CHAPTER 24
Maria
Maria couldn’t take her eyes from the gun… or the person holding it.
Lester Manning.
Margolis had been wrong. Lester wasn’t in the hospital.
He had been waiting for her here. The knowledge paralyzed her, and she watched as he snatched the phone from her hand. His face contorted into something she barely recognized.
“No calls!” he shouted, making her jump. The tone was off-key, on edge. “No police!”
As he backed away, her senses heightened and she saw it all: the unkempt hair and ratty canvas jacket, faded red shirt, and torn jeans; the dark holes of his pupils and the rapid rise and fall of his chest. In her head, the words ran together: delusional disorder; acute phase; persecutory delusions.
And the gun. He was holding a gun.
Her mom and dad were inside, as was Serena. Her family was in danger and it was dark and no one in the neighborhood was out…
She should have run as soon as she saw him coming, sprinted for the front door and locked him out, but she’d stood there like her legs belonged to another person…
“I know what YOU DID!” he hissed.
The words came out fast and almost unintelligible. As he continued to back away, she saw the phone light up and heard it ring. Colin. Lester startled, staring at the phone in his hand. She watched Lester end the call with the press of a button. Saw the phone light up and ring again. Lester frowned as he ended the second call, talking at the phone as though it were alive. “I said no calls!” he called out. “No police!” Then mumbling: “Think straight. It’s not real.” His hands were shaking as he muted the phone and shoved it into his jacket pocket. “They’re not coming.”
Please God, let Colin have already called the police, she thought. The police are coming and will be here soon. I’ll just ride it out until they get here. I will not be like Cassie. If he so much as touches me, I’m going to scream and fight like crazy.
But…
Margolis had said that Lester could function normally sometimes; he’d been able to work a part-time job. And when she’d met him, he was… odd, but not psychotic, even when clearly struggling. Maybe she could talk to him… She just needed to stay calm.
“Hi, Lester,” she began, trying to keep her voice steady and pleasant.
His eyes flashed up, his pupils huge.
No, not huge. Dilated. On drugs?
“‘Hi, Lester’? That’s all you can say?”
“I want you to know I’m sorry about Cassie—”
“No, no, no!” he said, raising his voice. “You don’t get to say her name. She died because of you!”
She raised her hands instinctively, expecting him to lunge at her, but Lester instead moved yet another step farther away. As she waited for him to go on, she realized that he sounded less angry than… afraid?
Or paranoid. And the last thing I want is to set him off.
She lowered her eyes, her heart hammering. She could hear Lester’s labored breathing as long seconds passed. The silence stretched out until she heard him sniff and then say, “No,” in a softer voice. She could hear his breathing finally begin to slow, and when he spoke again, his voice was shaky but subdued.
“They’re safe,” he said, nodding at the house. “Your family. I saw them through the windows. I watched your sister go inside. What happens next is up to you.”
She flinched at his words but held her silence. His breath continued to slow in what seemed like a conscious effort, his gaze never wavering.
“I came to talk. You need to hear what I have to say. You’ll listen to me this time, won’t you, Maria?”
“Yes.”
“The doctors tell me it isn’t real,” he explained. “I tell myself it’s not real. But then I remember the truth. About Cassie and my mom. The police. And what they did. And I know you’re the one who started it. The doctors can tell me it’s not real and that I’m making it up, but I know the truth. So tell me: You’ve been talking about me, haven’t you?”
When she didn’t answer, she watched the muscles begin to tighten in his neck.
“Don’t bother lying. Remember that I already know the answer.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“You’ve talked to the police about me again.”
“Yes,” she said again.
“That’s why the detective came this morning.”
Where is Colin? she wondered. And the police? She wasn’t sure how long she could keep Lester calm—
“Yes.”
He turned away, wincing. “When we first met you, I wanted to believe you when you said you were doing your best, and that Cassie would be safe. I came to understand that to you, Cassie was no one. Just another name, another nobody. But she wasn’t a nobody. She was my sister, and it was your job to protect her. But you didn’t. And then…”
He squeezed his eyes closed. “Cassie used to take care of me when my mom was too sick to get out of bed… She used to make me chicken noodle soup and we’d watch television and she’d read me books. Did you know that? She wasn’t a nobody.” He wiped at his nose with the back of his hand, and when he went on, his voice was almost childlike. “We tried to warn you what was going to happen, but you didn’t listen. When Cassie died, my mom couldn’t stand living anymore. Because of you, she killed herself. Did you know that? Tell the truth.”
“Yes,” she admitted.
“You know all about us, don’t you, Maria? You know all about me.”
“Yes.”
“And you sent the police after me after Cassie died.”
Because you sent the notes. Because you were threatening me. “Yes.”
“And your boyfriend… He is your boyfriend, right? The big guy at the club? I saw how angry he got after I sent over the drink. He wanted to hurt me, didn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“And then, this morning, you sent the police again.”
Because you slashed my tires! Because you’re stalking me!
“Yes.”
He stood a bit straighter. “That’s what I told the doctors. All of this. But they don’t believe me, of course. No one ever believes me, but at least you’re being honest. I knew, but now I really know… and I can feel the difference in my whole body. You understand, don’t you, Maria?”
