Page 72 of Burning Justice

“At home. With my wife.” Hawkin narrowed his eyes, and his voice now held a discerned edge. He nodded to the wall adjoining the other office. “Ask her yourself.”

Brett pondered that response. It had seemed like a genuine offer. “I’ll do that. I just have one more question. Where were you Friday evening between six and seven p.m.?” When he and Gemma had been chasing after the white SUV. Neither Hawkin nor his wife owned one. That didn’t mean he couldn’t rent one or borrow one.

“On a job site in Denver. You can ask my foreman.”

“What’s his name?” Gemma asked.

“Brian Stamos. I’ll save you the trouble of calling him.” Hawkin took out his cell phone and placed a call, putting it on speaker.

“Hey, boss,” a voice answered.

“Brian, you remember the conversation we had at the job site Friday afternoon? What time was that?”

“About five or six. Something like that. It was right before we stopped for the day. Why?”

“And how long was I at that job site?” Hawkin asked.

“Couple hours. You remember. It was a long day. Everything okay, boss?”

“Yeah. No worries.” Hawkin ended the call.

“Thank you,” Brett said. He exchanged a quick look with Gemma, inquiring wordlessly if she had any questions.

“What do you know about Kobuk Titling Agency?” Gemma asked.

Hawkin shrugged. “Never heard of it.”

Gemma’s pen poised over her pad. “Are you sure? They titled the Torrance Lane house for you.”

Much as he had when questioned about Nash, Hawkin held open his arms. “I buy and sell a lot of houses. We use a lot of different titling companies. I don’t keep track of all of them.”

Gemma jotted more notes on her pad, then gave Brett a quick shake of her head.

“Thank you for your time. We’ll let you get back to work.” For now.

As a unit, he, Gemma, and Blaze stood. Before going outside, Brett knocked on the adjacent office door.

The door opened, and Hawkin’s wife, wearing purple yoga pants and a yellow tank top, stood there. The woman was about five-six, and with sinewy muscles. “Yes?”

“Mrs. Hawkin?” Brett held out his ID. “I’m Special Agent Tanner with the ATF. I’d just like to ask you a question, if I may.” Like her husband had, she glanced at her watch. “This won’t take long. I promise.”

“Okay.” Kelly Hawkin eyed him suspiciously.

Michael Hawkin leaned against the doorjamb of his office, his arms crossed as he made no pretense about listening in.

“Where was your husband this past Saturday night between nine and ten p.m.?”

The woman’s lips twisted. “Unfortunately, he was at home.” She threw her husband a venomous look.

Interesting. Trouble in paradise. “How do you know? What were you both doing that night?”

She shot her husband a dirty look. “I was on my laptop, and he was sitting on his ass watching The Fast and the Furious for the fourth time.”

So much for Hawkin shooting at him. His wife seemed genuinely displeased that he’d been home that night. “Thank you for your time.”

Blaze led the way outside. As they passed Hawkin’s pickup, Blaze lifted his leg, relieving himself.

“Good boy.” Gemma snickered. “Did you teach him that?”