“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’sat least out of the picture.”
There was an emphasis onhe’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. Asecondtime.”
“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,alsofor 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 Maineis 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 aboutwhowas 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.
