Page 108 of State of Suspense

“How did Randy Bryant’s arrest on murder-for-hire charges play into this?”

“That was a wrench we didn’t see coming. Damien Bryant lost his mind when he heard his son had been arrested. He was facing stiff headwinds at home in Wisconsin with a primary challenger for the first time in more than ten years. The polling was looking rough, and having his son arrested was a disaster for him.”

“Not to mention if it got out that he’d kidnapped the wife and daughters of a U.S. Attorney…”

“Yes.”

“This whole thing sounds insane to me. Are you able to see that from your vantage point?”

“I am.”

“What was your advice to Tom while his family was missing?”

“To do whatever Bryant wanted to get them back.”

“Did he?”

“He talked to Bryant repeatedly, begged him to let them go and said he’d figure out a way to protect Bryant. But he didn’t believe that Tom and Reggie would stand down. He was furious that they’d pretended to be his friends while secretly investigating him.”

“How did you feel about Tom’s friendship with Bryant?”

“I’d repeatedly advised him that it was dangerous to his career and reputation to be associated with Bryant, especially knowing what we did about his criminal enterprises, but he said he needed a little more time to make the case. Then his family went missing, and we quickly tracked that to Bryant. Tom was frantically trying to secure their release when Bryant’s son was arrested, and everything unraveled quickly.”

“How so?”

“Bryant became unhinged. He thought Tom and Reggie were behind the arrest of his son.”

“Unhinged how?”

“He told them to get his son out of lockup, or he’d start killing Tom’s family one by one.”

“That was when we got the order to release Randy.”

“Yes. I told Tom it was a mistake to play ball with Bryant when we could send in the FBI to arrest him, but Tom was adamant that his family was more important than nailing Bryant. We didn’t know where they were or who was with them. He knew his request to Chief Farnsworth would be met with disbelief, but he did it anyway.”

“It was a shocking request, especially coming from him.”

“Tom was a rule follower all his life, but when his family was in grave danger, he didn’t care what he had to do to keep them safe.”

“As a wife and mother, I understand that, but why didn’t he ask for help in finding his family?”

“Bryant told him if he sent law enforcement after him or them, he’d kill them.”

“What happened when Tom received word that his family had been rescued?”

“He cried. He was so undone that he couldn’t speak for a few minutes. In all our years together, I’d never known him to cry. I asked him where he was, and he said he’d be in the office shortly. He had something he had to do first.”

“Did he say what that was?”

“No, and I asked, but he wouldn’t tell me.”

“Bryant was still in custody, so he couldn’t have been the one to kill him.”

“I honestly don’t know where Tom went or why he was parked on Constitution Ave.”

“I’m going to be blunt with you, Mr. Young. I have no idea what we’re dealing with here. The person with the greatest motivation, as far as we can tell, to kill Tom was locked up at the time of his murder. He wasn’t released on bond until later that day. Bryant’s thugs were locked up as well. Was there anything else Forrester was involved in that could’ve led to his murder?”

“I mean… Of course we’re always dealing with people who’d like to see the prosecutor killed for daring to charge them with crimes, but there’s nothing recent that stands out.”

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