Chapter 322: An Arrogant Cult Leader, a Sister Who Needs a Reality Check!
After entering Washington D.C., the car headed straight to the Treasury Department building.
"Chuck, you're here."
The alluring Susan was already waiting. Compared to her anxiety during their last meeting, she was clearly in a good mood this time, her eyes lighting up when she saw Lisa, the Texas girl. "You must be Lisa. I'm Susan."
"Hello."
Lisa was a little taken aback by Susan's enthusiasm and could only passively shake hands, glancing at Chuck involuntarily.
This Susan was gorgeous, and rumored to be an elite IRS agent—possessing the same beauty and brains as Professor Alicia Harper.
But she didn't give Chuck the same sunny, positive vibe as Professor Alicia Harper. Instead, she seemed a little... off.
What made her even more uneasy was that Susan clearly knew about her relationship with Chuck and wasn't trying to hide it.
This was supposed to be her advantage.
"Head on up, the director's waiting for you."
Susan released Lisa's hand, smiled, and walked to Chuck's other side. She and Lisa flanked Chuck as they headed upstairs.
They attracted attention from every staff member along the way.
It's human nature to appreciate beauty. Sometimes quantity compensates for quality.
As a certain New York playboy once said, a group of girls—even if each one is only a six—together create the effect of a nine, making it impossible not to stare. According to the playboy, this is why women travel in packs.
Susan and Lisa, each a nine or higher, walking side-by-side flanking Chuck, was simply too eye-catching—or rather, too damn distracting.
"Director, Chuck's here."
Susan knocked on the director's office door. After hearing a weary male voice from inside, she opened it and addressed the balding man sitting behind the desk.
"Chuck, that was quick."
The balding man stood up with a smile.
"Can't let you lose any more hair."
Chuck bluntly glanced at the increasingly thin hair on the balding chief's head.
"..."
The bald chief was speechless. He walked to Chuck's side and awkwardly whispered, "Give me some face in front of outsiders."
"There are no outsiders here."
Chuck remained calm. "If you don't take care of yourself, you will be."
"No outsiders?"
The bald chief had no choice but to ignore Chuck's jab and focus on what Chuck might actually care about. He glanced at Lisa, and a knowing smile appeared in his eyes.
"Good that we're all family here. Let's head back to my place for dinner later. Bran and Hailey have been wanting to meet you for a while..."
Seeing that Susan and Lisa didn't seem embarrassed at all, he awkwardly dropped the subject and said seriously, "Alright, let's get down to business. As we all know, the United States is a free country with freedom of speech and religion.
That's good.
Everyone deserves freedom.
But freedom comes at a price.
The United States has countless organizations of all sizes, including many cult organizations..."
"The most cult organizations in the world!"
Chuck corrected.
"Fine."
The bald chief nodded. "Point is, these cult organizations all talk about religion and freedom, but all they care about is money.
They lure people in, form religious communes, and use religion as cover to evade taxes.
And because there are more and more of these cult organizations now, and they're getting bigger and bigger, the total amount of tax evasion keeps climbing.
This will not stand!
As the IRS, we must crack down on this rampant behavior and make everyone face death and taxes equally."
"We need to make a statement now—make an example!"
Susan added. "But these cult organizations hide behind religion, and they use all kinds of brainwashing techniques to control people. The cult leaders are all well-versed in the law, and ordinary methods won't make them submit."
"The Americanization of cults!"
Chuck said succinctly.
"What do you mean?"
Compared to the bald chief and Susan's understanding, Lisa didn't immediately get it.
"What Chuck means is that while anyone can theoretically be President of the United States, the most common profession among past presidents is law."
Susan explained with a smile. "Because law students are better at public speaking and manipulating rules. These cult leaders obviously understand this principle. Even if they aren't law school graduates, they've studied the law or have dedicated legal advisors, which makes it easier for them to navigate legal gray areas."
"I see."
Lisa's eyes widened in realization. "That's terrifying!"
"That's why it's such a headache."
The bald chief rubbed his temples. "Their tax evasion methods skirt the edge of the law and are hard to prosecute. Plus, they're good at cultivating relationships with local power players, making it difficult to use many methods against them. Especially since this target is here in D.C., and their connections go straight to Capitol Hill—even we at the IRS need ironclad evidence to investigate."
"I assume you've studied his tax situation countless times, so what's the holdup now?"
Chuck asked calmly.
"The documents submitted by the cult founder show that this religious complex is jointly owned by him and 150 other followers, with 30 rooms registered as independent religious churches."
Susan explained. "That means 30 tax-exempt claims. This is outrageous! Do they think the IRS are idiots?"
"And we don't even have accurate data on how many people are involved."
The bald chief complained. "The children born to cult members don't have Social Security numbers, and all they do is breed.
According to our agents' contact with the founder, he clearly cited Supreme Court rulings in his response.
The IRS cannot criticize the religious beliefs of any church—
unless we can prove that some of his followers aren't genuine believers."
"And he's obviously confident you won't find any."
"Thing is, you really haven't."
Chuck bluntly reminded him.
"..."
The bald chief paused, then said helplessly, "The agent we sent almost got brainwashed and nearly ended up living there permanently, so I had to turn to you. So, are you confident?"
"Not a problem."
Chuck said calmly.
"Excellent!"
The bald chief clapped his hands and laughed. "Then this case is in your hands. Susan will assist you. Do a good job this time. This cult founder is way too arrogant!"
"Sounds like you've got some personal stake in this."
Chuck looked at him.
"This cult organization also recruited runaway underage girls."
Susan explained. "One's now a mother of four. Guess whose kids they are."
"The cult founder!"
Lisa gave the answer.
"The thought of that runaway girl becoming a baby factory, and then thinking of Hailey, makes my blood run cold."
