Brandi's Nightmare

By A. G. Moye

Seventeen year old Brandi,just short of her eighteenth birthday and graduation finds her world turned upside down when her parents were killed in a car bombing.
Her hopes of making the Olympics died along with her parents.
Shocked to learn, she wasn't who she thought she was nor were her parents! Her father was not her biological father.
Her real father could be the killer due to his Mob connections that sent her parents into hiding.
Brandi sets out on a journey to find the killer or killers of her parents that takes her to New York City.
An uninvited hitchhiker leads her to discover her step father was leading a double life maybe even a triple life.
AS she unravels the clues and the mystery deepens, Brandi finds herself in several life or death situations.
On her journey she finds family that she never knew existed and adopts the daughter from a dying woman on the streets of New York City that befriends her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: A. G. Moye
• Release date: May 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301588664

A. G. Moye

Books with a Twist! Born in the cotton fields of Arkansas. Delivered newspapers in Clarksville, Arkansas from 5 to 14 and then moved to California. Work in the metals Industry management for thirty years. I am married with seven children and twenty- two grandchildren along with three great grandchildren. Started writing in 1987 just as a hobby but found I enjoyed it so much that I kept it up even after retiring. My wife, Sammi is my biggest supporter; pushing me to get my books published which I have enjoyed hearing from those that read them that they enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.Currently writing my three book Science Fiction series called Marauder Chronicles. Finished with first two and are published. Writing book three of the Chronicles of the Marauder! To be followed by the sequel to "A Stranger Comes Crawling" and conclusion of the Lightning in the Tunnel series, "Lightning Rages"

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Brandi's Nightmare

Copyright 2012 by A.G.Moye

Published by Smashwords

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Chapter One

Brandi Boudini, report to the Principal's office! the loud speaker blared. Brandi was annoyed being summoned to the Principal’s office again. It seemed like this year she was being caught for every prank she pulled. Today, she had taken a girl’s bra that had extra large breasts and hung it in the boy’s PE dressing room with a note, saying if found, the person that knew who it fits could take it to the girl and get a free ride!

Brandi guessed that this was the case, someone saw her and told on her. The girl and Brandi got into a tussle in PE class. Brandi wasn’t one to be intimidated by anyone. This girl while they were playing a little volleyball kept hitting her with the ball; but under the watchful eyes of the instructor Brandi couldn’t do anything. So she saw the girl get in the shower and took her bra hiding it. Skipping her next class, she waited until the boy’s dressed and slipped into their dressing room hanging it up on the lights with the note.

Being a straight A student she knew the Principal would go easy on her like before so she wasn’t worried. She just hoped they didn’t call her parents and make a big deal out of it.

Walking in the Principal’s office a sudden chill went over Brandi seeing not only the Principal, but also her school counselor, and a suited gentleman. He spoke first taking out a badge at the same time, Special agent Dryer, FBI!

Brandi! Agent Dryer is here because there had been a tragedy! The Principal interrupted to say.

Your parents have been killed by a car bomb and agent Dryer is here to talk to you about them! The school counselor finished what she was saying as she became choked up unable to speak.

All color drained from Brandi’s face as she went into shock, frozen; not believing what she just heard. The counselor grabbed her guiding her to a chair as the agent stood there observing her not saying anything.

You need some water? The counselor asked after she had Brandi sitting down. Brandi could barely nod yes.

A thousand questions went through Brandi’s mind sitting there, mostly why? But she couldn’t speak instead saw in her mind, the kissing of her parents like always before she left for school. They said they were meeting an old friend for lunch today; that was the only thing that flashed through her mind. Then her younger brothers and sister crossed her mind.

What about Charles, James and Skyler? Brandi uttered in a whisper.

Others are with them already, we bought you here to answer a few questions. Agent Dryer finally spoke up saying. Answer or ask Brandi wondered? She wanted to cry but her eyes didn't cooperate.

Brandi looked at him taking the glass of water, her throat felt so parched. The counselor placed her hand again on Brandi’s shoulder trying to comfort her but Brandi wasn’t crying, she still didn’t quite believe what she had just heard.

Brandi, how much did you know about your parents and their connection to organized crime? the agent asked.

