Coulter ground his teeth together to swallow the words he wanted to say. The man was being intentionally obstinate. He held up his hand and showed his index finger. “So far, there have been three murders. Three women who all connect in some way to the Petersons.” He held up a second finger as though he was making a tally. “My truck was blown up outside of the station in Tampa.” The third finger went up. “Saige Lockwood is remembering things and she’s trying to remember who took her.”
The sheriff’s eyes widened and it was clear that he was starting to see the pattern. “Is there a connection? I don’t know. Quinten Peterson has seventeen days left on this earth. I questioned his guilt back then during the investigation and trial, and I’m questioning it more now. I don’t believe Quinten Peterson should have been charged or convicted. Something else happened back then and I’m going to find out what it was. I don’t care who I piss off in the process as long as an innocent man gets his life back.”
Coulter stood, his anger eating at him and he wanted to unleash it on Hodges. “Saige Lockwood and Quinten Peterson were in a relationship.” Coulter rested his hands on his hips and held the sheriff’s surprised look. “Love was involved, which explains why Quinten was found wrapped around Saige in the forest. I’m beginning to realize that Saige had already lost her memory in regards to Quinten and what happened to her before she ‘supposedly’ gave that statement.” He walked to the window. “Damn.” Coulter dropped his head and concentrated on getting his temper under control as he stared outside.
Minutes later, he felt movement close to him. “I’m not going to state the obvious, Detective. I’ve already told you I felt it was more of a rehearsed statement than a real one, but what could I do? Saige insisted it was hers and that everything she said was true. She signed it and passed it back. I didn’t think it necessary to query anything, especially once the DNA results came back and Quinten was charged.”
It appeared he wasn’t the only one to have questions during the initial investigation. Coulter had been vocal about his misgivings at the time, and now he wished he’d pushed a lot harder than he had.
“Did you talk to Saige again?” Coulter asked him. “I mean directly after she’d given her statement, before she was transferred to the private hospital,” he clarified.
“Not that I recall. I remember talking to her father, Richard, and he seemed torn about whether he was doing the right thing or not.” Hodges shrugged. “I’m a father, are you?”
Coulter shook his head. He wasn’t sure he would ever want a kid after the stuff he’d seen in the department.
Hodges continued, “Well, I can imagine the hell he was going through. If it had been my daughter, I’m not sure I would have been able to keep myself from hunting the bastard down and shooting him myself. Richard wasn’t like that. He wanted the bastard caught, but his focus was completely on Saige. He was a man worn down by what had happened and I know he felt like it was his fault…like he hadn’t been a good enough father and protected his daughter.”
Hodges shook his head and stared outside the window Coulter was perched beside. “Not long after Saige was transferred to the private hospital, Richard was hospitalized with pneumonia. Christina was involved in a car accident, but luckily, she walked away pretty much unscathed. It was a rough time for all involved. The family was in ruin and I thought it best to give them some space to heal.”
The sheriff moved away and sat back behind his desk. “I asked a few times as to Saige’s wellbeing and was always told she was ‘improving’.” He shrugged. “I left them alone, which I’ll admit was easy to do considering how short they were when I’d talk to them.”
Coulter sighed and dropped into the chair. “It isn’t our job to follow up when a case is closed...but, I went after Jocelyn once Quinten was sentenced. She’d already cleaned out.”
Hodges frowned. “Why’d you look for her?”
“Because I never believed a word out of her mouth, and I wanted to push her buttons and push her into admitting she lied...she may have already been dead by then.”
“We both did our jobs, Detective, and the evidence was there, otherwise Peterson would never have been convicted. We both need to forget what happened and concentrate on sorting through the mess we have now...because if what you believe about Quinten is true, then time is running out.”
Coulter agreed, “Seventeen days.”
* * *
2:00pm
* * *
“The detective is bringing your friend with him tomorrow.”
Quinten’s head snapped up to look at the guard. “What?” he whispered.
“You heard me. The warden has approved her to visit you. Your detective friend had something to do with rushing it through. Been told to tell you they’ll be here sometime before lunch.”
He nodded at the guard and rested his back against the wall.
Saige really was coming to visit him. Just the thought made him feel sick. What if she really didn’t remember him? When he remembered everything.