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Note to the reader: this is more of a slower burn blackmail story than you may be used to. It escalates over time. Huge thanks to Whispor, Instazipper and TarnishedPenny for sharing ideas for this story.
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Ch 1: Getting Started
Ed works in one of those smaller cities that are big enough to have all the shopping you want and even a regional airport, but too small to have very many interesting people or places to go.
To make things worse, he chose the scintillating field of forensic security and accountancy. The city is home to one of his company's tiny regional offices of 5 with the headquarters back east. When the pandemic hit, the staff started working from home and basically met once a month for lunch.
Fortunately for Ed, he has interesting hobbies.
His company was called in to do an examination for a large regional construction firm with about 10,000 staff. They did a mini audit for last year and were convinced they'd "lost" track of about a million dollars.
This often happens in these companies. 90% of the time, Ed spends a few weeks then gives them a report showing where they money was actually spent and nothing nefarious is found. The other 10% of the time they find someone with a gambling addiction or a love for fast cars that put their hand in the till. His company once caught a guy in the UK who was embezzling so he could afford to go to the Orlando parks for four weeks every year.
His latest case looked like a typical 90% one. The company had built a new office for themselves and misfiled about $700k as operating expenses rather than tying them to the build. But, he found something interesting with the rest.
A mid level accountant named Lucinda had managed to skim off about $360k. From what he could tell, each time there was a conference or trade event last year, she'd routed about $8k to herself. It quickly added up.
Out of curiosity, he googled her and quickly got intrigued. She was absolutely hot and single. From a picture on the company intranet, it looked like she lived in a quiet neighbourhood about 10 blocks away.
Ed drove by her house one morning just in time to see her finishing her morning run. She looked as amazing in person as in her photo. He decided then to see if I could have some fun with her rather than turn her in.
He created a fake LinkedIn account using the name Will Bender and sent her a DM to her LinkedIn account: "Hi Lucinda. I know you've been stealing from the company. Send me a Kik message to discuss or I'm going to report you to the police. Your New Friend."
About an hour later, he got a reply on LinkedIn: "Not me--you must have wrong person."
Ed replied: "Ok. I'll let the police and company figure out who the right person is."
He had a Kik back almost immediately: "Who are you and what do you want? I don't have any money."
--I don't want money. I want you to do a few small things for me, then I won't bother you again.
--What kind of things?
--Any kind of things.
--What then?
--I'm going to ask you to do some things for me. Complete them to my satisfaction and I forget about the money. If you don't, then my memory will be very clear. Deal?
--As long as it isn't sex or illegal, I'll do it.
--Good girl. Tomorrow on your run, you'll find a small package with your name on it. It'll have what you need for my first little task for you. Message me when you get it.
--Ok
Lucinda did not like this at all. Not alone was this guy looking for a blank cheque for her to do god knows what, but he'd obviously been stalking her. He knew her daily routine including where she ran.
She thought about going to the police, but this was all about the money. She'd only taken that money to help her grandmother pay for her medical bills and making the house easier for her to be independent in. There was nothing left of it. She had a few thousand in savings--not enough to pay off whoever this guy was.
Maybe she could change her running route? That would maybe keep her away from the stalker, but then she wouldn't get whatever mystery package he was leaving for her.
In the end, she decided to follow her normal routine, but come prepared just in case.
Ch 2: His First Demand
Lucinda has trouble sleeping that night trying to guess what this mystery person had planned. She wanted to be ready for anything. She figured they didn't plan to hurt her since they knew her routine and could have planned something without warning her and making things more difficult for themselves.
A package? What could possibly be in it?
She got up before the alarm and got herself ready for her run. Her heart was racing even begin she left the house at 7:20. She followed her normal route, keeping her eyes out for the package and scanning everywhere looking for someone watching her.
About halfway through her run, she started to cross the small Greenleaf Park. It was only a few acres in size and was basically grass with an oval path, playground, small parking lot and a mix of sparse trees and hedges.
Her run took her across the park, following the oval path. As she neared the middle of the park, she spotted it. Sitting beneath a park bench was a shoebox sized package wrapped in heavy beige paper with a small gift tag reading "For Lucy ❤️."
She stopped and looked around, seeing no one. The park was empty apart from an old woman on the other path with her small brown terrier. No cars in the parking lot.
She walked over to the package, her heart pounding with trepidation. She picked it up and walked away quickly. Not realising that her blackmailer was sitting across the street in his kitchen sipping coffee and watching her intently.
