by Sioux Dallas
Four officers volunteered and three were chosen. The fourth one was to pretend to be drinking heavily and sit in a bar talking about his good buddy, Ralph Blazer and how he was being railroaded. He was to pretend that Ralph had told him about some business he didn’t want to talk about. He was wired and also had a GPS on him.
The third day two men slid on stools on either side of the lawman, Jessee Bolling. He hoped someone was listening to his wire because he could see the expressions on their faces and knew he would be killed if they were the least bit suspicious.
Jessee pretended to be too drunk to hold his head up much. He had spilt alcohol on his shirt and had it on his hands. The men leaned close to him almost whispering. “Hey, pal. You know our friend, Ralph?”
“Ralph’s my good buddy,” he slurred his words.
“Really? What does your good buddy do?”
“Do? He don’t do nothing until he’s told to.” He pretended to laugh drunkenly.
The second man whispered, “Why don’t you come with us and we’ll talk about how to help your good buddy, Ralph.”
“Really? Whurwegoin?”
“Never mind. We’ll take good care of you.” They drove many miles and Jessee was praying the GPS was working. Since he was pretending to be drunk, he couldn’t look around as much as he would like to and see where they were.
Jessee had an idea to delay them and give his back-up time to catch up. “Stop car. I’m going to throw up.” They hurriedly pulled over and stopped. Jessee fell out of the car and crawled over to the side of the road trying hard to gag. He kept thinking of putting filthy items in his mouth until he finally did gag.
He grinned and staggered up. “Gotta go to the bathroom. Do you see a bathroom?”
“There’s none here. Why don’t you just go here since we’re all men. There’s no one else on the road.”
Jessee staggered around lowering his head pretending to try to focus his eyes. “Never could go in the open.” He felt a wave of relief when he saw three cars coming fast toward them. The cars went by but he recognized some of the men. He smiled to himself knowing they would wait out of sight and follow.
Jessee fell back in the car and fell over on the back seat. He wanted to be low in case there might be gun fire. They drove on to West Riverside to a palatial home set back from the road. Armed guards were at the gate to let them in and other guards were on the property. Jessee felt better knowing the GPS was keeping his fellow officers in touch but knew he would be searched when they entered the house. He was wrong. He was searched outside the house.
“Hey! Who is this man? He’s wired.” the guard searching him called out. Thankfully the GPS wasn’t discovered right then.
“Idiots. Why didn’t you search him before you first picked him up? “The two lawbreakers were scolded and knew they could easily be killed for being so careless. They began to beg for another chance. Before more could be said, a line of cars drove through the front gate. Apparently the two guards at the gate had been taken. The three cars that had been following them led four State Police cars in with flashing lights.
The guards tried to get inside the house but they were all pushing each other and trying to get in which created a bottle-neck and were easily taken.
The law enforcement officers entered the house and ask a very English sounding butler to inform the owner that they were there.
They looked up to see a voluptuous woman dressed like an Arabian princess come floating down a winding stairway. When they first stepped in the door they stepped on light blue marble with blue swirls which looked as if they were walking on water. The woman floated to the bottom and came toward them.
“Come in, gentlemen. I wasn’t expecting company. What can I do for you?”
Jessee stood with his mouth open. “Do you know who this woman is? She’s Irene Hough Stanley, sister of Senator Hough.”
Patrolman Charles Leonard nodded. “Yes, I knew who she was as soon as she started down the stairs. It’s clear now how the scums knew what was going on and what was planned. She’s been getting information from Senator Hough and passing it on.”
“What information? What are you talking about? Am I supposed to be in trouble for something?” She acted concerned and slightly frightened. After questioning her for almost an hour, the officers decided she was telling the truth.
“That leaves only two other people. It’s either her husband or her brother. I’m sending word for Senator Hough to be picked up immediately.” He turned toward Irene. “Where is your husband?”
“I don’t know. He looked out the bedroom window and saw the police cars coming in and ran down the back stairs. I imagine he’s out the back door and gone somewhere by now. What do you think he has done?”
“We can’t talk about that now. You’ll have to come with us. Would you like to change clothes?” She was plainly confused and hardly knew what to do.
“If I have to go somewhere I’ll certainly need to change.” Two of the officers went upstairs with her to wait in her room while she changed clothes in a huge walk-in closet.
The officers talked low among themselves. “I don’t think she’s guilty of anything except ignorance, but if we take her in, and the perp cares about her at all, he might come forward. She might have overheard something and thought nothing about it at the time. If we jog her memory she might have more information than she thinks she knows.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Sheriff Mercer was getting frustrated. They kept arresting two or three per week and were running out of room. He had to call in State Officers to help provide space.
Ginger was in awe of the fact that more of the men involved in the troubles on the ranches were being arrested. Every time she heard the news, she was overjoyed that more were arrested. However, these men were just the lackeys and not the men in charge. It was mind boggling that so many could be arrested and none of them seemed to know who was at the head.