The bald chief's face darkened. "Alright, we've covered the basics. Let's head home and see Hailey first. We'll go to the compound tomorrow, and then we'll have three days to observe and gather evidence."
"Right."
The bald chief smiled again. "Bran and Hailey are already waiting. Let's go together."
Just then, the phone rang. He picked it up, gestured to it, and laughed into the receiver. "Hailey, we'll be right there."
He glanced at Lisa and said into the phone, "Tell your mom there's a big surprise coming."
"..."
Susan lowered her head, then glanced at Lisa, her lip twitching.
Well,
when the bald chief introduced her to Chuck, he only mentioned a surprise when bringing her to his house.
The four of them walked out of the IRS building.
The bald chief watched helplessly as Susan, just like Lisa, expertly got into Chuck's car and drove off without a word to him, shaking his head in frustration.
He'd wanted to talk to Susan and smooth things over with his subordinate.
After all, he'd personally introduced Susan to Chuck when his wife pressured him.
Now he didn't know what was going on, and felt a little guilty toward Susan.
But this was fine.
He knew nothing.
Thinking this, the bald chief happily rubbed his head, then remembered Chuck's subtle remark about him being even balder, and his smile turned helpless. He quickly got into his car and followed Chuck.
At the bald chief's house
As Chuck and his group entered, a red figure rushed toward them, but Chuck immediately grabbed her head.
The girl in the red hoodie struggled but couldn't break free.
"Boss, this is your sister Hailey—she's so cute!"
Lisa watched this scene with a warm smile.
"Cute means nothing compared to the real deal!"
At that moment, another girl in a red hoodie stepped out, looking at Lisa with a half-smile. "Isn't that right?"
"This is...?"
Lisa felt uneasy as the girl in the red hoodie's gaze swept over her. Even though she was used to attention by now, she couldn't help feeling uncomfortable under that scrutinizing look.
"Hailey, help me!"
The girl whose head was being held down continued struggling, crying out for help.
"Alright, Lindsay, I already told you you're no match for him. Give up."
Hailey smiled at her struggling friend under Chuck's gaze. "Otherwise he'll get annoyed."
"So what if he gets annoyed!"
The girl called Lindsay huffed. "As long as Hailey gives the word, we can definitely take him together!"
Chuck pushed Lindsay toward his sister Hailey with a firm shove, staring expressionlessly at the two girls in red hoodies standing side by side.
"This is my best friend Lindsay!"
Hailey introduced them with a smile. "Lindsay, this is my brother, Detective Chuck. And you're familiar with these two, aren't you?"
"Of course I am!"
Lindsay's eyes swept over Susan and landed directly on Lisa. "That busty girl who made the evil fake loli lose her mind! What's so special about her!"
Lisa smiled but stayed silent.
If it weren't her first time meeting Chuck's mother and sister, she would've said that being naturally gifted enough to help solve cases was pretty damn special!
"You two are always like this when you meet. Okay, stop fooling around—you're embarrassing yourselves."
Chuck's mother stepped in to smooth things over, then looked at Lisa with a slight smile. "Chuck, you haven't introduced us yet."
"This is my assistant, Lisa."
Chuck introduced her without expression. "Lisa, this is my mother, Bran, and this is my sister, Hailey."
"Hi."
Lisa greeted Bran and Hailey.
Bran warmly pulled her aside.
"It's not just men who appreciate the full figure, huh?"
Lindsay looked at Susan provocatively. "Bran likes daughters-in-law like that too!"
"Me too."
Susan smiled at Lindsay.
"..."
Lindsay stared intently into Susan's eyes but couldn't detect any lie. Her provocative attitude vanished instantly.
"I'm Lindsay, Hailey's best friend!"
Lindsay stopped looking at Susan and turned to Chuck. "What's your problem!"
Chuck had already taken out his hand sanitizer and started cleaning his hands right in front of her.
As Hailey's best friend, she naturally knew Chuck had this habit, but she also knew that Chuck had once suppressed his need to wash his hands immediately for Hailey's sake.
At the time, she hadn't thought much of it.
Now she vaguely understood why Hailey couldn't hide her pride and joy when she talked about it.
"That's just how he is."
Susan laughed. "Lindsay, right? Chuck likes peace and quiet, so you'd better not be too loud, or you'll really piss Chuck off and he won't let Hailey be your friend anymore. Then you'll regret it."
"Impossible!"
Lindsay shouted, but her eyes darted to Hailey beside her. Seeing her best friend didn't deny it, her voice immediately dropped. She muttered softly, "Hailey's so cool, she wouldn't just do whatever her brother says..."
"Come with me."
Chuck said to Hailey, walking toward the backyard.
Hailey obediently followed.
Susan grabbed Lindsay, who also wanted to follow, and put her arm around her shoulder. "It's not easy for siblings to meet up. They must have things to talk about. What's the point of you tagging along? Come on, let's chat!"
In the woods in the backyard
Chuck and Hailey walked in with practiced ease. Exchanging glances, Hailey grinned. "I really admire you. Susan was the proper girlfriend Dad set you up with, and Jane was the proper girlfriend your secretary Helen introduced you to. You always manage to turn these proper relationships into something... improper."
Seeing Chuck's expressionless face, she smiled slightly. "Now there's Lisa too. I've heard about the changes in Peace Town, which makes me feel a little guilty about you. After all, Mom left you a long time ago, which isn't that surprising... But wait, Mom was way past breastfeeding age when she left you—what's up with that?"
Chuck remained unmoved, only gesturing for Hailey to attack.
Hailey finished her pre-battle trash talk and charged forward excitedly.
Then, unsurprisingly, she got absolutely demolished.
(End of Chapter)
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