Chapter 135: A Big Slap with the Flick of a Hand
Under Susan's direction, the FBI arrested all personnel at Gambino family headquarters and sealed the compound. The forensics team would move in to gather additional evidence.
"Well done!" Susan said, walking over to Chuck who had stepped aside, praising him.
If Chuck hadn't rescued the elderly accountant, this arrest would have been meaningless. As Mr. Gambino Jr. had said, their legitimate business was handled by major accounting firms like Dryback.
Professional accounting would have cleaned up everything that needed cleaning long ago, leaving no opening for the IRS to exploit.
"I know," Chuck said matter-of-factly. "So I don't need to walk you through the rest of this, do I?"
"..." Susan pursed her lips. "No."
She already had the key cooperative witness in the elderly accountant. If she couldn't handle the case from here, what kind of elite IRS financial crimes agent would she be?
"Good," Chuck nodded. "Then I'm leaving. Remember to update me on the results."
"Where are you going?" Susan instinctively called out to Chuck. Seeing him stop and look at her, she quickly explained, "I mean, you don't have anything else going on anyway, so why not continue following this case?"
"There's no technical challenge from here on. Following up would be a waste of time," Chuck shook his head. "Besides, I have things to do!"
"You do?" Susan smiled. "What could you possibly have? You didn't just fly in from Las Vegas only to fly back again, did you?"
In her mind, someone like Chuck was lucky enough to have met Jane. How could he have any other friends? He'd just go back and sit around bored at home.
"No," Chuck looked at her. "Your memory is faulty. I told you I had a Deborah Vance videotape to give to a friend."
"I remember," Susan said seriously. "But I have serious doubts about your definition of 'friend.'"
"Anything else, my friend?" Chuck said calmly.
"..." Susan's mouth twitched.
She knew it. The friend Chuck was referring to was indeed questionable!
Chuck left.
Monica's apartment.
"That player is coming again?" Ross curled his lip in dissatisfaction as he watched his sister Monica go into another cleaning frenzy.
"His name is Chuck, not Joey!" Monica said unhappily.
"Thank you!" The handsome Italian-American Joey was delighted to be called out. He pursed his lips and nodded with an expression that said, "I'm proud to be a player."
"Chuck is still very masculine, with a dry sense of humor..." Chandler muttered to himself while sitting there. Then he realized something was wrong. He looked up to see everyone staring at him and immediately said, "Did I say that out loud?"
Indeed.
That should have been an internal thought, not meant to be heard by others.
Everyone rolled their eyes at him.
"Monica, please hurry Chuck along about that handsome scientist he wanted to introduce me to last time. There's still no sign of him," Phoebe complained, then fell silent under Monica's glare. "I'm not in a hurry."
"You should be grateful you can stay here, and why are you still bothering about that handsome scientist?" Monica complained. "Last time I had that flea infestation, and I haven't even confirmed whether you're clean yet..."
Phoebe listened docilely at first, but when she heard Monica nagging about fleas, her temper flared. She stood up and shouted, "Last time you came to my apartment, scared away my cats, and deep-cleaned my entire place. What else do you want? Do you need me to strip naked for you to inspect before you'll let me see Chuck?"
As she spoke, she began lifting her shirt.
"Phoebe, don't do that," Rachel saw this and quickly reached out to stop Phoebe's hands.
She had no doubt that Phoebe, with her quirky and unpredictable behavior, was capable of stripping in public.
"Rachel, don't stop them," Joey shouted excitedly. "Let Phoebe and Monica fight it out. I've been fed up with Monica's germaphobia for a while now."
He looked at Phoebe and Monica with gleaming eyes and a smile.
Women fighting had always been his favorite spectacle. It wasn't that he had issues, but rather it was a sacred rule in the bro code: A proper bro, upon witnessing a catfight, must not only refrain from intervening but must immediately alert other bros to come watch.
Besides, this was even more thrilling than a regular catfight.
Rachel clearly wasn't a bro!
"Me too!" Chandler agreed with a grin.
Joey immediately gave his roommate a look that showed he was truly a bro.
Ross swallowed nervously, not daring to say anything, but his eyes said it all.
"Fine," Monica glared at the men and compromised. "I believe you're clean, okay?"
"That's what I wanted to hear," the anger on Phoebe's face instantly vanished, and her hands stopped trying to lift her clothes. She smiled and said, "Next time, don't make a fuss about this, or I'll have him examine me for fleas right in front of Chuck. You know he's the expert."
"Okay, enough!" Monica immediately raised her hand to end the topic.
Chuck's other test subjects were already annoying enough for her—at least she could turn a blind eye to them. If her best friend got involved, life would be unbearable.
