Everlasting by Elizabeth Chandler Read Free Book Online

a candlestick into a gold coin.”
    “What candlestick?”
    “The big fat one near the baptismal font at St. Peter’s.”
    “You took a piece of their candlestick?” Tristan asked, struggling to make sense of what Lacey was saying.
    “Just a little doodad on it.” She moved closer for a moment. “You don’t think I can create a gold coin out of nothing, do you? Creating is the job of Number One Director. Unlike you, I don’t go around trying to take over His productions.”
    Tristan, still puzzled but understanding at least that message, shook his head and let his breath out slowly.
    “Stay awake, Tristan. And keep an eye on the pond,” Lacey advised him. “The chick might be smarter than she looks.”

    IVY TOSSED AND TURNED. AFTER THE PREVIOUS night’s party, Kelsey and Dhanya had gone to bed early. Beth had followed, and Ivy had hoped to catch up on sleep but couldn’t stop wondering where Tristan was. Without Lacey’s help, she’d never find him.
    A soft mew at the living room window was followed by a fierce shaking of the screen. Ivy rose from the sofa to let in Dusty. Since realizing that Gregory’s power was growing stronger, Ivy hadn’t been able to sleep in her bed, just two feet away from Beth, without waking up at every stirring in the night. After everyone upstairs was asleep, she crept down to the living room sofa. The huge Maine coon had discovered this and was dropping by every night now, looking for some attention.
    Ivy sat down, petting Dusty and thinking. Something wasn’t right in what she’d heard today from Donovan. If Tristan still had a phone, why hadn’t he called her to say he was okay? If he was being cautious, worrying that his call might be tracked by the police, he probably wouldn’t have been careless and dropped it at a rest stop. And how would they know it was his? The phone had been purchased in Kip’s name.
    So maybe the phone in police custody had belonged to the real Luke. The real Luke had died four weeks ago, but Ivy supposed it was possible that the phone had been kickedunder something at the rest stop accidentally. In any case, its discovery appeared to convince the police that their fugitive was off the Cape.
    What if he wasn’t? Ivy wondered. Why had Lacey visited her? A flame of hope flickered in Ivy’s heart. She rose and quietly slid open a drawer in the living room desk, where tourist information was kept. Turning on a small lamp, she studied a brochure with a map of Nickerson State Park. If Tristan had returned there, what part of the large, wooded area would he choose as his safe haven?
    Her breath caught. She had heard of Flax and Cliff Ponds, where the beaches and boats were, but had never noticed the small dab of blue that lay west of Cliff: Ruth Pond. “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.”
    Ivy reached for her car keys. A few minutes later she left the inn, just as she had the night she drove back to Race Point Beach after Tristan’s memorial, feeling drawn to a place; only this time, she had reason to hope Tristan would be waiting for her.
    In the middle of the night, the state park was closed except to campers. Ivy checked the map, looking for a place to leave her car outside the park. She was beginning to regret her distinctive white Beetle. She did not want to leave it too close to a gate by Ruth Pond, like a flag for anyone wanting to find Luke, but the crescent moon didn’t shed much light and she didn’t want to use the small flashlightshe had brought unless absolutely necessary. She ended up on a road off of 6A, about a mile from where a paved road crossed over a hiking trail that led to Ruth Pond. She felt almost giddy walking down the empty road outside the park at two thirty in the morning. She felt like spreading her arms and singing. Then a car passed, slowing when it was behind her, as if the driver were taking a second look. She sobered quickly.
    She glanced over her shoulder, but the car had disappeared