A Hidden Truth

New Members

[Jaxon]

    Teddy and Gary walked past as I headed out to talk to Red, and it looked like they were trying not to laugh. I pointed them to the front of the room where Juniper and Carson were before heading back to the door and out.

    “… and you will treat him with respect. You don’t talk to her. That was already a rule of your punishment. Their relationship isn’t your business. Juniper isn’t your business. And you know damned well speadin’ idle gossip isn’t the business of any man.” Red snarled at his son who was standing with his hands clasped in front of him and his head down.

    “Juni’s my classmate, sir. I wanted to make sure he didn’t hurt her. She has no experience with men, especially men who treat women like objects. Juni thinks she’s special and he won’t hurt her, but no one raised by a man like grandpa can be a good man. What’s gonna happen when he leaves her high and dry? When he breaks her heart and she’s in Austin with no one?” He responded with heat in his voice.

    “You have no idea what she has or hasn’t experienced. You aren’t her friend or her confidant. Your grandpa wasn’t much older than you when your mother was born. He was young and stupid and had an affair. Your grandmother kicked him out. The girl he cheated with didn’t want him, but was happy to take his money to support their daughter. His second wife cheated on him with the man she’s married to now. He’s been married to Jaxon’s mama for over twenty years and he’s been faithful the whole time. Jack may have been stupid when it comes to love, but he f*****g learned. Jaxon was raised by caring, loving parents. He’s a good man. That girl wasn’t even pregnant with his kid. From what I heard, he never even touched her more than kisses and hand holding.” Red clarified.

    It had to be my mother who said something. I’d told her and my dad I hadn’t done anything that could cause Shelby to get pregnant. She even came over to swear the same to them. It was really embarrassing to have to admit that to my parents.

    “Umm. Red?” I interrupted. “Can I talk to you about tomorrow?”

    “Sure, Jax. What’s up?” He asked, turning his back on Clayton who stayed where he was. He hadn’t been dismissed and wouldn’t be allowed to move until he was.

    “Can I have tomorrow off? Gary doesn’t have a ride to town after he drops his bounty and has to take a bus. Juniper runs errands for Miss Letty in the afternoon. I don’t want her out alone.” I said.

    “That’s fine. I basically just created a position for you that I thought you could do and not screw up, so it’s not like I really need you.” He laughed.

    That stung a little. “Good to know. She’s not doing good after what happened today. I think it’s going to be a rough night for her. Can we get them to keep an eye out in the community for her? Just in case she, somehow, has a run in with him.”

    “That sounds good. They can run interference if they see him around her, so she can get away. Let’s make this a short one so you can get her back home.” He came over and patted my shoulder. “Come on, boy. You can sit next to your uncle.”

    We went in followed by a quiet Clayton. He seemed to be processing what he’d heard. Walking to the front of the room, I sat next to Gary and Clayton sat next to me. We waited for the meeting to be called to order.

    “Alright!” Beau shouted. “Settle in, this is a short one, but an important one. We have a few new members and a couple temporary members. First, let me introduce you to Gary Henley. He’s a bounty hunter and a friend of Trace’s. And Teddy Fordyce, most of you knew his daddy, Chance. They’re our new permanent members.”

    There was meager applause from the men behind us. I knew some of them were nervous about having a gay man in their group. Others were probably worried about adding someone who, in their opinion, brought nothing to their cause.

    “Our new temporary members are Jaxon Boone, my brother-in-law, and Juniper Fordyce, Carson and Teddy’s sister. They’re with us for the remainder of the Merritt case and will keep this quiet after they leave.” He told them.

    The same smattering of applause sounded. It seemed they were even less excited about having a northerner and a woman join, even temporarily. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Juniper pat her brothers on their knees and stand. I had no idea what she was doing. She walked over and stood by Beau, motioning for him to bend down so she could whisper to him. After a minute or so, he stepped back and motioned for her to go ahead.

