Chapter 21 #2
April shuddered again, not able to hold it in this time.
“That’s what I can’t figure out. I’ve been looking deeper into DynaTech, but everything I’ve found is public knowledge.
They’re a huge private military defense contractor that trains soldiers in specialized, state of the art, new military weapons and technology. ”
“So where do the kids figure into all that? And how many have there been?”
“I don’t know. I honestly didn’t even think there were any others until you mentioned those two girls. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them since. Tanner, what if Violet wasn’t the only one? What if there are still others?” There, she’d said it.
“You think he’s holding other kids in his compound?”
April let out a shaky breath. “I haven’t seen any, but my pass only allowed me access to certain rooms and corridors. I’m not allowed in probably ninety-nine-point nine percent of that compound. Anything is possible.”
Tanner’s eyes grew wide, his jaw tightening.
“What is it?” April asked.
“It’s not enough for a warrant. If you’d seen anything, anyone, I could open an investigation, but everything we’ve just talked about, it’s all just hypothetical at this point.
The girls’ bodies had no physical evidence on them that would point back to Ned or DynaTech, and without an eyewitness to substantiate our theories, we’re right back to where we started. ”
“And he gets away with it. Again.” April hated how helpless she felt.
“No,” Tanner insisted. “If you’re right, if he killed those girls, if he’s holding more kids, we’ll find them.
He won’t get away with this, April. Not with hurting Violet.
Not with threatening you. Not with any of this.
I’ll make some calls in the morning and see if I can ruffle some feathers.
At the very least, we can probably get the bomb squad out there based on what Violet said at the precinct yesterday. ”
“Thank you, Tanner.” Once again, this man had given her something she hadn’t had before - hope.
Just because he’d listened. And not just listened, but believed her, took her seriously, and promised to do something about it.
Those girls’ families deserved to know what happened to their kids, and if Ned did have any other children, they needed to be found and returned to their families as soon as possible.
There was no telling what he was doing to them.
***
Half an hour later, April had no idea how she’d actually managed to get up on Zeus’ back.
No, that wasn’t quite true. It had taken a lot of coaxing and help from Tanner, but after their sobering conversation, they’d both needed to get out of the house, and April was determined not to let him down.
If Violet could ride this horse, she could, too.
April had to admit, Zeus was stunning. His shiny black coat shimmered in the moonlight, and his strides were long and steady. He walked with the confidence of a king, and the gentleness of a kitten.
“How are you feeling?” Tanner asked, his warm breath tickling her ear.
“I think I’m getting the hang of this.” It helped that Tanner was seated at her back with his arms securely wrapped around her, holding her in place whenever she lost her balance.
Tanner pressed a kiss to her hair “I told you I’d never let anything happen to you. Just relax. Lean back into me.” She did, and it actually did feel better. “How’s that?” He asked.
April smiled. “Good.”
“Now, look up.”
She did as she was told, and her jaw instantly dropped at the sight of what was probably a million stars dotted across the darkest sky she’d ever seen. “Tanner,” she breathed. “I could stay out here like this all night.”
“Who says we can’t? I like riding at night. Sometimes after a hard shift, it helps to put things into perspective.”
The cool night air kissed her cheeks as her head rested on Tanner’s shoulder.
His arms held her close and tight enough that she felt comfortable and completely relaxed, but not so tight that it constricted her movements.
Zeus moved slow and steady. It was almost as if he’d molded with them, anticipating their movements and countering them to ensure they remained nearly perfectly balanced on his back.
“I can see why you love him,” she said. “Zeus is incredible.”
“It was kind of love at first sight for us,” Tanner said, his voice never going above a loud whisper. As if he didn’t want to disturb the peaceful hum of nature surrounding them. “He caught my eye and I caught his. Then he nudged me to get my attention, and I was hooked.”
April smiled thinking about how special Off Rhodes Ranch was, and how much Violet was going to enjoy growing up here.
“Do you see Orion's Belt?” Tanner asked, breaking the momentary silence.
April looked up at the night sky again, her gaze going right to it.
“Yes. Violet went through a phase last year when she was obsessed with astronomy. After I told her the story behind one of the constellations, she made me tell her the stories behind all of them. I had to do some pretty extensive research, but she loved it.”
Tanner sighed. “There’s so much I don’t know about my own daughter.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” April started to say, but Tanner interrupted her.
“No, I understand why you did what you did. And why you waited. I don’t think I would’ve wanted you to do it any differently. Violet’s safety was your first priority. I could never hold that against you.”
April’s eyes misted thinking about how much time she’d wasted not telling this incredible man about his own child.
“I know hindsight is twenty-twenty, but if I could do it all over again, I definitely would change some things. And telling you about your daughter much sooner would be at the top of my list of changes.”
“Anything else?” Tanner asked.
April smiled at his teasing tone and decided to play right into it. “Hmmm, I don’t know. Nothing else really comes to mind.”
Tanner’s fingers brushed softly against her neck.
Then his mouth pressed a kiss to that same tender spot, and April would’ve fallen right off the horse if he hadn’t been holding her in place.
“Tanner,” she breathed, the word coming out as a whispered moan.
This only seemed to encourage him to prolong the delicious moment.
She turned her head, giving him better access.
She was done pretending that whatever this was between them was just part of some elaborate plan to save Violet.
It may have started out that way, but everything had changed.
She loved this man, and it was taking all her self-control to not just blab it out right on this horse in the middle of – she’d been so lost in Tanner’s kisses that she hadn’t even realized when they’d come to a clearing with a glistening lake just ahead.
When Tanner pulled his mouth off the tender skin of her neck, April was nearly coming out of her skin with need, but Tanner just smiled and said, “stay right there, I’ll help you down. ”
April couldn’t help the need fluttering in her belly, and she knew Tanner was feeling it too by the tenting of his jeans.
But he managed to dismount the horse and help her down.
As soon as her feet were firmly planted on the soft grass, he pulled her into him and smashed his mouth against hers, kissing her like a starved and desperate man.
The welcome assault took her breath away, but she opened for him at the first slip of his tongue, eliciting a hungry growl from the depths of his throat.
He angled his head to deepen the kiss, and she was right there with him.
Needing. Wanting. Him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers playing with the little hairs at his nape.
The whole world suddenly faded away or maybe it just narrowed down to this point where her mouth was meeting his.
All the stars in the night sky, all the magical moments she’d ever had in her life, didn’t compare to how she felt when Tanner Rhodes kissed her.