Page 20 of The Island

Heather looked up and down the road again. Still empty.

She considered the situation.

What she was thinking now was the wrong thing to do.

Absolutely the wrong thing to do.

Legally.

Morally.

It was a crime called a hit-and-run.

Tom had killed the woman. And now she was going to compound the horror of this act. It felt plain wrong. But all her instincts told her that this was the only option.

She tried to think what her mom would tell her to do.

Her mom, she decided, would tell her to wait for the authorities.

Her dad would tell her to get the hell out of there.

She returned to the Porsche and opened the rear door. She leaned in and unbuckled Olivia’s seat belt.

“Are you OK, honey?” she asked.

Olivia nodded and then shook her head. “My arm hurts.”

“Let me see.”

The seat belt had scraped her arm. It wasn’t broken. “I’ll get a Band-Aid on that in a minute. Let me help you out. Take your water bottle.”

She took Olivia’s hand and tugged her out of the car.

“Wait by the front of the car for a bit while I get your brother.”

“What happened?”

“There’s been an accident. I want you to wait by the front of the car. I know it’s hot. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes,” Olivia said, still dazed.

Getting Owen out was trickier. He was practically catatonic. He had retreated behind his “wall,” which was a thing he’d been doing since his mother’s death that Heather had never really got a grip on.

“Olivia, you need to help me with Owen.”

“Owen! It’s me! Come on,” Olivia said and they bundled him out together.

Heather walked back to Tom. “I’ve got the kids out of the car. You three can push, and I’ll drive us out of the ditch,” she said.

“At that farm place, they might have a radio. We could call an air ambulance,” Tom suggested.

“No, Tom. The impact killed her, and you…we ran her over. Her lungs and internal organs are crushed. I know you know that. There’s nothing anyone can do now.”

Tom still looked dazed, but he was nodding.

This was the moment.

Heather had to make the decision now. It was her call and she knew Tom would go along with it.

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