Organized crime! Brandi laughed then said, My Dad was an insurance salesman and Mom was a homemaker. Neither of them had anything to do with that! Brandi started getting hot under the collar for them to even suggest such a thing. The anger brought forth the tears but the agent didn’t seem to notice.

After the car bombing, we fingerprinted them finding out they were not who the ID’s they had on them were. They are in reality, Joesph and Maria Allesandros, not Wayne and Dorothy Boudini. He was a member of organized crime that disappeared sixteen years ago just after you were born. Brandi stared at him not believing a word he said but he continued, We observed them having lunch with a known member of organized crime that turned out to be his brother, Giovanni that our agents were watching. From their report and observations it looked like a very tense meeting and angry words were spoken when they left. We tried to bring him in for questioning but he gave our agents the slip!

The agent stood there still watching her facial reaction to his words then he spoke again. We think the bomb was planted while they were in the restaurant eating, because it went off when they started up the car to drive away. It is clear that you don’t have a clue about what the meeting was all about and why they were killed, I’m sorry for the inconvenience I might have caused you in your time of sorrow; but I needed some answers.

Brandi wasn’t listening instead sat there crying. Hearing the last class bell chime, Brandi knew school was over, she didn’t know what to do!

I will take you to the foster care home where your brothers and sister will be taken! The agent said as the counselor started helping Brandi to her feet telling her that they wanted her to leave now.

I’m okay now! Brandi told the counselor finding her legs would hold her, while the agent was telling the Principal and Counselor thanks for their cooperation.

Outside, the urge to run suddenly came over Brandi. She ran everyday for as long as she could remember. As a member of the high school track team she was very fast even though with the growth of her bust, she took to wearing a sports bra all the time. The boys said they loved to see her run, but she knew they really liked to watch her breasts bounce. She slowed down some since they were so large like her mother’s; but still the agent never expected her to take off running and before he could respond, she was a hundred yards away from him before he tried to chase her. He gave up very quickly and headed toward his car.

Ducking into alleys and crossing the streets, Brandi quickly lost him by the time he got to his car she was nowhere to be seen. Brandi often ran all the way home unless she was walking with her friends, nowadays she ran alone because most of her friends drove cars. They were always asking her if she wanted a ride, but she never took them up on it preferring to run home.

Blind with tears, she didn't pay any attention where she was going. Twice, if the driver hadn't honked, she would have ran right in front of them. She kept going, finding herself on the outskirts of town. As the tears slowly stopped falling, she came to realize where she was. What would she do now? Without thinking about it, Brandi headed home. She didn’t want to go to no foster care home. She was seventeen, old enough to be on her own. Brandi slowed to a walk dreading going back to that house that would now be empty of her parents, but not the memories.

Turning on her street, she saw men and women with FBI on their jackets carrying things out of her house. Ducking into a hedge, she watched for a minute.

What were they taking? She wondered, Dad’s insurance files from his office? Came to her mind. She watched seeing the agent that had been questioning her drive up speaking to another agent then drive off. She guessed they had been looking for her but finally gave up!

Watching the neighbors that gathered in their yards to observe what was going on, she saw still others peeking out from behind curtains watching. A yellow police tape reading police line do not cross surrounded the house preventing anyone from approaching.

Seeing her best friend Jill gathering with those outside, Brandi had the urge to join her but was afraid the FBI would see her. She wasn’t sure if they would make her go to the foster home or not, but didn’t want to chance it. Gary, her boyfriend joined Jill and others collecting together to talk about what was going on.

Thoughts of Gary brought a warm feeling over Brandi, she wanted to go over and hold him. Several months ago, they finally went all the way while out on a date. Brandi assured her mother they used protection but her mother insisted on taking her to the doctors to get a prescription for birth control. Brandi knew she disappointed her mother in having sex; she always tried to convince her to wait until she was married to have sex but understood what it was like to be a teenager in love. They had sex twice after that, Brandi never told him she was on the pill making him use protection not wanting him to have sex everyday like he wanted. That would have to wait until after they were married; but lately she noticed he seemed to be getting more distant and talking with other girls a lot more than he used to. She overheard one of the girls at school mentioning he was coming over to her house some evenings. Jill told her that she should have never given in to Gary’s desires, now that he had what he wanted, he most likely was moving on to another girl. Watching him talking with Jill, Brandi could tell he was coming on to her just by the way he smiled and looked at her. Jill said what she did to Brandi because her own boyfriend did that to her, after she gave in, he headed after another girl dumping her; but Gary had been her boyfriend for the past two years so Brandi felt he did care for her. Men are pigs! flashed through Brandi’s mind. She didn’t know where that came from, maybe the death of her parents was making her bitter toward the world.

