The man grabbed the phone before the call went through, disconnecting it, and throwing the phone to the bed. He grabbed her by the hair, pushed her onto the bed and shoved her facedown into the brown satin comforter. He had gone out of his way to be polite, and this was how she repaid him?

“What did I say?” he hissed into her ear, his words emphatic and menacing. “You do what you’re told and I won’t hurt you. That was our agreement. You fuck with me like that again and all bets are off.”

She was crying, her shrieks muffled by the bedding. He had her attention.

“I know what your office number is. I told you, I did my homework. So who were you trying to call?”

She answered, but he couldn’t make out what she said, so he eased up on the fistful of her black hair and lifted her face out of the bedding.

“Who were you trying to call?”

“No one.”

He shoved her face back down. “Now you’re gonna lie to me? I thought you understood. This can go easy for you or it can go hard. It’s all in your hands. Who’s Poppy?”

He eased up again, but she said nothing. He was mad, and a little scared. She had tried to trick him, which meant that she didn’t believe he would carry out his threat—and if she didn’t believe he would hurt her, the plan wouldn’t work. He put the knife to her throat, the spine against her skin instead of the blade, and applied pressure. “I’ll kill you if you lie to me. And I’ll find out who you were calling and kill that person too. Now tell me!”

“My dad.” The words sputtered as she sobbed her confession. “I was calling my dad.”

The man let go of her hair, stepped back, and paced the floor as she cried. He had never been aggressive like that with a woman, and it made him want to throw up. He took a couple breaths to center his thoughts, and to take on a quieter, more calming tone—a parent exploiting a teachable moment. “I can’t stress enough how important it is that you obey me. In a little while I am going to have to trust you, and if I can’t trust you… well, things are gonna go badly.”

The woman turned, tears glistening on her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I’ll do what you want, I promise.”

He walked to the bed and sat next to her. “I need you to calm down and make that phone call. You need them to believe you. Can you do that for me?”

She nodded, and this time she dialed the correct number, leaving her message on an answering machine.

“Mark, I’m under the weather today. I don’t think I can make it in. Hopefully it’s just a bug. Sorry to leave you shorthanded, but it’s for the best. I don’t want to get everyone else sick. Talk to you later.”