American Tax Officer

Due to the lack of resources in public prisons, many criminals arrested by the FBI end up being sent to private prisons like GCO Corporation to be dealt with, so there's a partnership between the two.

Justin thought they definitely couldn't handle this issue on their own, so he wanted to ask the FBI to intervene and see if they could mediate.

After all, both the FBI and the National Tax Bureau are law enforcement agencies in America, and he figured they would give each other some face.

Hearing the name David, Gavin, who had been somewhat relaxed, suddenly tensed up, but then asked as if nothing was the matter, "Of course I've heard of him, what about it?"

"It's like this..."

Justin told him about David targeting their prison, but he didn't explicitly mention that David had compromising information on their prison's administrative staff.

After hearing everything, Gavin finally understood the situation and why Justin had come to him today.

So he was meant to act as a mediator!

But it wasn't just GCO Prison, even the FBI was now under David's control, so how could he dare to act as a mediator or go-between?

And Gavin knew very well what kind of person, what kind of character, David was.

Impeding his tax work was like asking for death.

With this in mind, Gavin could only decline, "Sorry Justin, I don't think I can help you with this."

Upon hearing this, Justin was stunned on the spot.

Their GCO Prison and the FBI were partners, and to maintain prisoner capacity in the prisons, he regularly gave Gavin money and gifts.

Originally, he thought that although it involved the National Tax Bureau and might be troublesome, Gavin wouldn't refuse this favor, but to his surprise, not only did Gavin refuse, but he did so emphatically!

Justin was somewhat angry, and with a tone of dissatisfaction, said, "Gavin, let me be straight with you, David wants our internal account books, and if he gets his hands on them, we'll be in big trouble. You have to help us with this no matter what, and if you get this sorted for me, I can double your share in the future."

Gavin shook his head and replied, "Sorry Justin, it's not that I don't want to help, it's just that I really can't help."

Seeing that Gavin still refused to comply, Justin was completely infuriated and said, "Gavin, you should know that if he gets the account books, our company's senior management will definitely be furious, and you'll be in trouble too!"

"Stop fucking pressuring me with your high-ups, I can't manage it and that's that, let whoever cares take care of it!"

Gavin had decided to stand his ground.

Upsetting the higher-ups at GCO would cause him some trouble, true, but angering David would mean losing his job immediately, and worse, potentially ending up ruined and in prison.

It was obvious to him which was the lesser of two evils.

"Fine, fine, fine Gavin, I will remember this!"

Justin, with a fierce expression, repeated the word "fine" three times and then stood up, intending to leave.

But just as he was opening the door, another voice came from behind him: "Justin, I'm advising you, you'd better do as he says, or else you're not going to end up well."

The reason Gavin warned him was mainly out of fear that if things really got out of hand, it could affect the FBI.

After all, the FBI catches so many criminals every day that it would be impossible to accommodate them without these private prisons.

Justin, previously with a ferocious look, softened his expression slightly upon hearing this, because he sensed there might be some implication in Gavin's words.

Recently, there had been some friction between the FBI and the National Tax Bureau.

Could Gavin's reluctance to help be due to that?

He couldn't understand even after thinking it over, but he didn't have more time to ponder because, according to the news from the prison, David had only given them until five o'clock that afternoon.

He quickly went downstairs, got into his car, and said to his assistant, Driver Jian, "Go to the state government."

Upon arriving at the state government, Justin went straight to the office of the state's chief prosecutor.

Just like with the FBI, their GCO Corporation also had partnerships with state prosecutors and the judicial department, so after failing to agree with Gavin, he had no choice but to seek these officials to see if they could mediate with the National Tax Bureau.

But half an hour later, he left the chief prosecutor's office looking dejected, even punching the wall three times in frustration and cursing continuously.

Like with Gavin, the state's chief prosecutor, despite being promised all sorts of benefits and a good talk, flatly refused to mediate the matter.

This left him not only angry but also somewhat baffled.

Yes, the National Tax Bureau wielded considerable power, and David was indeed a frightening figure, but that shouldn't make both the head of the state's FBI and the chief prosecutor so timid, right?

Of course, this was because Justin didn't know the inside story of the new Governor Laurie's appointment or the events that had happened at the FBI before; otherwise, he wouldn't have been puzzled.

Time kept passing by, and it was four o'clock in the afternoon.

Rio City GCO Prison, in the Warden's office, Marz, Deputy Warden Andrew, and the heads of various zones, were all waiting for news.

But as the five o'clock deadline drew closer, their anxiety and restlessness grew.

Eventually, the person in charge of Zone B could no longer contain his impatience, and he said, "It's already this late, and there's still no word from Justin. It looks like we can't smooth this over. I... I think we should start making plans early..."

As these words were spoken, the others, including Andrew, became agitated.

Now they had two choices before them.

1. Hand over the internal prison ledger.

But this would certainly enrage the corporate headquarters' higher-ups, and they would not only be unable to continue as prison administrators, but they might also face retaliation from the company.

2. Do not hand over the ledger, and fight it out with David and the tax bureau.

But if they chose this, they would surely be arrested by the tax bureau and perhaps even be brought to trial the next day, have their assets frozen, and receive the death penalty, thrown into prison—a total loss of both money and freedom.

If they really had to make a choice, nearly everyone present would prefer the first option over the second.

The reason was simple: they had skimmed enough money over the years, and even if they no longer managed the prison, and after paying the illegal income tax to the tax bureau, they would still have enough for the rest of their lives.

Even if they faced retaliation from GCO Corporation, they couldn't possibly take all their money and kill them all, could they?

But if they chose option 2, not only would the money they had skimmed be subject to several times more fines by the tax bureau, but it could also be confiscated completely, and they would have to spend their lives in prison.

Faced with these two choices, the people there weren't fools; how could they not weigh the pros and cons?

"Warden, it's not the end of the world for us... After all, it's not worth it to fight to the death with the tax bureau and with David."

"Yeah, Warden, the company belongs to those higher-ups, but the money and freedom are our own, it's not worth taking the fall for them..."

"..."

Faced with the verbal onslaught of the people, it was impossible for Marz not to waver.

But at that moment, the phone rang, so he could only pick it up: "This is Marz."

"Marz, don't act rashly. I'm trying to find a solution. Just try to stall for now, don't actually compromise..."

The voice coming through the phone was indeed Justin's.

"Mr. Justin, the deadline he gave is five o'clock, and it's almost five now, I don't know how else to stall..."

"Figure something out, Marz, if you hand it over, we're finished..."

"Mr. Marz, if I don't hand it over, we're even more finished!"

"But..."

"No more, Mr. Justin. A wise man submits to circumstances. Whether it's you or us, there's no need to be martyrs for the company!"

"This... Sigh..."

At the end of the line, Justin sighed helplessly and then hung up the phone.

"Go, tally up the accounts from all your zones!"

On this side, Marz had steeled himself to make a decision.

And hearing his words, Andrew and the leaders of the various zones also heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly went their separate ways.

Sand Bay Branch.

"You think, they wouldn't really dare not to deliver, would they?"

"I don't believe they are that loyal to GCO Corporation, even willing to be scapegoats for them."

"I don't believe it either. GCO is not their family business. Any normal person would choose to save themselves."

As time was inexorably approaching five o'clock, Simmons Bakinison and two others in the temporary office were also constantly discussing.

And just then, the desk phone rang, and David picked it up, saying, "This is David."

"Director David, Deputy Warden Andrew from GCO Prison would like to speak to you."

"Then bring him to my office!"

David's face showed a hint of a smile. They finally compromised, huh?

But this was also expected.

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