Chapter 240: Tricky
"What can I say? This is your case. I'm just providing backup here. If someone hadn't requested my assistance, I wouldn't even be here. Just keep doing your thing~"
Ron waved his hand, signaling Hobbs to relax, as he was just an observer.
Just as Hobbs was struggling for words, his men returned, bringing with them a well-dressed elderly man: "Sorry, Boss, this is Mr. Arthur Cass, he's..."
"I'm the chairman of this bank, pleased to meet you, Agent Hobbs," the old man said before the officer finished his introduction, and as he spoke, he stepped forward and extended his hand.
At the same time, Ron, who had been blocked by Hobbs's massive frame, came into view. Hobbs noticed the old man's eyes twitching noticeably.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Cass, it's been a while." Ron didn't wait for Hobbs to speak, and directly stood up to greet him, taking the initiative to shake hands with Cass.
Hobbs's hand, which had been reaching out to shake hands, froze awkwardly in mid-air. "You two know each other?"
"Of course. Mr. Cass is a major player in the LA banking world, a champion of free enterprise and fiscal responsibility. Thanks to him and his creative accounting, we didn't collect nearly as much tax revenue from these financial institutions last year as we should have."
Ron said with a sardonic smile, "If this were 1776, Mr. Cass might even be hailed as a patriot fighting against taxation without representation, while I'd probably be branded as some British tax collector, right, dear Mr. Cass?"
It was well known that Ron's job involved tax collection for the Treasury Department, but there were always those who, hiding behind corporate structures, brazenly employed various schemes to avoid taxes, making Ron's actual revenue collections far below projections.
These respected bankers were among the worst offenders.
Coming from Wall Street backgrounds, all sorts of financial maneuvers were child's play to them. Purchasing overpriced art, establishing bogus charitable foundations, offshore shell companies—some of them had turned tax avoidance into an art form that would make the Founding Fathers roll in their graves.
But Ron couldn't touch them, because all their methods were technically legal.
"Of course not," Mr. Cass quickly denied. "I wanted to ask about this situation..."
"I'm running point on this," Hobbs interrupted before he could finish. "Don't worry, I've got eyes on them. When the time comes, I'll neutralize the threat. They won't walk away with a single dollar from your bank."
"Is there anything else you need to know?"
"No, I just came to see if there's anything I can do to help," Cass said nervously, a reaction that Ron found somewhat odd. "Have they made any demands?"
"They want an aircraft," Hobbs was about to elaborate, but Ron spoke first, his eyes studying Cass carefully.
He sensed something was off.
"Do you want me to arrange one for you?" Mr. Cass blurted out, almost reflexively.
The entire room fell silent, everyone staring at him in bewilderment.
The robbers wanted a plane, and you're offering to provide it?
"I'm sorry, I may have misunderstood the situation." Mr. Cass quickly apologized for his confusion.
"It's fine, Mr. Cass. If we need anything from you, we know where to find you." Hobbs frowned and was about to dismiss him. Fortunately, the old man took the hint and immediately responded:
"I have people stationed around the area. I'll remain nearby for a while and won't interfere with your operations."
With that, he shuffled out of the command center, leaning on his walking stick.
As soon as the old man left, Hobbs said seriously, "Ron, something's not right here."
"Not right? What do you mean?" Ron remained poker-faced, but internally, he was surprised. Had the muscle-bound agent actually noticed something suspicious?
"Normally, these penny-pinching corporate types will do everything in their power to get us to protect their assets, even going so far as to use their political connections to pressure us. I've never encountered a businessman who was so... accommodating,"
Hobbs reflected. He'd handled similar cases before, but those involved executives who had suffered losses, and they'd never cared about the safety of law enforcement personnel, using their political connections to bark orders at them. This was the first time he'd met someone so cooperative.
Ron kept his expression neutral, "So what do you think is behind it?"
"Maybe this Mr. Cass is just a decent guy?" Hobbs offered with a suggestion that made Ron both amused and exasperated.
Ron's concern immediately evaporated. Sure enough, a meathead was just a meathead. Expecting him to piece things together was like expecting a politician to tell the truth.
"Of course, even though he's been involved in insider trading, has connections to organized crime, hires corporate espionage firms, engages in predatory lending practices, and exploits every tax loophole known to man, I'm sure he's a pillar of the community. You're absolutely right, Hobbs, stick with that assessment."
Ron looked at Hobbs with a pitying expression, like someone watching a toddler try to solve calculus, making him squirm uncomfortably.
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
"No, absolutely not." Ron felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. He patted Hobbs's shoulder and quickly made an excuse. "You hold down the fort while I hit the head."
As soon as he left the command vehicle, he immediately walked to a spot out of camera range, pulled out his phone, and called Tej.
Tej was one of Dom Toretto's crew. Since the Rio operation, he'd developed a working relationship with Ron. Of all the hackers Ron knew, Tej was second only to Ramsey in terms of skill.
"Tej, what did you find on that background check I requested?"
As soon as Mr. Cass entered the command vehicle, Ron had secretly texted Tej, asking him to run a deep dive on Mr. Cass. This was Tej returning his call.
"Yo, Ron, you're not gonna believe what I dug up," Tej's distinctive voice came through the receiver. "Turns out your Mr. Cass has been on Mossad's watch list for decades. He allegedly played a pretty ugly role during World War II, but since they've never been able to gather solid evidence, the Israelis have only kept him under surveillance without taking direct action."
"Now that's interesting!" Ron said with a knowing expression. His suspicions were crystallizing. This robbery was looking more and more like an elaborate setup.
Initially, he'd thought it might be some Bureau incompetence that had created this mess, but now it seemed like a carefully orchestrated trap designed specifically for Mr. Cass.
"What exactly did he do? We don't need courtroom-quality evidence. If Mossad can't pin him down after all these years, we probably can't either. But sometimes rumors and circumstantial evidence are enough to work with."
(End of chapter)
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