Brandi stayed put knowing no one knew she was there. She liked watching people when they didn’t know she was around, she found out a lot of interesting things about people doing this. She used to sneak away as a child and hide watching people. She hadn’t done that in years but doing it again, she felt like she was in the past again.

The numbness she felt inside came back strong when she saw Gary and Jill go into her house. Jill’s Dad worked late and her mother never seemed to be around. Brandi knew she was home alone making it easier on Jill to have boys over. Being her best friend Jill told her when she started having sex; she was the one telling Brandi to make sure she used protection so she didn’t get pregnant. Brandi wondered why she never got her mother to put her on the pill, but guessed it was because Jill never told her mother or she wasn't around that she was sexually active since she was fourteen. Boys were always hanging around Jill, but Brandi didn’t want that kind of attention.

When Jill didn’t return as the sun was going down, she knew what her and Gary were doing seeing nothing stirring in Jill’s house. Brandi’s legs were starting to cramp up being in one position so long, she started to move when she heard a drill. The agents were all outside and several vans left with whatever they wanted to take; now an agent was installing a padlock on the front door. Even if she had a key, she couldn’t get in even though she didn’t. One of her parents were always home so they never felt the need for her to have one.

After slapping a lock on the door and putting his equipment in the trunk of the last remaining vehicle the last three agents piled in and then drove off.

Brandi watched them drive away and made sure they didn’t double back. She started to move then saw Gary come out of Jill’s and hurry home. The tucking of his shirt in his pants told Brandi that they had indeed been having sex. She wondered how Jill her best friend could do this to her; but Jill told her long ago that sex was one thing, a friendship another, yet still Brandi felt betrayed.

Sure that the agents were gone as darkness fell; Brandi crawled out of the hedge and made her way to the house. Years ago she used to slip into the house through the old coal chute used back when the house was heated by coal, long before they installed gas heaters banning the burning of coal inside the city limits. It had been all closed up, but over time the boards rotted giving her a path through the chute into the old basement rarely used since the installation of gas heat. Her mother used it as a storage area for items the kids no longer needed. Brandi knew her old dolls were down there along with other keepsake items from her past.

Chapter Two

Brandi wondered if she still would fit, it had been a tight squeeze as a child, now she was bigger in every area. Opening the door leading to the chute, it looked dark and forbidding down there. How many years? She wondered what crawled around down there. As a child she was never afraid of anything, but now the thought of bugs crawling on her gave her the creeps, especially spiders. She knew that mice were down here as well, her mother mentioned a few times that she set traps down here trying to get rid of them seeing their droppings.

Going in face first, she closed her eyes hoping they would adjust to the darkness. Her hands and face hit a spider web right away. She hoped it wasn’t some black widow or other poisonous spider as she wiped the web from her face extending her hands out a little farther trying to feel what was ahead as she went down the chute. Unlike when she was little, she didn’t slide down being bigger and having a tighter fit, she had to use her elbows to pull her along. That hurt but she kept going, twice she felt herself getting caught on nails, once they cut her and tore her clothing as she forced herself along. What took her only few minutes as a child, seemed to take her hours now.

Muttering to herself about the stupidity of all this, she brushed more cobwebs out of the way and hit her hand on a nail. She tried to recall the last time she had a tetanus shot knowing these were old rusty nails. The one on her rear where the nail must have gouged her deeper was already starting to hurt and she knew she was bleeding. The other nail hit her side but she didn’t feel much pain there or see any sign of bleeding, yet she knew nails could be deadly business.

Feeling nothing ahead, she knew she reached the point where the chute dropped off into a bin for the residents to take the coal from. As a child she used to stand up in it but knowing it was only four feet deep, she couldn’t do that being a full-grown woman. Until she turned fifteen she was the average height for the girls in her class then she shot up like a weed to five foot, ten inches tall.

Stretching her hand out as far as she could, Brandi moved ahead some until her hand touched the wall of the bin. Bracing against it, she gripped the top of the chute with the other hand allowing her to drag her body and legs out.

