Chapter 7 #2
When she went all “deer-in-the-headlights” at that, Julian realized how it must have sounded, and he swiftly amended.
“I mean, we Sothards were brought up with impeccable manners,” he scrambled. “And you’ll see all kinds of gentlemanly things from me.”
“Uh, okay.”
He wasn’t sure if he’d put her fears to rest, whatever they were, but she slipped around him and got into her car, no longer able to meet his eyes.
Shit. Had he blown it?
“Tomorrow, then?” he asked. He needed to make sure she wasn’t going to ghost him.
Petula was proving to be a difficult ball of twine to unravel, but given time, Julian knew she’d be well worth it.
There was only a second’s hesitation before her lips tipped up and she agreed. “Okay. Tomorrow.”
She tugged her door closed, started her engine, and pulled away.
Julian drew in a ragged but relieved breath as he watched her ease into light traffic.
It was going to be a long, twenty-five hours.
Julian was whistling as he walked into Diver Downeast, noting that the place was extremely busy.
Good. As it should be. It was a Friday, after all, and the weather was just about to break.
That meant that recreational divers who were already certified were picking up new or improved equipment, getting ready to enjoy the waters, and that Diver Downeast was nearing the date for their very first class.
It was pretty exciting being part of such a successful start-up.
Spencer, who was sitting at the desk going over some paperwork with Sheila, immediately caught Julian’s eye.
“A good date?” he questioned with a smirk.
Sheila hit Spence’s hand with her pencil and frowned. “It’s not nice to ask that. Not nice. That’s Julian’s business. Not our business. Julian’s business. It’s not nice to ask.”
Spence apologized to Julian, tongue in cheek of course, but he did back down.
Sheila was Tabbi’s sister, and worked as their office manager. Despite being on the spectrum, she had an uncanny way of keeping the Sothard men in check.
“It’s okay, Sheila,” Julian responded. “But thanks. I actually had a great time, and I’m meeting Petula again tomorrow morning,” he offered up.
“Hmmm,” Spence grinned. “Tabbi kept me from going to get coffee this morning so I wouldn’t seem like a snoop, but I might need some pastries for my Saturday morning.”
Sheila stared him down, but for this one, Julian didn’t need help.
“Go for it,” Julian replied easily. “Because we’re headed someplace else.”
“Dammit. Opportunity lost.” Spence griped, but with a smile.
Sheila picked up and held her swear-jar toward him.
“Aw, come on. Dammit isn’t exactly a swear, Sheila,” he whined.
“It is. I told you it was. Now you owe me two,” she replied without a blink.
“Fine.” He dug in his pocket, and while he was extracting his recompense, Tabitha pranced over, having finished at the register with her customer.
“Tex called, Jules,” she informed him. “I told him you were out, but that you’d ring him back as soon as you got in.”
Julian swallowed the lump that suddenly appeared in his throat.
Finding out about Petula without her consent still felt wrong, but if Tex was calling, he’d obviously found something…important. If there’d been nothing to uncover, he would have said so to Tabbi and left it. That Tex deemed it necessary to speak with Julian was…disconcerting, to say the least.
“Here’s his number.” Tabbi thrust a piece of paper toward him, and gave him a knowing nod. “We’ve got the shop covered if you want to head somewhere you can have some privacy.”
“Thanks Tab.” Julian took the slip and walked from the shop in a semi-daze, heading back to his truck. Whatever was about to be revealed, it wouldn’t be overheard there.
Getting in, Julian sat for a moment and collected himself. How bad could it be?
There was only one way to find out.
Dialing Tex’s number, Julian waited one ring before the man picked up.
“Julian Sothard, I presume.” Tex wasted no time.
“It is.” Julian almost wanted to laugh. “How did you know?”
“I have your number,” Tex answered. “I just didn’t want to use it when Tabitha hadn’t shared it with me. Calling the Diver Downeast office seemed more PC,” he drawled.
Like the man cared about PC, Julian internally scoffed.
And Jules wasn’t about to ask how Tex had found his unlisted cell number. He already knew that’s what the omniscient man was all about; uncovering information to which no one normal, purportedly had access.
“So… You have some knowledge to share with me,” Julian put forth gruffly.
“But before you tell me anything,” he hastily added, “let me say that any stuff you uncovered that might be too personal, should remain in your head. I don’t need to hear anything that isn’t useful in helping me walk the mine-field that is Petula. ”
“Understood,” Tex concurred. “But there’s quite a bit here you actually need to mull over.”
Julian forcibly put aside his personal-involvement-feelings, and donned his combat-intelligence hat to receive the briefing. “Okay. Shoot.”
“First of all, Bothswait isn’t Petula’s birth name.”
Julian sat back hard in his seat. That had been a bit of a hit, but not a death-blow. He waited for more.
“She, her brother Statler, and another brother, Jefferson, were born with the surname, Caniday.” He gave a wry chuckle. “It sure sounds like Mr. and Mrs. Caniday had a thing for sixties music. Petula Clark, The Statler Brothers, Jefferson Airplane…”
That Tex was adding a bit of humor, worried Julian. Why had the man thought it necessary to lighten his intel?
“So, uh, where did Bothswait come from?” Julian queried, wanting to move things along.
“From the people who adopted Petula and Statler when they were six and sixteen, respectively, but the siblings have even changed that surname a little since then. At their adoptive home, the name was Bothwin.”
“Adopted. Okay.” Julian had no problem wrapping his brain around that.
It seemed fairly benign, and something that happened more often than people realized.
Of course he wondered what had occurred for the kids to be yanked from their birth-household.
Perhaps the parents were druggies, or simply negligent in the eyes of the state.
But if the situation in their adoptive home had been good, why the second name change?
“You want to give me some details about why they were adopted?” He knew that’s where Tex was headed.
Another thing occurred to Julian before the man could answer. “And what about the other brother, Jefferson?” he asked. Tex had left that boy out of one of his disclosures. Was this where the problem that Julian was sensing, came into play?
“Well, Jefferson was fifteen at the time of the upheaval, and not adopted,” Tex told him, his voice growing hard.
“Because?” Julian prompted, a part of him not wanting to know.
“Because he went to jail.”
“And…why is that?” Julian managed to choke out.
“He murdered their parents.”