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He nodded, his face solemn. Her heart sank.
As she felt the tears burning her eyes, Coulter grinned, and said, “The governor and the rest of the committee agreed on a stay. The official stay for Quinten James Peterson was signed about an hour ago.”
Saige burst into tears and felt Coulter’s arms wrap around her. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
She shook her head. “These are happy tears...I think.”
He laughed. “C’mon, get in. We’re going to the prison to break the good news to Quinten. The warden has agreed to hold off.”
She didn’t need telling twice and practically jumped into Coulter’s car. When she was strapped in and Coulter was navigating his car toward the prison, she told him about what Paul and Mr. Matheson had said.
“From what I remember, Paul wasn’t around back then. He certainly wasn’t questioned like the rest of the people in town. I think he was away at school.”
“That would make sense because so was I. I’d have stayed there as well if I hadn’t missed Quinten so much.”
“I’ll check out Paul when we get back from Harlington. The sheriff has been helpful and is allowing me to work out of their offices, which is better than the car.” Coulter grinned. “I promise if there is something to find, then I’ll find it.”
Saige nodded. “Have the missing witness statements been found?”
Coulter glanced at her then back to the road. “Alex told you about them, huh?”
“Yes.”
“Daniel Sterling had them, but he received them only recently. He has no idea where they came from and seems to have been busy. He tracked the witnesses down to confirm the statements were, in fact, originals, and they were. He presented them to the governor this morning along with everything else.”
“Oh boy. How could they have disappeared?” Saige rubbed at her brow, which seemed to be in constant pain these days.
“I honestly don’t know and I find it annoying as hell. I never even knew they existed…although Quinten did say he was out of town on two of the dates in question. The reports I saw all stated Quinten had been fishing when the girls had been taken, the same for estimated time of death...unfortunately, the detective who took the statements died of a heart attack during the investigation. Makes me wonder why he didn’t verbally tell someone about them. He obviously had time to write them up.” He shrugged as a dark frown formed across his brow.
“Quinten used to fish a lot to get away from life in his house. He owned that house and refused to let Jocelyn have it, which was why he still lived in it with her even though he’d started the divorce process. I used to go fishing with him sometimes.” Saige softly smiled. “I wouldn’t go anywhere near the bait and Quinten was good about that. He didn’t tease me or anything, and he’d leave the bait a few feet from where we sat on the bank.”
“He loves you, Saige, and I hope, really soon, that you both get that life back.”
“Me too.”
* * *
6:10pm
* * *
He had a belly full of nerves as he waited in the visiting room for Detective Robinson. That was all he knew—that the detective was on his way. Quinten had been too afraid to ask the guard if he knew why, which was something he’d usually have asked.
Sweat glistened on his forehead when footsteps could be heard moving closer to where he waited, and then, when the door opened, he felt as though his heart had stopped altogether. Saige.
Her eyes swam with tears as she tried to control her unhappiness. He couldn’t look at anyone or anything else. She filled his vision and he knew that he’d love her until the day he died.
“Quinten,” Detective Robinson drew his attention, but almost immediately it was back on Saige. “The governor granted you a stay.”
He blinked and snapped his gaze back to the detective who nodded and smiled. “You heard me right. The governor has granted a stay. Your defense attorney put your case before the governor and the committee this morning. Daniel supplied witness statements, which had been sent to him anonymously. Apparently, they were received in his office the day Fern died.”
Quinten had no words and even, if he tried, he didn’t think anything would come out of his mouth. He was thankful to be sitting down because his legs felt like jelly as his whole body started to tremble...and then he cried—like a baby in front of everyone.
In the next breath, he felt soft hands that could only be Saige’s cup his head and bring him against her chest. She cradled him against her and cried with him. He felt her body shake and he’d give anything to be able to wrap his arms around her to keep her close. But that wouldn’t happen today, if ever again.
Her fingers were gentle as they massaged his scalp and now that he started to calm down, he could smell the floral body lotion she always used. It teased his senses and started to make him uncomfortable in all the places that had ached for her since he’d been incarcerated.
He coughed and lifted his head to meet her watery gaze. “I love you,” she whispered, causing his eyes to fill again.
