Chapter 8 #2
“Sounds good. Thanks. Let me introduce you two. April, this is Officer Ethan Sinclair. He helps out in homicide sometimes, and I’ve managed to rope him into lending us a hand around here because he’s kind of a jack of all trades. Sinclair, this is April.”
That’s when he finally looked at her, taking her in as he offered his hand.
“Nice to meet you April, you can call me - Ethan.” Tanner didn’t seem to catch the slight hitch in his voice, but April knew that was the moment he recognized her.
They stood there for a long, awkward beat, their gazes locked on each other.
April felt like her tongue was tied and her feet were glued to the floor, even though her first instinct was to run right out of there and never look back.
“April,” she managed to squeak out, quickly taking his hand but only giving his fingers a light touch before pulling back.
The audacity of this man, presenting himself as a kind and caring citizen while working for the evilest man in the city.
Did he even know the kinds of things Ned did?
Would he even care if April mustered up the nerve to tell him?
Probably not. Guys like that didn’t care about good and evil.
It was all about the paycheck for them. What was it that Tanner called him? A jack of all trades.
Yeah, Officer Ethan Sinclair sure did get around.
But if Tanner was friends with this guy, did that mean he knew about his extracurricular activities?
Did he know that his colleague was moonlighting for Ned Dynam?
Or worse, was Tanner in on it? Had April really read Tanner so wrong? Was he one of them?
“Are you heading out already?” Tanner asked him.
“Yeah, in a few minutes. See you at the precinct?”
“You bet. I’m gonna show April around. Maybe even take her out to the garden.” He turned to April. “How about we make a couple of smoothies to go?”
April smiled, glad their interaction with Sinclair was coming to an end. “I’d like that.”
To her relief, Sinclair gave Tanner a chin lift and walked away. Her gaze followed his large frame, almost to reassure herself that he really was leaving. Logically, she knew Tanner likely worked with several of the cops that were on Ned’s payroll. She just hadn’t expected to meet any of them here.
“Have you and Sinclair met before?” Tanner asked as he led her to a large table with various fruits, an ice bucket, various juices, and a blender.
April shook her head. She wouldn’t exactly call it meeting him when he’d stood outside a car window asking her to step out of the vehicle while she refused.
“He’s a good guy,” Tanner said, as if sensing she needed reassurance about him. “He joined the force for similar reasons as I did.”
April’s gaze shot up to meet Tanner’s. “He lost a friend?”
“Worse. A sister. Stephanie went missing when she was just eight years old and wasn’t found for over a decade.”
April looked at Tanner in horror. “What happened?”
“She was abused by her kidnapper for years. Died of a gunshot wound to the heart.”
April couldn’t have held back her gasp if her life depended on it. “How awful.”
Tanner nodded. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have gone into so much detail. You’re just so easy to talk to…” His voice trailed off, like he wanted to say more but managed to stop himself.
“I really like talking to you, too,” April admitted.
Tanner gifted her a smile, his blue eyes filled with genuine warmth.
“What would you like in your smoothie?” The abrupt change of subject was a little jarring, but April glanced at the table in front of them, considering her options.
There were apples, oranges, mangoes, peaches, bananas, pineapples, watermelon, and cantaloupe.
If only she could get her head to stop swimming with about a million questions about Lana, and now Ethan’s sister.
But she had to let the subject drop for now.
This wasn’t the time or the place to talk about those things.
And even if it was, she wouldn’t be able to without implicating Ned, and revealing too much about Violet.
Maybe she’d been ready to tell Tanner about her niece when she first arrived, but after seeing how friendly Tanner was with Officer Sinclair, all her doubts about Tanner had returned.
“This is better than a juice bar,” she said, instead of giving voice to what was really on her mind.
“It’s the kids’ favorite station. The adults prefer smoothies, but the kids like to make sorbets. You could do that instead if you want.”
April nibbled her bottom lip, her thoughts still on Officer Sinclair and his sister.
Lana had died of stab wounds. Sinclair’s sister had died of abuse and a gunshot wound to the heart.
She was also younger than Lana when she’d been taken.
