Tom is meeting some of his army buddies for a drink and Evieâs down for her nap. Iâm sitting in the kitchen, doors and windows closed despite the heat. The rain of the past week has stopped at last; now itâs stiflingly close.
Iâm bored. I canât think of anything to do. I fancy going shopping, spending a bit of money on myself, but itâs hopeless with Evie. She gets irritable and I get stressed. So Iâm just hanging round the house. I canât watch television or look at a newspaper. I donât want to read about it, I donât want to see Meganâs face, I donât want to think about it.
How can I not think about it when weâre here, just four doors away?
I rang around to see if anyone was up for a playdate, but everyoneâs got plans. I even called my sister, but of course youâve got to book her at least a week in advance. In any case, she said she was too hungover to spend time with Evie. I felt a horrible pang of envy then, a longing for Saturdays spent lying on the sofa with the newspapers and a hazy memory of leaving the club the night before.
Stupid, really, because what Iâve got now is a million times better, and I made sacrifices to secure it. Now I just need to protect it. So here I sit in my sweltering house, trying not to think about Megan. I try not to think about and I jump every time I hear a noise, I flinch when a shadow passes the window. Itâs intolerable.
What I canât stop thinking about is the fact that Rachel was here the night Megan went missing, stumbling around, totally pissed, and then she just . Tom looked for her for ages, but he couldnât find her. I canât stop wondering what she was doing.
There is no connection between Rachel and Megan Hipwell. I spoke to the police officer, Detective Riley, about it after we saw Rachel at the Hipwellsâ house, and she said it was nothing to worry about. âSheâs a rubbernecker,â she said. âLonely, a bit desperate. She just wants to be involved in something.â
Sheâs probably right. But then I think about her coming into my house and taking my child, I remember the terror I felt when I saw her with Evie down by the fence. I think about that horrible, chilling little smile she gave me when I saw her outside the Hipwellsâ house. Detective Riley doesnât know just how dangerous Rachel can be.