Page 99 of Man of the Year

I can see why I annoyed him when I arrived at my new job.

He turns to face me. “So if you do go to the police, nothing you say about the other staff will get any validity. But you know about Nick’s accounts. I have a picture of you with him in the garden. Another one in his car. As well as you and the so-called Rosenberg in his room. He and you will be the only live witnesses who have any ties to IxResearch. So guess who will be watched by the FBI for the rest of eternity?”

I feel a pang of disappointment. “You set me up.”

“No. But that’s how it’s going to play out if you go to the police. It’s only going to work against you.”

“I won’t. I think you know that.”

“I do. I’ll make sure they never get a whiff of your connection to The Splendors. If they do, I’ll figure out how to sort it out.”

“What about the detective I called? I did talk to her, Julien.”

“I’ll take care of that, too.”

I raise my brows at him.

He gives me a little nod. “I will. Don’t answer unknown numbers in the next several weeks.”

“I assume you’ll keep tabs on me?”

He nods again, not breaking eye contact. His voice is unusually soft. This conversation feels almost intimate, as if we aren’t discussing how to avoid law enforcement and conspiracy charges.

“How?” I ask. “How are you so good at this? What’s your background? Military?”

“Something like that.”

Not good enough. “Intelligence?”

“Something like that.”

“You won’t tell me, will you?”

This time, he doesn’t answer.

I snort. “Even though the mansion and the structures burned down, they might find fingerprints. Yours are in the system, I assume.”

“They won’t.”

“You seem very sure.”

He turns his hands palms up and shows them to me. He rubs his fingertips together, and I notice a strange texture covering them.

“What is that?”

“Silicone pads.”

“Fingerprint-proof?”

“Yes.”

“Wait, how… Do you… You couldn’t have possibly worn them every day for months.”

He doesn’t answer.

“Jesus Christ, you did, didn’t you?”

No answer. That’s military training all right.

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