Her concerns weren't unfounded.
Her two best friends, Phoebe and Rachel, were both beautiful with great figures and were no pushovers.
Not to mention Rachel, who was even prettier than her. She used to envy Rachel's boyfriends.
Phoebe was no pushover either, having once stolen her ex-boyfriend.
This all had history.
She couldn't treat their jokes as completely harmless—she had to stay vigilant.
Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock.
A rhythmic knock sounded at the door, and all six friends said in unison, "He's here!"
Monica glanced threateningly at everyone, straightened her clothes and hair, and went to open the door. "Chuck, you're here."
"I'm here," Chuck walked in and nodded to the others.
"Where have you been lately?" Rachel asked with a smile. "It's been a while since we've seen you."
"Las Vegas," Chuck answered honestly.
"Las Vegas?" everyone exclaimed in unison.
Compared to Rachel and the others' envy, Chandler's eyes lit up with interest.
"You went to Las Vegas?" Monica's smile was somewhat forced. It was a resort destination she'd always wanted to visit but hadn't yet.
Who did Chuck go with?
"On a case," Chuck nodded, pulling a videotape from his pocket that immediately caught everyone's attention.
"You're not going to show us footage of your Las Vegas trip, are you?" Chandler teased. "So we can live vicariously?"
"I'm about to make a movie with Al Pacino. When I become a big star, I'll pay for everyone to go to Las Vegas," Joey said proudly.
"Did you get the part?" Chandler exclaimed in surprise.
"Of course!" Joey said proudly. "My agent said they're very pleased with me and think I'm perfect for it."
"Congratulations!" "You're going to be famous!"
Everyone started congratulating Joey.
They all knew he'd been competing for a role in a major film starring Al Pacino, Joey's biggest idol. Now that he'd succeeded, they were all happy for him.
"What role are you playing?" Ross asked curiously.
"Not sure yet," Joey shook his head, then said confidently, "But I'm sure it'll be prominent. It's an Al Pacino movie!"
"Congratulations, congratulations," Monica said perfunctorily, then brought the topic back to Chuck, looking at him expectantly. "I've never been to Las Vegas, and this video will let me see it in advance. I love it."
Since he'd brought the video back for her, it seemed like he really was investigating a case, not just experimenting on test subjects in Las Vegas.
"It's not for you," Chuck said, moving aside Monica's outstretched hand.
"Huh?" Everyone was stunned.
"It's for you," Chuck handed the video to Chandler.
"OMG!" Chandler, though completely unprepared, immediately joked, "I was just kidding. I don't dare compete with Monica."
He swallowed the words "That would kill me" that were about to come out, seeing Monica's piercing glare.
"Chuck gave it to you, just take it," Monica said with a forced smile. "Let's see what it is."
"Monica, don't be like that," Chandler felt uncomfortable, too scared to even take it.
"It's a tape of Deborah Vance's stand-up show," Chuck didn't let them speculate further, revealing the truth. "I remember Chandler said he liked Deborah Vance, and I happened to be working there."
"I see," Monica's expression brightened.
Bringing a gift for a friend was perfectly reasonable.
"Deborah Vance's stand-up show?" Chandler jumped up, excitedly taking the tape and exclaiming dramatically, "It's Deborah Vance's stand-up show!"
"Who is Deborah Vance? Why are you so excited?" Rachel asked with amusement.
"Deborah Vance, a famous stand-up comedian, and in my opinion, the greatest stand-up comedian ever," Chandler exclaimed. "My dad took me to see her when I was a kid. It was hilarious."
Seeing everyone was unimpressed, he quickly added, "Let me put it this way—you think I'm funny and witty. Do you know why?"
"Because you grew up in an unhappy family and use humor to protect yourself?" Chuck asked bluntly.
"..." Chandler paused. "That's part of it. Another reason is that I idolize Deborah Vance. I think she's an amazing role model. Thank you so much, Chuck!"
"As long as you like it," Chuck nodded.
"Put it on and let's watch," everyone else urged, excited by his enthusiasm.
"Okay!" Chandler took out the videotape, put it in the VCR and played it. Everyone sat together to watch Deborah Vance's stand-up show.
At first, everyone was laughing.
Especially Chandler, who was laughing so hard he was doubling over, but gradually the room became quiet.
When the videotape ended, with everyone looking at him, Chandler raised his hand and gave himself a hard slap.
"Mr. Bing, don't do that," Chuck said calmly.
Seeing that Chuck didn't move but just offered advice with a strange form of address in an emotionless voice, everyone thought: "..."
(End of Chapter)
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