Forget Her Name(24)

‘The new dress will have to be completely off the peg. No time for alterations. And it has to match the bridesmaids’ dresses.’ I’m thinking out loud. We only have two bridesmaids, one of them Louise, the other a second cousin of mine called Jasmine. She lives in Birmingham and I barely know her, but Mum insisted I should have a family member as a bridesmaid. Their dresses have sequinned bodices just like the dress that was bagged up and taken away. ‘Though I suppose it won’t be the end of the world if they don’t match exactly.’

‘It’ll work out fine, stop worrying so much.’ Dominic finishes plumping up the pillows, then turns to take me in his arms. I close my eyes, leaning thankfully into his warmth. His voice deepens. ‘I love you, Catherine. That’s all that matters.’

‘I love you too.’

And I really do love him. With all my heart.

‘Don’t tell my parents about this, okay?’ I add. ‘Not until we know for sure what’s going on, anyway. They’d only freak out. I couldn’t bear that. Not on top of everything else.’

‘Whatever you say.’

I try to relax, enjoy being cuddled, feeling safe again. But behind tightly closed eyes, I’m still fretting. And not only about my wedding dress. I should have told Dominic about the snow globe. The truth about Rachel, too. We’re going to be married soon, he deserves to know the worst. But I love him too much to cause him worry, especially after tonight’s horror show.

Is love all that matters though? I wonder. Is love enough? No matter who you are and what you’ve done?



Once Dominic is finally asleep, I climb softly out of bed and tiptoe through to the bathroom, barefoot and in my pyjamas. I’m exhausted but unable to sleep, so I might as well get up and try to do something. Besides, ever since the policewoman asked if anything else had been taken, the question has been weighing heavily on my mind. But I couldn’t check before now. Dominic has barely let me have a moment to myself since the police left, even talking to me through the bathroom door while I brushed my teeth and got ready for bed. So I didn’t get a chance to make sure the snow globe is still under the bathroom sink. Not without risking his suspicion.

Why would whoever cut up my wedding dress also want my sister’s snow globe? It’s a ridiculous thought. Yet I have to check. If only to set my churning mind at rest.

Locking the bathroom door behind me, I gently open the cupboard under the sink and crouch to look inside.

The box is open, empty.

Rachel’s snow globe is no longer there.





Chapter Fourteen The empty box frightens me more than the sight of my ruined wedding dress.

Where has her snow globe gone?

Who would take such a thing? Or even know it was here, hidden under my bathroom sink among the half-empty shampoo bottles and shower gel?

My skin crawls as I imagine the unknown intruder searching quietly through every room in the flat for this one specific object – opening drawers, looking in cupboards, until finally they came to the bathroom . . .

What does it mean? What does any of it mean?

My heart is racing and I’m trembling like I’ve been in an accident. Adrenaline, I realise, and try to control myself. But the terror won’t be controlled. I gulp and swallow, unable to comprehend what’s happening.

Perhaps my memory’s at fault. I was so tired when I finished cleaning the snow globe the other night, it’s not impossible I made a mistake. It was still wet. Perhaps I left it out of the box, hiding it further back in the cupboard while leaving the empty box at the front.

I search through the mess under the sink, moving things aside and removing others. It’s a dark, cramped space, dominated by pipes, spare toilet rolls, and boxes of tampons. Once I’ve checked behind those, there’s nothing left that’s big enough to hide a snow globe.

It’s definitely not here.

There’s a sudden noise beyond the bathroom door. The unmistakeable creak of a floorboard under someone’s foot.

I freeze. Has the intruder come back again? Though my logical mind knows the front door is locked, the safety chain on, and the bathroom window behind me is shut and fastened.

‘Catherine?’

I sag with relief, then hurriedly close the cupboard under the sink and stand up. ‘Just a minute,’ I say, flushing the toilet. I run the tap for a moment, washing my hands. Only then do I unlock the door. ‘Sorry, did I wake you?’

Dominic looks past me into the bathroom, his face unreadable. ‘You okay? You’ve been in there a while.’

‘No, I’m fine. I just couldn’t sleep.’ I make a face, trying to step past him so I can close the door behind me. ‘Can’t get the wedding dress out of my mind.’

‘So you thought you’d clear out the cupboards instead?’

I stare at him, taken aback by the sardonic tone, then glance over my shoulder to see what he’s looking at.

Shit.

Two shampoo bottles and an old bar of soap are still on the floor by the sink. I must have shifted them out of the cupboard while searching, then forgotten to replace them in my hurry.

‘Oh,’ I say, struggling to sound casual as I gesture towards the bottles. ‘No, I was, erm, looking for . . .’

‘This?’

I look back at him, and gasp in shock.