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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.
Her smile could bring him to his knees, and the way her eyes would light up when she looked at him always made his heart thump wildly in his chest. Saige had given him a reason to get out of bed every day. Before he met her, he’d felt his life spiraling out of control because of the disaster of a marriage he’d been in.
His business with his brother had just started to get off the ground, and he’d finally managed to hide enough money to go ahead with the divorce and then his life had shattered.
He’d given his heart to Saige, something that Jocelyn had never had. He thought back to his marriage. It had happened quickly and he realized, even before he’d sought a divorce that he’d confused lust for love. When he’d met Saige, however, he had finally understood what it meant to love someone unconditionally.
Saige was a breath of fresh air in his miserable life. She gave him something to look forward to. Meeting at the boathouse, he’d spent hours with her in his arms as they talked and cuddled.
At first, he always felt guilty for being with Saige while still married. The guilt hadn’t been for Jocelyn—that woman had had so many affairs he’d lost count. His guilt was for Saige. He wanted to be with her freely, without all the baggage that he had. He’d planned to make that happen before everything derailed.
Slowly shaking his head, Quinten made his way to the metal desk in his room and sat down heavily. The only item on the desk was a dog-eared book, City of Ashes, which had been Saige’s favorite. She’d given it to him for safe keeping when she’d gone back to school. It was the only thing he asked Alex to bring him once he’d been shown his new home in Harlington.
Opening the book to the center, his fingers rubbed against the worn leather bracelet that Saige had given him. He never wore it because it was too small for his thick wrist, but he’d taken it and treasured it always.
When he was first incarcerated, it had been his security blanket of sorts. Eventually, he’d hidden it away in the middle of the book. No matter how much he’d been asked by the guards to lend the book to other inmates, he always refused.
Smooth
