Full Circle by Rj Scott (top 50 books to read TXT) 📕

a wedding present from Emily's father and they far outweigh what is in Emily's name.

Bullen's financial disclosure form lists blind trusts valued between $15 million and $45 million. The financial disclosure lists are used as a tool for the public to monitor possible conflicts of interest. It's also for constituents to judge official conduct, especially in light of possible financial conflicts with private holdings."

"Or whether he received the money as proceeds of crime," Michaela said dryly.

Manny looked over at the agent and concentrated on the seriousness in her expression. She clearly hadn't made that statement to sound ironic; it was literally that her opinion was focusing entirely on the Bullens' money and how it could have funded the senator.

"Exactly," Morgan said simply. "Bullen's primary legislative focus has been on family values and on the environment. In the Senate, he led the fight against gay marriage, marking the usual line that unions outside church designation undermined family values. He also voted for the reduction in funding for cross-state-line adoptions."

"He's an asshole," Manny interrupted. Jake shot him a quick look of censure, but Morgan smiled gratefully and for that Manny was pleased. His cell vibrated in his pocket and surreptitiously he pulled it to check the screen. Josh had cleared another hurdle. Interesting.

Morgan continued. "The Senate Ethics Committee cleared Bullen in two thousand ten of impropriety over not declaring all his income from Selby Oil but criticized him for poor judgment. Several hundreds of thousands went to charities and all seemed to have been forgiven. So, that takes me to what the other agencies have on him." He stopped and then fiddled with the projector from the laptop.

The first screen showed a list of investigations all preceded by the FBI code for organized crime. No one in the room would probably understand that code as well as Manny did.

He knew exactly what he had managed to pull from the Bureau's mainframe. Not even the ex-Feds in the room would know this depth of FBI codes.

"It's all organized crime focus with the Bureau."

Morgan flicked to the next screen which was apparently a random list of murders, ending with the entries dated last week. "Then we have the police reports and also those from homicide at Albany PD and NYPD."

"And there's nothing on these lists we can get him on here?" There was disbelief carved into her face as Michaela leaned forward in her seat.

"Nothing concrete, same as his brothers. Until Headley turned we had no one backing up the charges against Alastair. We need to find that same leverage to get to the senator. Because, let's face it, he's put a lot of money into reinventing himself as squeaky clean. He was cleaner than a pan full of bleach as a senator. Apart from one photo we have, which is kind of grainy and distorted, showing him receiving a blow job from an anonymous woman, there is very little we have to work on."

"Is that a personal observation?" Jake asked quickly.

Manny bristled at the tone used toward his friend, and then just as quickly knew that Jake was simply trying to get to the root of everything. He pushed down the instant need to defend Morgan who actually didn't appear at all fazed.

"No. He's brought in several new members of staff.

Two from NY that are connected, albeit at a low level, with the organized crime families and with his brothers, and one from Los Angeles. If he's looking to make his mark then that is the first step."

"He's connecting?" Nik summarized.

"He's pulling in from other families?" Jake asked quickly.

"Looks that way," Morgan said simply.

Manny sat upright. For all his coding and analyzing and observing he hadn't realized what other people in the room were finally seeing. If the ex-senator was really building the Bullen family to full strength then that meant connecting outside of the state, maybe even going to the West Coast. Fuck.

"It's a bit of a big change for someone professing to be the stand-up guy who was heading for governor," Dale said.

That was exactly what everyone else was thinking and most nodded their approval at the statement. Manny was still focusing on the West Coast issue. He'd already pulled together information for a direction he felt they should be going in. Fear trickled down his spine at the tension building inside him. Ideas and thoughts were spilling into his head. If Thomas Bullen was building up his organization, and if he was looking outside of Albany to do so, then the Altosinno family, Seattle-based and nearly defunct, was where it was at. Lots of loose ends to tie up out there. One of them being Manny himself.

Morgan was still talking. Explaining how his murder board type display linked from the death of Elisabeth Costain and then outward in a tangle of red lines.

Manny attempted to listen even though he felt nauseous.

"He still has this face that the public sees. Concerned, contrite, supportive of his wayward brother and leaving office to look after family concerns. No one without the right connections could possibly see anything else. He's still in the public eye, portraying himself as some kind of generous philanthropist focusing on his family. Well, his wife anyway. He has two daughters. The others in his organization show no links to Thomas himself."

"We need someone on the inside. If only to get information or to set up surveillance," Manny said. He felt rather than saw Jake move and stand upright. He refused to look at his boss. Jake would hate this idea, but maybe it was the quickest way inside of all of this mess.

"On what premise?" Nik asked.

"Someone from another 'institution'," Manny imbued the word with derision. "Someone who is looking to party on the East Coast. Someone who maybe sees a vulnerability in a rival Family and wants to exploit that weakness. The story could be they're revitalizing family connections and offering the Bullens a merger that would benefit both of them. Also, they'll only deal with the