Chapter 13
Tax agent Charlie Swan ventured the through the miniature cubicles of his agency, swearing over the small cup of coffee that had been spattered on him by the latest intern, Aaron.
You just can't find good help these days, he thought indignantly.
Slightly annoyed after unsuccessfully cleaning the russet stain off of his wrinkled white shirt, he sat unhappily in his swiveled chair with a huff. Charlie endorsed his signature on a few documents, entered several legal numbers into the computer and subsequently thumped his head down on his desk.
There was plenty to be exasperated about this late evening, but it was his current case that had him up to his eyeballs in paperwork.
Twilight Phone Sex Services.
Run by the prodigy daughter of Washington's most renowned fraud, Twilight had been on his watch list for quite some time.
Thus far, all of her correspondence had been lucratively verified, but as they say in his office, the numbers just didn't add up.
Charlie's supervisor, Demetri, had told him again and again to just "let it go." But what Demetri didn't fathom was that Charlie was not a man who surrendered to defeat. Like most in D.C., the De Luca family got away with murder, and everyone else just looked the other way.
But not Charlie.
He was determined to put them behind bars, even if it was at the expense of the youngest daughter. Gossip on the street was that she was making millions over the past few years as a whoremonger, and no one had dared to defy her in any form or fashion.
But there was one thing Ms. De Luca didn't account for, and that was Charlie Swan. See, on paper, her revenue was financially tallied. Every processing cost, every equipment product, and even her administrative disbursements were laid out in faultless form. The problem was not arithmetic, no, it was the sum of which her business totaled.
It was impossible for a sex phone company to accrue as much income as she did.
Impossible.
Even at the charge of $3.99 a minute couldn't accrue the massive two million dollar income a year she was claiming to generate.
"Mr. Swan?"
The skinny, young intern poked his head into Charlie's cubicle, his rampant acne bothering Charlie much more than it should.
"Yes, Aaron?" Charlie grated out.
"Can I go home now? It's getting late…" His tired, brown eyes peered at Charlie with hope.
But once again, Charlie Swan was not a man to be reckoned with. He figured you had to earn time off, and Aaron was not there yet. He needed to be molded, and then broken. That's how you endured in this business. It was more than crunching numbers, or holding tax liens on people's properties. Until Aaron had realized that factor, he was going to be in for one rocky road.
"Not so fast, boy," Charlie spoke dictatorially, causing Aaron to sigh out loud. Charlie thrust a handful of documents into his chest, triggering Aaron to fall back on the heels of his feet.
"This is the De Luca file. Find me any discrepancies, and report back to me directly."
Aaron pondered if he should tell Demetri that Charlie was forcing him to work overtime, but decided against it. He didn't want to sound like a whiny college student who wasn't up to par.
"Yes sir, will do."
Charlie nodded and as Aaron left to turn, he whispered in a hushed voice. "Oh, and don't say anything about this to Demetri. This stays between you and I, got it?"
"Yes sir," Aaron repeated and departed on his way contemplating only a single thought.
De Luca….why does that name sound so familiar?