I almost smiled.
Almost.
“Is Tyler around?” I asked, still holding the cake, my voice already sounding smaller than I meant it to.
Nobody answered right away.
That silence was worse than anything they could have said.
Then Captain Reyes came out from the back office, slowly, his expression doing something I’d never seen it do before.
I had known Captain Reyes for years.
He was normally composed.
Firm when he needed to be, but easygoing around families.
Whenever I stopped by, he usually greeted me with some version of, “What did Tyler do now?”
Not this time.
He looked at the balloons in my hand, then at my face.
Something inside me went cold.
Captain Reyes stopped a few feet away.
