A Hidden Truth

Kotter's Cleaners

[Jaxon]

    Bobbi ended up driving me to the other side of town. The houses were spaced as much as the ones in the Merritt’s neighborhood, but, rather than being estates, the homes were small family farms. In the dark, I couldn’t make out much. Bobbi still hadn’t said anything.

    “Bobbi. Please. Where are we going? You’re starting to scare me.” I asked.

    She sighed. “I’m really not supposed to say anythin’. You’re not gonna be in danger, sugar. I swear. I wouldn’t do that to my own brother. Please, trust me. It’s gotta stay a secret for now. We’re almost there.”

    “Fine.” I leaned against the headrest, closed my eyes, and tried to focus on anything else.

    We’d been driving for about fifteen minutes. What was Juniper doing right now? I wondered. Homework maybe? Reading? Probably taking care of Remy and trying to stay away from Hank. I felt my hands ball into tight fists. I wanted to beat his damned head in. I wished I had.

    The car stopped and Bobbi turned off the engine. I opened my eyes and looked out the window. We were parked in front of a pretty average house for the area. Two stories with a porch. A large picture window in the front was covered by a gauzy curtain and there seemed to be a few people moving around.

    We got out of the car and Bobbi led me to the front door where she knocked lightly. When it opened, a small woman stood in front of us. I recognized her as Mrs. Garrison from the book club. Her dark red hair was made black by the night, but she had the same catty smirk she’d worn for most of the club meeting. There was a nearly empty glass of wine in her hand.

    “Oh! Glad you got here. We were ‘bout to send a search party.” She giggled drunkenly.

    I looked at Bobbi, who rolled her eyes and smiled.

    “It wasn’t that long a wait, Kimmy. Are they in the workshop?”

    “Yep.” Mrs. Garrison responded. She turned and walked in the house. “Taylor! Get over here!” She shouted.

    A young looking teenage boy trotted over and stood next to her. He had the same red hair, but not the spray of freckles she had across her nose. Where she had blue eyes, he had brown ones. He was taller than her, lanky, and looked like he was still in the awkward ‘odd parts’ stage of puberty.

    “Yes, Ma’am?” He said.

    “Take Mr. Boone out to the workshop and come right back. I need you in the family room helping the girls with all the kids.” She commanded.

    “Yes, Ma’am!” He nodded and waved for me to follow.

    I gave a last wary look to my sister and followed him. He seemed to be pretty chipper. They probably weren’t planning to murder and eat me… probably.

    “You seem pretty eager.” I observed.

    “Miley’s in the basement helpin’ with the other kids.” He grinned back at me.

    Miley kept in contact online since my last visit when I was making the rounds before starting my undergrad. She had pretty bad social anxiety when dealing with anyone her age, face to face. Her nearly black hair and pale skin seemed the perfect set up for a goth personality. But Miley was all kittens and rainbows.

    She loved little kids and animals. She was in 4-H and raised rabbits. My sister and brother-in-law doted on her. Her younger sister was more outgoing and active, but they had a genuine affection for each other, rather than a rivalry.

    I knew there’d been some bullying at school recently. Kids generally picked on Miley before remembering what Mattie would do to them. Mattie was always getting into fights. Bobbi said it was because she got bitten by a fire ant when she was pregnant with her and all the fire settled in the baby.

    “You like Miley?” I asked.

    “She helps me with English. I don’t understand a lot of what they say in the books. Miley reads it, then translates into dumbass for me.” Taylor laughed. “I’m gonna marry her one day.”

    It made me remember my first bout of puppy love. I hoped his went better. Lilly Samuels still haunted me. I’d never heard anyone laugh quite as hard as she did when I asked her out.

    “Good luck, then.” I said as we reached the workshop.

    He opened the door and waved me in. “You too, sir.”

    The door closed behind me as I entered the room. It was a little dim, but I could make out the group of men sitting in folding chairs. There were about twenty of them and I saw all three of my brothers-in-law standing toward the front, deep in discussion.

    The three men turned to look at me. Beau whispered something and Trace snickered. The only exit I could see was the one behind me, but there was a large garage bay door as well. I didn’t like what I was seeing, but it was out of my hands. My trust in my sister had brought me here and I hoped it wasn’t misplaced.

    “Good!” Beau boomed above the din. “Jax is here. Let’s get this meetin’ called to order and get on with our night. C’mere, Jax.”

    I really didn’t like being called Jax… With a sigh, I walked to the front of the room. Beau clapped a big hand on my shoulder and grinned.

    “Sorry I had to f**k with you earlier. I needed you to think I didn’t like you.” He laughed.

