Chapter 9
Julian lay in bed that night, still pondering. To say he’d been shocked at what Tex had revealed was an understatement.
Julian wasn’t normally or easily blindsided.
Petula… She’d been guarded, yes, but once she’d let her barriers drop, there was nothing that had even hinted at a traumatic past or a scarred psyche. Maybe.
There had been a few signs. The reticence she’d shown when asked about siblings.
The sadness that had been prevalent when they’d talked about his family.
And now that he was thinking about it, hadn’t she shown an odd shakiness when she’d inquired about learning to dive?
It had struck him at the time that there’d been no excitement over the prospect; more like… dread.
Then, of course, there was his sister-in-law’s assertion that Petula hadn’t made friends with anyone in town. That could be put down to shyness, but he knew there had to be more to it.
His mind went back to the conversation with Tex.
The man had continued. “You still there, Julian?”
“Yeah. Yeah. I’m here,” he’d answered. “I’m just trying to square the pragmatic woman I’ve met with someone whose parents were murdered.”
“Well, there’s more,” Tex had warned.
He hadn’t been sure he’d wanted to hear it.
“Important stuff, or things I don’t really need to know?” he’d asked.
Tex’s response had been immediate. “I’m afraid you should hear this, too.”
Dammit. His gut had rebelled. If Tex thought something was important, it sure as shit would be.
Julian had braced himself. “Go ahead.”
“Jefferson, the middle brother, was released from jail eight months ago. His parole officer lost touch with him about five weeks back. I hacked the officer’s records, and the guy, who is also a trained therapist, is worried.
It seems Jefferson is still displaying a lot of anger issues, and they’d just started addressing them when Jefferson disappeared. ”
Julian had hissed, thinking immediately of Petula’s safety. “Fuck. That’s not good.”
Julian’s mind swirled as he currently stared at the ceiling.
If this brother had gone off the rails enough to kill their parents, was he still holding some kind of a grudge against the rest of the family?
It didn’t seem likely that Petula would be a target, since she’d only been six when the murder had happened, but Statler could be in trouble.
The man needed to be warned if he hadn’t already been apprised of his brother’s vanishing act.
Julian had made one request of Tex. “Do you have a recent picture of Jefferson you can send me?”
“I can get one,” Tex had responded. “Which of your email addresses do you want me to use? I’ll send it along.”
Of course, Tex would know Julian’s contact info. Julian had rattled off the one he used the most.
Julian almost hadn’t wanted to know anything else before ending the conversation, but he’d felt compelled ask. “Is there, uh, more I should be aware of?”
“Maybe,” Tex had added cautiously. “I’ll give you the rest in a nutshell.”
Julian had braced himself.
“The minute Statler turned eighteen, he joined the Army.”
“Petula told me that.” Julian had figured that was no big deal.
He hadn’t had time to relax with that thought, though.
“Did she also tell you that the minute she turned eighteen, her brother separated from the service and they rented a place together?”
“Ah, no,” Julian had responded. It hadn’t sounded unreasonable if the siblings were close. “She did mention that they live together. But is that pertinent to anything?”
“Yeah.” Tex hadn’t minced words. “It took some digging into DHHS records, but there was a reason Statler joined her as a civilian. There were allegations of Petula’s abuse at the hands of her adopting family.”
“What?” Julian’s back had instantly been up.
“Nothing that was ever substantiated in what I’ve seen from DES,” Tex had interjected hurriedly. “But it looks like Statler, while serving, had made numerous calls over the years to the agency, demanding they investigate things he heard from his sister.”
“And?” Julian had been trying hard not to see red, but it had been a losing battle.
“The visits the social workers made uncovered nothing. And on top of that, there were no Emergency Room trips, or anything else that would substantiate Statler’s claims, so it was all brushed aside.”
“Damn,” Julian had sworn. “Petula doesn’t seem the type to have made shit up, Tex,” he’d rebutted. “She’s got a very level head on her shoulders.”
That much had been obvious to Julian, even from the small amount of time he’d spent with her.
“I don’t know how to dissect that, Julian. I’m just passing along what I’ve found so far. But I tell you what I am going to do. I’m going to make a deep dive into the adopting family to see if I can uncover the rest of the story…because my gut says there’s a lot more. If that’s okay with you?”
