Page 140 of Under the Lies

Little reactions. That’s all I’ve been giving to the tornado wreaking havoc inside me.

Emotions cloud judgment and right now, I need as clear as head as possible.

There’s no time for mistakes.

The unseen clock is already ticking down.

Around me, nothing looks suspicious or out of place. Just old and worn and weathered with time. Nothing like a freshly dug grave.

“Anything?” I snap into the coms unit in my ear, it’s been silent for too long. My tone is the only sign to my slipping composure.

“Nothing on the west side,” Gabe says through his.

“Nothing on the south side.” Thea on hers.

Damn it.

That only leaves the one person who joked about her being dead went, his line remains quiet.

“Reeve. Sound off.” Restless, my hands flex.

It’s quiet, save for a crackle. I’ve already started heading in Reeve’s direction. “You guys need to get over here. Now.” A pause. “We have a problem.”

My feet start running before he’s finished, weaving between the headstones. In my ear, Gabe asks what’s wrong.

I pump my arms harder, propelling me faster.

By the time I reach Reeve, he’s standing on a freshly covered grave, leaning against a shovel that’s sticking out of the ground. A joint sits between his lips. “Took you long enough.”

Ignoring him, I elbow him away from the shovel. He laughs as I pick it up, starting to dig. And dig. Until the metal clangs. Hitting a casket.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Reeve perks up at the sound when Gabe and Thea show up. Gabe, who is struggling to catch his breath while Thea nibbles anxiously on her thumb.

“Out of shape?” Reeve teases him, but I tune out Gabe’s response.

My digging becoming more erratic. Desperate as I’m trying to get it free enough to open the lid.

Finally, with sweat building inside my coat, I do just that.

Reeve and Gabe step forward to help open it.

And as they do, I feel Thea close behind me.

“She has to be okay, right?” Thea whispers and in this moment, I’m reminded how big of a heart this woman has. She’s as conniving as the rest of us, but she truly doesn’t like to see horrible things happen to good people. Only the deserving.

And out of all of us, Sayer is the purest.

I squeeze Thea’s shoulder as Gabe and Reeve work on unlatching the coffin.

It takes longer than I like, but we finally get the coffin open and in it, with her eyes closed, is Sayer.

She looks calm, peaceful as her pale skin looks even more bleached, stealing my breath and robbing my heart of beats.

She’s still. She’s too fucking still.

I don’t take another step closer. Can’t. Seeing here in the coffin brings up shit I’ve long since pushed away, never to resurface. My friends know it as well.

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