Brain Child by John Saul

too, and apparently the boy was driving it. We got awitness, but I haven’t talked to her yet.” He tore the sheet with Lisa’s address on it out of his notebook and handed it to Jackson. “Here’s her name and address. Get hold of her parents and tell them we’ll take the girl down to the Center. We’ll meet them there.”
    Jackson looked at his partner uncertainly. “Shouldn’t we take her to the station and get a statement?”
    “This is La Paloma, Tom, not San Francisco. The kid in the car was her boyfriend, and she’s pretty broken up. We’re not gonna make things worse by dragging her into the station. Now, get hold of the Center and tell them who’s coming in, then get hold of these Cochran people. Okay?”
    Jackson nodded and got back in the car.
    Lisa sat on the ground, trying to accept what had happened. It all had a dreamlike quality to it, and there seemed to be only bits and pieces left in her memory.
    Standing in the road, trying to make up her mind whether or not to go back to the party and find Alex.
    And then the sound of a car.
    Instinctively, she’d known whose car it was, and her anger had suddenly evaporated.
    And then she’d realized the car was coming too fast. She’d turned around to try to wave Alex down.
    And then the blur.
    The car rushing toward her, swerving away at the last minute, then only a series of sounds.
    A shriek of skidding tires—
    A scraping noise—
    A crash—
    And then the awful sound of Alex screaming her name, cut off by the horrible crunching of the car hurtling into the ravine.
    Then nothing—just a blank, until suddenly she was back at Carolyn Evans’s, and all the kids were staring at her, their faces blank and confused.
    She hadn’t even been able to tell them what hadhappened. She’d only been able to scream Alex’s name, and point toward the road.
    It had been Bob Carey who had finally understood and called the police.
    And then there had been more confusion.
    People scrambling out of the pool, grabbing clothes, streaming out of the house.
    Most of them running down the road.
    A few cars starting.
    And Carolyn Evans, her eyes more furious than frightened, glaring at her.
    “It’s your fault,” Carolyn had accused. “It’s all your fault, and now I’m going to be in trouble.”
    Lisa had gazed at her: what was she talking about?
    “My
parents,”
Carolyn had wailed. “They’ll find out, and ground me for the rest of the summer.”
    And then Kate Lewis was beside her, pulling her away.
    Suddenly she was back on Hacienda Drive, and the night was filled with sirens, and flashing lights, and people everywhere, asking her questions, staring down into the ravine.…
    It had seemed to go on forever.
    Finally there was that awful moment when the stretcher had appeared, and she’d seen Alex—
    Except it hadn’t been Alex.
    It had only been a shape covered by a blanket.
    She’d only been able to look for a second, then Kate had twisted her around, and she hadn’t seen any more.
    Now a voice penetrated the haze.
    “Lisa? Lisa Cochran?”
    She looked up, nodding mutely. A policeman was looking at her, but he didn’t seem to be mad at her.
    “We need to get you out of here,” the policeman said. “We have to take you down to the Medical Center.” He held out a hand. “Can you stand up?”
    “I … I …” Lisa struggled to rise, then sank back to the ground. Strong hands slid under her arms and lifted her up. A minute later she was in the back seat ofa police car. A few yards away she saw another police car, and a policeman talking to some of her friends.
    But they didn’t know what had happened. Only she knew.
    Lisa buried her face in her hands, sobbing.
    The speaker on the wall of the emergency room crackled to life once again.
    “This is Unit One,” the anonymous voice droned. “We’ll be there in another thirty seconds. And we have an identification on the victim.” Suddenly the voice cracked, losing its professional tone.