This was a hell’va lot easier when I was a kid! Brandi said to no one. Staying bent over so she wouldn’t bang her head, she placed her feet firmly on the bottom of the bin. Knowing she was covered in coal dust, Brandi didn’t worry about her clothes, there would be no one up there to yell at her about ruining her clothes. That thought brought another round of tears, but Brandi used the back of her hand to wipe away the tears then realized she almost put coal dust in her eyes, she stopped letting them flow. Still bent over, Brandi cried until she could shed no more tears, then brought her mind back to what she was doing.

Brandi reached up until she found the missing board that rotted away a long time ago. Panic stepped in for a second when she felt the opening, there was no way she as a woman could fit through that opening. Putting her back against the boards that made the lid, it used to swing open, back when it was used but now it was nailed shut. She started pushing with all her might, the wood was rotted enough that she heard it breaking. Even though it was pitch dark in the basement; she kept trying to see what was going on. Lowering herself back down on her knees, she reached up with her hands feeling the broken boards, one broke in half, she pulled it apart creating an opening big enough for her to fit through guessing the width of the opening. Another nail scratched her as she stood up but she ignored the pain knowing she was halfway into house.

Carefully, avoiding any more nails, she placed her hands to lift her up hoping nothing was piled against the coal bin. Hearing a snap and feeling pain in her foot she realized she stepped down on one of the mousetraps. Once both feet were down, she reached down taking the trap off her foot; it had struck her toe part of her shoes. Tennis shoes offered no protection from something like a mousetrap.

Today has been nothing but a nightmare! Brandi said after removing the trap. Taking one of the broken boards, she used it like a blind man’s cane to trip any more traps that lay between her and the stairway upstairs.

Walking into the stairs, Brandi realized she missed the stairway opening by a couple of feet. She felt good being able to visualize the layout of the basement after all this time of not being down there. Feeling her way around the stairway rail, she found where it began.

Climbing the stairs, she hoped no one latched the door at the top, they never did but the agents could have after coming down here. She was sure they went over every inch of the house. Reaching the top, she pushed on the door after turning the handle; the latch was a slide type so she was surprised when the door opened. It wasn’t quite as dark in the house with the light from the streets and the neighbor's lights, but Brandi didn’t dare turn on a light just in case they had someone watching the house expecting her to return there after she ran.

Standing in the kitchen, Brandi looked around, every drawer had been pulled out and dumped on the counter like they were searching for something a person would have well hidden. Brandi had no idea what they were looking for?

Making her way into the front room, she avoided tripping over things all in disarray just like the kitchen. Going up the stairway, she went to her room first finding her clothing was thrown all about, she didn’t care selecting jeans, a heavy shirt, a clean sports bra and underwear. She took them into the bathroom.

Brandi decided to chance a light in there since it could be seen from only one side of the house by the neighbor, but the window was mostly blacked out so no one could see them bathe or shower. Brandi tripped coming into the bathroom finding everything under the sink was out on the floor just as she came in. Grabbing the counter, she avoided falling all the way down. When she stood up and looked in the mirror she almost freaked seeing the creature looking back at her from the mirror. Not only was she black from the coal with streaks where she cried, she saw a spider crawling down her hair along with spider webs caught in her hair.

It took all her will to keep from screaming as she knocked the spider off her onto the floor seeing it was a black widow so she stomped on it. Placing both hands on the counter after killing the spider, she hung her head for a second trying to recompose herself but when she looked up again she saw all the spider eggs in her hair. She trembled; it took her a full minute to reach down picking up off the floor a hairbrush and brush out the eggs along with the cobwebs. Looking at her clothing, she saw more cobwebs; she brushed them off as well.

