The Bonner Incident: Joshua's War

by Thomas A. Watson

  Watching Buck drink the glass of water, Moore nodded and stood up. “Yes I do, sheriff, but you must understand, they won’t be pushed and don’t deal well with threats.”

  Seeing Winters stand up, Buck smiled. “Leaving so soon?”

  “I’ll see that your message is delivered,” Moore said sliding his chair under the table.

  “I haven’t said the meeting was over,” Buck snapped standing up. “You know who those two are. Tell me who they are and I’ll tell you the easiest way for you to catch Joshua.”

  Dropping her hand to her pistol, “We are federal agents and yo-,” she stopped as Moore put a hand on her shoulder.

  “Yes, I have seen them before sheriff. They came in with Homeland Agent Wagner. They are on his special response team,” Moore said in a low voice looking at Buck’s face, but didn’t see a reaction. “You already knew.”

  “Yes, I just wanted to see where your loyalties lie Moore, and it’s not to the oath you swore to uphold,” Buck said. “But a deal is a deal. You want to catch Joshua, pull all of your men out of the field and keep them close to your command area. You won’t even have to leave.”

  Letting her pistol go, Winters looked at Moore in shock, then turned to Buck. “Then how the hell are we going to catch him if we’re not searching for him?”

  Buck looked at her with no remorse. “You can catch him when he comes down out of the mountains to kill you. I warned Moore the last time we spoke that Joshua is at war. The monster you created is coming after you. Your only chance to catch him is to hold up and wait.”

  “Why are you even trying to help us?” Moore asked.

  Giving a shrug as he scooted his chair under the table, “You won’t do it because it will make you look weak,” Buck said with a hint of a grin. “That little bear trap was just the first. He now knows how to take you apart, and take you apart he will.”

  Giving a nod as he turned for the door, “Sheriff, I will let them know to leave your wife alone, but I’m sure you know, I don’t carry much weight,” Moore said as Winters followed behind him.

  When they got into the SUV, Moore sped out of the parking lot onto the road. Winters looked over at him as he weaved through traffic. “You think his idea would work?”

  “Yes,” Moore snorted. “Joshua isn’t evading capture, Winters. He’s fighting.”

  ***

  Joshua was sitting in a draw, crushing mushrooms up. His first wife, Mary had loved collecting wild plants and had taught Joshua about them because he went with her to collect them. Having learned from her mother and grandmother, Mary taught him about mosses, mushrooms and plants. Which were edible, which could be used as medicine, but the first thing she’d taught him were the ones that were deadly. Not to kill, but so he wouldn’t pick them up when they went collecting.

  It had taken him a little while, but he’d found the first of what he was looking for. The destroying angel mushroom, one of the deadliest in America, even cooking it didn’t break down the poison. When Mary had first taught him when they were still in high school, Joshua had been beyond nervous. Three weeks before Mary died, they had gone collecting and Joshua had still made her double-check what he’d gathered.

  Another mushroom he was crushing down into a paste was the brain mushroom. It wasn’t as deadly as the destroying angel, but he could get more juice from them. The destroying angel showed symptoms after ingestion within five to twelve hours but by then, the damage was already done. Some Native American tribes had even used it on arrows when they went to war. And this is how Joshua intended to use it.

  When the metal cup he was using was half full of a nasty-looking paste, Joshua dug out some two-inch-long wood screws he’d picked up in Spokane. Grabbing some latex gloves he’d also bought, he packed the paste in the thick grooves of the screws and set them aside.

  Grabbing the Conibear traps and some thin wire, he wired three screws to each side of the box trap. “This gives a whole new meaning to a ‘dangerous trap’,” he mumbled setting the first trap to the side.

  When he was done, he looked at the eighteen traps. “Now, it’s time to find a spot to place them,” he said pulling out his map and checking the locations of the teams that were out.

