28 Days: a romantic suspense

by Lexi Buchanan

  “It was my favorite back then. I don’t think I could drink it now though. Now I’m more of a coffee drinker than anything.” She smiled. “How are you doing?”

  He hesitated. “I’m doing well. Still hoping to get away from small-time life, but it isn’t easy,” he whispered. “Everyone knows something about someone else that can get them into trouble. I know it’s what happens when you live in a place like Port Jude, but I hate that. At least, no one knows my secret.” He grinned but it didn’t reach his eyes. A chill raced down her spine forcing her to take a step back.

  “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.”

  “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.

  He was an emotional wreck from
the news they brought him but more so because of Saige’s touch and closeness.

  “Here,” Warden Roscoe said, passing him and Saige each a tissue.

  Saige stepped back and dried her face, which he also did, and only then did he allow his eyes to go to the warden. “What happens now?”

  “You’ll be moved back to a death row cell in the morning, but I’m hoping you won’t be a resident here for much longer.”

  “How?” He had no idea how that could be possible. Saige could speak on his behalf about her abduction, but he had still been convicted of murdering the college girls.

  “The witness statements that have been discovered,” the detective informed him, “state you were in Chicago for one of the abductions and murder, and Miami for the other…like you originally stated. I’m not saying it’s going to be straightforward, but, eventually, we’re hoping your conviction is overturned and all charges dropped.”

  Saige kneeled and took his large hands into her much smaller ones. “Don’t give up hope. I love you, Quinten.”

  Rising up, she pressed a light kiss to his lips and smiled. “I promise to come back.”

  He nodded, and whispered, “I love you.”

  “I know.”

  Detective Robinson wrapped an arm around Saige’s shoulders and led her from the room. It hurt not being the one to comfort her, but if he weren’t in prison, then she wouldn’t have needed comforting.

  His head dropped to his chest with exhaustion. The stress and worry that he wouldn’t be alive to see day twenty-nine was finally over, but his mind wondered what next. Would he really be cleared of all charges?

  * * *

  11:00pm

  * * *

  There had been a lot to take in during the course of the day, and Saige longed to be closer to Quinten, which was why she decided to spend the night in the boathouse. It had been their secret place and she still planned on keeping it that way. Tonight, however, she felt that she needed to be where they’d been at their happiest because having to leave him in that place had hurt her deeply.

  Slipping through the door, she paused when she saw the shape of a man sitting in a chair facing her. She gasped and his head snapped up at the sound, giving her a clear picture of his features as the moonlight cast him in its glow.

  Paul.

  Her heart thudded wildly in her chest as she stood, watching him. Paul clutched something in his hands. It looked to be a wooden box and when she flicked on the light, she realized it was a jewelry box.

  “I thought you would be in bed,” Paul stated, unmoving.

  “I couldn’t sleep.” Saige stayed by the door and slowly started to back out.

  He seemed cool as a cucumber while he clutched at the box with one hand and tapped the lid with his fingers. “I often come and sit in here when I’ve had enough of my mother going on and on about gossip. I have no interest in her gossip when mine is much more interesting.” Paul smirked. “Bet you’re curious.”

  Her first instinct was to turn and run back to the main house, but she wanted to know what he knew. What if he knew something that would help set Quinten free? Did she want to take that chance, and run?

  “Okay, I’ll bite. What gossip is more interesting than what your mother has to say?”

  “Murder of course.”

  Her blood ran cold and shards of ice slithered down her spine. “Whose?” she asked, not sure she really wanted to know.

  “Poor Quinten, the clock is running out for him. I can see him, sitting in a death watch cell, watching the clock, feeling every second slip by until he’ll have no seconds left. It must crush him…especially since he didn’t do it.” He grinned. “Quinten wouldn’t have harmed a fly and I’m sorry that he was the Peterson brother to end up in jail. That shouldn’t have happened.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Saige”—he stood—“you know exactly what I’m talking about. Jocelyn knew about me and that’s why that bitch managed to talk me into taking you.”

  Saige took an involuntary step back and sagged into the chair by the door.

  Paul ran his gaze over her. “Jocelyn was pissed as hell when Quinten found you. But I was relieved that you were free. I hated doing what I did, but I promised Jocelyn that I would do it. She wanted you dead…did you know that?” He cocked his head to the side as though he was seeing something Saige couldn’t. He gave her a sorrowful smile. “But I couldn’t kill you. Growing up, you were one of the only kids to never call me names or ignore me. I liked you.”

  “How did Jocelyn talk you into taking me?” Saige asked, but she had a feeling she already knew.

  “She said she loved me, taught me all about sex. Told me that we’d be together once you were dead. I was stupid. She never would have given Quinten up for the likes of me. I grew to hate her.” His mouth curled into a smile that was so sweet it was terrifying. His eyes glowed as though he was remembering a fond memory. “When I came for her, she begged me…told me she really did love me, but I knew the truth. And then she screamed…and screamed…but no one came to help her. She got what she deserved.”

