THE MOMENT
"...and unfortunately, we show no such records," Drew was nervous about being in Alicia's presence, but not because she was a vampire. In general, he'd always struggled around women he considered attractive, and she easily fit that mold. She had alabaster skin worthy of an undead doll, with long, flowing, straight black hair, and enchanting crimson eyes. It was a shame she wasn't more dangerous.
Drew worked directly for the I.R.S., and he was occasionally sent out to deal with the more civilized creatures of the night. Alicia had been scouted by the government's monster hunters and determined to be non-hostile, which cleared her for Drew's visit. He even had the luxury of making an appointment with her in advance. Now, on the appointed day, he'd explained that the government had no indication she'd ever paid taxes, which was all the more concerning as a business owner. The main reason she was deemed approachable was that she ran a hotel for other monsters. The United States wasn't going to let her get away with that without its fair share.
"Of course you don't," Alicia smiled and shook her head. "I've no interest in participating in your government's games; it's none of my concern."
"I'm afraid that's not an acceptable position," Drew said. It helped that her apparent attitude made her considerably more unattractive to him. As briefly infatuated as he was, he took his duties and citizenship seriously. The idea that anyone could exist without contributing to the collective society insulted every one of his sensibilities.
"How so?" Alicia asked with a smile. "Rather, how exactly would you enforce... anything? Not only do you have no record of taxes paid, but you also shouldn't have any financial records whatsoever," she added. "None of my funds ever passed through any banks you'd be familiar with. There are no assets to be frozen, nor counted to determine what might be owed. Your government sent out a vampire hunter to track down vampires who haven't paid taxes... in the vague hope that you could start that relationship?" she asked. "If I were participating in the economy at all, it'd be much easier to find me, I'd imagine."
"You're on our land!" Drew answered. No one got a free ride, even if they didn't 'participate'.
"Am I?" Alicia asked. "Is that how that works?"
"This is our jurisdiction," Drew nodded. It was slightly more nuanced than that, but he was confident his point was made.
"I see..," she smiled at him with genuine, practiced warmth. She was a public-facing owner of a hotel after all; though it was a detail not currently in Drew's mind. "...please, give me a moment," she stood from behind the desk and walked out of the office.
Drew turned to watch her leave, then took the time to admire the office. She'd agreed to meet him during the day, so the office had no windows. It was the size of a large bedroom, about 15' x 15' he guessed, with black walls which left him unsure of his appraisal. The office felt spacious but looked small, and she had a minimal cherry wood desk with no computer monitor visible. In fact, on a second look around, he didn't see any electronic devices, and wondered if it was an intentional decision. She had a large framed picture of a young vampire boy with rainbow hair as the only decoration in the otherwise sparse room.
He killed about 20 minutes before she came back in. He'd run out of things to look at in that time, and his mind was starting to wander into paranoia. She was a vampire, and maybe she was plotting something sinister while he waited obliviously.
"Anything yet?" she asked as she slid back into the highback leather chair behind the desk.
"Huh?" he asked. "You asked me to wait...," was she forgetful? She sighed, but maintained a pleasant smile.
"And here I thought that was enough time. Your government's quite inefficient, isn't it?" she asked with a giggle.
"What are you -," his question was interrupted by his phone ringing. Alicia nodded permission at him, and he was surprised to see it was his boss calling.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Drop it," the older man replied instantly. "Go ahead and take the rest of the day off and come back tomorrow to start work on the next batch," he said. "She's untouchable, leave it at that," he added before hanging up to avoid any questions.
"What did you do...?" Drew asked. He doubted she'd tell him, but he needed to voice the thought as he processed the sudden whiplash.
"Well, you reminded me about how that sort of thing actually works," Alicia winked at him. "If we were to get really technical, your government is actually in my jurisdiction. I was operating here long before the 'United States' existed. I simply sent one of my loyal employees to remind your President how graceful I've been about it."