Brown was confused. "A pleasure working with you?"
What was going on?
Shouldn't they be at each other's throats?
He watched Dahl shake hands with a man, a strange, almost tearful smile on his face. Brown was completely bewildered.
He didn't know whether to stick to his plan of angrily confronting them or to first ask what was going on.
All the emotion and momentum he had built up on his way over dissipated with this sudden turn of events.
"Director?" Dahl, still with his tearful smile, greeted Brown instinctively. "You're here?"
"Yes..." Brown pondered for a moment, deciding not to
lose his temper just yet.
"What's going on? I heard you mention a partnership.
What partnership?"
"Hello, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Morin, an IRS employee. You must be Director Brown, correct?" Morin said, extending his hand with a smile.
"Yes..." The saying goes, "don't hit a smiling person."
Although he didn't understand what was going on, Brown saw no choice but to shake Morin's hand.
"It's like this. I'm actually here on behalf of our IRS
director, Chris," Morin said, still smiling after the handshake.
Hearing this, Brown instinctively narrowed his eyes, his expression serious and alert.
"He's a wolf in sheep's clothing! He's trying to disarm me with a smile, then he'll reveal his real purpose to catch me off guard and make me mess up!
But he has no idea that I've seen right through his little scheme!
Humph, look at that hair... he's just a young man. Such petty tricks are laughable!"
Brown thought confidently, fully prepared to launch a counterattack as soon as Morin revealed his purpose.
And then, the confident Brown heard Morin's next words.
"My purpose for coming here is to have a friendly exchange between the IRS and the CIA, including our management systems, technology, and agent training. To show our sincerity, our director sent me here to
negotiate in person."
If this were a cartoon, Brown would have turned to stone and shattered into pieces.
Morin's words kept replaying in his mind. "Friendly," "exchange," and other similar words kept popping up.
After a long pause, Brown slowly turned his head to look at Dahl, his neck making a loud clicking sound.
"I... I almost made a huge fool of myself..."
Dahl, with his head bowed, felt a sharp, piercing gaze on
him. He didn't dare look up, instead staring at the patterns on the floor as if they were the most interesting
thing in the world.
Morin pretended not to notice the strange atmosphere in the conference room and continued,
"Director Brown, what do you think?"
It wasn't Morin's job to feel awkward, so he didn't care.
...
"Well, it's settled then. I'm looking forward to the exchange with the CIA!"
Morin said his goodbyes to the unconvincingly smiling Brown and the silently staring at the floor Dahl, then got into his car and drove away.
Brown's smile disappeared in direct proportion to the distance Morin's car drove. By the time the car was out of sight, Brown's face was as dark as a storm cloud.
"Dahl," Brown said after a long silence.
"Director... yes," Dahl replied weakly.
"...Do you have anything you'd like to explain?" Brown asked, taking a deep breath.
...
In his car, Morin drove for a short while before pulling over. Humming a tune, he expertly found several listening and tracking devices and tossed them into a passing truck.
Only then did he calmly get back in his car and drive away.
It was the CIA, an intelligence agency. It was to be expected that they would play a few tricks.
But to try those tricks on Morin, a "master automotive mechanic," was an insult to his skills. Advanced Automotive Master wasn't just a fancy title!
As he drove, Morin opened his phone to check his messages. Ethan had sent a few more.
Ethan Hunt: "Next, I'm going to England to make a deal with Max on a train. If you want that ten million dollars, you'll have to get involved. I'll need your help to make sure everything goes smoothly."
Ethan Hunt: "If there's anything you need me to do, let me know in advance so I can plan accordingly."
Morin smiled and texted back.
FBI Employee: "Just stick to your plan. I have to make a quick trip to Wisconsin. I'll be on the train during your deal."
A moment later, Ethan replied.
Ethan Hunt: "Wisconsin? Why are you going there?"
As Morin steered, hit the gas, and weaved through traffic, he typed a reply.
FBI Employee: "You don't think the CIA would do nothing after all this, do you? If I'm not mistaken, your parents live in Wisconsin?"
Ethan replied almost instantly.
Ethan Hunt: "They wouldn't actually hurt them."
FBI Employee: "But they'll find a reason to arrest them and make it international news, because that's the only way they can make sure you know."
Ethan Hunt: "...What do you plan to do?"
Clearly, Ethan had thought about what might happen and was now hesitant.
Who would want their parents to be framed, thrown in jail, and have the whole world know about it?
"A person needs their face, just like a tree needs its bark."
Although Ethan knew the CIA wouldn't do any real harm to his parents until he either handed over or returned the list, did that mean emotional harm wasn't a problem?
No one would want to see their parents suffer because of
them, unless they were heartless.
A person without a heart is a beast.
Of course, there were exceptions where parents were so horrible that their relationship was irrevocably broken.
But Ethan's situation wasn't like that. He cared deeply for his parents.
FBI Employee: "There are many ways to get people into jail, but for a reason big enough to be broadcast all over the world, a seemingly reasonable excuse would be drug trafficking or a terrorist attack... And for Wisconsin, it would be the first two. Both of them involve a lot of money."
Ethan Hunt: "So, you're planning to steal them, or get there before the CIA?"
FBI Employee: "Please don't make it sound like I'm a bandit. We're a legitimate organization with a license.
We're just exercising our legal authority given to us by the federal government."
How much power did the IRS have? If someone was a tax evader and they had proof, they could arrest them and even take them from the FBI or CIA!
And now, Morin planned to exercise his "legal authority" as an IRS agent!
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