Read The Taxman Killeth for Free Online Page B

One.”
    “I wasn’t even born yet. My
parents weren’t even born yet.”
    “Feels nice, too.” Todd was
rubbing the silk teddy between the pads of two fingers.
    “Put that down and get on with
your explanation,” Amy said, drawing the collar of her robe up over her neck.
    Todd spread the teddy across the
arm of the couch.
    “What do you want to know, Amy?”
    “Did you kill Joey Landis?”
    “No.”
    “Who did?”
    “It’s possible that someone in
your office either killed him or commissioned the murder.”
    “Why would a person in a legal
firm get involved in a killing?”
    “Because they had something to
hide.”
    “And what was that?”
    “Illegals. Listen, Amy, I’m
going to be straight with you because... basically, I need to trust someone.”
    “Why me?”
    “Gut feel. I work for the
Federal Government, kind of in an unofficial way. They call me in from time to
time to do undercover work. I’m known through my career in the Marines. Joey
and I worked together. Matter of fact, it was Joey who had the contact for this
caper.”
    “So he was your partner.”
    Amy saw the pain cross his face.
His eyes hooded by furrowing brows, his nostrils constricted, and his lips
stuttered over unsaid words.
    “He was more than a partner,
wasn’t he?”
    Todd nodded.
    “Want some coffee? Or I might
have a beer left in the fridge from the pizza party.”
    “The beer sounds good.”
    She sprang to her feet. Her
soles slapped against the wooden slats of the floor as she walked.
    “Good thing you can’t see the
inside of my refrigerator from there,” she said while taking out two beers. “We
hit pay dirt,” she said, holding both bottles up.
    “So what’s this ‘illegals’ stuff
you’re talking about?” She twisted off the bottle caps and began her search for
clean glasses.
    “I’ll take mine out of the
bottle.”
    Amy shrugged. “I’ll join you.”
    Back on the couch, Amy handed a
beer to Todd. She felt the warmth of his hand cover hers until his palm slipped
down to hold the bottle.
    “Aren’t you hot in that thing?”
    “You were telling me about the illegals,
Todd.”
    “Yeah.” Todd swallowed back a
mouthful of brew. “There is a person in your office who is helping get illegal
aliens into this country and making big bucks at it. The Feds approached the
accounting firm you use and asked if we could pull a switcheroo for a few days.
Man, let me tell you, I had to bone up on a lot of accounting I had forgotten.”
    “You did very well,” Amy said
earnestly. She was rewarded with a smile.
    “Thank you. Anyway, I had orders
to go in and search the records as quickly as possible before anyone suspected.
Unfortunately for Joey, there must have been a leak.”
    “How could you have searched for
the papers? That wouldn’t have been part of your job while doing the taxes.”
    “Well, I was told there was an
attractive office manager, which there was, who if I wined and dined might be
able to give me access to the right information.”
    “What? You mean that dinner we
had was only because you wanted to use me, and besides, you paid for it with my
own tax dollar, didn’t you?”
    “Actually, it’s all our tax
dollars.”
    Amy gave a big harrumph and then
got up to pace the floor.
    “But, Amy, I enjoyed the
evening. I even enjoyed sitting in that barren windowless conference room with
you.”
    “Oh, is it my turn to say ‘thank
you’ now. Forget it, buster. And you can remove your rear end from my sofa and
get out of here!”
    “To go where?”
    Amy sucked in air to tell him,
when he interrupted by standing and slipping his leather jacket off.
    What a body, she thought. Nope,
no way I’ll get sucked into this mess because of lust.
    “Leave,” she calmly said.
    “Can I crash the night? I don’t
even have the telephone number for the contact. Joey never gave it to me.”
    “Can’t you just go to the police
and tell them your story?”
    “Everyone will deny it. I’m
alone,