The Bonner Incident: Joshua's War

by Thomas A. Watson

  Letting out a chuckle, Griffey leaned over the table. “You think Joshua could spot a drone with binoculars four miles in the air?”

  “For the resolution we need, the drone would have to be somewhat lower, but to answer your question, yes, I do.”

  “I think you give this man too much credit,” Griffey said.

  “Oh, like blowing up an entire command area, wiping whole teams out that we still can’t find, or ambushing teams at will, need I go on?”

  “What’s your recommendation?”

  “Let Schmidt set up with another man under the porch of the cabin for a week,” Moore said.

  “As you pointed out to me, they will have to shit,” Griffey said.

  “I know Schmidt. He won’t move from under that porch.”

  “When do you think Joshua will show up? Your best guess, of course.”

  “I’m sure he’s heading there now,” Moore said. “That’s the problem, I’m certain he’s baiting a trap for us to come in.”

  Griffey nodded and looked back at the screen showing Joshua’s cabin. “When he is spotted, we launch a full assault.”

  “I’ll handle it personally sir,” Wagner grinned as a knock sounded at the door.

  Letting out a groan, Griffey looked over at Moore. “I really hate the news they bring when they interrupt a meeting,” he said then looked at the door, “Enter.”

  An older man walked in carrying a laptop. “Agent Griffey, sir, you need to see this,” he said walking around the table. “It went up an hour ago on several alternative news sites but now, even Fox is broadcasting it.”

  “Well, what is it, Agent Collins?” Griffey asked as the man set his laptop in front of Griffey.

  “A message from the fugitive and recordings of the ambushes,” Collins said glumly. “The news sites are getting ten thousand hits an hour and that number is rising.”

  “Oh, shit,” Moore said getting up and moving behind Griffey as Collins tapped the keyboard.

  On the screen, Moore saw a face he recognized instantly, Joshua. He was wearing hunting clothes with his beard touching his chest and sitting on a camping chair in front of a camouflaged tarp. “No time stamp,” Moore said looking at the paused image.

  Pushing Collins hands away, Griffey tapped play. “I really hate this man,” Griffey mumbled while the video that Joshua had made when he’d first reached his dugout played.

  “Hello, my name is Joshua Anderson. All I’ve ever wanted in life was to provide for my family doing honest work. I’ve always followed the law until the law, and when I say law, I mean the federal government, came after me. What was my crime? I owned a small business that they wanted. You ask why a small business? Well, I don’t have lawyers or politicians that I can call to tell them to back off. They wanted my assets.”

  “I’ll be honest, I would’ve given them my business and fought them in court, knowing I would lose. They have lawyers and don’t have to worry about court costs while the rest of America does have to worry about paying lawyers, having to shut down their business with no money coming in. I’ve watched it all my life. The government will outspend us, using our money. You ever wonder why the government agencies charge people with so many criminal charges? I’ll help you, they want you to settle and plea bargain out and they know you will because they can afford to charge you with a hundred little things. Ask any lawyer and they will tell you that fighting all those charges will be very expensive.

  “Even if you’re innocent or justified, unless you have a legal team, your lawyer may not be able to answer and convince a jury on all of the charges. I’ve seen it, heard firsthand accounts, and I’ve read stories on this. They have lawyers to put on each charge while we, the citizens, will be lucky to afford one. Now, I know some will say, ‘the government has to provide legal counsel’. You’re right, they do, in the singular. One lawyer is only human and can only do so much.”

  Joshua paused staring at the camera and Moore could only read his eyes since his face was hidden behind the beard. “I’m here to tell you, I still would’ve taken that route,” he said in a solemn voice and paused again. “Because, I would still be with my family.”

  Taking a deep breath, Joshua stared at the camera not blinking. “For reasons I don’t know, the government officials and the state trooper who came to my job site were going to kill me. I’ve had problems with the trooper before and there was even a report filed, along with two phone calls to his superiors over the last four years. The government men, I’ve never crossed in my life and I was unarmed when they pulled their sidearms on me. All any of the government services ever said was, they were taking my business and would find violations to justify it. Not look and see if I had violations, they said they would find them. On that fateful day, they instructed me to get my contract which I did and they pulled weapons. I knew then, I was dead.

  “I threw the contract at the state trooper, and God was with me because all of them turned to watch the contract hit him in the chest and I dove in the truck and grabbed my own pistol. As you can see, I’m here and they aren’t. Do I feel bad? No, not in the least.

  “They were going to kill me and I’m sorry, but I’ve seen the government kill here before and never get charged. I wanted to live to grow old with my wife and see my son grow up, so I fought back. Granted, it was reflex, but I fought back.

  “I know I’ve done other things since that day, but that’s what pushed me too far. They were going to kill me, take my business and all my assets. They were going to kill me for money.”

