was being plagued by ghosts. As she drifted off, she heard the woman talking about her life turning into a living nightmare.
She woke with a start, freezing cold and her scalp on fire. The This Morning theme tune was playing its closing notes – she must have been asleep over an hour. Horrified, she looked down at Noah. His eyes were closed and she placed a hand on his chest to check his breathing. Oh thank God, she thought when she felt his tiny ribcage move. He snorted against her bare breast and she moved gingerly, turning herself to the side and swinging her legs off the bed, placing Noah in his crib as though he was made of glass.
She checked the time on her phone: 12.34. This stuff had only been on half an hour longer than it said on the tube – surely it shouldn’t sting this much?
Stepping back into the shower, she flipped on the water and stood under it before it had even warmed up. She ran her hands through her hair, desperate to get the conditioner off. When she lifted them away from her scalp, she reeled in shock at the clump of hair stuck to her hand.
Flicking it into the bath, she watched as it swirled into the plughole, too big to go down. She’d been losing hair for weeks – it was normal after pregnancy apparently – but never this much in one go. She ran her fingers through again and the same thing happened, another thick clump of blonde hair coming away in her fingers. Frantically she clawed at her scalp, watching her once beautiful hair falling away and powerless to stop it. Feeling her knees go weak, she sank to the bottom of the bath, the water beating on her head, and screamed.
51
Bea
‘Shiiiiiit, what did you do?’
Bea could picture her sister loading plates into the dishwasher, cradling the phone under her chin and trying to decide what to cook for tea. She felt a little thrill that she was sitting on the grass outside the local library enjoying some rare autumn sunshine.
‘Nothing. Absolutely bupkis,’ Bea replied.
‘What, you didn’t tell Eleanor? I definitely thought you’d tell her when you found out.’
‘God, no! She’s very clear on what she thinks about women who sleep with married men. Wait, what do you mean, when I found out?’
‘Oh. Um, well …’
‘You knew! Didn’t you?’
There was a silence that screamed guilt and then a small squeak from Fran. ‘I suppose I did.’
‘How? And why didn’t you tell me?’
‘Rich had a job at a house. Turned out it was Michael’s. He didn’t realise until he saw pictures of Michael with his family all over the place – wife and three kids. He recognised him straight away, it wasn’t long after we’d been for that meal with you all. I didn’t want to tell you because if Karen hasn’t told you then she doesn’t want you to know. I have tried to warn you …’
‘Why would Karen tell me? You’re not suggesting she knows, are you?’ A thought occurred to her. ‘Did you send me those pictures?’
‘Oh yeah, because I have time to go undercover as Joey Greco. If I’d wanted you to know, I’d just have told you. I was waiting for Karen to do it.’
‘You keep saying that; what makes you think she knows?’
‘She’s not stupid, Bea. He’s probably got a dent in his finger where his ring usually sits. Rich said you should have heard his poor wife. Talking about her wonderful husband who sacrificed so much working away all week so they could afford nice things. Made him feel sick, he said.’
The hairs pricked up on Bea’s arms, despite the lack of any breeze. Her phone beeped in her ear, and she held it up so she could see the screen:
Where ru? Need u. Please come. Xx
‘I gotta go, Fran, Eleanor has just texted.’
‘Do you think she knows?’
Bea shrugged. ‘God knows. Guess I’m about to find out.’
52
Karen
When Karen pulled up outside Eleanor’s beautiful mid-terrace house, Bea was just getting out of her Fiat Punto. She hung back as Karen pulled on the handbrake, jumped out of the car and clicked the central locking.
‘What’s going on?’ Bea eyed her somewhat suspiciously, as though she was surprised to see her there; maybe she’d expected that Karen wouldn’t be able to leave work.
‘No idea. Got a “get here now” text. You?’
‘Same. You don’t think it’s to do with Adam, do you? You know, what you were saying