“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.”