The two deaths had nothing in common, and while Lana’s killer was never found, Tanner hadn’t mentioned if Sinclair’s sister’s killer was.
April had no idea if she was connecting dots no one else was seeing, or if her imagination was running away from her.
She just really needed to get Violet out of DynaTech and away from Ned.
“April?” Tanner asked, bringing her back to the present moment.
“Sorry. I’ll have a mango pineapple smoothie.”
Tanner smiled. “May I do the honors?”
“Yes, please,” she said absentmindedly, her body going numb with the realization that Violet was probably not the first kid that DynaTech had used and abused.
Tanner filled the blender with chunks of mango and pineapple, added some ice and orange juice, then set it on the base and affixed the lid. “Want to hit the button?”
April laughed. She could imagine him asking this very question of every kid he made a smoothie for.
This was what she wanted for Violet. A normal life with a dad who loved her, friends to play with, and grandparents to spoil her with attention.
Instead, Violet was stuck in a cement prison with bulletproof windows where she was forced to do horrific exercises.
And now she couldn’t shake the awful feeling in the pit of her stomach that those dead girls had more in common than anyone realized.
“Was it something I said?” Tanner asked when April hadn’t moved to push the green start button.
“No, sorry, I was just thinking about something.” She moved to hit the button but Tanner gently caught her hand in his.
“Anything you care to share?”
Everything. April wanted to tell him everything, but she couldn’t.
Not yet. She had no proof, and besides, if she just blurted out her suspicions now, Tanner would likely think she was crazy.
He hadn’t even met Violet yet. April had to take it one step at a time.
Violet was her first and only priority. But she’d do some research online and see if there were any indications that the girls had ever been associated with anything related to DynaTech.
She’d gotten to know Ned pretty well over the years, and with her minor in psychology, she hoped it would help her get into the mind of a man she’d been trying to get away from for over three years.
“April?” Tanner pressed.
She glanced up at him, realizing she’d never answered him.
But instead of telling him what was on her mind, she told him another truth.
“My mom had a green thumb and loved being in the kitchen. She’d often grow our food in her garden, then bring it inside and make fun meals with it.
I guess this just reminded me of that.” It wasn’t a lie.
April thought of her mom all the time and wished there was a way she could bring her to Dallas.
But that just wasn’t in the cards. Besides not being able to afford it, April didn’t think her mom could handle such a huge change.
She was well taken care of where she was, even if she didn’t remember her own daughter anymore.
“Let’s make this smoothie, then I’ll take you out to the garden.
I find being in nature helps sometimes when my mind threatens to run away from me.
” Tanner hit the green button and the whir of the blender filled the room until all the fruits, juice, and ice was perfectly blended.
He poured her drink into a plastic cup. “There are straws over there,” he said, pointing to a holder on the corner of the table.
She took one and tasted the drink. Her eyes grew big and a smile pulled at the corners of her mouth as the refreshing taste of the fruits hit her taste buds. “It’s perfect.”
Tanner grinned. “I’m glad. Come on, I’ll show you our garden out back.”
April had seen the playground when she’d first arrived, but she hadn’t been able to see past that due to some large shrubs growing along the fence. He led her out the side door, past the play area, and through a metal gate.
“Oh, wow.” April couldn’t help her reaction to the meticulously kept garden. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, potatoes, carrots, various fruit trees, and berries were all growing in neat rows and clusters. “This is a really impressive garden you have here.”
“This is the kids’ garden. We have someone from the local nursery come in once a month and teach them all about planting and taking care of everything. But the soup kitchen does grow a lot of its own food using land donated by local farms.”
“I wish I’d visited this place sooner,” April said. “Some people at work have mentioned it in passing, but I never gave it much thought.”
“Does that mean you’d be willing to meet me here again?” Tanner asked.
April turned to him, her gaze locking with his deep blue eyes. She could lose herself in them and it would be like forever floating in the most beautiful ocean. No worries. No fears. Just peace. “Absolutely,” she said.
“I have to admit, it’s been a while since I’ve actually asked anyone out, but I really like you, April.”