Free Ever Present Danger by Kathy Herman

like old times, and I’ll control the conversation. All you have to do is smile and act like things are normal. Come on, Ivy, this is important. I’ll even RSVP for you.”

    “I’m sure it’s not free, and I don’t have any money right now.”

    “It’s sixty-five bucks a head, and I’ll pay for it.”

    Don’t let him manipulate you. Stand up to him! “I…I’d like to think about it.”

    “Okay, I’ll go ahead and put your name in. You can always back out.”

    “Pete, I don’t—”

    “Someone just walked in. I’ve gotta go. Talk to you soon.” Click .

    Ivy hung up the phone, her heart pounding, and let out a loud sigh. She walked over to the mirror in the hallway and stared at her reflection. Her face was thin and bony, her gray eyes hollow and void of life. Even her hair had lost its luster.

    Could her classmates find even the slightest resemblance to the bubbly, high-spirited beauty that had once worn Pete Barton’s ring? Was she willing to turn her conspiracy with Pete, Reg, and Denny into an entire evening of public playacting? Did she really have a choice?

    Ivy looked into her eyes staring back at her, pierced by the sadness she saw there. As ready as she was to clear her conscience and tell the sheriff the truth about Joe Hadley’s death, her need to bethere for Lu and Montana took precedence. She couldn’t leave either of them right now.

    Lu Ramirez’s reflection appeared next to hers in the mirror, the circles under her eyes deep purple. “You look lost, Ivy girl.”

    Ivy linked arms with Lu and led her to the kitchen table. “Sit. I don’t want you wearing yourself out.”

    “It’s good for me to get up sometimes. I’ve been reading stories to Montana.”

    “Where is he now?”

    “Upstairs playing checkers with your mother.”

    “He’s not handling your illness well.”

    “I doubt if he will till he has to. But it’s good we have time to prepare him.” Lu folded her arms on the table and looked almost too weak to sit up. “I’m just as worried about you.”

    “I’m fine.”

    Lu’s thick eyebrows seemed to settle on her eyelids. “Is that so?”

    “I can’t think about me right now.”

    “Why not? Sit down and tell me what you’re thinking.”

    Ivy sat at the table and looked into Lu’s probing eyes and lowered her voice. “Pete called. Our ten-year high school reunion is in a few weeks, and he thinks the four of us who made the pact should go so the sheriff won’t get suspicious.”

    “And what do you think?”

    “Well, I’m certainly not ready to go to the sheriff with what I know, and I don’t want him getting suspicious before I’m ready to talk. I guess it can’t hurt just to be seen there. It’s not like I’m going to tell any more lies.”

    “You’re not letting Pete talk you out of confessing, are you?”

    “No, absolutely not. But I need to be sure Montana…” Ivy’s voice cracked. “He needs to be able to live without both of us, Lu. I just don’t know if he’s strong enough. It seems so overwhelming for a seven-year-old.”

    Lu reached across the table and patted Ivy’s hand. “Trust God with it. He will help you figure it out.”

    “I’m sure God gave up on me a long time ago.”

    “You know better than that.”

    Do I? “I wish you hadn’t told Montana to ask me about Jesus.”

    “If not you, then who? You know what you believe, whether you’ll admit it to yourself or not.”

    Ivy got up and poured herself a glass of water. “I called hospice this morning, and I’m waiting for a call back. I got the impression that with the letter from your doctor explaining your condition, they can get you set up here.”

    “Your parents are generous to allow a stranger to die in their home.”

    Lu’s words seemed to squeeze her heart like a vice. In a matter of weeks or perhaps days, Lu—her anchor, her best friend, her one constant source of love and security—would be gone. And there wasn’t a thing she