Not So Innocent (Shattered Glass #2)

Epilogue

Riley placed the cake on the bottom shelf of the fridge and snuck into the bedroom. After taking off and hanging his uniform, he opened the door wider to let more moonlight in and the animals out. A beagle-shaped circle of hair was on the comforter and a cat-shaped dent was in the pillow.

It’s only four in the morning, why would I expect people to be asleep? Riley rolled his eyes while locking his gun in the safe. Cai probably forgot the time again. He threw on some jeans, then headed back to the kitchen. On his way, he grabbed candles out of the grocery bag on the dining table and looked in the backyard. Every light was on in Cai’s studio. Foot and paw prints crossed the snow-covered lawn, confirming they were all inside.

After getting the cake out of the fridge, Riley stuffed the stem of the two and the five candles into the top. He straightened the candles and used his fingers to fix the blue frosting. Pink candles and a unicorn motif were not his first choice, but the grocery store didn’t have much to choose from at three in the morning. Balancing the cake on one palm, he got the emergency lighter from the drawer on his way out.

He lit the candles outside the door to the studio, then opened it. As soon as he heard paws clicking, Riley immediately gave the signal for wait. Fuzzbutt sat, wagging his tail against the wood and shaking with joy. Riley patted his greying head. He had little warning before the dog jumped up and tried to knock the cake out of his hand. “?Siéntate!” Fuzz sat again.

Begone had stuffed herself in what looked like a museum replica. Once she saw cake, or smelled it, her head tilted, and she stretched her butt toward the ceiling. Cai must have seen her out of the corner of his eye. From his position on the floor, he looked up, then craned his head over his shoulder. Riley lost his breath from the smile directed at him. Then, in an ironic mimic of Begone, Cai tilted his head and pulled out an ear bud. “What’s that?”

“Birthday cake.”

Cai looked at his watch. “Oh, gosh. Sorry.” He stood up, brushing dust and dried paint off his overalls. “I got this big commission and then built the replica and—”

Riley silenced him with a kiss that got too carried away. He nearly dropped the cake, pulling back when he felt it sliding off his hand. “What commission?”

“Huh?” Cai blinked a few times and stared.

“What commission?” Riley repeated, feeling smug at Cai’s reaction. He looked around for some place to set the cake so they could finish that kiss. As usual there wasn’t room anywhere in the studio. Every surface had an array of paints, brushes, pallets, and jars of whatever materials Cai found lying around Denver. “And where can I put this?”

“In my face,” Cai said and took it from him, unable to keep his eyes off the frosting. These days, sugar was a rarity, and Cai treated it like a starving bird finding a pile of seeds. “Desmond got me a twenty-five-thousand—square-meter space! Not all of it, but that’s how big the whole place is. The lobby and donor lounge are mine! For the performing arts building downtown.” He scooted over some paints and put the cake down. “I wanted to do some kind of theme but couldn’t visualize it properly without seeing the actual space. But the building isn’t finished until next month or the one after. So I built a replica.”

That explained why his calls went straight to voicemail all day. “Guess this is a celebration of more than your birthday, then. You must be starving after working on this all day.”

Cai searched for something on his table, finally brandishing a palette knife which he wiped ‘clean’ on his t-shirt. “I only got the commission at five?”

Before Cai could cut the cake with that, Riley snatched it out of his hand and took it to the bathroom to wash in the sink. “Then why didn’t you answer your phone?”

“Julian’s missing.”

Riley looked up at the ceiling when no forthcoming information came after that pronouncement. He peeked into the room to see if Cai was doing something important. “Quit eating the frosting. Julian is missing?”

“Oh. But I…” Cai’s gaze lingered on the cake. He sighed and made an impatient, pouty face at Riley, complete with pursed lips and a wrinkled nose.

Sugar did not bring out the best in Cai. “You know, I got this cake so we could have a tiny celebration before your entire family is here in a few hours, but if you’re going to be petulant...” Riley jerked his thumb at the door. He tried to hide a smile, which was easier because he was irritated that the conversation was still about the damn cake. “Julian,” he prodded.

“Oh! Yeah.” Cai grinned and in a quarter of a second, Riley forgot his irritation. “Remember when I told you last month that Julian went to Somalia? Well, his mom and I wanted to make sure he checked in every day, ‘cause things are dangerous there, but he hasn’t checked in for days. His mom called and asked if I could do anything, so I sent Dare.”

“Less than two years after he comes back from a war zone, you send Dare to Somalia?” Riley asked. “To a place where there’s pirates, kidnappers, warlords, child soldiers, and a draught?”

“Yes, well, he hasn’t killed anyone in a long time, and I thought maybe it might help.” Cai studied Riley with that expression that said he wasn’t sure what was wrong, then his shoulders dropped. “Look, I know this is one of those piglet moments again, but can we just eat cake and get naked? Think of how much you can punish me for irritating you.”

After all these years, Riley knew better than to argue with that logic.