Page 46 of Man of the Year

“I need you to pick up your phone,” he says calmly, “and tell the detective that you will call them back, understood?”

“I just told her where I am,” I quip. “You can’t harm me. It’s too late, Julien.”

He doesn’t even flinch. Instead, he slowly picks up the phone off the floor and passes it to me.

“Answer,” he says barely audibly. “Say you will call back. Nothing funny, Natalie. Or you won’t walk out of here tonight.”

“They will find you,” I snarl at him.

“Not before they findyou,” he says, anger flashing in his eyes.

I swallow hard and do as I’m told. “Detective? Sorry,” I blurt into the phone. “I’m at work and just had a question but dropped my phone.”

“Is everything all right?” Detective Dupin asks in a concerned voice.

Julien’s eyes drill into me. He’s towering above me. He’s intimidating. He’s waiting. And he can’t do anything about me now, because the person on the phone—a detective, no less—knows where I am.

Blood is pounding between my ears, my chest rising in heavy breathing, and I want to cry, but in relief. I outsmarted them. I have backup. No matter what happens now, Rosenberg’s house is already on the detective’s radar.

“Miss Olsen?” Detective Dupin insists. “What’s going on? Where are you?”

Julien blinks slowly and tips his chin at the phone. “Answer,” he mouths.

“Hi. Sorry again. I… Um…” I try to bring my thoughts in order, my entire body trembling, and so is my voice. “I got a job. AtGeoffrey Rosenberg’s mansion,” I repeat, accentuating the name. There. I tip my chin at Julien in victory. “I wanted to talk to you about Cara’s case. I have some information for you. Can I call you later though?”

“Sure,” the detective says.

“This is my number.”

I would’ve smiled in triumph at Julien if I weren’t petrified right now—of Rosenberg, of what happened to the girl, and of what happens next.

I pant so hard that my throat and chest hurt. Julien is frozen in his spot, his unblinking stare on me.

I have to be smart about this. So I add, “Detective, if I don’t call you within a couple of hours, will you call me back? Please?”

The last words make me want to punch the air. I think I might’ve just avoided something horrible.

THIRTY-FIVE

ANONYMOUS

I lean back in my computer chair and stare at the live camera feed of the library on my monitor.

The two of you stand chest to chest like lovers or enemies—I can’t figure it out, but it’s amusing.

You are a Good Samaritan, Natalie. I gave you too little credit. You did the right thing, and you think you are safe.

But you just made things a whole lot worse.

I can hear your heavy breathing on the other end as I hold the phone to my ear.

“Yes, I will do that, Miss Olsen. Stay safe,” I say into the phone and hang up.

THIRTY-SIX

NATALIE

This place is going down, I promise. I grind my teeth as I hang up the phone and triumphantly stare back at Julien.

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