TWENTY-ONE

Devyn tapped gently on Special Agent in Charge Gerald Conroy’s door and poked her head inside.

“Got a minute, boss? I received some information you need to hear.”

Conroy waved her in. “What do you have?”

“I requested Aaron Truscott’s records from the university he reportedly attended about four years after Aaron Holmes dropped off the face the earth. You are never going to believe this,” Devyn stated almost too excited to talk.

“Then you better just spit it out, and I’ll decide.”

“The recommendation letter that got Aaron accepted into such a prestigious school came from none other than Senator Carson Grant,” she said as she slapped the photocopied letter down on Conroy’s desk in front of him.

She looked over at Nick, enjoying the stunned look on his face. She fidgeted anxiously while waiting for Conroy to absorb the information in the letter. It would be impossible for anyone, including Conroy, to deny or ignore all the ties linking the Senator to Coterie.

“Sit,” he said as he picked up his phone and dialed the number in the letterhead. He placed the phone on speaker, so she and Nick could listen to both sides of the conversation.

“Senator Grant’s Office, how may I help you?” asked the eager-sounding young female who answered the phone.

“This is Special Agent in Charge, Gerald Conroy, with the FBI’s Salt Lake Field Office. I would like to speak to Senator Grant.”

“He’s unavailable right now. May I ask to what this pertains, and someone will get back to you shortly?”

“I need to ask him some questions about a college recommendation letter he wrote for a person of interest.”

“Um, can you hold for a moment?”

Before he could answer the line filled with loud classical music. After several minutes, a much more mature male voice came over the line, replacing the annoying tunes.

“This is Adam, Senator Grant’s senior aid. The senator is unavailable, but if you’ll give me the name of the person on the recommendation and the approximate date, I can pull the file for the senator. We send out dozens of recommendation letters each year for constituents’ children trying to get into military academies, prestigious schools, and the like. There’s no way he can recall them all without a little background.”

Resigned that the call would produce no results, Conroy gave the man Aaron Truscott’s name and the date on the letter. He hung up the phone. “I don’t expect a call back today, but I’ll let you know when I hear something. The senator better provide a good explanation, or I may let Devyn go to D.C. and keep an eye on him after all.”

“It would be my pleasure, sir. Just say the word and I’m on the next plane.”

“I’m sure you would enjoy rattling the senator’s cage in person, but we need to give him a chance to explain. I can’t fathom what he could possible say to dampen my suspicions that he’s involved with this Coterie mess in some capacity, but we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now.”

“But, sir.”

Conroy held up his hand. “I know you’re impatient, but let’s tread lightly so we’re not ordered to stand down again.”

“I assume the tread of my boot on his face isn’t light enough,” Devyn mumbled as she and Nick shuffled out the door.