Page 36 of State of Suspense

“You, too.”

As she stepped into the chilly morning, where the sun was just starting to make its appearance, she was thankful for the warm, cozy SUV that awaited her. “Morning, fellas.”

“Good morning.” Vernon’s morning-person peppiness would’ve irritated her if she didn’t like him so much. “How are you on this fine day?”

“Just ducky after a six o’clock meeting with my chief of staff.”

“Ouch.” Vernon and Jimmy knew of her disdain for mornings.

“You said it. Big doings around here this week. Apparently, I’m expected to be the first lady for a few hours.”

Jimmy coughed to cover a laugh.

If they ever wrote a memoir about her, she’d be so screwed.

On the way to HQ, she perused the headlines in the copy of the Washington Star that Vernon always had waiting for her. Most days, she didn’t bother looking at news that stressed her out, especially when it was critical of Nick. Today, she wanted to know what was being said about the Forrester murder.

The banner headline read U.S. Attorney Forrester Remembered for Ethical Approach to Job. She read Darren’s story about Forrester’s tenure as the local and federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital. He’d interviewed more than twenty people who’d worked closely with him, including Faith Miller, several other Assistant USAs and Chief Farnsworth.

“Tom was an outstanding prosecutor who was able to see things from every point of view,” the chief had said. “He was a tremendous supporter of law enforcement and of my department. We’ll miss him tremendously.”

A second story discussed how rare the murder of a U.S. Attorney was. “Federal prosecutors risk tremendous exposure in their roles,” AG Cox said. “We’ve been fortunate as a nation to lose only a few of them to violence. The loss of Tom Forrester is heartbreaking on so many levels, as he was a longtime friend and close colleague. I’ve made the full resources of the Justice Department available to our partners at the Metro PD to ensure his killer is quickly brought to justice. In addition, we’ve ramped up security for all the hardworking U.S. Attorneys who help to keep our country safe by putting criminals in jail where they belong.”

Tough talk from the AG, Sam thought, and his comments put added pressure on her and her team to quickly identify a suspect. She was also intrigued to learn that Cox called Forrester a longtime friend. Why hadn’t he told her that?

She sent a text to Darren. Nice job on the Forrester story. He was one of the good guys.

Glad you liked it. Any scoops for me?

Haven’t even had coffee yet. Stand down.

Hope springs eternal.

Amused by Darren, she took a call from Freddie. “Morning.”

“Hey, how’s it going?”

“As well as it ever does at this hour. I’ll be there in a few.”

“I wanted to let you know I did the deep dive on Forrester’s relationship with Cox and discovered they go way back. Like, all the way to Yale Law School. They worked together as young prosecutors in New York for six years after graduation and then in corporate law before they moved back to the public sector around the same time. Cox was the managing partner at a corporate law firm before he was tapped by Nelson to be his AG. Forrester was a partner at the same firm when he left to become U.S. Attorney.”

“Very interesting.”

“I thought so, too. I wondered why he didn’t mention to us that he’s been close to Forrester for twenty-five years.”

“That’s a very good question. Also, it seems unusual to have an AG taken from the corporate ranks with only six years’ experience in the trenches. Aren’t they usually career prosecutors?”

“I think, like many things in this town, the political implications often take precedence over experience.”

“True. Good work, Freddie.”

“Thanks. See you soon.”

Sam closed her phone and sat back to pick over the facts of the case thus far. Whenever she suspected there was more to a story, there usually was. Cox had held back with them yesterday, despite vowing to do whatever he could to find Forrester’s killer. She would find out why he’d done that, even if it meant tangling with her husband’s AG.

Chapter Seven

“I want to see Aaron,” Sam said to Freddie and Gonzo when she arrived in the pit. Aaron Peterson was one of Congressman Bryant’s security guards who’d been charged in the murder of Zachery Calder, another of Bryant’s guys. They’d made it look like Zachery was Bryant’s son Randy. The scheme—and their stupidity—boggled the mind. “Is he still downstairs?”

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