American Tax Officer

"One moment..."

Two words came through the phone, and about half a minute later, a voice reemerged, "At 9 A.M. this morning, Stevenson was in the residence, meeting with an official from Washington D.C."

"At 11, after finishing his meal, he went to the gym area and ran for half an hour."

"At 1 P.M. he met with the city manager from Carson City, and the two discussed issues regarding the urban development of Carson City."

"At 3 P.M., he gave a brief interview to the media."

"At 5 P.M. ..."

"..."

As the phone relayed information, Laurie, who was sitting on the side, stared dumbfounded and felt his scalp tingle.

As Deputy Governor of Nevada State, of course, he recognized Gavin.

And now, the voice coming through the phone, no matter how he heard it, was unmistakably that of the FBI's top official in Nevada, Gavin!

And this top FBI official in Nevada was now reporting Stevenson's every move to David as if he were reporting to his superior.

Didn't that mean David's previous words weren't meant to deceive him?

Had David really taken over the entire FBI system in Nevada?

"All right, keep going, and let me know immediately if there's any significant situation," David said, concluding the conversation.

The voice that ended the talk finally snapped Laurie out of his shocked thoughts, and his eyes scanned David repeatedly, as if reassessing him.

After a long while, Laurie's voice trembled slightly as he said, "Gavin is not an easy person to deal with, how did you manage that?"

David responded expressionlessly, "You don't need to worry about that, so now can you tell me, do you want to be a shark that swims freely in the ocean, or do you want to be a sardine that people can insult at will?"

This question struck deep within Laurie, causing a struggle to show on his face.

Who the hell would want to be a sardine subject to others' wanton insult?

Of course, he wanted to be a shark!

After wrestling with the thought for a while, Laurie replied, "This matter is of great importance, may I take a night to consider it thoroughly and respond to you in the morning?"

David did not respond but stood up and went to a cabinet near the windows on the left side of the living room, where a variety of stones were displayed, including Madagascar Red Agate, emerald, yellow sapphire, and many others.

He picked up one of the red agates, looked at Laurie, and said, "Deputy Governor Laurie, what is this?"

Laurie was somewhat confounded. He was asking David if he could consider the matter overnight, but David not responding was one thing, why bring up these stones?

Though perplexed, Laurie still truthfully answered, "It's a Madagascar Red Agate."

David nodded, then asked, "Where is it from?"

"A friend gave it to me..."

"Is it from a friend in Reno City named Hayden, who is a miner businessman?"

Laurie was startled, but then remembered David's abilities, realizing it made sense that he could find out such details, and replied, "Yes."

"Deputy Governor Laurie, are you aware that according to the tax laws, such valuable gifts also need to be declared and tax paid to our IRS?"

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Although David assumed that as long as Deputy Governor Laurie wasn't out of his mind, he would certainly not refuse his proposition or betray him.

But as the saying goes, it's better to be safe than sorry.

If Laurie really did lose his senses, or for some other reason turned around and sold him out to Stevenson, then that would complicate matters.

David was using these gemstones as an example to warn Laurie not to play any tricks.

Otherwise, it wasn't like David had no means to deal with him!

Laurie was no fool and clearly understood the message, promptly responding, "Don't worry, I will pay the tax whenever the IRS needs it!"

His answer also told David, don't worry, I won't play any tricks!

David understood and then replied, "Good, give me your answer before tomorrow, I'll take my leave now!"

After David and his people had left, Laurie immediately took out his phone and dialed a number, "Sherwood, come to my house right now, immediately!"

Sherwood was Laurie's secretary.

And to facilitate Laurie's call at any time, Sherwood had deliberately settled his residence only two kilometers away from Laurie.

So in less than ten minutes, Sherwood appeared at Laurie's house, out of breath, asking, "What's the matter, Mr. Laurie?"

"Just now, IRS Director David came to see me..."

Laurie explained that David wanted to push him to the Governor's seat.

After hearing everything, Sherwood was shocked at first and then said, "Director David is really bold, to consider overthrowing the Governor..."

As Laurie's secretary, he was also aware of the grudge between Stevenson and David.

And although David had made a move against the officials of Sparks and Henderson City Governments, giving Stevenson a slap on the wrist...

He was nevertheless surprised that David dared to take action directly against Stevenson.

That was the Governor after all!

The most powerful person in Nevada!

"Mr. Laurie, Director David is capable, no doubt, but as far as I know, Stevenson isn't just a Governor; he has intricate ties with many consortia behind him and is not so easy to contend with; we must be careful with this!" Sherwood advised.