Page 43 of Cheyenne

Cheyenne swung around. It was the couple who’d been at the grave nearby. “Oh.” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I was wondering the same thing myself.”

The man frowned, then bent down and pushed it shut. “There.”

Her stomach sank. Crap. What should she do? She swallowed her panic and nodded at them. “Thank you.”

The woman eyed her as the couple walked toward the exit.

Once they were out of sight, Cheyenne tried to push the lid back open. It was too heavy.

A muffled voice said from behind the stone, “Cheyenne? Why is this shut? Open up.”

“I’m trying. Some guy showed up and shut it.” She pushed with all her strength.

“What is going on?” a new voice demanded. It was the priest, who had marched right up to her. He was scowling.

Cheyenne froze. She didn’t want to get in trouble, but she couldn’t leave Micah trapped in there. “Sorry,” she said. “This was open, and I was trying to shut it.”

“She’s lying,” said the same lady from before, making Cheyenne jump. When had she shown up? “She opened that grave. Somebody’s in there.”

The priest pulled out his phone and tapped on it, then put it to his ear. “Hello? I need to report someone breaking into a grave. Please send the police.”

Cheyenne wanted to curse. “Well, then you might as well push it open, because my friend needs to get out.” She turned on the old lady and glared at her. Not that the old lady didn’t have grounds to be upset. They shouldn’t have been in the graveyard opening graves. But she wouldn’t tell them the truth about theamulet. Her brother Nash was done with law school, and he always told her that criminals got into worse trouble the more they talked.

The priest heaved at the stone, sliding the grave open.

Micah gingerly climbed out. He had a big, dopey grin on his face. “Thanks. I fell in there and got stuck.”

“He’s a liar,” the old lady sputtered. She pointed at Cheyenne. “She’s a liar too.”

Micah gave Cheyenne a look. She subtly shook her head.

The priest turned to him. “So you just fell in the grave? It was just open?”

Micah seemed to get the hint. “Actually, I’m not sure how I ended up there.”

The priest looked back and forth between them, then sighed. “I will only say this: you know where liars go.”

His words pierced her heart. She guessed there was no getting around God.

CHAPTER 21

Micah

If anyone had asked Micah just days ago whether he’d ever thought he’d end his week in a jail cell, he would have confidently said, ‘Heck no.’ Yet here he was. Cheyenne was in a cell adjacent to his, and they could see each other, so at least there was some comfort in that. By the grace of God, the only other occupant in the nearby cells was a drunk guy who kept to himself.

It wasn’t long before an officer approached and said, “Someone has paid your bail. The officer up front will give you information about your scheduled court date.”

To Micah’s utter relief, Raine Birch walked in. The feeling quickly disappeared, however, when he saw the scowl on Raine’s face. Thankfully, he waited until they were all outside before he said, “You’d better have a good explanation for this.”

He pointed to his car, and they both followed him to it. Micah tried to squeeze into the back seat with Cheyenne, but Raine stopped him with a firm, “You sit up front.”

Micah’s heart sank. He was being treated like a criminal. He had been a straitlaced teenager—he had to be if he wanted to join the Navy SEALs.

Wait. Would they see this incident on his record?

Suddenly, he felt worse than ever.

As Raine started driving away from the jail, he said, “I presume your truck is parked near the cemetery.”

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