  Oh God! Oh God!

  Saige shook her head as her strength flowed from her legs. Despite the warm night, she felt cold and her legs were heavy, unable to be moved. “The others,” she barely whispered. He heard her though as he tilted his head to the side.

  “I don’t want Quinten to die, so I uncovered Jocelyn from where I buried her. It was close to where I went to school. Did you know that?” He didn’t give her time to answer and carried on, “Then I watched to make sure everyone found the right clues.”

  No matter how she felt about Jocelyn, she hadn’t deserved to die that way. “What about Fern?”

  He smiled. “She was a bonus.” His hand slid down his thigh and then back up as though his fingers were remembering the women he’d killed. “I found her when I was lurking outside of Alex’s apartment. I wanted the police to take a hard look at Alex, and what better victim than a girl he was sleeping with. She didn’t fight nearly as much as I’d have liked…rather fragile…like a fawn.” He chuckled at his own joke and Saige felt the bile burning her throat.

  “The cops are stupid. They didn’t look at Alex at all, which was why I needed to get to Tracy. She was different. Somehow, she knew that I’d taken you. I don’t know how because she wouldn’t tell me, but she knew. When she hooked up with Alex again, it was the perfect opportunity for me to shut the bitch up.” He rubbed his jaw. “She was even more enjoyable than the rest. She fought hard and, at some point, I thought that maybe she’d get away…but she died eventually, just like the rest.”

  Saige shook her head again to clear it of all the horrors that Paul was admitting to. Her lips felt numb as they formed around the word, “Why?”

  Paul tilted his head to the side as he considered. “All I wanted when I started this was for Quinten to be set free. He’s innocent in everything…the college girls…and you. He didn’t murder anyone.”

  Saige’s mind scrambled over all of it. She’d never have expected Paul Lewis to be the killer.

  Paul stood and moved closer. “I have their jewelry.” He grinned and it sent chills down her spine. “Do you want to see?”

  She dreaded the answer, but asked, “Whose jewelry is it?”

  “The college girls, of course.” He said it as though she should have known, and placed it on the table not too far from where she sat. “I’ll show you.”

  “I can’t believe you killed them, or anyone...Paul?” She met his gaze. “Please tell me you didn’t do all this.”

  Sadness filled his eyes as he stared down at the jewelry box. He shook his head. “I can’t do that, Saige. Enough is enough, and I realize now that the only way to help Quinten is to tell the truth. They won’t give me the death penalty because I have mental problems.” He smiled and it reminded Saige of a child on Christmas morning. “And I’ll finally be free of my mother. I can live away from her and be taken care of. Eat regular food. Exerc
ise. Read books that she hates. That’s all I want.”

  Saige stared at him incredulously and sputtered, “But…but…Paul, why? You sound like you’re talking about a dog.”

  “Because I am nothing but a dog,” Paul snarled, the switch to anger was so sudden that Saige felt her breath catch in her throat. “That’s what Mom calls me. A worthless dog who deserves to live in a dog house.”

  “Paul, please tell me the truth. Did you kill all those women? Please don’t say yes just to get room and board away from your mother,” Saige begged him.

  “I killed them and I tried to blow up the detective’s truck. That was a spur of the moment thing, and I’m kinda glad that it didn’t work. Relieved actually. I wasn’t thinking at the time. If I’d killed him, then they probably wouldn’t have bothered about my mental problems with him being a cop.” He waved his hands around.

  It was at that point in Paul’s confession that Saige heard rustling outside of the door at the same time Paul did. He jumped, startled, and looked at her and back to the door, and then back at her.

  “Paul, keep your hands where I can see them,” Coulter called as he came through the door, his weapon raised.

  Paul laughed, the sound was high and strange in the quiet of the boathouse. “I won’t fight. I promise. Please just take me away from here,” Paul begged and then his laughter turned to sobs. He dropped to his knees and allowed Coulter to cuff him while he read Paul his Miranda rights.

  Saige felt the blood flowing through her…warming her…so she struggled to her feet and made her way to the table with the jewelry box on it.

  “Don’t touch it,” Coulter snapped, and winced. “Sorry. I don’t want your fingerprints on it.”

  “Oh. I should have thought about that.” Saige couldn’t stop staring at the box though. “Is it really the jewelry from the girls?”

  “Yes. It’s been buried for years. I dug it up to add things from Fern and Tracy.” Paul started to cry again. “I didn’t want to hurt Tracy but she threatened to tell Alex. I was hiding alongside her house. He told her that he’d be back for answers, and then left. That’s when I knew I had to shut her up. I wasn’t ready to be arrested then.”