He looked up. Amber was holding her phone in front of him with a video playing on the screen. James was bent over the very same counter with Richard thrusting into him. The muscles in Richard’s chest tensed beneath the skin with every movement. In the video, James had his eyes closed and mouth open, with his head held up from the counter as Richard pulled at his hair from behind.

‘How did you—’ he coughed and choked on his own spit. He stumbled off the stool and staggered back.

‘See that?’ Amber asked as she pointed to the electronic picture frame on the sideboard. She had given it to him for his birthday, filled with photos of them together. ‘It has a camera and a microphone.’

Blood rushed to his head. He pulled at the collar of his shirt until the button pinged off and scattered across the floor. But it didn’t help. He was suffocating.

‘You weren’t as careful as you thought you were, James. After Richard began taking frequent morning runs, I decided to watch him through the window. I watched him walk off the driveway and into yours. I planted the camera to find out what you were up to. I found out your plan within a week.’

‘What did you...’

His legs collapsed beneath him. His eyes were swelling shut and he could no longer feel his lips or tongue.

Penelope whined from her bed.

Amber walked to the kitchen counter and returned holding a clear ziplock bag with a beige powder inside.

‘I’ve been called nuts before, but this is a bit too literal, isn’t it?’ she laughed.

Ground nuts. He looked at the plates on the island and back to the bag through swelling eyes. She had laced his food. He clambered on all fours and forced his fingers down his constricting throat. He spewed up on the kitchen tiles and on his hands, which were swelling rapidly.

Penelope barked from her bed, yapping until his ears rang.

He struggled for the EpiPen he kept tucked in his sock. He tried to remove the lid and dropped the EpiPen on the floor. Amber stopped the rolling pen with her shoe and pressed down until the plastic tube cracked and the lifesaving medicine leaked between the tiles. She smiled and raised her glass.

James collapsed on the floor. Bile soaked into the back of his shirt. He wheezed for air and clasped his throat. Strings of bile latched to his lips and teeth moved with each desperate breath.

‘To justice,’ he heard her say, just as everything went dark.

The Husband

SIXTEEN

Friday 24 November, 05:40

Richard woke to the sound of bones grinding. He turned over in bed and watched as Amber’s jaw moved from side to side.