Brooke was now outside and shaking even more. She looked at her sister, who was glued to the spot, and decided the best course of action was to get help. She dropped the bag and darted. She was the fastest runner in the family and wasn’t going to stop now.

‘Wait!’ screamed Alastair, as he let go of Poppy and chased after Brooke.

Poppy made the most of her chance. She set off to run, which she did, but in the opposite direction.

The road was dark, and her mind was now focused on getting away. She darted between two parked cars and straight into the road, checking behind to see where her father was. So she didn’t notice the car that flew around the corner.

Shit! All she saw were blinding lights. The impact was so hard that she somersaulted into the road and spun round – devastatingly – into a parked car.

Rebecca’s heart was in her mouth. The rush of adrenaline, sending pins and needles over her body, left her shaken and too stunned to leave the vehicle. She had knocked someone down. Used to making spur-of-the-moment decisions, her brain went straight into action. It was about damage limitation now. Quickly, she assessed the consequences and the trouble she would be in. The meeting had gone on so long she’d needed a drink or two to keep her mind going. But she hadn’t consumed a drink or two, had she? she thought. She’d actually had a lot more, at least four, by her reckoning. She was the MP, for fuck’s sake. She would not only be done for drink driving but possibly arrested on a manslaughter charge as well, if whoever she had run down was dead. She’d not seen who the person was who was lying in the road. That was it! It was so dark, there were no cameras in her street, so she could get away with this one. Her heart was pummelling like a bongo drum, and she was breathing heavily. She put the Lexus into gear and drove away, not even looking back to see who she’d potentially killed. In her mind was the headline Drunk Driver Rebecca Mullins MP Kills Pedestrian.

***

Poppy lay motionless. However, as she opened her eyes, she could just see the car’s rear lights with the distinctive number plate REB 1M illuminated as the car turned into her drive. She closed her eyes and fell into unconsciousness.

***

Rebecca was still shaken up. She was almost in complete meltdown. Unsteadily, she drove her car into the drive, clicked the remote, and waited for the garage shutters to open before she drove carefully inside. She wondered if the garage was actually clear since she hadn’t parked in there for a year. It was an irritant if she needed to be somewhere else quickly. It was the shutters: they always took forever to open, so she generally parked in the drive.