    “Why did you need me to think you didn’t like me?” I asked.

    “We needed you to go into the Merritt place. You had to feel like you didn’t have anyone to talk to. That’s why Bobbi ran you around town before introducing you to Juniper. Sorry. Especially after what Beau told us earlier. About… you know.” Trace responded.

    So much for it being ‘my story to tell’. What he said bothered me. This was something that was obviously important to some of the most prominent men in town. What the hell kind of drama had I let myself be dragged into? How did it involve Juniper?

    “Why?”

    “Sit down. Let’s get this rollin’ and your questions’ll be answered.” Red stated.

    I sat in one of the four empty seats in the front row. Next to me was Clayton. He nodded politely and turned his attention to his father and other uncles.

    “Calling to order this meeting of Kotter’s Cleaners. We’ll go over old and new business, then get to work. Tonight’s meeting is scheduled for two hours. I wanted to thank everyone for coming out.” Trace said, quieting the crowd.

    Red pulled out a notebook. “The drug dealers who set up on the northeast side of town are gone now. They aren’t gonna be returnin’ either. At least, not those ones. The man who was breakin’ into houses was caught and delivered to the police. The graffiti artist who’s been paintin’ random ‘tags’ has been hired to do four murals around town with a ‘gentle’ reminder to not paint anywhere else.”

    I looked around and saw the other men nodding in approval. My father told me about the Cleaners when I was a kid. It made sense that the sheriff was there, if they were working toward the safety of the town and wouldn’t want to be prosecuted. I didn’t entirely approve, but I’d been raised around likeminded people.

    “New business.” Beau announced. “We’ve lost our potential school contact on the Merritt case, again.”

    That drew my attention. I stared as Clayton walked to the front of the room and turned to address the men. He was a good looking kid. I assumed he was supposed to try and get in with Juniper. The thought made my hackles rise. No one should be toying with her.

    “So, a friend of my girlfriend’s saw me pass Juni a note in seventh and told Becca. She threatened to break up with me if I didn’t tell Juni to leave me alone, even though I sent the note to her. I tried tellin’ Becca I just wanted tutorin’ for math, but she wasn’t havin’ none of it.” He sighed.

    “None of the boys we sent to try and date her friends worked out, either.” Trace said.

    “I told you, two of those girls are lesbians, Uncle Trace. The other one doesn’t even look at or talk to anyone, guy or girl.” Clayton said.

    “Clay, I should’ve listened. I was hoping the tutoring angle would work. Juni didn’t even look at the boys we sent her way. The last one said she insulted him pretty harshly.” Trace groaned.

    My fingernails dug into my hand as I listened to how they’d tried to use Juniper to further whatever they were working on. She was too busy trying to get out of that house, or trying to enjoy what she could, to consider them. Maybe she’d just turned them down because they were stupid and she didn’t want to have to deal with stupid men on top of everything else.

    It dawned on me. My coming here for the next four months had been suggested by Bobbi. This town was close enough to Austin, I could schedule appointments for apartment hunting and not have to drive for a full day to get there. It seemed logical.

    What if the only reason she suggested it, was so they couldn’t find a guy Juniper was interested in? I was bait. f**k.

    “Carson, any luck on your end?” Frederick asked.

    A man three seats down stood. He was about 5’10” with sandy blond hair and blue eyes. His face was friendly looking, but sad. Carson was thickly built, but not so much that the seemed wide, just sturdy. He seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place him. He looked about my age, so I might have known him in school.

    “He still won’t let me on the property. Mama still won’t talk to me. I still can’t get near Juni and Teddy at all. Teddy’s pretty much stopped goin’ out altogether, lately.” Carson sighed.

    It struck me. His eyes were like Juniper’s. I remembered Kirsten telling me there was another brother who didn’t live on the property.

    “And, I’m betting that’s happened rather suddenly over the last three years.” I stated.

    He looked surprised. “Yeah. Hank kicked me out four years ago, when he saw me havin’ lunch with Trace. He told my mom I was stealin’ from his dealership and that he’d kick me out instead of goin’ to the cops outta love for her. She won’t even listen.” He replied sadly.

    Teddy and Juniper said their mother was blind. I’d even seen evidence of it myself, but to just believe without proof, without talking to her own son, without anything, was terrible. I couldn’t believe a mother could do that.

    “She did seem pretty blind to his behavior.” I said thoughtfully.

    “You saw her? How is she?” He moved to sit by me. “Is she healthy?”

    “Yeah. I had supper with them. She was doing fine. Aside from not seeing that her husband is a worthless prick.” I snarled.

