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“Thank you.” Saige stood to walk him out, but Coulter waved her back into her seat.
“I can find my own way out...stay together. Safety in numbers.” Coulter disappeared and, a minute later, she heard the front door close behind him.
“God! What a mess.” Saige turned to Alex. “What do you think is going on?”
“I have no idea, but I agree with Coulter’s assessment. If this killer is the one who let Quinten take the fall, then why is he back now? It doesn’t make sense. For years he’s let Quinten sit on death row, which allowed him to be free...so why would he start again unless he couldn’t help himself.
“I just hope that I’m not on his target list.” Saige met Alex’s gaze. “I’m the one that got away, and I also have a connection to you and Quinten.”
“Let’s not go there, Sai
ge. But I guess it won’t hurt for you to have someone with you if you leave the house.”
Saige shivered and felt cold right down to her toes.
* * *
10:30am
* * *
Coulter observed the sheriff while he spoke with a couple of officers.
Every encounter he’d had with Sheriff Hodges, including last night, Hodges had been professional and had never given Coulter reason to doubt him...until now.
Saige’s statement that held the sheriff’s signature gave him reason to question the man, and he knew it wouldn’t go down too well. Questioning someone in law enforcement about something that they may have screwed up just wasn’t done. But Coulter wanted answers and he’d get them.
“You wanted to talk. Follow me.” The sheriff led him into his office. “Take a seat.”
Once comfortable, Coulter waited and watched, just like Hodges did him.
“I’m too tired for this.” Coulter rested his arms on his knees. He wasn’t up to playing the game…he had too much to do and very little time left…for the next victim or for Quinten. “What do you remember about Saige when you took her statement?”
The sheriff’s eyes widened as he sat back in his chair. “That has to be the last thing I expected.” He shifted forward again.
Coulter didn’t have long to wait for his answer.
“What I remember is that Saige was a very lucky young woman. She spent hours in surgery and it took forever for the plastic surgeon her father had called in to stitch her back together. As I took her statement, some of the words made me think they came out of her stepmother’s mouth.”
“As though she’d been coached?” Coulter interrupted and cursed himself for making the sheriff lose his flow.
“Yeah,” Hodges sighed. “Her statement was flawless, and no matter how many times I asked her if it was a true statement of events, she constantly said yes.”
“Was her father in the room when she gave the statement?”
The sheriff rubbed at his brow. “I don’t think so. He was busy arranging the private hospital if memory serves me right. He stayed with Saige for just over a week while she was in the hospital and would only leave when his wife visited, and only for a short while. After that, he went back to work, but he would always be there in the evenings. Out of the two of them, I’d have said her father was the more caring. But that’s an assessment that probably goes back years before Saige was taken.”
That was the impression Coulter had gotten back then. Christina had always come across as self-centered, and he felt that what had happened to Saige was an inconvenience to the woman.
“Just to clarify—Saige was the one who told you what was written in that statement?”
The sheriff’s gaze hardened. “I don’t like your insinuation, Detective.”
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.
