“So can you explain how he hit three targets almost simultaneously? I understand how Wagner’s men got shot; they were lined up.”
Opening a folder, Moore started thumbing through a stack of papers. “Yes, I talked to one of our firearm experts at Quantico,” he said and held up a photo of Joshua holding a rifle cradled in his arm next to a trophy. “This is a black powder Sharps, and Joshua won a match in eastern Montana seven years ago, hitting a twelve-by-twelve-inch target fourteen hundred yards away, three shots in a row.”
“That’s not a musket,” Wagner said pointing at the picture.
“No Wagner,” Moore droned. “It uses brass-cased bullets like our guns do, but they are loaded with black powder. If you look at Joshua’s belt, you will see the bullets this thing fires. They are forty-five caliber and almost three inches long.”
Laying down the photo, Moore pulled a map over and stood up. “Now, if Joshua was here,” he said pointing at the map and then moved his finger down a valley. “And the search team was here, that’s over fifteen hundred yards. Now, the Ranger said the Homeland and the other man were hit not even a second apart. Devin at Quantico said if Joshua would’ve shot the black powder first, he would’ve had almost three seconds to move behind another gun and shoot.
“This black powder rifle’s projectile would be airborne for over three seconds before impact. Now, if he rolled behind a modern rifle and fired, the bullets would almost impact simultaneously. Where the Sharps would take over three seconds, a modern bullet would cover the same ground in just over a second.”
Wagner snorted, “You’re suggesting he used two rifles, and one that’s based on a century and a half old technology?”
“Oh man, you’re going to give me a headache,” Moore mumbled putting his hands on his hips as he leaned back stretching his back. “I’m not suggesting shit, moron. I’m saying it’s a possible scenario on how he was able to do it.”
Taking a deep breath, Wagner started to stand up, but Griffey snapped his fingers. “Don’t,” Griffey growled. “You’ve already given me a headache Wagner. Make my headache worse and I’ll have you emptying the garbage cans.”
Wisely, Wagner sat down and Griffey gave a sigh, leaning back in his chair. “Moore, you really think Giles hasn’t got a chance?”
Walking around Griffey to a table in the back of the conference room that held refreshments and snacks, Moore grabbed a bottle of water. “No more than the teams we have out now.”
“Do you think he will hamper our current operation?”
Draining the bottle, Moore crushed it and tossed it in a garbage can. “No, but I can tell you, it will get you a lot of credit in Washington.”
“Who do you think suggested it?” Griffey mumbled. “Okay, he flies out with you tomorrow morning. Wagner, pick five men who can keep up with Giles and until the suspect is sighted, Giles is in charge.”
“Yes sir,” Wagner said jumping up with a grin and almost skipping out of the conference room.
When the door was shut, Griffey spun around in his chair and looked at Moore who was grabbing another bottle of water. “I didn’t order it, so don’t start.”
“Those two men are on one of Wagner’s special response team,” Moore said grabbing a plate and moving along the table, loading it with snacks.
“I don’t doubt you,” Griffey said staring at the plate that Moore was piling finger food on. “I can say, Wagner wasn’t acting independently. He was ordered to do it.”
Piling cubes of cheese on his plate, Moore froze. “Griffey, I hope you realize if the ones back in Washington try more stuff like that, you and I stand a very good chance of getting shot.”
Suddenly hungry, Griffey pushed out of the chair, heading for the table. “I told the director that, and he said we always take that risk.”
As Griffey grabbed a plate, Moore took his back to the table. “Griffey, the sheriff has photos and video of federal agents breaking into his house and swapping his wife’s medication, did you relay that?”
“Of course I did,” Griffey said piling food on his plate. “I was told the director almost passed out when he heard. I also informed him that several copies have been made and we don’t know the location of them.”
Winters reached over, taking several cubes of cheese off of Moore’s plate and he just looked at her. “Think they will try again?” Moore asked.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I’m surprised they tried it the first time,” Griffey said heading back to the conference table and dropping into his chair. “They didn’t give me that order because I would’ve refused. Now, don’t think I disagree with them, but it would’ve served no purpose and only made my job harder.”