    That got the attention of pretty much the entire room. Whatever they thought he’d done, it wasn’t what I knew he was doing. That worried me. Juniper could be in a lot more danger than I’d thought. I needed to get her out of that house.

    “We’ll unpack that in a second.” Red said.

    “You had me brought here to spy and didn’t even tell me why. How can I help if you aren’t telling me what’s going on? Tell me what the hell is going on. NOW.” I demanded.

    I admit, I’m usually cool and levelheaded, but I hated being lied to and being used. They wanted to get me involved with the family and couldn’t even brief me before I went in or before bringing me into this meeting.

    They looked at each other like I’d gone insane and they didn’t know how to handle it. Beau smiled a little, but I didn’t respond with anything but a glare. They seemed to realize I wasn’t just passing mad, but actually fully pissed off.

    “We think, but can’t prove yet, that Merritt is using his junker auctions to move illegal items. Mostly drugs and chopped up cars. He removes pieces from the junk car, then puts similar pieces from the chopped up cars into the trunk. Carson found some things that indicated it, but nothing solid. Hank kicked him out before we could get anything set up. We’ve been trying to get into the house and the business ever since.” Trace said.

    “Marie-Rose hasn’t come out of the house except to run small errands with Remy since after he was born. Teddy used to have a fairly active social life, but about two and a half years ago, he stopped going out, stopped seeing friends, stopped trying to get a job. Juni goes to school, the library, Miss Letty’s, church, and home. She’s rarely out when Carson’s off work. Her friends banned him from the restaurant she goes to with them. She quit riding and dropped her rodeo training about three years ago, no reason given, just didn’t want to anymore. She lost all her friends and only hangs around three other girls we can’t find an in with. There was no way to get someone in there.” Red added.

    “We thought you’d interest Juni and could get her to help us. She’s the smartest and most sensible person in the house.” Beau told him.

    They had no idea. That one rumor got quashed and no one ever thought to look at him for it again. Somehow he’d managed to keep the whole thing a secret and no one even saw the signs she was being abused. They just saw her as a potential lead. If I could get him sent to jail… That couldn’t happen before tomorrow night. Maybe they could help, though.

    “Carson.” I turned to him. “Do you work tomorrow?”

    He shook his head. “I got weekends off. Why?”

    “I know exactly where Teddy will be tomorrow. We should set up a place to meet where Merritt won’t see. Teddy can’t get kicked out of the house. I won’t risk his place there for this.” I said.

    “How do you know where he’ll be?” He asked.

    “Because, he’s going to be with me all day. We already made plans before I left tonight.” I explained.

    He looked up at my brothers-in-law and grinned. “You sent him after the wrong one. Looks like it worked out anyway.”

    Yeah. I should have seen that coming. A nervous tension entered the room. I’d learned from my gay friends in college, how often straight men think they’re in danger just because a gay man exists. In a small town in Texas, I wasn’t taking any chances.

    “I’m not gay. But Teddy and I are pretending so I won’t be seen as a threat. There’s a little motel on the outskirts of town. The one with the trees that block it from the view of the freeway. We’ll get a room there tomorrow. Does anyone have any connections there?” I asked.

    “Actually.” Trace said. “The group that owns it is owned by the Cleaners. It’s one of the small businesses that helps fund our operations. I have some bounty hunter friends who’re staying there right now. I think the room they’re in has an adjoining room. I’ll go visit them. Carson’s been seeing Camille. He can come to be introduced to my friends.”

    “Good. I promised Teddy breakfast before we got to work. What time is check-in? Or is it open check in?”

    “It’s a dumpy motel on a freeway in the ass crack of nowhere Texas. As long as there’s rooms, it’s ‘check-in’, Jax.” Beau snorted.

    “Make sure that the room next to Trace’s friends is available then.” I ordered.

    “If you’re not seeing him, what do you have to ‘get to work’ on?” Trace asked.

    I tightened my lips. If I told a room full of men Hank was molesting Juniper, with plans to force her into s*x tomorrow night, there’d be a mob and it wouldn’t be the type of escape she’d hoped for. I had to keep her safe, but I also had to keep her mother safe.

    “I can’t think of a believable enough lie.” I chuckled dryly. “Nothing I can talk about. It’s not related to what you’re working on.”

    “We have to trust you at this point. You’re the best lead we have. Just… when you can trust us, do. We care about the Fordyces and Remy, too. Okay?” Trace said in a gentle tone.

    “Good. Then I guess we’re done with the formal s**t. Time for beers and plans.” Beau cheered.

    There were a few whistles and cheers as the men started circulating around to grab a beer from one of the refrigerators on the far wall.