Page 13 of Colorado K-9 Rescue
E van found his way to Rex and Toby Hanson’s house. The small, ranch-style home was nestled back in a remote neighborhood. As he put his bu-car in Park, the first thing Evan noticed was spray paint in bright red all over the garage that read, “Go back to jail.”
Should be prison, not jail , he thought to himself, but he supposed correcting some vandal’s graffiti wasn’t what Toby and Rex wanted to hear. A short, stocky guy came around the corner, followed by a taller, lankier man. Evan recognized the taller man as Toby Hanson.
Another vehicle pulled in next to him. Evan assumed this was Keith Warren, but as always when going to question someone, he remained cautious. Stepping out of the vehicle, Evan turned to the man who had just parked.
“Officer Warren?” Evan checked to be sure.
“Yep, that’s me.”
Keith came over and the men shook hands.
Evan considered himself strong, but Keith’s grip crushed his fingers.
He was glad when Keith let go. Evan also wanted to know what Keith had discovered about Toby’s whereabouts.
Any upper hand he had to question him would be helpful.
“Were you able to check Toby’s ankle monitor? ”
“I did. He was at different locations that I want to ask him about.”
Evan raised an eyebrow. He’d like to know more, but he’d get the information one way or another. Now he was curious. “Care to elaborate?”
“I’ll send you the addresses and information. No problem. It does appear he went to the house of a Penny Gardner and spent the night.”
Evan shrugged. “I think you’re allowed to have a relationship if you’re out on parole unless Penny is on the list of people he shouldn’t be in contact with.”
“No, I have no idea who she is, but I need to make sure he wasn’t drinking or doing something more.” Keith waved a package that contained a urine analysis or UA test. “I’ll be double-checking it as much as I can. Care to tell me about your interest in him?”
Evan didn’t care to share with Keith, but he decided he needed to give him something to help future cooperation. “I have questions about an ongoing investigation. I believe Toby may know something or have seen something. Let’s go talk to him.”
Before Keith could answer, Evan turned and strolled toward the house. Rex and Toby had turned around, watching them approach. Evan hoped they hadn’t overheard much.
“Hello, Toby. Just doing a random check-in today. I need to make sure things are going well. And you need to take care of this,” Keith said, waving the UA package at Toby.
“Sure,” Toby said. “I can do that.”
Evan was surprised. Most parolees dreaded the UAs for the obvious reason. Although some really did change their life in prison. Maybe Toby was one of those, minus the possibility of kidnapping of course. He pulled out his badge and identified himself.
Rex hadn’t said anything yet and Evan wanted to get them a little more comfortable. Try to put them at ease. Tucking the badge back in his pocket, Evan pointed at the graffiti. “Looks like you have someone giving you some trouble.”
Rex and Toby peered over their shoulders. Rex spoke first. “Yeah, the neighbors and town residents aren’t too happy about my brother being home. We’re trying to ignore it all.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. If you need me to talk to anyone, let me know,” Evan said. Not like the FBI worried much about parolees’ homes getting tagged, but he was hoping to gain a little trust.
Rex shrugged and said, “Probably just some kids getting into summer trouble before they go back to school. We’ll get it scrubbed and painted over.”
Evan peered into the garage, where he saw a nice vehicle parked. He continued his small talk, hoping the brothers might relax a little bit and give Evan the upper hand. “I like your vehicle. Glad the vandals didn’t tag that. Is it a Jeep?”
“Yeah,” Toby said.
“I might be in the market for a new vehicle for myself. I’d like something comfortable that could also do off-roading. I’m between a Jeep and a 4Runner.”
Rex and Toby stared at him like he was crazy.
So much for small talk helping, but Evan waited for an answer.
Keith had his arms crossed, but so far seemed patient.
Evan was certain Keith had other things to do today and he knew that he needed to start asking the serious questions, but he waited out the brothers for an answer to his vehicle question.
“Both are great for off-roading. I don’t think you can go wrong,” Toby finally said.
“Well, I don’t want to keep you from cleaning up that spray paint.”
Rex shrugged. “It happened before. It’ll probably happen again.”