  ***

  Turning up Highway 57, Moore pressed on the gas making the big engine roar. “How did the sheriff even find out about someone going after his wife?” Winters asked looking out the window. “I’m just wondering, it’s wrong and they should be punished, but this is Bonner County, Idaho. He’s just a small-town sheriff.”

  “Minutemen,” Moore said with a sigh.

  Glancing over, Winters scoffed. “They aren’t real. I dated an agent in Homeland a few years ago and he was on the Home Front Task Force, investigating all groups that posed threats to the government. I looked through them a few times to develop profiles of the groups that he asked me to do as a favor. There were the separatist groups, tea party, veterans, Christians and a whole slew of others. The only report on the Minutemen said ‘Unsubstantiated, Rumor only’.”

  Slowing to the speed limit, Moore glanced out of the corner of his eye over at Winters. “They don’t want to be in the limelight,” he said. “But I’ve found traces a few times and even did some digging on my own. Three years ago, I found a confidential informant who used to be a part of them.”

  “He didn’t pay his membership dues?”

  Snorting, Moore shook his head. “No, he was kicked out for domestic violence. He beat his wife one night after he got drunk and was thrown out.”

  “It’s not like you to take the word of a single informant.”

  “He verified a lot of what I’d dug up.”

  Looking back out the window, “Well, Homeland would love to talk to him if he has information on the Minutemen,” Winters said.

  “He’s dead,” Moore said and Winters whipped her head around, locking her eyes on him in shock. “No, they didn’t kill him, he committed suicide in front of a video camera, so don’t let your imagination run wild.”

  Still in shock, Winters looked out the front window. “You think it was suggested to him?”

  “I’m sure it was,” Moore sighed. “It was two weeks after he’d talked to me.” Propping one arm on the steering wheel and resting his other on the door, Moore looked over at her. “A week later, I found a note on my kitchen table. ‘Information can be deadly’ was all that was written on it.”

  “Holy shit,” Winters mumbled and then looked over at him. “You think they are a black government group?”

  Shaking his head, because a ‘Black’ group was a department or agency of the government that didn’t exist on paper but damn sure existed in real life. “No, they are outside of the government,” he mumbled.

  “Well, what did you find out?”

  Taking his eyes off the road, Moore looked over at Winters and saw her intent stare. Turning back to the road, he slowed down and pulled over. “Get out if you want to know,” he said opening his door. Winters watched him climb out and shut the door before turning around to look at her.

  When she got out and walked around the SUV, she stopped, seeing Moore walk down into the ditch and into the trees beside the road. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said trying not to grin and followed him. Stopping beside a massive tree, Moore turned around as she walked up. “Paranoid much?” she asked shaking her head.

  “You know me better than that.”

  “Moore, we worked ViCAP for six years and how many threats did we get? And you’re freaking out over a letter?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

  Remembering them working together in Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, Moore raised his eyebrows. “Minutemen don’t threaten Winters. They make statements. Now, do you want to know? If I tell you, you keep this to yourself because they work awful hard to remain secret.”

  “If you’re that paranoid, why are you even telling me? I could be one,” she chuckled then noticed Moore’s face was serious. “I’m not,” she said qui
ckly.

  “Oh, I know you’re not. You don’t fit the profile.”

  “Okay then, so tell me,” she said leaning back against the tree.

  Taking a deep breath, Moore nodded. “The Minutemen follow the Constitution and Bill of Rights laid out by the Founding Fathers. That is their only law. It started small in the early seventies with gun legislation picking up. But right after Waco and Ruby Ridge, they grew and from what I’ve pieced together, they are nationwide now. Now don’t think there are a lot of them, by my best estimates, there are only a few thousand.”

  “So, they are like the Oath Keepers?” Winters asked.

  “Think Oath Keepers on steroids,” Moore said. “They don’t run around in the woods practicing shooting together to overthrow the government, in fact, they rarely come together at all. And the only ones that do come together are home groups. The informant I talked to was in a group in Georgia and the entire group never met all together at one time. Only the top two leaders of any one group know of other groups and they only know the leaders of those groups, not anyone else.”

