The Sweetest Thing (Book 1) ✓

24 - Setback

Dax 

We were finally working on realizing Lily's dream. It was kind of strange, but in a good way, that Roberts had a place that one's was a bakery. Even better – it didn't need a lot of work. The whole SWAT team joined, and we painted the walls – peach and cream colors. Luke made the bar table and stools from scratch – he had been looking for a project for a while and this was the perfect reason to get back into his workshop and sand some wood, wield some metal. The final result was really a beauty – wooden top with an amazing design that only nature can create. Black metal at the bottom was finishing the table and making the top pop. He also made 3 bar stools that I had no idea how he managed to do them – they were so good, that I was wondering why he didn't make it his official job, why being a cop when he had such a talent with his hands. But – to each their own, I guess.

While the team and I were working in the shop, Lily was baking at my home, trying all kinds of recipes in the search for the best ones. Of course, the boys were quite happy with that, because they were trying all the baked goods and giving their opinion on whether to include them in her menu.

My sister was also helping – some days she was at home with Lily trying to learn how to bake, and some days she was at the shop helping with a little designer task. She was getting better; I could see that she was trying her best. The only one outside our little group that I knew she was meeting with was Rebecca. I wasn't very happy with that, but they were old friends and no matter how much I disliked her, she was looking out for Caitie, that I was sure of.

After 2 months of working in every spare time we had, the pastry shop was already finished, the menu too. It had muffins and macaroons. Rolls and bagels, as well as donuts, because... I mean, we were cops, we must maintain the image. Little pies and cakes were also included, but they were more like a special day option. Lily decided that on different days she'd have different pastries. She'll, of course, have some that will always be there, but, for example, on Wednesday will be croissant day, where she'll make them with all kinds of stuff. Monday was donut day and Friday was for the pies.

We finally had a date for the opening. Next Monday, Lily's pastry shop "Cupcake's Dream" will open its doors. Or so we thought. Until Sunday evening when my phone woke us up with an alarm.

"Dax, what the hell is that noise? Is it a SWAT call with a new ringtone?" I had no idea what that sound was. I took my phone and saw that it was from the app for the security system at the shop. I quickly opened the camera feed from there and was absolutely devastated by what I saw.

"Shit!" I jumped from the bed and dressed up as fast as possible, and was ready to go. "Stay here, I'll call you later." Didn't want her to see her place the way I saw it on my phone. I needed to go there and see it with my eyes. While driving, I called the police to check if they were already on scene since the alarm was directly connected with them. Luckily, they were. More specifically, Luke and Cleo were the first to respond.

"What the hell is going on here, Cleo? Got any news for me?"

"From the look of it, someone got in and destroyed everything they could destroy."

"How on Earth do they manage to do it? Why didn't the alarm activate sooner?"

"No idea, Dax. This you need to talk with the security company. As far as I know, they have someone on the road to come and check."

"Fuck! Can I go in now, or do I need to wait for him?" This was bad...very, very bad.

"I think it's best to wait. We did a quick search and didn't see anything suspicious or dangerous. I stopped all the power to the place just in case." Luke was finally finished with reporting to the dispatcher and came closer to me and Cleo. "How did she get the news?"

"She doesn't know. I knew she would want to be here and I couldn't risk it. When I have more info, and when I am with her, I'll tell her."

"Well, it better be sooner, because I don't think she'll be very happy with you keeping this a secret. Especially the night before the opening." Yeah, I thought that too. I knew that I needed to tell her sooner, but I wasn't sure how to do it. This was her dream, and she was so close to achieving it. My heart was aching for her and I knew that hers would probably break.

Fifteen minutes later, the guy from the security company was finally here and checking all the logs from the system. While we were waiting for him to come and report what he found, we looked at the camera feeds on my phone, but there was nothing. At one moment, everything looked normal. And in the next, the picture jumped to destruction. It was obvious that someone hacked the system, but we had no idea who...and more importantly why.

"Well, there's nothing in here."

"What do you mean?" The security guy came to us after checking the alarm panel of the shop.

"What I said. There is nothing. No data, no info, no codes. It's totally wiped from all its info. Honesty, I'm not sure how it's still connected to your phone. Officially it shouldn't be. There is nothing to connect to, but I guess it's some kind of bug. Some kind of miracle, maybe, I don't know. But the system is as clean as it was on the day it was manufactured. Probably even before that. It's just a box with useless chips in it right now."

"What the hell? How is that even possible?"

"I don't know. Never seen anything like that. Most of the time, there are clues or other stuff that we can investigate. All hackers have their own methods and steps they take when hacking. I guess this one decided to just wipe everything to clean his steps."

I was speechless. Who the hell will have the resources to do such a thing?

"I guess it's not a very cheap service?"

"I'll guess that, too. To be able to do that – you need to know a lot of things, and doing it illegally – I'll guess it cost a little fortune." Well, damn.

An hour later, after the insurance company came and took pictures of everything, I was finally able to get inside the shop. And honestly, I wish I didn't. Because it hurt. The walls were sprayed with all kinds of slur words, most of which were worse. The tables and the stools were scattered all around the place in different pieces. The showcases were with broken windows and bent metal. The bar table that Luke made was scratched everywhere – there were all kinds of marks on it. I guess they were really trying to destroy it, but couldn't. The refrigerators at the back were broken too. All the pasty that was inside of them, ready for the opening, was lying all around the floor. There was nothing that could be saved – everything was destroyed. Well, maybe with some luck Luke will be able to do something with his table, but who knows.

After checking everything, I had nothing else to do here – I knew that I had to go home and tell Lily. So, that's what I did. I closed the shop, left a note on the door saying that it wouldn't open and drove to my house. Where I found Lily reading a book on the bed, Ace lying at her feet.

"Are you awake?"

"Well, yeah. You told me that you'd call. You never say that on SWAT calls, so I guess it was something else." She closed her book and left it on the night shelf, giving me her full attention.

"Yes, it's something else." I wasn't sure how the hell to tell her. I took a seat next to her on the bed, took one of her hands into my own and looked into her eyes. Here everything goes.

"Tonight, someone had broken into your shop."

"Oh no." I could already see the tears forming in her eyes. "How bad is it?" I couldn't find the right words to describe it to her. "That bad, huh. I guess nothing was salvageable?"

"No. I'm so sorry, Cupcake." I couldn't see her like that anymore. I quickly got closer to her and took her into my arms, holding her closer to me while she was falling apart, taking pieces of me with her.

***Well, the good news is that we finally have a name for the shop. The bad - we don't have a shop anymore. Who do you think made it? Any suspects?