Aretha called Ginger one day babbling with happiness. She had been dating Sheriff Deputy Jordon Oaks and he had asked her to consider being a permanent relationship. She had said she would receive an engagement ring possibly in March. Ginger was thrilled for her, but temporarily felt a little sad for herself that she was not even dating. She stayed too busy with the ranch and community.
Ginger had received a couple more threatening anonymous calls. She prayed that none of her workers or her property would be hurt or destroyed senselessly.
She was in St. Ignatius one day starting in a hardware store when a man’s deep voice spoke right over her shoulder. “Did you think you could get away from me?” She shrieked and jumped around ready to strike out and was weak with relief to see Steve Nighthorse, cousin to Adam Whitefeather.
“Steve, I should shoot you. You scared the breath out of me. I’ve had threatening phone calls and thought sure someone had caught me, but I should have known they wouldn’t strike in board daylight with so many witnesses.”
“Oh, Ginger. I’m so sorry. I’ve been trying to catch up with you for a long time to ask you out to dinner. I would love for us to get better acquainted, if you’re willing.”
“My goodness, Steve. You sure know how to cause a woman to go blank. I’ve been so busy with my property and helping others that I haven’t had time to think of myself.”
“Well? Would you be willing to get better acquainted? I’m willing to meet you more than half way. Is it okay if I drop by Sunday afternoon and visit? “
“Steve, any woman would be flattered to have you visiting. I can’t promise to be any kind of company because I’m constantly being pulled in many different directions.”
“I know. As you know I’ve been in the Army and was an MP. I’ve offered my services to our local and county police. I don’t want a job in law enforcement at the present time. I might in the future, but in the meantime I’m willing to be on call.”
“That’s great. I’m proud of you. As far as Sunday is concerned, I can’t think of anything that I
have to do, so if you want to visit, we’d be delighted to welcome you.”
“We?”
“Juanita is my housekeeper, but is like an older sister and I rely on her wisdom and caring for many things. She’ll be glad to see you, too.”
They parted after agreeing to a three o’clock visit. Ginger went on in the store smiling to herself and wondering if she could ever be interested in Steve other than a friend.
The next week, Deputy Sheriff Ivan Parker had just come off of a full night shift and was so tired he felt woozy. He had stopped in a restaurant to get a decent breakfast and then home for a shower and as many hours of sleep as he’d be allowed to get. It finally dawned on him that the men in the booth behind him were talking about something of interest.
“I don’t know why they expect us to do so much when none of us get full orders. Different ones are told to do different things and we never get together to make it effective.”
“Yeah. I heard about David Koresh being killed in Waco, Texas and we were going to do better. Then there was Weaver at Ruby Ridge in Idaho which led to that stupid McVeigh bombing that building in Oklahoma City. I didn’t like that because so many little children were killed.”
“Surely we can establish a compound somewhere without so much trouble. If our group isn’t causing damage for someone else, we’re being killed off and now the big wigs are throwing us to the wolves.”
“I know and I sure don’t want my women and children placed in danger. It’s a good thing that we never tell the women anything. They’d be crazy with worry and we might even lose them.”
“What do you mean, lose them?”
“Well, *%#*, they might walk off and leave us and take the children. I’m not sure Pastor Davis would let them go. He might even order us to kill them.”
“No way! I love my family and I’ll walk off and take them somewhere else before I would agree to that.”
Ivan was wide awake by now realizing that he was hearing important news that was probably connected to the trouble the ranchers had been having. He slowly slid out of his booth and carefully didn’t look at the men for fear they would suspect he had heard them. He made his way leisurely to the counter and paid for his breakfast, calling a pleasant greeting to the cook. He then went out and to his car.
He quickly looked back to be certain he could not be seen from where the men were sitting. He radioed in to Sheriff Mercer and filled him in. He asked for backup immediately before the men left and would be lost to them.
Sheriff Mercer was elated and sent out an order for all deputies, on and off duty, to report to the restaurant and meet Parker. He also notified the State Police knowing he would need a lot of assistance.
Ivan Parker was getting nervous for fear the unknown men would leave before backup could arrive. He was relieved to see law men in civilian clothes gathering. State Police joined them but parked far off to the side and stayed on the fringes. Ivan was not the highest in command, but because he knew what was going on, the officers waited to hear what he suggested.
“There are too many civilians in there and innocent people could get hurt. I suggest that we stay as much out of sight as we can and wait for them to come out. They can be arrested here in the parking lot.” Ivan was excited but making intelligent suggestions.
One officer spoke, “Why don’t we let them get in their cars and follow them? They might lead us to someone else.”
“No,” a State patrolman spoke sharply. “They’re here where we can pick them up. If we hold back they could be alerted and escape us. They’d then give warning to others and they’d disappear before we could find them.”
“Yes,” Ivan broke in, “let’s take them while we can. Quiet, here they come.” he lowered his voice. ’See the five men coming out the door? Get ready and take them as they go to their cars. Two are going over there under that sign and three are coming this way. You three State men catch the two going over there and the rest of us will take the three coming this way.”