“Please,” Julian had agreed while frustration ate at him.
This was all so fucked up, and down deep he knew he was going to attempt to find a way to pry things out of Petula without scaring her away.
“You’ve given me a lot to think about,” he’d eventually told Tex. “Which means I now have to decide how to move forward.”
“You want my thoughts?” Tex asked.
“Of course.” Julian hadn’t hesitated. Tex was brilliant and thoughtful. If he had an idea, Julian one-hundred percent wanted to hear it.
“Have a talk with Statler before you spook Petula. He’s older. He’s been in the Army. For all intents and purposes, he’s a great guy who obviously has her best interests at heart. He and Petula now own a house together on the outskirts of town.”
Tex had rattled off the address, which Julian immediately committed to memory.
“He runs his own company, and from what I can find, he’s well respected as an industrial contractor. If there’s anything he thinks you need to know about Petula or her past, he won’t be shy telling you about it.”
“Sound advice.” Julian had been relieved to be given a course of action, because his brain had been in complete turmoil. “Thanks Tex.”
“Any time, Julian. I’ll be in touch the minute I uncover anything else.”
They’d said their goodbyes and hung up, after which Julian had sat, pondering his strategy.
He was still doing it now, hours later.
How the hell could Julian get Petula to introduce him to Statler? She barely trusted to meet for breakfast, so she probably wouldn’t be all that keen on Julian wanting a convo with her brother.
This was going to be tricky.
Julian finally closed his eyes and found some sleep, no closer to having any answers.
Julian knew it was only a dream, but it was so…disturbing. He was reaching for Petula who was falling into a black void, and had just managed to grab hold of her fingers when his frigging alarm went off.
He sprung upright, panting, seeing the last of the dream in his mind’s eye. His grip had failed, and Petula had slipped away into nothingness.
Julian felt completely drained.
Not only had he been awake half the night, worrying over the things Tex had imparted, but his horrifying dream had made sure that even his sleep had been compromised.
Fuck this.
Julian groggily arose and donned his running clothes, stretching a little before heading out into the cool, early morning air. He hoped that some physical activity would clear his head.
Off he went.
Just over an hour later, after completing an eight-mile loop, Julian’s mind, unfortunately, was still in a muddle. He didn’t have a clue if, or how he was going to protect Petula, or what it would take to be granted a meeting with her brother.
Julian arrived at the Moose and Muffin fifteen minutes early, sitting in his truck, because…he’d run out of ways to waste time. He was anxious to see Petula. Not just because of the intel he’d received, but because of the dream, and the way the confounding woman wouldn’t leave his head.
He was now consumed with recalling every detail of her from the previous day.
The way her bright copper hair glinted as it picked up the sun’s rays; the way her vibrant blue eyes reflected her emotions—even the ones she wanted to hide.
Every bit of her was etched into Julian’s mind’s eye. And that wasn’t all.
Equally as appealing was the manner in which Petula held herself; confident, yet vulnerable.
Independent, but with a longing in her eyes that said she wanted to expand her self-imposed boundaries.
That alone, even without potential danger rearing its ugly head, had every one of Julian’s empathetic instincts springing to life.
He’d felt as she had, once—the helplessness of not fitting in—and he wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Add to that, the intel Tex had fed him, and Julian’s protective instincts where Petula was concerned didn’t seem so farfetched.
The big question was, however, how did he move forward from here?
That thought would have to wait.
Petula pulled up in her little silver car, and he let out a breath as she emerged.
She looked…amazing.
She was always as cute as the dickens in her UPS uniform, but his cock instantly stirred to life getting his first look at her in regular clothes.
Her ass was lush in tight jeans. The green sweater she’d donned in deference to the still chilly weather, was also jaw dropping.
It hugged her curves and gave definition to her breasts which hadn’t been at all showcased in her ubiquitous brown and beige wrapper.
Her pair of girls were high, full, and if he had to use a word to describe them, perky.
Yeah. Perky did them justice.
Seeing her made him feel better after his fucked-up nightmare. He knew she hadn’t actually fallen into a void, but it was still doing a number on him.
The way she was dressed now, thank God, had the power to distract him; icing on the cake that was Petula.
“Hi,” he called out with a grin, stepping from his truck.
“Hi yourself.” She smiled at him as she also emerged and fidgeted.