Rick was gazing out the window at the Chicago Skyline.The buildings rising up to touch the sky and the people scurrying about looking like ants at a picnic made him shake his head briefly as he said in a tone slightly above a whisper, [B]"Toto I don't think we're in Raleigh anymore."[/B] He adjusted his gray tie that went with his beige suit and brown loafers. As much as he hated the look on a lot of levels Rick had to admit he did look good in his suit. Even though he thought for sure he could pass for Clark Kent's twin brother. 

Rick had a working knowledge of how companies like this worked, and since he looked like an accountant the Bureau made sure he knew all the in and outs. Of course the Barriellos were always able to keep things in order to prevent any red-flags from going up. From what Rick could see the Barriello books were pretty tight all the way up to last year. This year's books though on the surface looked solid, but there were definite cracks in the armor showing up. Whoever had been doing them was not as sharp as they had been in the past. Clearly they were focused on something else, and did just enough to keep things looking legit. However all it would take was one over eager accountant to do some digging behind the numbers, and boom the house of cards goes down hard. Rick knew that the Bureau would never settle for arresting the Barriello family on Tax Issues. The Government had to settle for that when they went after Al Capone, but the guys that Rick (or Kevin) knew wanted blood and to make names for themselves. They wanted this family on murder, gun-running, drugs, the headline grabbing stuff. Following the money where the money led to was the first step for most of these guys on their way up the status ladder.

Just then Rick heard a voice behind him call out his name. He turned and suddenly he was face to face with Lia Barriello. Rick was expecting to see a lot of things today to see Lia Barriello was not on that list. He was actually expecting to see a sub-ordinate from accounting or maybe even a lawyer, but seeing Lia was a surprise. It went without saying Lia was a beautiful woman and looked way better than her pictures. Granted those were grainy black and white photos pulled off of surveillance footage, but even in those Lia had nothing to be ashamed of in the looks department. Rick also realized that if Lia was going to be involved in this he was dealing with a very smart woman, and that he needed to be on his "A" game. 

Rick replied trying to cover his Southern Drawl (although not very successfully), [B]"Yes Hello Miss Barriello. Rick Cooper I represent the accounting firm of Montgomery, Holden, and Miller. An outside independent accounting firm contracted to go over your bookkeeping. "[/B]

He motioned to the bookkeeping report on the table. The report looked exactly like [I]Webster's Dictionary [/I]. Just as thick and it was even hardbound with gold lettering that stated, "Barriello Inc. Tax Summary for Fiscal Year 2013." Rick said, [B]"I went through the first 10 pages on the flight in last night, and to be honest Miss Barriello there are things that I have found so far that might be considered questionable in terms of the bookkeeping."[/B]

Rick looked at Lia and said, [B]"In comparison to the previous years when you and your brother took over for your late father those books were sharp and tight. This one not so much from what I've read so far. Not enough inconsistencies to call the bookkeeping into question as of right now, however if there are even more obvious inconsistencies, or an eager auditor should get a hold of this then you and your brother could get a call from the IRS and they would probably suggest that you bring a lawyer with you."[/B]

Rick took a deep breath and said, [B]"I realize that this is not the kind of news you want to hear so early in the day, but I have a job to do and if I wasn't honest with you Miss Barriello I wouldn't be doing my job, and you and your company would be in a lot of trouble."[/B]