The arrests were made so quickly and smoothly that the people in the restaurant probably weren’t even aware of what had gone down. The men, who were arrested, were handcuffed and placed in separate cars. Other officers drove the men’s cars to the county jail and left them in the parking lot.
Deputy Parker had been up without sleep for fifteen hours but didn’t even feel tired any longer. His adrenaline was jooming so high that he was giddy with his excitement.
It took several days for the five men to tell all they knew. They first asked that their families be told where they were but not why. They explained that none of the women knew what they had been doing.
State Police Lieutenant Carson Whitt was shocked to hear that the purpose in harassing the ranchers was to force them to sell or leave their property so the cult could establish their own form of town.
“We were promised that we could have the houses and establish our own town,” Kilmer Breaker told them. Curt Massey, Ian Sterling, Stefan Greer and Ryan Whitten all told the same story in separate rooms. Neither knew what the others were telling so the officers knew this was the truth they were hearing. A plan had been for a compound such as had been in Waco to be established in Lake County, Montana.
All of the officers were angry enough due to the harassment of the ranchers, but they were furious when they learned that a group of misfits had wanted to take over a major part of their county. They were calling themselves Freedom Fighters and were trying to establish a country separate from the United States.
Ginger could hardly believe what she was being told. “Why would anyone want to not be a part of America and yet live in it? Why don’t they just go to another country that would welcome them?”
“Ginger,” Sheriff Mercer explained, “since the beginning of time and will be until the end of time, there’ll be misguided people trying to tear our country apart and cause problems of all kinds.”
James was beyond furious because he felt that the stress of the attacks had caused his father to be worse and kept his mother so disturbed that she was helpless to care for herself. The ranch would have been his inheritance anyway, but he hated to gain it in this manner. He loved the parents that were really his grandparents. He had yet to make contact with his mother.
On Sunday James decided to visit Ginger and discuss what they had learned. Much to his chagrin, he found Steve Nighthorse laughing and seeming to feel very much at home. James couldn’t understand his feelings about this, but knew he was displeased. He stubbornly sat and would not leave until Steve finally gave up and left. James was wondering why he got so angry when Steve kissed Ginger’s cheek and said he’d be in touch.
Ginger had no idea of James’ feelings and had no deep feelings for Steve, so she was an innocent person in the triangle. She was “on top of the world” thinking all the problems were now over for the ranchers. She hadn’t thought it through that the so called head of the organization had yet to be found.
In time Raymond Horton and Ralph Martin were picked up and gave enough information that Patrick Elwood was arrested. He seemed to be the one giving orders. It took two weeks before he broke and admitted that a man calling himself a minister was the actual head of the organization.
Pastor Davis Williams had hoped to establish a compound with himself as head. The men could be married as many times as they could support families, but he would not marry. Instead any of the women that he saw would be his for the taking. He had already claimed the right to young virgins even as young as eleven. He would not marry them and be responsible for their care; just for his own type of pleasure.
They had made Ginger’s ranch their target. They thought because she was a young girl responsible for a huge ranch, that she’d get frightened and be willing to sell at a reasonable price. The attacks on the other ranchers were for the purpose of adding stress to her.
She could hardly believe that she knew none of these men or their purpose and yet they’d made life miserable for her, even killing her hands.
She was almost in tears when she asked Sheriff Mercer why men would have these thoughts and actions.
He looked lovingly at her because she was like a daughter to him. “No one can destroy evil. It’s a part of life since the Garden of Eden and will be until the end of time. It will always make itself felt and that’s what we’ve been fighting. All of you banded together and helped each other. You didn’t give in to the evil. When good people do nothing, evil prevails.”
Senator Hough was appalled to learn that his brother-in-law was passing information to the law breakers. He felt he should resign, but everyone convinced him that he had nothing to do with Stanley’s decisions. He was happy and relieved to learn that his sister had no connection with the crimes. She moved back to Virginia where no one knew about her husband.
The trials went on for what seemed to be forever. Aretha kept Ginger informed as much as she could. Ginger was hurt to find that Andy had disappeared with no word to anyone. It appeared that he had been a fountain of news for this group. As far as she knew, Andy had never been involved in any of the attacks.
James drug over one day to visit with Ginger. He had worried so much and was so busy that he was under a lot of stress. Ginger met him at the door upset because he looked so worn out. “James, I swear, you look like ten miles of a bad road. What have you been doing?”
“Ginger, I’m heartbroken. Mother, or rather my Grandmother, has been in so much grief after her husband’s death, that she’s given up trying to live. I have to force her to eat and she walks the floor most nights. I think she’s trying to die.”
“Oh, I hope not. Do you have any relatives that can help with her?”
“Dad’s, or rather Grandfather’s, sister probably would help but mom doesn’t want me to talk to anyone about her.”
“You’re going to have to. Ask the priest to talk to her for you.”
“She would be so hurt and angry if she knew I’d told anyone else. She must not know that I’ve talked to you even though she loves you.”
