“No,” he shakes his head. “But I checked the back right after. The lock was completely shattered. So I called the police immediately.”
Ryan nods once, placing a hand on my Dad’s shoulder. “Good,” he says quietly. “You did the right thing.”
One of the officers approaches, clipboard in hand. “Mr. Gracelyn? When you’re ready, we need to ask you a few more questions.”
My dad nods, exhaling through his nose. “Yeah. Of course.” He squeezes my arm gently. “I’ll be right back, sweetheart.”
I nod, even though I don’t want him to go. He follows the officer toward the big window near the entrance, stepping over piles of spilled coffee grounds.
I let out a deep breath as I stand in the middle of the wrecked café, glass crunching lightly under my running sneakers. My heart is still racing. All I can think about is everything thatcouldhave happened. Everything I’m terrified to even imagine. I swallow hard, but it doesn’t go down. My chest tightens instead, and my breath stays uneven.
Then something moves in my peripheral vision. Ryan is pulling his hoodie over his head. Before I can ask, he bunches it in his hands and holds it out to me. “Here.”
I blink up at him. “I’m fine.”
“It wasn’t a question,” he says, tone calm but firm. “Put it on. You’re shaking.”
I look down at my hands and Iamshaking. So I take the hoodie and slip it on. And the moment it wraps around me, a small sense of comfort settles in and I pull the sleeves over my hands.
My eyes keep drifting back to the broken pieces on the floor. The what-ifs filling every inch of my head. Before I can spiral further, two hands wrap gently onto my between my jaw. Ryan steps into my line of vision, lowering his head to meet my eyes.
“Maddy,” he says quietly, steady as a heartbeat, holding my face in place, “he’s okay. No one got hurt.”
I nod, but that only makes the tears push harder. “I know, I just—” My breath hitches. “What if he walked in while they were still here? What if he tried to stop them? What if they—” The words keep spilling. “What if something happened and I— I can’t—”
Ryan’s hands lift my face slightly again, warm palms grounding me instantly. “Hey.”
I look up and meet his eyes, my vision a little blurry from the tears. “He’s fine,” he says again, slower this time. “None of that happened. He’s gonna be fine, okay?”
I nod, a tear slipping out anyway. After a few seconds I realize how close we are, but before I can move voices spill in.
“Woah—hey, hey, you can’t come in—” an officer starts, holding out an arm.
I spot Kiara, who tries to duck under it. “We know them, she’s our friend—”
Noah steps forward, eyes wild. “That’s my sister and my dad.”
“We know them,” I add quickly, which makes the officer glance back at me. He hesitates, then drops his arm. “Alright. Go ahead.”
They push past him immediately and Noah reaches me first. He practically collides into me, pulling me into his chest. “Are you okay? Is Dad okay?”
I shake my head against him. “I’m fine. Dad’s fine.”
He exhales, squeezing me tighter in that big-brother way that somehow makes me feel six years old again.
Behind us, Kiara, Mel, and Liam crowd around Ryan.
“What happened?” Kiara asks, eyes sharp, scanning the room and Ryan answers, “Luke came in and found it like this.”
Mel covers her mouth, eyes wide. “That’s horrible.”
“Holy shit, man.” Liam shakes his head.
Before anyone can say more, an officer walks back in with Dad following behind him. He looks exhausted; shoulders tense, eyes still shaky.
“We’re going to continue the investigation,” the officer says. “Mr. Gracelyn, we’ll need you at the station to file a formal report.”
Dad nods. “Of course. Yes.”
