Page 158 of State of Suspense

“Still doing well, thankfully.” He handed her a large, thick envelope. “The dump of Tom’s work phone with some redactions to protect ongoing cases. Please keep this under lock and key.”

“Thank you, and I will. Any smoking guns?”

“I’m not sure. There was a lot of back-and-forth with Cox, which is somewhat unusual in the course of regular business. While the AG heads the Justice Department, he’s not regularly in contact with the USAs.”

Sam sat behind her desk. “He and Tom were longtime friends.”

“Yes, I’m aware, but their correspondence wasn’t related to being friends or about work.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. What was it about?”

“I’m not sure. It was cryptic, like they were talking in code or something.”

“I’ll take a look.”

“Are you investigating Cox?”

“I might be. Something is off with him. I can’t figure out what it is, but these messages might shed some light.”

George released a low whistle. “Like that won’t be nuclear or anything.”

“I know, but he’s been weird with me several times now and so has his nephew-slash-assistant.”

“Wait, Allston is his nephew?”

“Yeah, do you know him?”

“I know of him. People can’t stand the way he acts like a firewall to Cox. You can’t get to the AG without going through him, and he’s a pain in the ass about granting access.”

“As I’ve learned. You didn’t know he’s Cox’s nephew?”

“First I’ve heard of that.”

“The stink around Cox gets more fragrant with everything I find out about him.”

“You can’t honestly think the U.S. Attorney General is involved in something criminal.”

“You say that like it’d be the first time in history.”

“True, but it’s still unbelievable.”

“I don’t know anything yet, but I’m picking up the scent of something rotten. My goal right now is to find Tom’s killer and Avery’s shooter as soon as possible, and then I’ll figure out what stinks at Justice.”

“Let me know if we can help, on the deepest down-low, of course.”

Sam smiled. “Of course.” An FBI agent wouldn’t want to be caught investigating the AG, which Sam certainly understood. “Thanks for delivering the phone dump.”

“No problem.”

George had no sooner left than Dr. Trulo appeared in her doorway.

Sam waved him in.

He closed the door behind him. “I thought you might come by, but I figured you got busy.”

“You figured right.” His presence was a reminder of the horrors she’d heard earlier and how she’d reacted to them. “It’s been a day, but what day around here isn’t?”

“Truth.” He took a seat and crossed his legs, his pose casual, but his eyes sharply focused on her. “I take it you heard the latest from the Stahl investigation.”

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