watched the woman write out the sum. Felicia had made no mistake.
ISLA
SHE TOOK THE SUSPENSION BRIDGE, THE QUICKEST WAY BACK TO THE mainland, despite being afraid of heights. She gripped the steering wheel at ten and two, trying hard not to look down at the glistening bay below. Not a car passed her, and so she strayed over the yellow line to keep as far away from the railing as possible. She rarely drove over this bridge, hardly needing to travel this way. But it was the quickest route home from Harper’s Point.
A Volvo wagon sped past her on the right, the driver beeping loudly and giving her the middle finger. She steered nervously back into the right-hand lane, thinking about all that Felicia had said. Understandably, the woman seemed unhinged. It made Isla realize that dysfunction happened to both rich and poor families alike, and in this case, it had created the perfect circumstance for Willow’s disappearance. Unfortunately, Katie had been caught in the same crosshairs of dysfunction and was now paying the price.
The end of the bridge appeared, and Isla breathed easier as she guided the car onto the terra firma. She took a right onto Bayview Road. It wound up and along the coast, and she could see the lights twinkling from across the bay. In the rearview mirror, she could also make out the illuminated suspension bridge rising up majestically behind her.
Her eyes returned to the road as she ascended a hill. Since she was lost in thought, it took a few seconds before she realized that a vehicle was on her tail. To her left, the granite wall rose fifty feet or more. To her right, the steep cliff appeared beyond the guardrail. Afraid to take her eyes off the road, she gripped the steering wheel with both hands and hoped the vehicle would quickly pass her. But a quick glance in the rearview made her skin crawl. The vehicle had its headlights off and was inches from her bumper.
She slowed and felt a bump. Did the driver just ram her? Then the driver did it again, only this time with more force. Someone was trying to force her off the road. Frightened, she sped up. But the vehicle—an SUV or truck, she guessed—kept pace with her. She knew she had to make it to the top of the hill. If she went over the cliff, she would crash in spectacular fashion on the rocks below—and surely die.
Her foot stomped on the gas, and the vehicle behind her flashed its high beams off and on, making it impossible for her to see who was behind the wheel. She could barely look into the rearview mirror without temporarily blinding herself. Her heart raced in her chest at the thought of leaving Katie and Raisin without a mother.
She turned the wheel so that her car veered into the middle of the road, hoping that the vehicle behind her did not sideswipe her minivan and send it into the bay. The steepness of the hill caused her van to sputter. Another collision jarred her. The vehicle then locked bumpers with hers and began to push her toward the guardrail.
The bay’s dark waters appeared below. Beyond that she could see the lights of Harper’s Point, and beyond that, the cold, dark Atlantic Ocean. She remembered her father’s rules for driving in snow. Why she was remembering this now? Route 25 appeared up ahead. If only she could reach it and turn left, she’d be all right. Her van veered closer to the guardrail. Another twenty feet and it would sail over the edge.
With her father’s words echoing in her ears, she pumped the brakes and turned the wheel to her left. Her intermittent braking caused the vehicle behind her to back off momentarily. The vehicle then sped up and crashed hard into her left rear wheel well, causing Isla’s car to spin a full 180 degrees, so that she was facing the suspension bridge. The minivan skidded along the road until the passenger side bounced up against the granite wall. It came to an abrupt stop as water from the wall dripped onto her roof. Steam hissed out of the front end.
Isla, breathing hard, glanced in her rearview mirror and saw the vehicle stop up ahead. Would it come back and finish her off? After idling for thirty seconds in the dark, it sped up and turned left onto Route 25, then disappeared from sight. She pulled out her