ on with him. Protocol is to have me brought directly to Benni, not wait out in a locked room. Those guys out in the main hall? They’re all his close allies—guys who ain’t exactly my close friends, get it?”
“What does that have to do with us?” Gloria couldn’t make the connections, but she could sense the danger lurking.
“I dunno, Gloria. But I’m not about to get us killed before I find out.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Killed?! You just brought me here to die!” Gloria had been able to keep it in this entire time. She had come to terms that this was her end and that the one person she had opened herself up to was going to be in charge of her death. But now she was struggling to face this new change in plans.
“I don’t care if you’re workin’ for the Devils. I don’t care if you set me up. Right now, all I care about is gettin’ us out of this room.” Vinny gestured towards the window still cracked open up enough for him to slither through.
“Don’t leave me here.” She looked down at her shaking hands. She could not bear to face him. “Please, Vinny.”
He stepped closer to her and wrapped her into her arms for an embrace. He kissed the top of her head and whispered sincerely, “It will be okay. Just let me go, okay?”
She pulled tighter on his hips before letting go. He quickly climbed up and out the window and fell down the half story to the grass below. She watched as the top of his head disappeared in a flash.
A crash came from the other side of the door. A booming voice belonging to Quimby rose up, “That motherfucking idiot has no idea what’s coming for him! Let’s start with the girl so he can watch.”
Gloria knew what was coming for her, and she understood that there was not time to wait for Vinny to rescue her. She had no other option but to run. Gloria climbed the small tower of furniture that Vinny had left. The chair on top of the table shook as she attempted to hop up over the top of the window like Vinny had, but she was just too short.
She could, however, reach a built in drawer on top of the closet. It was just large enough to hold her and close enough for her to climb into. But her hiding place was too obvious with the table and chair pushed up against the wall. She had to make a distraction. Her only option was to knock over the setup and pray Vinny had enough time to get out of the way before the guys would come looking for her.
With her breath held, she climbed into the cedar built-in and held on to the cabinet’s handle. Her other hand pushed hard up against the chair, sending it flying backwards and down to the floor. The crash made a metal boom that spread through the room and lingered as each of the pieces broke upon contact with the linoleum tiles.
Gloria could hear the men run to the room to see what had happened. A new voice shouted, “What the fuck is goin’ on in there?” She watched from her perch high above the ground as the doorknob rattled and shook.
“Move out of the way, you idiots.” Quimby unlocked the doorknob quickly. He used his foot to kick in the wood. The men stood back, expecting an attack. But instead, the room was completely empty. All that they could see was the heap of metal chairs, the turned over table, and the cracked open window.
Gloria watched as they surveyed the area before Quimby finally announced, “How the fuck did he get out? Who was in charge of guarding the outside?” He pointed to one of the younger of the five men in the room, “Go find wherever that shithead and whore are headin’ and bring him to me.”
The rest of the men went back to their posts, but Quimby continued to stand in the room in silence. He looked about for clues or a sign, even glancing at the cabinet where Gloria peeked through with her single eye. When his glare looked upward towards her, she quickly backed away, shuffling herself farther back in the empty cabinet.
/> Quimby sighed, exasperated, and then left, leaving the door open. Gloria lingered in her spot for several minutes, hoping that if she stayed, they or Vinny would never find her. No, if Gloria wanted out and back to safety, she had to get out on her own.
But making it out of the den of Horses was easier said than done. As she shimmied down the wall’s brackets and back to the ground, she peeked her head outside the quiet hallway. From her vantage point, she spotted the back of two men guarding the front door and another three guarding the main hall. There was practically no escape that did not involve going directly past someone.
She could also see the outline of three other doors like hers. She squinted her eyes as she studied the outside locks on the door. Two of the gold locks were set to unlock while a third was locked. Her heart raced. Behind that door could be her ticket out of there.
Reckless Abandon (Black Horsemen MC Book 3) Page 6