Jamie had known all along that they wouldn’t do it without knowing who had put him onto them. As far as they knew, he could be a policeman. He could be anyone. And he hadn’t been able to come up with a plausible story. Sorry Mike, he said in his mind, and then he told them.

‘Really?’

They conferred again. Jamie wished he hadn’t had to tell them Mike’s name, but what choice did he have? He knew Mike had left them a message saying he had a job for them. His only worry was that Mike would have contacted them again and told them that if someone called them asking them to deal with his neighbours, they should tell that someone to fuck off. But he was willing to gamble that Mike would have left it alone, not wanting to get involved any more than he already was. Maybe he thought that Jamie would chicken out; that he wouldn’t have the guts to go through with it. He was wrong.

He waited for the man to return to the phone. After a long wait, the man said ‘OK. Here’s what happens. I’m going to call you back later this afternoon and we’ll exchange details. You tell me the names and the address. I’ll tell you where to leave the money.’

‘The money.’

The man chuckled. ‘You didn’t think was a free service, did you, James?’

‘No, of course. How much?’

‘Ten grand.’

Jamie caught his breath. £10,000. He did a quick calculation in his head. There was just over £10,000 in his and Kirsty’s savings account – money they had been saving for a long time; money that was not supposed to be touched. Half it was Kirsty’s, and they both needed to sign the form to withdraw the money. That was easy enough – he had forged Kirsty’s signature many times, when paying bills, etc. But what about Kirsty? Wouldn’t he be stealing from her?

You’re doing this for her, a voice inside his head whispered. You’re doing it for both of you, to make your home safe again. Once this is over, Kirsty will come back and everything will be fine. You’ll be able to try for another baby. Everything will be fine. Kirsty will understand.

He didn’t even think about how skint he would be if he gave them that money. He had already given up his job. Yesterday, he had received a call from personnel, asking him why he hadn’t been in. Was he still ill? ‘No,’ he had told them. ‘I’m not coming back. I quit.’

£10,000.

‘OK,’ he said.

The line went dead.