  Still looking at the camera, Joshua leaned forward, staring at the camera hard. “I’m no soldier, but they are learning you don’t have to be. I just want to be left alone and live my life. To all my friends and the people I know, please don’t give them a reason to come after you by trying to help me. I don’t want any person to have to live like I am now. Not out here in the forest fighting, but without your family.”

  “To the government, I will stop, if you publicly announce that you will drop all federal charges and let the state prosecute me. I’ll turn myself in to the sheriff. But I know you won’t because you know that my peers know you were wrong and I was justified.”

  “To my wife and son, I’m sorry this happened and if I could change it, I would. I didn’t start this incident here in Bonner County. But I can guarantee you, I will see it through until I die or they get tired of sending people out here to get killed.

  “To my friends, thank you for your vocal support but be wary even of that, because they would love nothing better than to go after you, just to hurt me. Luckily, I have friends watching my family. I can attack anywhere as you have seen and if my family is hurt or inconvenienced in any way, I’m coming after you and your bosses’ families. Trust me, I can find them,” Joshua smiled, but the only way you could tell it was his eyes and his beard moved.

  “I must leave now because a search team is close and I’m not going to hide. As you can see, I’m fighting. Not by my choice, I’m fighting because this is the only option the government, our government has given me. I’m not going to hide and avoid capture, or lie down and die.

  “I’m making this video for those men and women coming out looking for me. When I see you, I will kill you. Some of you say you want to arrest me, well, I know different. Even if I was arrested, I would never see a trial. Hell, the FBI, BATFE and Homeland have killed suspects in handcuffs with gunfire and there weren’t even letters of reprimands. Those same agencies have killed American women and children on numerous occasions and have never been charged. So, when I see you government agents out here, I will kill you. You have a choice, quit and live or stay and die.

  “But some will say, ‘I’m only doing my job, I have a family to provide for’,” Joshua mocked raising octaves of his voice. “Well, so do I, and any human knows that what you’re being ordered to do is wrong. I hope your families convince you of this and you quit because I have no qualms when squeezing the trigger. I’ll be honest, I don’t want to
because I am human. I just want to be left in peace.”

  Slowly Joshua stood, “It’s not politically correct and they’ll probably throw another charge on, but thank you and God Bless America. Not this new one where votes are bought, but the America I grew up in where all men were equal,” he said and walked to the camera and the screen went blank.

  Moore stumbled back into a table. “Oh, shit,” he mumbled with wide eyes as Griffey watched Collins lean over, tapping buttons. The screen showed a thermal image of men riding horses and jerked. The man riding the first horse fought to hold on as his horse reared up. The image jerked again as the last man fell out of his saddle and the horse fell down a ravine.

  “Shit,” Winters droned out as Joshua moved the crosshairs from one to the next. When all were gone the screen went blank, showing another attack Joshua had done and what he’d pulled off the bodies. It didn’t show the bodies, just the equipment; the machine guns, radios, ammunition and explosives.

  When all the attacks were done the screen went blank and Collins reached over, tapping the screen again. “Agent Collins, you said this is on more than one site?” Griffey asked with a quivering voice.

  “Yes sir. I’m told Justice has tried to shut them down and the NSA crashed a site, but too many people have copies now and are sending it to everyone,” he said closing his laptop and picking it up.

  “Thank you Collins,” Griffey said waving him away.

  When Collins had left, Griffey spun around, finding Moore backed up to a table looking at the floor and panting. “Worst case scenario?” he asked and Moore slowly looked up at him.

  “We are about to be in a war,” Moore said with wide eyes staring again at the floor. “Men not out searching, need to stay inside the compound.”

  “How long you think we have?” Griffey sighed, pulling out a medicine bottle and shaking some pills out.

  Moore didn’t look up and Winters cleared her throat. He looked at her and then turned to Griffey. “Until it starts and when it does, it won’t stop,” he said in a low voice.

  “If we capture or kill Joshua, do you think others will try to copy him?”

  Taking a deep breath, Moore pushed off the table. “We have to do it soon and get word out fast,” he said.

  Wagner slapped the table, “That’s it!” he shouted and everyone looked at him. “We put out a report that Joshua was wounded and when he tries to contact the media again, we can nab him. Look where we are, there can’t be too many places for him to make contact and send out video.”

  Griffey nodded, “It has merit,” he said raising his eyebrows. “In the very least, it will let others know, ‘we will get you’.”

  “Sir,” Winters said behind him. “If we do that and Joshua does get a message out, we lose all credibility.”

  “Winters, please,” Griffey said wanting to smile but couldn’t. “We just say we know he was wounded; like we found his blood at the scene. Even if he gets word out, we can counter by saying he’s lying.”

  “Griffey, do you want me to get my response team to his cabin?” Wagner said almost drooling.

  Griffey shook his head. “No, I believe that is going to be our best bet to get him. I don’t want him tipped off. I believe Moore is right, Joshua would know they were there.”

  Looking back as Moore grabbed a bottle of water, Griffey said. “Moore, give me a plan to catch him at the cabin.”