Pushing his plate away, Moore rubbed his stomach, feeling his ulcer acting up. “You’re very sentimental, Griffey.”
“I’m a realist,” Griffey said shoving food in his mouth. “The sheriff will be dealt with in time. Surely, you know that.”
“Yeah, and that bothers me also,” Moore said with a sigh. “Where does it stop and how many the next time?” he mumbled.
Picking up a napkin, Griffey wiped his mouth. “Moore, you can speak like that around me, but I wouldn’t advise it around others. You may have powerful friends, but they will only protect you so far.”
“Griffey, I swore to uphold the law and I will until I die, but this behind the scenes play is dangerous. I understand the need for some of it, but not all.”
Turning from Moore, Griffey looked at Winters. “What you hear between Moore and I is protected information, understood? You will not repeat it or file it in any report.”
“Yes sir,” Winters nodded.
“Relax Griffey, Winters and I have been working together for ten years and I guarantee you, she’s heard worse,” Moore said grabbing his bottle of water.
“Sir, may I speak?” Winters asked looking at Griffey.
Waving his hand across the table, “By all means,” Griffey said.
“Sir, Wagner has twenty of his response team going to the ambush site, plus the five going with Giles. With our investigative team, we’re taking forty people. Can the investigative team arrive first to process the site? With that many people moving around, evidence is bound to get destroyed.”
“Sorry, but I already cut Wagner’s team once, be happy because he was going to take all forty of them,” Griffey said. “They can cover you as you process the site. Not to mention that I took his other team of forty away and put them on search teams. Wagner is a little upset that he lost two of his men at the sight.”
“Yes sir,” Winters said dejectedly.
Moore glanced over at her. “It’s not like we haven’t dealt with idiots in a crime scene before.”
“I know, but I get tired of it,” Winters sighed as Moore grinned.
“Me too.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Holding on to the chair he was strapped into, Moore looked out the rain-streaked window of the Blackhawk. The rolling mountains in the distance were shrouded in mist. Feeling the chopper bank and descend, Moore closed his eyes.
They were supposed to leave before dawn, but the weather had gotten worse and didn’t break till after 0800. There was still a light rain, but the winds had died down and lightening wasn’t bracketing the sky.
Five of the six Blackhawks assigned to them were being used to ferry the group out. They couldn’t take them to the site, but could land one chopper at a time in a clearing two miles away. The same clearing that the choppers had picked the survivors up from.
Thinking of the survivors, Moore opened his eyes and looked over at Leary. His eyes were clamped tight, his skin was pale and he was visibly trembling. When Leary was told he was returning to the site where they were attacked, he took his badge off and handed it to Wagner. Being the asshole that he was, Wagner told Leary he was going no matter if they had to handcuff him and drag him out.
“One minute,” the crew chief shouted, moving to the door on the right. Moore leaned over lookin
g out the window to see one Blackhawk already in the clearing. A shiver ran up his spine, seeing just how small the clearing really was.
When bodies quit pouring out, the chopper shot straight up and banked away as the chopper he was in dove toward the clearing. Seeing the ground getting close real fast, Moore tensed his body, but then he felt the chopper slow suddenly and gently descend as the crew chief pushed the door open.
“Everyone out!” he shouted waving them out.
Reaching down, Moore released his harness and followed the others out and turned around to see one of the special response team members dragging Leary from the chopper. The two were barely out before the chopper shot straight back up and another dove toward them.
“We need to move,” Winters said grabbing his arm and pulling him to the trees. “Those pilots are flying like they are in combat taking heavy fire.” Seeing a group ahead, Winters ran, pulling Moore behind her as the rotor wash from the chopper coming in almost knocked them down.
When they joined the group thirty yards inside the trees, Winters let go of his arm. “Sorry, but the way they were diving in and with how small that clearing is, I’m surprised they haven’t hit the trees with their rotors. One thing I do know is, get away from the landing area when a chopper is coming in fast.”
“Good advice, I’ll remember that,” Moore said adjusting his backpack, wishing they had that state park ranger again. When he’d called and requested it, he was informed that the governor had ordered them to not assist without his direct approval.
