28 Days(58)

“Paul,” Agnes snapped, coming through the front door, “get back to work.”

Saige hesitated before she moved further away from Paul and turned to Agnes. “I’m sorry. That was my fault. We were just talking about the milkshakes you used to make. I’m sorry, again.” Saige made her way outside and sagged in relief.

Paul had looked at her strangely and the chill she’d felt had been real. Which begged the question as to what secret did he have that no one else knew about?

She bet at least one person knew his secret, and she knew where to start as she glanced across the street.

Mr. Matheson watched her watching them. It was a surprise when he stood and said something to his friends, then disappeared around the side of the store.

Saige darted across the street and down the side of the hardware store, heading toward where Mr. Matheson disappeared.

“You’re going to get into trouble if you keep asking questions, especially if you keep going over there.” Mr. Matheson pointed toward the pharmacy.

She ignored him. “You wanted me to come after you?”

“I couldn’t very well talk to you with the others around, now could I?” He shook his head. “Please stay away from there. Paul isn’t...right in the head. I don’t trust him and you shouldn’t either.”

“Do you know what’s going on? How I can help Quinten?” He looked around and started to back away from Saige. “Tell your detective friend to look closely at the locals…”

“But who?” Saige asked.

He glanced toward the pharmacy and said, “Paul.” With his final word, he returned to his friends.

Slowly walking back the way she came, Saige was confused about Paul. He had given her chills, but surely she’d know if he had been the one to take her. Wouldn’t she? She’d gotten the sense that Quinten was innocent when she saw him on TV, so why wouldn’t she feel something was more off than normal with Paul?

She would go crazy before this whole damn thing was over with.

Back on Main Street, Saige was about to step off the sidewalk to head back to her car when Coulter pulled up in front of her. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you,” he stated, climbing from his car.

Saige quickly checked her cell and realized she somehow managed to switch it to silent. “Sorry. Have you heard anything?”

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.”