Page 100 of Man of the Year

“You need to leave town for some time,” he says.

“I’m not sure I can. My friend Cara, she?—”

“She regained consciousness.”

I stare at him. “When?” My heart flutters.

“This afternoon.”

“How do you know?”

No answer.

I roll my eyes. “Wow. Okay. It’s… Yeah…” I couldn’t possibly imagine the extent of his surveillance.

Julien shifts in his seat. “At some point, your friend will have questions, especially when the news about Rosenberg breaks. She’ll probably talk about it. You can’t tell her you know what happened. You can’t tell her anything. I understand you two are close, don’t ask how I know. But she can’t know about your involvement.”

“Why? Why Rosenberg? Why Nick? Don’t tell me you did it because of some Robin Hood ideals to return the money to the people who were scammed and prevent the biggest crypto disaster?”

My phone rings.Dupinlights up on the screen, and I swallow hard, shifting my eyes to Julien.

“Answer,” he says.

“Julien, this is?—”

“Answer,” he commands, without telling me what to say to the detective and how to act.

“Hello?” I say timidly when I pick up.

“Miss Olsen, you are not a good listener, are you?” Detective Dupin says.

My breath hitches in my throat—she must know I went back to The Splendors, despite her advice.

“I’d love to say that wasn’t smart on your part,” she continues, “but turns out, you are quite a lucky charm.”

Huh?

“Pass the phone to the man next to you,” the detective requests.

“Wh-what man?” Panicking, I turn to Julien.

“Miss Olsen? Please, pass the phone to Julien.”

My mouth opens in shock.

“It’s for you,” I say, passing Julien the phone as he takes it with no surprise whatsoever.

“Yes,” he says into the phone. “Yes. Good. It’s all done, then?”

I gape at him as he nonchalantly checks the neighborhood.

“She’s fine, yes… Yes, on the same page… Good, good…” There’s an unusual satisfaction on his face. “I love you too,” he says and hangs up.

The last words make the world around me spin on its axis. Thoughts are scrambling in my head. I can’t find the right words. I can’t even put together the events that took place in the last several days.

Julien looks almost apologetic when he meets my eyes.

“To answer your question why—I did it for her.” He nods at my phone.

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