It seemed to happen in slow motion. Pete’s eyes widening. Him shouting and pointing as the convertible came from the right to hit Jill’s car right in front of them. They saw Jill’s car spin out of control as Pete slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. There was no way they could avoid hitting them.

And then everything went black.

*

Callie

It was like the world had exploded right in front of her. One second she was strategising, trying to figure out how she was going to keep Tara and herself safe from Tony, and the next, her parents’ car in front of her was slamming into her grandma’s and everything was rushing towards them.

She thought that when she hit the car in front, everything would stop. But it didn’t. Instead, they were flying through the air. Flying and spinning and tumbling. Like someone had picked up the car and put it in a giant tumble dryer.

In the end, she squeezed her eyes shut tight and waited for it to all be over.

*

Darren

There was no need for the guy on the side of the road to wave his arms at him, to flag him down. Of course he was going to stop. The crash scene before him looked horrific. But it never occurred to him that it might be his own family involved. That something had happened to cause their careful convoy of cars to seemingly implode.

After stumbling back from his mother’s car, realising that there were three more cars filled with members of his family that needed his attention, he was frozen in place for a moment.

Who the hell was he supposed to go to first?

Chapter Nineteen

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Same day — Christmas Eve

Mimi

‘Mimi! Mimi! MIMI! Are you with me?’

She couldn’t seem to focus on his voice because she couldn’t hear him over the screaming. But then he shook her and her mouth snapped closed and the screaming stopped. Silence. She said the first thing that came to mind. ‘Sorry!’ As though her manners were kicking in on autopilot, as though she’d been caught doing something unseemly in public — throwing a tantrum, shouting at the top of her lungs for no reason.

But there was a reason. A very good reason. She looked up to see Darren leaning into the car, his eyes full of terror.

‘It’s okay,’ he said. ‘But, can you move? Can you get up? I need your help.’