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“Because I don’t want you to be here.”
“Why?”
“Please just go upstairs? Please?” There’s a USB cable on the coffee table and I pass it to him. “Go charge the iPad in your bedroom.”
“Okay, cool.”
Teddy takes the iPad and the cable and runs out of the den, like he thinks he’s getting away with something. I can hear his little feet running upstairs to his room.
And then the sound of the front door opening, the soft swish of the door sweep whisking over the tiled floor. I can hear Caroline talking to Adrian, welcoming him into their home. “Where are you going for dinner?”
“A really good tapas place,” he says. “They make a killer patatas bravas.”
“Mmmm, what are those?” Ted asks.
“Mr. Maxwell, they’re the best French fries you’ve ever tasted, I guarantee it.”
I know I need to intercept them and somehow prepare them for what I’ve done. I head into the kitchen and Caroline is asking Adrian if he’d like something to drink. The cabinet above the refrigerator is still hanging open, its contents have been looted, but Caroline hasn’t noticed yet.
And Adrian is so handsome it’s almost heartbreaking. He looks like he’s just stepped out of the shower. His hair is a little damp, and he’s smartly dressed in dark jeans and a crisp white button-down shirt. No one sees me enter the kitchen until I announce my presence.
“Something happened.”
Caroline stares at me. “Mallory?”
“What’s on your hands?” Ted asks.
Adrian hurries to my side. “Are you okay?”
And I know he’s my only hope.
He’s the only one who might believe me.
“This is going to sound crazy but I swear I’m telling the truth. After Teddy went upstairs for Quiet Time, I started feeling tired. I lay down on the sofa to rest. I figured I would close my eyes, just for a few minutes. And then somehow—I don’t know how—Anya’s spirit took possession of my body.”
Caroline stares at me. “What?”
“I know. I know it sounds crazy. But while I was sleeping, she made me get out all the pencils and markers and crayons.” I point to the empty cabinet above the refrigerator. “And since you took all the paper, she made me draw on your walls. She couldn’t get inside Teddy so she put herself in me.”
Adrian puts an arm around my waist. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe now. We’re going to figure this out.”
Caroline shoves past me, storming into the den, and we all follow. She draws in her breath sharply, staring at the walls in disbelief.
“Where’s Teddy?”
“In his room. He’s fine.”
Caroline looks to her husband. He hurries upstairs.
I try to walk Caroline through the afternoon. “He went into his bedroom at one o’clock. For Quiet Time. I let him take the iPad, just like you said. He didn’t come downstairs until ten minutes ago. Right when you got home.”
“Four hours?” she asks.
I show Adrian my right hand, all covered with graphite and charcoal and blisters. “I’m left-handed, just like Teddy. I couldn’t have done this on my own. These are just like the pictures in my cottage.”
“Yes, exactly! The style is identical!” He takes out his smartphone and walks around the room, capturing photographs of the various scenes. “The first thing we should do is compare them to the other pictures. See how they fit in the sequence.”
“No,” Caroline says. “The first thing we’re doing is a tox screen. Right now. Or I’m calling the police.”
