“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 meananything, 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.