  Winters held up her hand, “Hold on, how can they be effective if they are splintered apart that much?”

  “You weren’t listening; the leaders only know a few leaders from other nearby groups. Those groups’ leaders will know other groups that the first one doesn’t. Just like the first group will know of groups that they don’t. One tells the groups they know, and they repeat it to other groups. That way, the entire organization knows, yet one group doesn’t know more than one or two other groups of Minutemen.”

  Seeing the shock spread on Winters' face, Moore grinned. “Now you’re getting the picture. But it gets even better. They have members in many departments of the government. My informant, he was in the CIA.”

  “Just how in the hell did you get him to talk to you?”

  Looking back toward the road, “I told him I could get the charges dropped and I did, but I also had to swear to never make a report of what he’d told me,” Moore said in a low voice. “Minutemen don’t tolerate criminals in their ranks and my informant was hoping to get back in with them. Somehow, they found out he’d talked to me. I don’t know how because you’re the first person I’ve ever told.”

  Pushing off the tree, “How in the hell did you even find out the informant was associated with them?”

  “That, I won’t tell you,” Moore said turning to look at her. “Let’s just say a few people pointed me in the right direction.” Winters gave a halfhearted nod and Moore continued. “My informant was high up in his group. Everyone in each group has a rank, but nobody is ranked higher than a colonel. A colonel is over one group. My informant was a major and he’d met with the leaders of two other groups. Now before you ask, he never told me who or even where they were located.”

  Narrowing her eyes, “This seems like a load of shit,” Winters said.

  “I’m just telling you what I learned. You take it, however, you want it.”

  “So, they don’t want to overthrow the government?”

  Moore looked at her with a tense face as he nodded. “Yes, they do.”

  “Well, they are a threat to the standing government.”

  “I didn’t say they weren’t, but the Minutemen have members in many organizations. My informant said members in his own group were in the FBI, NSA and the military. They know how we operate because they are inside.”

  Feeling lightheaded, Winters sat down. “So they are actively serving the government they want to overthrow?”

  “No, they are spying from the inside,” Moore corrected. “My informant kept repeating a quote. ‘9/11 was a success. The day we changed one law limiting freedom, the terrorists won’.”

  “Humph,” Winters huffed. “They don’t think 9/11 was a plot like some of the other kooks?”

  “I didn’t say that,” Moore said. “They believe in the Founding Fathers and see the taking of liberties as an act of war on those documents they consider sacred.”

  “But they’re breaking laws set forth by the elected body.”

  Holding up his index finger, “Ah, but laws that go against the Constitution,” Moore said. “Laws they consider unjust and immoral to the freedoms that America was founded on.”

  Winters cocked her head to the side. “You sound like you believe that.”

  “No, the elected body wrote those laws and I’m bound by my oath to enforce them,” Moore said.

  “So, the Minutemen are real?”

  “Yes,” Moore nodded. “And that’s who’s guarding Joshua’s house.”

  Jumping up, “Well, we need to let the others know,” Winters said brushing her pants off.

  “No, if they figure it out, it will be on their own,” Moore said reaching out putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure with so many agents at the command area now; one of them will be a Minuteman or at least, a sympathizer. They have more sympathizers than members. One thing my informant made very clear, Minutemen will kill to keep their secret. Minutemen know if they lose their anonymity, they can be destroyed.”

  “Oh, that’s hypocritical,” Winters snapped. “So, if a housewife finds out about them, they kill her?”

  “Samantha,” Moore said, calling her by her first name which he rarely did and it startled her. “First, a housewife wouldn’t find out about them. They keep their secret very well. I would be surprised if even those at Joshua’s house knew who was protecting them. I’m sure they think it’s just volunteer deputies that don’t want us to know who they are. Second, they won’t kill an innocent.”