Okay girl get it together, take off these clothes and get a shower, you will be okay then! Brandi said like it was her mother talking to her. Following her own instructions, Brandi stripped ignoring the hurts on her body and went into the shower after picking up what she knew was a clean towel she hung outside the shower door, Brandi went in. Scrubbing her hair twice to make sure nothing remained there, and then she put crème rinse on letting it soak in while she scrubbed the rest of her body. The blackness washing down the drain didn’t bother her as much as see the blood going down the drain. The gouge on her rear was deeper than she thought and so was the one on her side. The leg only started bleeding again after she scrubbed it removing the dried blood. Rinsing off all the soap, Brandi rinsed out the rinse from her hair before turning off the water. Carefully, she dried the injured spots then came out searching through the items on the floor to find what she needed to tend to her wounds. Using the mirror, she put peroxide first then iodine when it dried, even though it burned like crazy, Brandi knew this was best for her wounds. She topped it off with antibiotic cream to prevent infection before bandaging them the best she could. Once her wounds were attended to, Brandi dried off the rest of her body and put another towel on her head to dry her hair more. Water kept dripping down her back while she was treating her wounds but she felt lucky that she wore her hair cropped very short almost like a man. That got her teased by several guys that she was trying to become a man but in truth, it was short because she ran a lot and when she sweat, it would all matte up on her body making her itch.

Recalling her mother’s reaction the first time when she cut it off like this brought a smile to Brandi’s face. Her mother had been horrified that she cut off her long silky hair. For a week her mother complained every time she could about her cutting off her hair until her father told her mother to quit talking about it. Brandi was growing up and it was time she got to wear her hair the way she wanted. She thanked her father for saying so.

Thinking about their deaths, she hoped that they died instantly in the car bomb and didn’t suffer. Why would anyone want to kill them especially his brother like the agent seemed to suggest. Why? Burned through her mind over and over again.

Going to her bedroom, she found her clothes scattered everywhere so she found clothing she knew was clean putting them on. Dressed she headed down the stairs wondering why she ran from the agent. She wished to be with her brothers and sister to help comfort them; instead she had run. Realizing that most of her life when things troubled her, she always ran until she could go no farther. Running seemed to put everything in focus and allow her to see the positive side of things, but today there was no positive side, only the negative. She lost both her parents in a single instant.

In the kitchen, Brandi looked around then went into her parent’s bedroom grabbing the blankets off the floor where they had been thrown. Taking them into the kitchen, she covered up the windows turning on the lights so she could see to cook. Ever since she could remember her mother had her in the kitchen teaching her to cook. Every fourth Sunday now, Brandi cooked the entire meal for the family giving her mother the day off. She would say it was like having Mother’s day once a month. Brandi enjoyed cooking. Now, making herself a meal for one, she wasn’t sure how much to make. Humming to herself like she always did while cooking, Brandi did her best not to think about what happened today. Acting like nothing was wrong, she tried her best to stay cheerful like her parents always wanted her to be. But every time she had to go search on the floor for a kitchen utensil the reality of what happened today came home.

At one point, her eyes were so flooded with tears that she couldn’t even see what she was cooking on the stove. Nothing was instant in this house, her mother believed in making everything from scratch. Seeing the chicken in the refrigerator all cut up, Brandi knew that was what her mother planned on cooking for dinner that night. She breaded it like her mother taught her and put it on to fry. That was what she couldn’t see as her face filled up with tears. Biting her lower lip, she forced herself finally to stop crying so she could cook. Making creamed peas with the chicken, her favorite dish.

So she wouldn’t think of what happened and start crying again, she sang making her concentrate on the words to each song she sung. Recalling her mother always said she should become a singer because she had the voice for it, a tear came to her eyes but quickly she squelched it going on to more pleasant thoughts.

Full from dinner, Brandi looked at the leftovers realizing without thinking, she had prepared enough for the whole family even though it was just her alone. Eating alone was very unsettling to Brandi but after she ate, she cleaned everything up and put the leftovers away. Mom didn’t believe in wasting food.

With everything cleaned up, Brandi went into the front room they all called the family room and sat down at her mother’s piano. She could feel her mother next to her teaching her how to play when she was younger. Now, her mother had been teaching her younger brother to play. He loved to play more than she ever did. Brandi preferred to be outside running or just being out not cooped up in the house. Thinking about her brother and sister, she was tempted to give herself up so she could be with them, she was so lonely sitting in this big empty house with echoes of life in the past.

Finding the strength to not open the piano lid and play something, the neighbors would hear it and know someone was in the house. She stood up walking around for a minute finding herself in her parent’s room. Not sure what drew her to the room, she stood there looking at the room in shambles. The FBI had searched every drawer along with every nook and cranny they could find. Even the light switches had the covers removed. Brandi was shocked to see most of the picture frames had the pictures removed all except one old one that her mother said was her great grandparents that came over to America on her side of the family. They had no other pictures of his side of the family