American Tax Officer

"But Governor, while this plan is sound, we shouldn't celebrate too soon. What if this bastard really is as clean as he claims and hasn't accepted any bribes?"

This remark from Eugene sobered the excited Stevenson somewhat, who agreed and replied, "You have a point. The priority is to investigate first, then talk..."

"Yes, Governor, but if we want to investigate him, I'm afraid we can't use the law enforcement departments at our disposal. Not to mention whether those idiots can find anything, they might also tip him off, which would be more trouble than it's worth!"

Stevenson thought so too.

He may control the National Guard, but they are an armed force, not adept at conducting investigations.

In addition, he had control over the police department and other agencies within the state.

But to have these people investigate the Tax Bureau and that David, it seemed as laughably absurd as performing sword play in front of Guan Gong...

Unless...

Suddenly, Stevenson had an idea and asked, "What do you think of the CIA?"

"Although the CIA has no law enforcement authority domestically, they are the most professional when it comes to intelligence gathering and investigations. No one would be more suitable than them!"

Eugene also agreed completely.

Without delay, Stevenson returned to his office, took out a phone book from the cabinet, and began flipping through it.

After a few minutes, his gaze settled on a name: Elvis Rigeca.

He immediately took out his cell phone and dialed the number.

The call was quickly connected, and a deep voice came from the other end, "Hello?"

"Elvis, it's me, Stevenson!"

"Governor Stevenson?!"

Meanwhile, in New York, inside a CIA safe house, surprise flickered across a man's face.

If David had been there, he would have recognized him at a glance as the CIA Bear Country Station Manager who had taken Jerome and Brod away from their Lake District Sub-Bureau Branch.

"How have you been lately, Elvis?"

"Ran into some trouble, so not that great. By the way, Governor Stevenson, what's the reason for your call...?"

"It's like this, I'd like to ask you to investigate someone for me, I need his 'detailed profile'!"

When he reached the last four words, Stevenson emphasized his tone heavily, clearly alluding to something more significant.

Elvis paused. Due to the Bear Country Station being destroyed by a spy, he was currently busy with reconstruction and had no time to investigate anyone.

However, remembering that he owed the Governor a favor in Nevada State five years ago, he reluctantly responded, "For Governor Stevenson to personally request our investigative services, this person must be quite significant. Tell me more!"

"The Las Vegas Tax Bureau's David, have you heard of him?"

"What did you say, David?"

Elvis, who had been sitting, shot up from his chair as if pricked upon hearing this.

Stevenson himself was taken aback, clearly not expecting such a strong reaction to the name he had mentioned.

With a hint of curiosity, he asked, "Yes, David from the Las Vegas Tax Bureau. Why, do you know him?"

"Sorry, Governor Stevenson. If it were anyone else, you'd certainly help, but I'm afraid I have to express my profound apologies regarding him!"

"Elvis, what do you mean? I'm not asking you to investigate a high-ranking official of the Tax Bureau; it's just a Chief Tax Officer. Surely that can't be too difficult?"

Hearing Stevenson's discontented voice on the other end of the phone, Elvis was mentally cursing.

Not long ago, two of his best operatives had just been thwarted by David.

According to his subordinates, David was well aware of their dark secrets.

Now, their leverage was in someone else's hands.

He would've preferred to steer clear of this Chief Tax Officer.

But now Stevenson is asking him to gather dirt on David?

Wasn't this pushing him into the fire pit?

If it were anyone else, Elvis would have cursed them out and hung up the phone by now.

However, since it was Stevenson on the other end, he persisted with patience and explained, "Governor Stevenson, if I do this favor for you, it might be me who ends up disgraced tomorrow, so it's not that I don't want to help you, please understand my difficult position..."

Stevenson was stunned.

Helping out meant being disgraced?

You're a Station Chief of the CIA for goodness' sake, how could he get to you?

No... that's not right...

Stevenson carefully considered the other party's words and probed, "Elvis, don't tell me, by some coincidence, you're also in his grip?"

After a moment of silence, Elvis clenched his teeth and admitted, "Yes, Governor Stevenson, now you understand my situation, right?"

He knew that if he didn't tell the truth, it might displease the Governor, so he decided to be upfront about it!

After all, the Governor didn't know the specifics of the leverage!

"Understood!"

In the office, Stevenson hung up the phone, his face dark as ink.

Eugene, noticing something was amiss, asked softly, "What's wrong, Governor, what did the CIA say?"

"That damned bastard has leverage over Elvis!"

"What!"

Eugene could hardly believe his own ears.

The CIA, the world's most powerful intelligence organization!

They're the ones who always have dirt on others, when had anyone ever had something on them?

When David had turned Sparks and Henderson City Halls upside down, Eugene thought it was outrageous enough.

But now, hearing this, he felt like insanity had opened the door to even more insanity; it was madness!

It took a while for Eugene to collect himself before he said, "If the CIA won't do, then perhaps we could only ask the FBI..."

The FBI may not be on par with the CIA in terms of intelligence, but when it comes to investigations, they are not far behind. If the CIA couldn't be involved, then the FBI was the next best option.

Stevenson immediately flipped through his phone book, quickly finding a mid-to-high ranking FBI official and dialed with trepidation.

The reason for his nervousness was the fear that this person, like Elvis earlier, had inadvertently been compromised by David, thwarting his plans.

Fortunately, the subsequent conversation went smoothly, and the FBI official hadn't been compromised by the Tax Bureau.

After being promised a significant reward, the mid-to-high ranking FBI official agreed to secretly initiate an investigation into David.

And David remained oblivious to all of this.

At that moment, he had just finished an interview with the media and returned to the Valley Branch.

Just then, Edward approached him with a look of joy, saying, "Director David, I just received news that the City Hall has canceled the crackdown directive!"