  “Well, from the way you talk, they will kill a government agent and they are innocent.”

  “No, they see them as defying the oath they took to defend the Constitution and are viewed as the enemy,” Moore explained.

  “Okay, let’s just say we have a Minuteman in our command area, they have to know that Joshua might kill them. So, they are just willing to take that chance?”

  Shrugging with a slight nod, “Yes, but I don’t see a Minuteman as one of those in the field, actively enforcing the ideals they so vehemently oppose. I believe a Minuteman would be one in the command area. But let’s say one has already died because Joshua did kill almost five hundred in that explosion. The other Minutemen wouldn’t view that as hostile. They would see it as an unfortunate casualty because Joshua is fighting for what they believe in.”

  “Lunatics,” Winters huffed. “So did your informant tell you how you could join the club? There has to be a way they recognize each other.”

  “You’re asked after they watch you for a long time,” Moore said. “And I’ve already told you, they only know the ones in their group and only the upper leaders know of other groups.” Looking off, Winters thought about what Moore had told her.

  “Did you ever write this up in a report, in case something happens to you?” she finally asked. “It may be in your best interest, if you think they are that well organized.”

  “Hell, no,” Moore snapped. “I’m not giving them a reason to single me out. I’m sure some have checked up on me since that time, even though I’ve put up safeguards and never found out for sure.”

  “I think you should.”

  “No, and you won’t either,” Moore told her with a little anxiety in his voice. “I’ve never gone after them. Until now, you and I have always gone after criminals that the Minutemen viewed as dangers to society. Rapists, terrorists, serial killers and the like.”

  Holding up her hands, “Okay, I’ll keep my mouth shut,” Winters said looking around. “Since I’m in the woods and I need to pee, go back to the truck and wait. I don’t think I can hold it till we get to the command area.”

  Laughing, Moore walked off, heading for the truck as Winters undid her pants and ducked behind the tree when Moore climbed in the SUV. “That son of a bitch told you more than we thought he did,” she mumbled squatting down. Feeling drops of water hit her, Winters looked up as it started to drizzle.

  Buckling her pants
as she stood up, “For your own sake, Moore. I hope you continue to avoid us,” she said and trotted to the SUV.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Park Ranger Leary took his hat off and looked up at the overcast morning sky. It had rained for the last seven days and looked like it had no intentions of stopping. Putting his hat back on, he looked ahead at the two men leading his search group to wade through the tall ferns. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the rest of the group looking at him.

  Grabbing the M4 across his chest, Leary took a deep breath and continued down the narrow valley that they were following. Remembering the call for help they’d listened to in the command area four days ago about the agent who’d stepped in the bear trap, Leary once again entertained the idea of just quitting.

  He was a Park Ranger from Oklahoma and had been told to report to Idaho ten days ago. Looking at the landscape around him, Leary was trying to figure out how he was supposed to be the expert. Every time the group stopped to look at something, they would turn to him for an explanation. More than once he had told the entire group, “Idaho isn’t Oklahoma, I don’t know.”

  Adjusting his backpack, Leary looked down at his feet and at the small game trail they were following. The forest floor was spongy and unless someone was in a tank, you weren’t following tracks. He looked up and you couldn’t see the trail they were on with all the ferns in the area. The only way you knew where the trail was were that the ferns were a little more spaced out, but their branches still covered the trail.

  A metal ‘Snap!’ sounded in front of Leary followed by a spine-tingling scream and he dropped to his knee, bringing up his rifle. He knew that was the sound of a metal game trap. Looking ahead, he only saw one of the two people who had been in front of him, but saw a bunch of ferns moving. Standing up, he saw the man in front of him kneel down where the ferns were moving.

  Watching the ground, he moved up and saw the point man holding his leg as the other man pried open the jaws of a metal Conibear trap. The man trying to pry the trap open stood up, shaking his head. “It has screws for teeth,” he said. “I need to find something to pry it open with. One of the screws is embedded in his bone.”