Chapter 14
Julian took the phone from Sherbert with trepidation.
Whatever Tex had found, it must be bad if he cut his conversation with Sherb short. Julian had figured the wide-eyed groupie would keep Tex on the phone for a freaking long time.
“Yeah, Tex?” he managed, with all eyes watching.
“I hope you’re sitting down,” Tex began.
Julian didn’t grace that with an answer because it was obviously rhetorical. He just clenched his hand around the phone until his knuckles turned white, and listened.
“Remember you gave me the okay to dig deeper into Petula’s adoptive family?” Tex began.
“Uh, huh.”
Damn. Tex was being super cautious. That didn’t bode well.
“I did, and let me tell you, it’s not pretty.
I’ll cut right to it. Bradly Bothwin Sr., Statler and Petula’s adoptive father, was an abusive bastard.
I’m sure you can get confirmation of that from both of them.
He was reported by various women over the years for being a sexual predator, but the asshole, who was supposedly some important town official, was never charged with anything.
Reading between the lines, my guess is he was probably paying off a lot of people to stay quiet. He was total scum.”
On that, Julian was sure everyone would agree.
“The good news is, the man died of an apparent heart attack a little more than ten years ago. And I say apparent, because some of the paperwork I uncovered regarding his sudden demise, seems a little…sketchy.” Tex gave a dark laugh.
“Maybe his past came to catch up with him. But that’s neither here nor there because for Petula and her brother, it’s a win. He’s at least out of the picture.”
There was an emphasis on he’s, which Julian didn’t like, but he let out a partial breath, “So everything is fine where that family’s connection to Petula is concerned?” he asked.
“It would be, if the problem ended with him. But it didn’t. Right after his death, the mother turned her then twenty-year-old son in for possession of child pornography. A second time.”
“What?” Julian wasn’t sure how to process what he was hearing.
“Yeah. She turned him in, but only after he’d done a prior stint in prison for the same thing.”
“Explain,” Julian prodded needlessly. Of course, Tex was feeding him the information in the order it was needed. Julian just had to be patient.
“Bradly Jr. had a previous conviction. He was incarcerated as a juvenile at fifteen, sentenced to five years, also for possession of child pornography at the time.”
Julian’s mouth went dry.
Petula had to have been in the house, then, or had just left it.
“You may not know it, but possession in Maine is a five-year sentence unless there’s been prior a conviction.
So, Bradly did his five, then when he was caught a second time at the age of twenty—just a month after he’d been let out the first time—he was found guilty and given a harsher sentence of ten years. ”
“Don’t tell me,” Julian groaned. “That’s concluded now.”
Confirmation was immediate.
“It is. Just,” Tex informed him. “But considering some of the things I uncovered that Statler had documented to try to convince—” Tex broke off. “Shit. You don’t want me telling you any of the details until you’ve heard it directly from Petula.”
Julian had a feeling he needed to know things right now, but either way, Tex didn’t wait for Julian to respond. “Have you had a chance to ask her yet?” he questioned.
“No,” Julian stated, his gaze going to Petula whose eyes hadn’t left him since he’d been handed the phone.
Tex continued. “Well, I’m sorry Jules, but you have to hear this part from me. It’s integral to Petula’s safety.”
Julian closed his eyes. “Okay. Go.”
“Bradly Bothwin Jr. and Sr.’s names came up an awful lot of times in Statler’s complaints to social services back in the day.
It seems they were both fixated on Petula, and finally it was brought to light.
For some reason, someone competent started looking at their files just after Petula had moved out and the Bothwin’s were looking to foster again.
That savvy social worker, needless to say, saw Statler’s complaints, and took them seriously.
He set the FBI on the Bothwin family. Agents found evidence of child pornography in the younger Bothwin’s possession.
I’m sorry to be the one telling you this, but it was explicit images of Petula from a very young age. ”
“Fuck.” Julian couldn’t bite back the swear, and knew he was raising a lot of blood pressures in the room. He attempted to get a grip on his anger. “Nobody ever reached out to her?”
“I’m sorry,” Tex responded. “Going over the notes, the agency didn’t seem to care much about who was in the pictures, just how they could nail someone’s ass to the wall. They pressed charges on the entire family, but it was Bradly Jr. who was convicted of the crime and put away for five years.”
Nausea roiled in Julian’s gut. “That’s…horrifying.”