Moore really couldn’t blame the governor, there wasn’t a state agency in Idaho they hadn’t pissed off. The SWAT teams from Kansas and Nevada had been called back before they had even started searching. With the exception of a few police officers from California and Oregon, this operation was manned by federal employees.
As the last chopper sat down, he saw a man jump out, wearing a red jacket and carrying a black expedition backpack. “Winters, you tell Giles again that he stays in the back until I’ve looked the scene over,” Moore said.
“I don’t even like his show. Why do I have to talk to the jackass?”
Moore tightened the straps on his pack as the chopper shot straight up. “Because if he gives me any more lip, I swear to God, I’ll shoot his ass.”
Spinning around on her heel, “I’ll make sure the pompous ass speaks to you then,” Winters said walking away with a grin and a bouncing step.
A bird chirped in the forest and Moore heard movement and turned to see Leary aiming where the bird noise had come from. “Leary, you need to relax.”
Leary never acknowledged that he’d heard him as another bird chirped from the right and Leary swung his M4. Moore’s eye’s got huge as the muzzle swung across his face and Leary aimed over his left shoulder. Yanking his pistol out, Moore put it in Leary’s face.
“Take your hands off the weapon now,” Moore growled, swearing he’d seen the bullet down the barrel when Leary had swept his face with the gun barrel. “You have three seconds before I pull the trigger.”
Leary’s eyes rotated down to the pistol buried in his cheek. “He’s here and he’s going to kill us all,” Leary whimpered.
“You’re at two,” Moore said reaching up grabbing the forearm stock of the M4. “When I reach three, your head disappears.”
Slowly, Leary relaxed his grip, taking his hands off the M4. “I didn’t want to come,” Leary said with a breaking voice as Moore pulled the pistol out of his cheek. “I was supposed to be transferred out.”
“I didn’t make you but Leary, you swung that barrel across my face,” Moore said holstering his pistol and flipping the M4 on safe. “Give me your sidearm,” Moore said holding out his hand.
Pulling his Glock from his holster, Leary placed it in Moore’s hand. “Let me go back,” he begged. “If Mr. Anderson sees that I’ve come back into his forest, I’ll be the first to die.”
Slinging the M4 over his shoulder, Moore shook his head, ejecting the magazine from the Glock. “You give the man way too much credit.”
Looking around, Moore saw Schmidt who was over all the different tactical teams. When he’d found out Wagner was taking his ‘want to be commandos’, Moore had informed Schmidt that he was tagging along. “Schmidt,” Moore said waving him over and racking the slide of the Glock to extract the live round in the barrel.
Schmidt walked over sighing with relief, “Thank you Agent Moore,” he said stopping beside Leary. “I almost shot him when he took his weapon off safe when a squirrel ran up a tree.”
“Can you carry this?” Moore asked holding the Glock out. “I’ll carry the M4.”
“Yes sir,” Schmidt said taking the pistol and Moore turned to Leary.
“I’m sure you have a backup and it better stay out of sight unless you need it because if I see you pulling it and aiming at sounds again, you’re right, you’re going to die in these woods, but not by Joshua’s hand.”
Leary shook his head still trembling. “Leary,” Schmidt said putting the pistol in his cargo pocket. “A word of advice, relax. You make a mistake like that with those Homeland boys; they will kill you and make you disappear.”
Nodding, Leary took a deep breath stepping away. “I’ll watch him,” Schmidt said.
“No, you do your job watching for the suspect and making sure those idiots of Wagner’s don’t get us killed,” Moore said in a low voice. “Leary is a big boy.”
Grinning, Schmidt pulled his M4 off his shoulder. “Yes sir,” he said moving off into the woods.
“Oh shit,” Moore mumbled, seeing Giles storming over. Before he got too close, Moore raised his hand, stopping Giles. “I’m warning you, I’m in a pissy mood and if you make it worse, I swear to God, I’ll shoot you in the knee.”
“Agent Moore, I protest to being held in the back. I can’t track if I have forty people in front of me,” Giles said putting his hands on his hips.
