Page 6 of State of Suspense

“At home and still under the protection of the FBI after she and her girls were rescued from the kidnapping.”

That ruled her out.

“Do we have Archie pulling video from the area?”

“He and IT are on that as well as tracking the pings from Forrester’s cell phones as soon as the warrants come through. We’ve requested access to his personal and work phones. The responding officers didn’t know who he was, but we recognized him when we arrived on the scene. I immediately called Captain Malone, who alerted the chief. Out of courtesy, the chief contacted the Attorney General’s Office.”

“Which is why we’re already fending off Feds,” Sam said.

“That’s to be expected. They know the case is ours, but we can tap into their resources as needed.”

“I was just coming by to say that very thing,” FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Avery Hill said as he stepped into the room. “Whatever we can do.”

“Thank you, Avery.” Sam smiled at him. “I’m sure you’ve got a lot going on with a new baby at home. We wouldn’t want to keep you from your family. How are Shelby and the baby anyway? I can’t wait to meet Miss Maisie.”

“They’re doing great. Noah is absolutely smitten with his new baby sister.”

“I’ll make sure to stop in to see them when I get home.” Avery, Shelby and their kids were staying with Sam and Nick at the White House while they secured a safer home after theirs was invaded by people Avery had arrested years earlier. “In the meantime, we’ve got a lot to do here.”

“We’re very upset about Tom’s murder,” Avery said.

“As are we.”

“The murder of a U.S. Attorney is a big deal.”

“We’re aware of that, Avery, and you can rest assured that we’ll give it our undivided attention until we bring his killer to justice.”

“You’re telling me to get lost, right?”

Sam smiled. “I never said those words.”

“Fine, I’ll go, but please let me know what we can do to help. Tom was a friend.”

“To all of us.”

Avery gave a curt nod and turned to leave.

Sam exhaled with relief. “That was a close one. We need to jump on it, so we don’t get squeezed out. What’s our plan?”

“I’d like to talk to his team first,” Gonzo said, “and then his family. I want to know the details of the time they spent with Bryant’s people and what they said to threaten Tom.”

“Are we thinking this’ll lead straight to Congressman Bryant?” Freddie asked.

“We can’t make that conclusion right out of the gate,” Sam said. “Tell me more about Forrester’s connection to Bryant.”

“The AG personally asked Forrester to look into Bryant’s campaign finance issues,” Gonzo said, “and where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. The theory is that when Bryant caught wind that Forrester was closing in on his nefarious network of drugs, guns, gambling, hookers, etc., he panicked and ordered his goons to kidnap Forrester’s family. Then he used the leverage to get Forrester to back off or lose his loved ones.”

“How was that related to the arrest of Bryant’s son?”

“It wasn’t,” Gonzo said. “But when the congressman heard we had his son in custody, he used the safety of his wife and daughters against Forrester to get the USA to order the release of Randy Bryant.”

“And the reason he did that was because Bryant still had his family.”

“Right,” Gonzo said.

“Bryant must be in it pretty deep if he’d go so far as to kidnap the family of a U.S. Attorney,” Sam said.

“That’s the thinking,” Gonzo said.

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