No. “Yes.”
“It takes over—fear, I mean. No matter how hard you try to fight it, it takes over, crushing the life out of you. Like right now. I know you’re afraid of me. Maybe like Cassie was afraid after you failed her?” He looked at her for confirmation, waiting.
“Yes.”
She watched him tap the gun against the side of his leg. “Can you imagine how it feels? To lose your sister? And your mom? And watch people like you go after my dad? And then me?”
“I can’t imagine how awful that was.”
“No, you CAN’T!” he shouted suddenly, and in that moment, she heard the faint sound of a police siren in the distance.
Lester snapped to attention, recognition dawning as the sirens grew louder. He refocused on Maria.
“I said no police. I said NO POLICE!” His voice cracked, whipsawing between anger and disbelief as he took a step toward her. “I’m NOT going BACK! Do you HEAR me? I’m NOT going BACK!”
Maria retreated, holding up her hands. “Okay…”
“They HURT ME!” he cried, taking a step in her direction. His cheeks grew mottled as he thrust his face toward her. “They SHOT ELECTRICITY INTO ME! And they put me in the cage with ANIMALS who beat me and they didn’t DO ANYTHING! They ALL laughed at me and to them it was just a game! AND YOU DON’T THINK I KNOW WHO PUT THEM UP TO IT?”
Oh, God… He’s losing it…
“YOU DID!” he screamed, vibrating with rage.
Maria retreated, trying to maintain the distance between them. Her gaze kept flicking to the gun, then back to Lester again. He continued to advance as she backed away, her back almost to the garage door now.
“YOU called the POLICE! You keep coming back, but this time I’m NOT going to let you GET AWAY WITH IT!”
Serena had to have heard him that time, she thought. Or my parents. They’ll open the front door any second now and Lester will turn and fire…
Through the static of her racing thoughts, Maria realized that the first siren had now been joined by another, more distant one, both of them drawing closer. Lester’s jaw clenched and his eyes burned with the anguish of betrayal. His finger began inching toward the gun’s trigger and a single impulse flashed through her body.
Go, go, GO!
She turned and rounded the car, sprinting toward the house, through the yard. She heard Lester shout her name in surprise, heard a grunt as he started after her, clipping the car.
GO!
Ten yards. Maybe five.
The front door began to open and a slash of light fell across the porch. Maria was sure she could hear him behind her now.
Run!
She strained forward, surging toward the light. She could feel Lester reaching for her. In what seemed to be slow motion, she watched Serena step out onto the porch.
He’s going to kill us both…
Standing in a pool of light in front of the open door, Serena didn’t understand what was happening. She stared at Maria in confusion as Maria hurtled toward the porch.
Are those his fingers skimming the back of my shirt?
She willed herself to move even faster, sprinting with everything she had.
“Maria?” Serena called out.
Only later would Maria realize that Serena had shouted her name. Almost there…
And then, she made it.
Grabbing Serena, she pushed the two of them through the still open door, slamming it shut behind them.
“What are you doing?” Serena cried, bewildered.
Maria locked the door and grabbed Serena’s wrist, jerking hard. “Get away from the door!” Maria screamed. “He’s got a gun!”
Serena stumbled as Maria pulled, almost falling.
“Who has a gun?”
“Lester!”
Dragging Serena to the kitchen, she spotted her mom standing near the stove, clearly startled by the commotion. But no Dad… Maria turned from side to side…
Oh, God.
Where’s Dad?
“Wait—Lester? Lester’s here?” Serena demanded from behind her.
“He’s outside!” Maria shouted, her gaze suddenly swinging to the sliding glass doors, hoping her dad was on the porch. “Lester Manning! The guy who was chasing me!”
He’ll burst through the door any second…
He’ll kill me and them, and then kill himself…
Just like Gerald Laws and Cassie…
With a surge of relief, she spotted her dad at the porch table, Smokey in his lap.
Serena was babbling; her mom had started asking questions as well, but Maria registered none of it.
“Just be quiet!” she shouted. “Both of you!” She slid open the back door. “Get in here!” she hissed at her father, motioning him inside. He responded instantly, leaping to his feet with the dog tucked under his arm.
Both Serena and her mom went quiet. Maria listened intently—for the door, for the sound of a window smashing.
Silence.
Serena stared at her, fear written on her face. Both of her parents watched her openmouthed.
Still nothing.
What if Lester was coming around from the back?
In the silence, Maria registered the sounds of the sirens again. Loud enough now to be heard from inside the house.
“I don’t understand,” Serena finally said, her voice trembling with tears. “Where was Lester chasing you?”
“In the yard,” Maria said. “You saw him. He almost grabbed me.”
But Serena only shook her head in confusion. “I saw you running but no one was behind you,” she said. “I saw someone else running down the street…”
“He had a gun and he was chasing me!”
“No,” Serena insisted. “He wasn’t.”
Before Maria could process her words, the sound of the sirens filled the house and the walls were flashing red and blue in steady rhythm.
The police, she thought. Thank God.
At that moment, the front door crashed open.
Maria screamed.