The owners of the home had no idea who he was, but he knew everything there was to know about them. He had first spotted Neena in the car park at the gym holding a young child with a different ethnicity to her own. By the look of her car and the dark circles around her eyes, she was poor, but the way she spoke and held herself told him that she hadn’t always been. He’d had a feeling about her from the second he saw her, and after the next class he struck up conversation, and charmed her into a friendship that he could exploit. It wasn’t long before he discovered the truth.

And then the plan was set.

James looked from window to window, thinking of the people who lived inside. It wasn’t long before his mind drifted to Richard again, and the way he had cherished James’ body the night before, rather than used it like the others. Richard had been the only catch that hadn’t made him long to shed his skin to stop the lingering memories of each touch. But Richard’s affection, foreign after years of allowing his body to be used to his advantage, was almost worse. Each time Richard had bitten him, he felt better. He couldn’t be loved. He had to be hurt.

He hadn’t figured Richard as the straying type at first, but James always tested the water with his new acquaintances, and soon began to see Richard’s eyes wandering to James’ behind or his lips.

It had taken months of seduction and two months of convincing, but finally, he had Richard prepared to do anything to please him, and introduced him to Neena in the gym lobby.

He had put so many hours into the job. He wasn’t about to let all of that go to waste.

James stared at the windows of the house for a long time and waited for a shadow of a person behind the glass or a light to come on. When he was sure the house was unoccupied, he looked up and down the street and headed up the driveway with his hood up to hide his face. He posted the envelope through the letter box and headed back to his car.

It was done. All he had to do now was wait for the call.

FOURTEEN

Friday 24 November, 17:50

James sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen and listened to the tick of the clock. He checked his phone to see if any other calls or texts had come through without him noticing.

Neena’s father had made contact. He hadn’t cursed, he hadn’t threatened, he hadn’t even begged. The tone of his voice told James everything he needed to know: the man would comply without a fight.