“Before?” Evan asked.
“Yeah, before Toby agreed to a guilty plea, many people in town decided that he was already guilty. I even lost my job,” Rex said.
“Really?” Evan feigned interest. “Where were you working?”
“The Parker Ranch.”
Trying to keep a straight face with no reaction, Evan repeated back, “The Parker Ranch?”
“Yes,” Rex said.
“As in Mckenna Parker, the person you kidnapped?” Evan asked Toby. He could tell that Toby was reluctant to speak.
After a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, Toby spoke up. “Yes, as in that Mckenna Parker. Rex had nothing to do with it. They shouldn’t have fired him, but I guess I understand.”
“Did you know Mckenna Parker?” Evan asked Toby.
“No, I didn’t work there.”
Evan caught a quick glance between Toby and Rex. What were they hiding about Mckenna? “You knew her, then, Rex, right? Since you worked there?”
“I did,” Rex said. “Saw her around a bit here and there.”
“How well did you know her?” Evan asked, feeling a bit of jealousy.
He pushed it away, but there was something about Mckenna that brought out emotions he didn’t know what to do with.
He tried not to think about the kiss earlier, but it was hard to forget that.
He hoped he was keeping somewhat of a straight face.
“Well enough,” Rex answered. “Why are you asking all these questions? My brother has served his time. I know why Keith is here, but why are you here?”
“Fair enough,” Evan said. “I don’t know if you heard, but there was another kidnapping. Two girls. One of them is deceased. I’m helping the sheriff’s office investigate.”
“And let me guess, you came here because I’ve been convicted of kidnapping,” Toby said, an edge of sarcasm in his voice.
“Yes. I need to know where you were three nights ago. And don’t lie to me. Officer Warren has the information about where your ankle monitor was.” Evan decided to up his game and drop the “nice guy” act. It was time to get some information.
“I didn’t do it,” Toby said.
“That’s not what I asked. I asked where you were three nights ago.” Evan noticed Rex’s face flush red. Toby didn’t say a word. “You can answer me here. Or you can answer my questions down at the FBI office. Your choice.”
Sighing heavily, Toby crossed his arms. “I was with a lady.”
“This lady have a name?”
“Yeah. She does.”
“Care to share it?” Evan asked, starting to feel annoyed. “Remember, we can do this here or at the FBI office. I’m sure your neighbors are watching right now. It won’t help the vandalism situation if you leave in cuffs sitting in the back of my vehicle.”
Toby and Evan locked eyes and then he finally said, “Penny Gardner.”
Evan turned to Rex. “You know Penny Gardner?”
Rex shrugged and then nodded, his face still red, and he studied the mountains on the horizon instead of looking at Evan.
There’s something off with these two, but what is it? Rex is upset. I wonder if Rex was investigated or just Toby? What’re the odds that Toby could have covered for Rex in Mckenna’s kidnapping? Especially since Rex worked for Mckenna’s parents.
Evan continued his questioning. “Where were you three nights ago, Rex?”
“I was at a party. Same location as my brother.”
Evan perked up at the mention of a party. “You two go together?”
“We did.”
Pulling out his phone, Evan brought up a picture of Lily and then Autumn, showing it to the brothers. “Did you see either of these girls there?”
“Nope,” Rex said.
“Take a closer look,” Evan said. “Just to make sure.”
Rex and Toby looked at the pictures a little bit longer. Rex spoke first. “Still nope.”
“Okay,” Evan said. “I don’t want to take any more of your time or Officer Warren’s time. If you think of anything, please call me.”
Handing the brothers his card, Evan said goodbye and went back to his car. He sat in the driver’s seat waiting to start the vehicle. Toby went with Keith into the house to take care of business. Rex glared at Evan for a moment and then turned around and started scrubbing the paint on the garage.
Yes, something was off. They were hiding something. Was Toby covering for Rex? Did they work together and that was how two girls were abducted?
Evan knew one thing: he wanted more information from Mckenna, and he wanted to find Penny Gardner, because this case kept twisting and going in directions he wasn’t expecting.