Chapter 27
Brandon’s plane landed at the Raleigh/Durham International Airport at eight fifteen Friday night. He exited the plane and hurriedly walked down the corridor and took the escalator down to Baggage Claim. Once he’d picked up his luggage, he looked around for Leonard, the private detective he’d hired.
He was about to turn his phone on to call him, but Leonard walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Hey, Brandon,” Leonard greeted him in a deep voice. “I tried to head you off upstairs, but you were walking so fast, I couldn’t catch up to you.”
“I expected you to be here sooner.” Brandon replied in an agitated tone.
“I’m here now, so what’s the problem?” Leonard retorted in an equally agitated tone. He pointed his head toward the parking deck. “The car’s in this direction; let’s go.”
Brandon walked in a manner that insinuated to others around him that he was a man of great eminence. He didn’t bother to reply to the women who smiled and spoke to him. He was a handsome Italian man, with olive skin and green eyes. He was five feet nine inches and had a chiseled body.
Brandon’s upbringing had been disciplined. He was an only child, raised by a father in the U.S. Marine Corps and a stay-at-home mother. He’d traveled extensively with his parents as his father was stationed at Marine Corps bases all over the world. His father, Robert Savino, was a strict disciplinary toward Brandon as well as to his mother, Rachael. He belted out orders to Brandon and his mother as though they were one of his subordinates. When Rachael didn’t follow his orders precisely, he punished her with physical abuse. After Brandon turned thirteen, depending on the offense, Robert would punch Brandon like he was a man.
Brandon grew up resenting his father and had little respect for his mother. Although he loved her, he considered his mother to be weak because she allowed her husband to verbally and physically abuse her. She was not strong enough emotionally to protect Brandon from his father’s excessive beatings.
Robert Savino retired from the Marine Corps after thirty-five years of service. He settled his family in San Diego, California. Brandon graduated high school when he was eighteen. He attended and graduated college from the University of San Diego, in San Diego, California, with a degree in computer science.
He joined the Marines and served for twelve years. After being deployed for a year to Afghanistan and eighteen months in Iraq, he decided not to reenlist when his duties ended. He made his home in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hired at the Nashville International Airport as an air traffic controller. Six months later, he spotted Aquila in a park one day and observed her while she sat alone with an expression of despair on her face. After that, he noticed that she came to the park at least twice a week, alone, and sat on the bench feeding the ducks. He was intrigued by her beauty and innocence. He introduced himself to her, and after talking for hours, they began to meet at the park on a regular basis. Aquila was three weeks away from turning eighteen when she ran away from the orphanage and moved in with Brandon. Brandon was careful not to touch Aquila until she turned eighteen; he didn’t want to be charged with child molestation and ruin chances of him being with her forever.
A month after she turned eighteen, he asked her to marry him. Aquila accepted the proposal, and they eloped and married in a chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. After they were married, he took her to places like Bicentennial Mall State Park, the Grand Ole Opry, and Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery on weekends.
Brandon had sincere intentions of being a good husband, but he soon learned that he was his father’s son. He imitated his father’s cruelty to his mother with Aquila. To his dismay, he had become as ruthless as his father was. It took Aquila’s departure for him to realize that he needed psychiatric counseling. After a few weeks of counseling, his doctor diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Brandon was confident that once he shared this information with Aquila, she would understand. He knew that Aquila was a good wife and that once she heard him out, she’d be willing to forgive him of his trespasses toward her.
“Did you find any more information about my wife since you called me this morning?” Brandon asked Leonard in a gruff tone.
Leonard grunted. “No, I haven’t learned any more information. Like I told you before, she and the children live downtown with a friend, in an old shack. She works at Macedonia Baptist Church as the church secretary.”
Brandon raised his eyebrows. “My wife works? I didn’t think she had sense enough to do anything but cook and clean.” He smirked.
Leonard snorted. This guy is a real jerk. “I followed her to the kids school a couple of times, but I got off a couple of stops before she did. She’d seen me around a few times before, but that last time, I could tell by her expression that she had become suspicious of me, so I backed off a bit.”
They walked across the breezeway from the airport terminal and got on the parking deck’s elevator. Leonard pressed the button to go up.
“I hope you haven’t spooked her, Leonard, Brandon complained. “It’s taken three months to track her down. The last thing I need is for her to jump up and run with the kids before I get a chance to convince her to come back home. ”
Leonard almost laughed out loud. “You can’t be serious. From what I understand, word on the street is you used to beat the mess out of her. If you hadn’t paid me so well, I’d never have let you know where she was. ”
The elevator door opened. The two of them were now standing on the fifth floor of the parking deck. The icy wind whipped around them. It was a dark, frigid December night. In the parking deck’s lighting, Brandon’s face was so distorted, that he looked like an animal to Leonard.
“Look, I paid you well because word on the street is you’ll do anything if the price is right. How I handled my wife is my business, ” Brandon emphasized coldly. “You did your job, I paid you over and above what you’re worth, so shut up, ” he yelled.
Leonard lost his temper. “You freaking wife beater, don’t get nasty with me after I busted my tail for three months for your sorry behind. Don’t mess with me, ’cause I ain’t the one, ” he snapped. “You might scare the daylights out of your wife, but I’ll work you over and get rid of you. ” Brandon backed away from Leonard. “The word on the street you heard is true; don’t press your luck, buddy. I’ll do Aquila a favor so she won’t ever hear from you again. ”
“What the heck are you doing referring to my wife by her name, like you know her personally? ” Brandon asked him angrily. “The two of you got something going on? ”
Leonard stared Brandon down, took a deep breath and walked away from him. “Man, you are one crazy son of a gun, ” he said fervently. “Let’s go before I change my mind about what I’m doing. ”
Brandon followed Leonard to the car. Leonard cranked the car up, blasted his B.B. King blues CD, and the two of them rode silently down the highway, headed for the hotel in downtown Raleigh.
As they neared downtown, Brandon broke the silence. “Leonard, before we go to the hotel, drive me by the place where my wife lives. ”
Leonard cut his eyes over at .Brandon. “It’s your dime, man. I’ll drive you by there, but I ain’t gonna drop you off. ” Leonard swerved the car around in a service station’s parking lot. He turned onto the one-way street going in the opposite direction, away from the hotel. After ten minutes of maneuvering downtown, he parked across the street from Pricilla’s house. He pointed his finger toward the house. “This is the house where your wife lives. ” He stared at Brandon with hard eyes. “Just pay me the rest of my cash, so I can catch a plane back to Nashville tomorrow. ‘Cause whatever you do from now on, is on you. ”
Brandon opened his attaché case and dumped ten thousand dollars onto the seat. He had a sick smile on his face. “Relax, man. All I came to do is take my wife and kids back home where they belong. ”