“It is, especially since the father got away scot free. According to everything I uncovered, the elder Bothwin was most likely feeding or sharing the pictures with his son, the sick bastard, but there was no actual proof. It was Jr.’s word against Sr.’s.
My thought is that the father had to be threatening any number of authorities who were in his pocket; that if they didn’t back him as an upstanding citizen; that if they spoke out against him, he’d make sure they regretted it.
And since it was well known he was a sick and dangerous bastard, those in his crosshairs realized he’d probably get away with it. ”
“That’s so…cold.” Julian actually shivered.
“Cold doesn’t begin to describe him, especially since it seems he was more than okay with his son taking the entire rap and going to jail. Since it took the heat off him.”
“Shit,” Julian cursed.
“Yeah. It’s a lot to unravel.” Tex sighed.
“You’ll need to have a serious conversation with Petula.
Especially if this asshole, Bradly Jr., still has some kind of fixation on her.
” Tex paused, but only briefly. “This, of course, means that you might not just be looking at Jefferson as a possible concern regarding her and her brother’s safety right now. Bradly could be in the mix, as well.”
Julian was suddenly shaking with suppressed anger. How dare these assholes emerge from their fucking hidey-holes after all those years of making Petula’s childhood a nightmare.
And now? Was one of them coming after her? Julian raged. Hadn’t they both done enough? How long was Petula going to have to continue looking over her shoulder?
He’d sure as shit be the one to make sure the danger went away. He had the skills.
Julian was so caught up in his own head, he almost didn’t hear Tex’s throat clearing.
Shit. Julian regrouped.
He sucked in a long, slow breath to help bring his rapidly beating heart under control, and finally got back to Tex. “We’ll be extra vigilant on this end moving forward, and I’ll certainly keep you in the loop.”
“Good,” Tex responded succinctly. “Also, don’t hesitate to reach out if you need me for anything. And I mean anything, Julian. I can be on a plane and in your neck of the woods within hours.”
“I know, Tex, and hopefully it won’t come down to that. But if we need you, we’ll call. And…thanks.”
Julian hung up and regarded all the faces who were watching him, expectantly.
First things first. He needed a private moment with Statler and Petula. He didn’t know how much Stat’s crew knew about the siblings’ past, so he wasn’t going to reveal anything without their explicit permission.
Julian faced Petula. “I need to talk to you and Statler, alone, if that’s okay.”
The pair looked at each other before Statler finally nodded. “Let’s head to my office down the hall.”
“Nah, boss,” Pipes responded, already on his feet. “There’s no need. We can all take off to give you privacy.”
Julian wasn’t so sure that was a good idea, and said so.
“It might be best if you stuck around,” he told the group, all of whom had also risen to their feet. “Once we have the preliminaries out of the way, you might be needed for the next step.” He knew that sounded ominous, but the more heads they could involve with this, the better.
Petula stepped up and took charge. “Grab beers, Pipes, and while you’re all waiting, someone can heat up the American Chop Suey that’s in the fridge,” Petula told them. “I’m sure this won’t take long, and we’re all hungry at this point.”
As pragmatic as she was being, Petula still looked grim, because… Yeah. She was smart. She knew that whatever Julian had to reveal, would probably shake her foundations.
If Julian had anything to say about it, however, neither Jefferson nor Bradly would be getting anywhere near her.
As the crew headed toward the kitchen to divvy up tasks, Julian, Statler, and Petula made a solemn march to Statler’s office. Julian was shown a chair as the siblings each took one of their own.
“You might as well spit it out,” Statler nodded gravely.
Julian looked at Petula with what he hoped she would recognize as regret in his eyes. He willed her to see that the last thing he’d wanted, was to find out about her life from anyone other than her.
But circumstances being what they were…
There was no need to prolong the agony.
“As you already know, Tex told me about Jefferson,” he stated.
Petula dipped her head in acknowledgement.
“At that time, when he informed me about your brother, he also said that in your adoptive home, there were a number of…instances over which Statler had alerted DHHS.”
Petula scowled and opened her mouth, but Julian held up a hand.
“No. I didn’t get any details at that juncture. I promise. I told Tex that you and I were early in our relationship, and I wanted to hear about your past from you, and you alone.”
Petula’s face softened. “Our relationship, huh?” she asked.
Julian’s mouth dropped open.
Wha…?