    “Thank you all for the warm welcome.” She snorted. There were some chuckles. “Teddy, Jaxon, and I put in to motion a chain of events which caused us to be able to gather a lot of information on Hank. All to help your cause. My resources were key in infiltrating the place where he kept that information. It’s my understanding, you’ve all been trying to get someone into his house for this very purpose.

Jaxon and I plan to leave you to your business after this is taken care of. I want to ensure my little brother is safe. Teddy is very useful and will make a great addition to your group. He’s friendly and women see him as nonthreatening since he’s gay. That will be a lot more useful than trying to hook girls up with random guys.” She rolled her eyes. “If you’d sent a gay guy to me or my friends, then you would’ve had this stuff a lot sooner. But, as is typical, you only thought with what you keep in your pants, and couldn’t understand that some girls would rather have a friend than a boyfriend.”

    I looked around. There were a lot of red faces. Some in anger and others in embarrassment. Teddy looked like he might burst with laughter. He really got a kick out of her attitude. I was pretty amused myself, albeit a little worried.

    “You look here.” A large man a couple rows back boomed, standing over the crowd. “It’s not like we could just come out and tell you what we were doin’. We know how much teenage girls want a boyfriend. Just look at you. Soon as you were outta the house you went an’ got a boyfriend!”

    She smiled condescendingly. “Aren’t you precious. Hank wouldn’t let any straight men in the house. No boyfriends allowed. Jaxon was pretending to be gay and interested in Teddy just to get a chance to stay. None of you were willing to do that. You just kept after a girl who turned down every boy who tried. Did you even think of trying to get your daughters to be my friend? Or did you figure a boyfriend could get me to do whatever he wanted with the promise of a shiny bauble and some kisses?” She laughed. “You really should have women in here. Then they could tell you when you’re being stupid. For now, Teddy will have to do. And I don’t recommend messing with him. Or Garrett will f**k you up.”

    Gary stood and glared around the room. He seemed to get that she was keeping his relationship with Teddy a secret for now. I didn’t understand why she was trying to piss them off. Especially, since we were going to try and get their help. Gary sat down again. Whispers swept around the room.

    “I know all of you. You’re all good, upstanding men in our community. I support your investigation into Hank. He’s not a good man. There are things you don’t learn about someone unless you live with them. Teddy is a good man. He saved me and protected me from a lot of Hank’s anger.” She looked at her brothers. “Teddy, Carson, will you come here?”

    They walked up and she whispered to them. It looked like Teddy didn’t want to do what she was asking and there was a little argument before he acquiesced. Teddy took off his jacket and held it up. Beau, Trace, and Red moved to the front of the area when they realized what she was doing. I saw her shirt come off and she handed it to Carson followed by something small and lacy.

    The other men were leaning forward. It wasn’t every day an eighteen-year-old girl stripped in such a fashion. I felt anger and jealousy burn in my stomach. Juniper was my girl.

    Teddy wrapped the jacket carefully around her, moving between her and the crowd. He arranged it to be open in the back and moved to the side again. He pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight. The room was a bit dim, the direct light on her skin showed what we couldn’t see before.

    Scars crossed her back. Some were thick and others thin. There were bite shaped scars on her shoulder blades. An ‘HM’ was burned into the flesh over her ribs on the left side. I hadn’t felt any of that when I was touching her back earlier. It looked like the bulk of the marks stopped before they got to her lower waist. I seethed.

    People moved closer to get a better look. I looked over at Clayton. He looked sick. I leaned over to Gary and told him to go guard the door so no one would leave. He nodded. There was a dark expression on his face. The man who’d spoken earlier stared at the marks like he couldn’t believe it.

    I could see she was shaking. It was taking everything she had in her to stand there where people could see her, and the secret she kept. Teddy was looking worried, but she shook her head whenever he whispered to her. I was done with this, though.