“Idiot, we know where to go and I assure you, Joshua has already been there. Let me get a quick survey of the scene, then you can tromp your ass all over these mountains.”
“Now you listen, Agent Moore. I start filming season three in a month, so I have to find this Joshua fast. Unlike you, I have a real job and fans to answer to,” Giles snapped as Winters walked up behind him, trying not to laugh.
“Mr. Burton,” Wagner snapped, storming over and Giles jumped. “Did you hear what Agent Moore said? You will park your ass in the rear until told otherwise or I’ll make sure season three gets canceled.”
“You can’t do that,” Giles gasped stepping back.
Wagner gave an evil grin. “Oh, not only can I, but I can have the IRS crawl so far up your ass, they can clean your tonsils. By the end of the year, you’ll be lucky to be working at a car wash.”
Snapping his mouth shut, Giles spun around and walked away. Moore turned to look at Wagner and shook his head. Wagner was dressed in full tactical gear and it looked brand new. “Thanks,” Moore said looking away before he laughed. “Schmidt and I’ll lead with Winters, you arrange the others how you want them.”
“Copy,” Wagner said with a tense face and walked away, waving the group toward him.
“You know, I pulled a price tag off his tactical vest,” Winters said moving beside Moore and holding her hand out to show him a price tag laying in her palm. “He scares me holding a weapon almost as much as Leary did.”
“No,” Moore said pulling out a map and GPS unit. “Leary is scared. Wagner wants to be Rambo, so you stay close to Schmidt.”
“I’m a big girl,” Winters said stepping back. “Remember, I made it on the Hostage Rescue Team, but got bored just training all the time and came back to your team.”
Remembering that, Moore chuckled. “Yes you did, but these yo-yos with us are more of a danger to us than Joshua.”
From down the slope, Schmidt hissed and they turned to see him wave, telling them to come on. Nodding, Moore gave a soft whistle to get Wagner’s attention and pointed down the slo
pe and Wagner nodded.
With Schmidt leading the forty plus in single file, Moore glanced back at the long line and several crime scene techs carrying large fiberglass suitcases. “If Joshua ever wanted a big target, we are damn sure giving it to him,” Moore mumbled, turning around and following Schmidt.
Reaching the small valley, Schmidt held up his hand for the column to stop and pulled off his backpack. Watching with great interest, Moore chuckled seeing Schmidt extend out the base plate for a metal detector. “Smart,” he whispered.
“Sir, I have nightmares about that bear trap. I’m not a woodsman so I know I wouldn’t be able to spot one hidden, but fifty pounds of metal should make this thing go off,” Schmidt said turning it on.
“Don’t forget about the little traps, they killed three,” Moore said as Schmidt put his backpack on.
Shaking his head as he waved the metal detector in front of him, “Sorry sir, but those don’t make me wake up in a cold sweat,” Schmidt said slinging his M4 on his shoulder and Moore stepped up grabbing his arm.
“Let me do the sweeping,” Moore said grabbing the metal detector. “I’ve shot an M4 once so I’m sure you’re much better. Besides, this is a hobby of mine. I’ve been a metal detectorist for many years.”
Letting go of the metal detector, “Then by all means sir,” Schmidt said unslinging his rifle and holding it across his chest.
Moore looked at the detector and gave an impressed nod, it was a good one. Making a few adjustments, he walked ahead, slowly waving it back and forth. With all the ferns he really couldn’t see the ground, but was happy he didn’t have to fear about stepping in a trap.
Not even walking twenty yards, Moore stopped seeing a trail of beat down ferns. Following the trail up the valley with his eyes, “This is where they crawled out.”
“I’ll take it,” Schmidt said scanning the forest around them. “At least on that part that I can see the ground. These damn ferns give me the creeps walking through them.”
Not wanting to admit it, Moore just nodded because walking through the ferns petrified him. Joshua could literally be lying down twenty feet away and they would never know. Walking along the trail, the only sound came from the light rain, making the area seem more terrifying.
The Bonner Incident: Joshua's War Page 9
