Free Death, Taxes, and Peach Sangria by Diane Kelly

“Your face was made
     to be on camera.”
    It was bad enough that she’d put the moves on Brett, but the bitch was flirting with
     Nick now, too?
    Nick cut his eyes my way, took in the pissed-off look on my face, and grinned down
     at Trish. “I bet you say that to all the boys.”
    Grrr. Nick’s name was so going on my people-to-kill-today list, too.
    Trish asked Nick some remarkably well-prepared questions and Nick provided a series
     of sound bites in return, clever, witty comebacks sure to make us IRS special agents
     appear smart and sharp. Eddie performed well, too, explaining that fraudulent tax
     returns not only cost honest taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in unreported
     taxes due but also caused significant costs for enforcement personnel. Josh went next,
     but Trish quickly wrapped up his interview when Josh turned pink and began to sweat
     and stammer.
    As I slid into the seat, Trish said, “No need, Tara. We’ve got what we need already.
     Besides,” she scrunched her nose as she eyed my suit again, “cheap fabrics don’t film
     well.”
    I stood, doing my best to remain calm. “You’re right, Trish,” I said. “Cheap things
     look awful on camera.” I punctuated my words with a pointed look and a snide smile
     before raising my head high and walking out.
    My cell phone vibrated in my pocket a few seconds later. I checked the readout. It
     was a text from Nick.
    Good one.
    I smiled to myself. He’d earned his way back off my list. He’d live to see another
     day.

 
    chapter eight
    Beau on the Geau
    The interviews now completed, Eddie and I hopped into our basic white G-ride and headed
     out to arrest Richard Wallace Beauregard III. Beau, as he was known, had been an exceptionally
     naughty boy. He’d sold his clients interests in a fuel company, which he claimed entitled
     them to fuel tax credits on their returns. Problem was, the fuel company didn’t actually
     exist and the interests were bogus.
    I supposed I couldn’t blame his clients for falling so easily for his song and dance.
     Energy companies had recently discovered they could use a fracturing technique to
     exploit the natural gas reserves trapped in the Barnett Shale formation that lay under
     the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Thanks to “fracking,” the tight rock formation that
     had once been deemed too difficult and expensive to drill in could now produce natural
     gas at significant profits. Hundreds of oil and gas companies had descended on the
     area, offering property owners a pretty penny for leases on their mineral rights.
     Once the drilling began, property owners enjoyed further income in the form of royalties.
    Though the drilling had been a boon to some, others had suffered, claiming benzene
     and other carcinogens had seeped into their groundwater as a result of the gas companies’
     fracking activities. A few lawsuits were making their way through the courts now.
     It wasn’t clear where the cards would fall at the end of the day. Still, North Texans
     overall had renewed their love affair with oil and gas, each expecting to become the
     next Jed Clampett. If you don’t own a well, went the wisdom, get one! Beauregard had apparently realized the gas fervor could work in his favor and devised
     the fraudulent scheme.
    As if ripping off his unsuspecting clients in the gas well scam weren’t bad enough,
     he’d also hijacked their personal data and filed amended tax returns in their names
     and Social Security numbers. The amended returns generated over seven hundred thousand
     dollars in phony tax refunds. Because Beau’d had the additional refunds directly deposited
     into his own bank account, most of his clients had no idea he’d amended their returns
     without their authorization.
    The IRS had caught on to his identity theft ploy when a taxpayer had responded to
     a notice questioning an entry on his amended return. When the taxpayer indicated he’d
     filed no such amended return, the audit