    Pushing through the men who’d moved to the front to see better, I stood in front of her and tipped her chin up so she could look into my eyes. She looked nervous and embarrassed. I hated seeing that expression on her face. The whole show of bravado hadn’t been intended to make them mad. It was because she was mad and trying to work up the courage to share this secret.

    “They’re almost done looking, sweet girl. Just focus on me.” I murmured. “I’m right here. I’m not leaving you alone, love. I promise. I’m so proud of how brave you are.”

    “You aren’t disgusted? He said no one would want me when they saw this. Especially, not when they saw his brand on me.” She whispered tearfully.

    “He lied. If someone loves you, they won’t care about marks and scars.” I told her.

    “Do you love me that much?”

    “More. And even more every day. Seems they’re done looking. You did great, sweet girl. How much are you telling them?” I asked.

    “Just the punishments. It’s enough. They’ll understand why Teddy and I are serious about getting rid of Hank, and why Teddy will be a good member of the group. Go sit.” She insisted.

    I went back to my seat. Clayton was leaning over like he was trying to control his nausea. I understood how he felt. Everyone turned away from the front of the room so she could get her bra and shirt back on. When she told everyone they could turn back, Juniper was talking with Teddy who was shaking his head. After a bit more talking, he handed her his phone and took off his shirt and turned showing a large jagged scar and several whip like scars. The whip scars looked like Juniper’s.

    “Teddy walked in on the branding. Hank was doing it in the old barn at the back of the property. The jagged scar is from a board that busted when he threw Teddy into a wall. The whip marks were from another punishment Teddy tried to stop.” She said.

    I’d seen the scars on him at the motel, but he said it was from being a rowdy kid. I’d just accepted it. There were a couple more on his chest and arms.

    “Why would he do that?” One of the men asked.

    “Hank said I needed to be punished more strongly than most girls because I was so stubborn. He branded me because I told him I didn’t belong to him.” She stated looking embarrassed.

    “And the bites?” Clayton asked.

    “Sometimes he just didn’t feel it enough and he said it was better to really release his anger. Most of them healed without scars. I only have them from where he got carried away. You can put on your shirt, Teddy.” Juniper directed.

    He did and went to go sit again. I could see his discomfort, so I reached over and took his hand. Juniper wasn’t the only one who needed support, and Gary was still by the door. Teddy smiled a little and squeezed my hand in his.

    “He’s never hurt Remy like this. My mother wears two piece swimsuits, I would’ve seen scars and haven’t. As far as I know, I was the target for a lot of his frustration. If you’d sent a person who could’ve been a friend, I would’ve accepted them. I would never have accepted a boyfriend. The punishment would have been severe.” She sighed sadly.

    “We should take a break. I know I need a drink after seein’ that.” Beau suggested.

    “I have a question.” A man in the back called out.

    “Go ahead.” Beau nodded to him.

    “Last summer. There was a boy who saw Hank kissin’ Juni. No one puts their mouth on someone unless they’re comfortable with it. Was it really nothin’ but hurtin’ her?” He asked.

    “That was exactly what the video showed. An eyelash and nothing more.” Juniper answered. “He probably enjoyed the biting as more than an anger release, but he never… raped me. Let’s leave it at that.”

    She was being careful with her words. I understood. She wanted to protect Remy from the backlash of being the son of a man who was Halsteaded. It definitely wasn’t for her mother anymore.

    “That’s a good idea.” Red said. “We’ll take a break, then go over what we found and the plan for keepin’ Juni safe until he’s in prison.”

    With that, most of the men headed to the fridges for beer. A few came up to talk with Juniper, or one of my brothers-in-law. I went over and grabbed a few cokes. When I returned to the seats, I gave one to Clayton who opened it and drank deeply. I took the other to Juniper. She looked drained. I noticed her sway a little as she stood there.

    I handed my soda to Beau and went to catch her before she fell. Pulling the drink from her hands and handing it off to the first person who was near me, I grabbed her and held her against me. It was too much for her. She’d hit the limits of her strength.