An hour later, April was about ready to call it quits. “I’m pretty sure I’ve embarked on a futile mission here.” Holding out a half-peeled potato, there was no missing the fact that Tanner had already peeled over a dozen in the time it had taken her to barely get through two.
“It looks great,” Tanner said, suppressing an obvious grin.
“Don’t patronize me,” she warned, mockingly.
“Encourage,” he assured, to no avail.
“Don’t do that either. I suck at this. Maybe you should put me at a different station. Like stirring water or something.”
Tanner laughed. “How about we take a break from peeling potatoes and get something to eat. I’ll introduce you to some of the regulars around here.”
“Sounds good,” April said, relieved to put the sharp instrument down. They washed their hands in a nearby sink, and she followed Tanner out of the kitchen.
A woman in her forties wearing black leggings and an oversized pink sweater immediately approached them with a warm smile. “Tanner, how’s that beautiful niece of yours doing?” She held a toddler on her hip and her gaze kept going over to a little boy playing with a toy truck nearby.
“Margot, it’s so good to see you. Sienna is doing great. You and Alex should come by again soon. I know Sienna would love to show him the horses.”
“Oh, I can’t put ideas like that into his head. He’s already started asking me for a dog. Next, it’ll be a horse.” She shook her head, then turned her gaze to April. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before. Welcome to our home away from home. I’m Margot. This is my daughter, Lacey, and my little boy over there is Alex.”
Margot’s warm welcome made April feel a little more at ease after the potato debacle. “I’m April. Tanner invited me to help out today.”
“Did he now?” Margot practically beamed, her gaze quickly going from April to Tanner, and back to April. “Be sure he shows you our custom smoothie station.”
“Thanks, Margot, I will,” Tanner assured her.
“Alex, don’t touch that,” Margot called out to her son who was reaching for a hot plate. She ran off after him, leaving April with Tanner for a brief moment until a man in his thirties approached. He had short dark hair, and wore faded jeans and awhite t-shirt. It wasn’t until April’s gaze locked on his face that recognition struck, sending a wave of panic down her spine.
“Hey, Rhodes,” he said, offering Tanner an easy smile. “I just finished fixing the fence, but I’ll need to come back with a different blade to trim down the branches on the Oak tree before it tangles with the powerlines.” He hadn’t looked at her yet. Maybe he wouldn’t remember her from that night he’d pulled over the Uber she was in and knocked on the window, taunting her to come out because they had a mutual friend.
“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 wasmoonlighting for Ned Dynam? Or worse, was Tanner in on it? Had April really read Tanner so wrong? Washeone 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?”