She walked the rest of the way home and shut and locked the door behind her. She set down the package in the dining room and looked out the windows at the neighbourhood. Nothing. Only a couple of her neighbours heading off to work.
She unwrapped the package. It contained a small padlock necklace, a sexy black bustier bodysuit and a thick leather collar with a dog tag reading "Lucy".
She dropped the collar on the table almost in fright as her mind spun. This creep obviously had sexual plans for her. But why was he toying with her? He knew about her theft...why didn't he just demand sex if that's what he wants? Why play these weird mind games?
She messaged him: "Got the package."
--Perfect. Wear the necklace to work. When you get home, message me and I'll have you try on the lingerie. I want to make sure it fits.
--I'm not just going to send you naked pictures you know!
--Ha ha. Plenty of porn online. That's not what I want. Chat later, Lucy.
Calling her Lucy was an added annoyance. No one had called her that since she was a kid. He seemed to have latched onto it--that's all he'd called her so far.
Lucinda got ready for work. As she was about to leave, she kept looking at the necklace. Was this guy a coworker? He must be someone who saw her. So, if he didn't work with her, maybe someone she ran into a lot like that weird barista guy? Could it be her boss?
She decided the necklace was safe enough and put it on. It was a long chain, so the padlock was hidden beneath her top despite its low v neckline.
She spent the whole day watching her coworkers to see if anyone was checking her out. Whoever the creep was, he'd want to see if she had the necklace on.
She had a brief 30 minute meeting with Ed and his team in conference room 3. But, he was super discreet. He spotted the necklace at the start of the meeting, but didn't stare. Since he'd only been in the office one other time, he didn't register with Lucinda as a possible suspect.
That meeting also gave him video of Lucinda introducing herself. Since there were a few people on Zoom, they sent everyone a recoding of the meeting. Ed added it to his personal file of Lucy artefacts.
There were no more messages from the creep and the day felt totally normal allowing Lucinda to almost forget her predicament.
She went home and immediately fixated on the package still sitting on her dining room table. His last message was about her trying on the lingerie. She decided to make him wait--she'd eat dinner first, have a glass of wine, then maybe, just maybe she'd message the creep.
She was about halfway done cooking when her phone beeped.
--Did you forget to message me? Don't mistake my manners for me being a softy.
--Sorry. Was busy.
--Do you want to tell that to the cops?
--No
--I didn't think so. Put on the lingerie and collar and send me a picture of you in them. Now. You have 10 minutes.
She turned off the stove. She was mad at herself for getting into the mess and mad at the creep for asking her to demean herself like this.
She grabbed the lingerie and collar and went to her bedroom. She quickly undressed, removing the necklace and tossing her clothes onto the bed and slipping into the lingerie.
She looked at herself in the full length mirror. She really looked hot in this. She turned slightly side to side.
The lingerie was basically a lacy, see through bustier that laced up with ribbon from her naval to her chest. It had 3/4 length sleeves and the bottom had snaps at the base making it a legless bodysuit. The lace pattern meant it mostly obscured her nipples and pussy--they were just barely visible.
While she actually loved herself in the lingerie, the collar repulsed her. It was thick, heavy leather, almost like a small belt held in place with a large silver buckle. She put it on and pulled it closed, securing it snugly but not too tight around her neck.
The collar had four large metal rings spaced equally around it and a smaller ring to hold the dog tag. The tag with her name was vaguely shaped like a bone. Probably a tag engraved from a machine in a pet shop. The creep had no way to know it, but she hated being called Lucy.
She took a quick selfie, leaving the top of her face out of the shot and sent it to the creep.
--Send another with your face visible.
She looked at herself again. It wasn't a nude photo or anything. If it got out it looked like a fairly normal thing someone would post on social media or send to a boyfriend. It was only the collar that made the picture risqué. It screamed kink and bdsm.
She took another picture, smiling broadly to try and keep the image as casual as possible for anyone who might see it. She sent it to the creep.
--Good girl. Send another one. Sexier.
The pit of her stomach went into a cold lump. What the fuck? Why was he toying with her? Was this going to turn into a porn thing? Maybe it wouldn't. Maybe this creep just got off on teasing people and pushing them?
She untied the ribbon on the bustier and loosened it up at the top, showing a lot more cleavage but staying covered by the fabric. She pushed out her chest to emphasise her boobs and took a pic and sent it.