  Ripping the top off of the water, Moore drained it and tossed the bottle in the garbage. “Griffey, that’s the problem. I know he wants us there, just so he can kill some of us.”

  “Then we will send a bunch of agents. Joshua can only kill so many before we get him.”

  “How do you expect us to know when he’s there?” Moore said, dropping into his chair hard. “I’m certain he could see the UAV.”

  “Sir,” Winters said touching Moore’s arm. “The trees come up to the back of the cabin. Joshua could get in his cabin even with a drone overhead. We would have to get one of the CIA’s high flyers to cover the cabin at forty thousand feet.”

  “Please,” Wagner chuckled. “I can send in three men who could put up very small electronic detectors. We’ve used them before.”

  “Wagner, there are wild animals out there that will trip them,” Winters said, really hating the man.

  “Oh, they have video,” he grinned. “Once in place, we don’t have to touch them for a month.”

  “Do it,” Griffey said and Wagner stood up with a smile.

  “Wagner,” Moore said, pulling out a roll of Tums. “Drop your boys several miles away. Have a truck pull over on the side of the road at dusk. I would have several trucks and one, act like it had a flat. As the men change the tire and the other drivers stand around talking, your boys jump out and very carefully move to the cabin. Don’t go near it, just set your stuff up around it and tell them to get the hell out of there.”

  Wagner rolled his eyes and Griffey chuckled. “Devious, I like it,” Griffey said and looked at Wagner. “That’s how you will do it, understood?”

  “Yes sir,” Wagner said and gathered his stuff. When he walked out, Moore tossed a handful of Tums in his mouth.

  “I like this plan,” Griffey said.

  Reaching over, Moore took Winters’ bottle of water. “Want some advice?” he asked, cutting his eyes at Griffey and Griffey nodded. “Let Wagner make the report at a press conference that Joshua was wounded in that ambush. Write a report saying you disagreed, but you let him convince you after hearing his plan, and put all accountability on him.”

  “What if it works?” Griffey said worriedly.

  “So? You let him do it,” Moore said taking a drink and washing the chewed up tablets down. “If it goes bad, as I’m sure it will, Wagner will have to answer. Just to tell you, I’m writing a report that highly advises against it.”

  Nodding, Griffey stood up, gathering his notes. “I’ll need to draft a report before I tell Wagner,” he said. “How about the plan at Joshua’s cabin?”

  “It’s actually sound,” Moore said with a shrug. “It all depends on how big those monitors are.”

  Reaching in his jacket, Griffey pulled out his hard reading glasses case. “Half as long as this, but about as wide,” he said holding up the case. “Wagner had someone at NSA make them for his team. He’s used them more than a few times.”

  “And it has video?” Moore shouted in shock.

  “High definition normal, thermal and infrared,” Griffey said, putting his case back in his coat. “Even I was impressed when I saw them.”

  When Griffey left, Moore looked at Winters. “I’ve seen small ones inside rooms because you had power but man, to hear that makes me feel old.”

  Turning away, Winters gathered her stuff. “They also collect any phone data from any cellphone that comes close. They will put up a relay half a mile away that sends the feedback encrypted.”

  “You’ve seen them?”

  “Only the plans,” Winters said. “One of the guys on HRT told me about it a few months ago. I’d asked how in the hell Wagner had known about that drop in Miami. Seems he’d put them everywhere the suspects had visited, including their neighbors.”

  “That was a lot of effort to bust up a software pirating ring,” Moore said, tossing Winters’ empty bottle that he’d drank.

  She stopped and looked down at him. “They killed six men, two women and hurt a kid with a flash bang. The kid lived next door and was just trying to get his ball that he’d thrown over the back fence. You and I both know, the weapons there were planted, along with the supposed ‘child pornography’ that was collected.”

  “Oh, I know,” Moore said getting up. “They love using the child pornography claim. It’s damn near impossible for a defense attorney to find out when it was put on, with the software they use to do it. And we learned a long time ago, if we say child porn: the public will let us do whatever we want.”

  Watching Moore gather his stuff, Winters shook her head. “Please don’t tell me th
at you’ve done that?”

  “No, but I’ve been on task forces that have,” Moore said. “I’ve been waiting on Griffey or Wagner to propose it here on Joshua’s friends.”

  “Please,” Winters scoffed. “It’s very well-known that most of the people around here don’t know shit about computers; Joshua being one of them. It’s stated on his wife’s media pages. By now, I’m sure his lawyers have downloaded all internet activity to be able to prove we’ve tampered.”

  Picking up his stuff, Moore headed for the door. “I know and warned Washington of that but I’ve seen with my own eyes, hard copies of VHS, DVD and photos that they will bring into a scene to ‘find’. Even close friends will pull back with their support when we use the child porn charge.”

  Winters sucked in a breath as her jaw dropped open. “They were going to plant that in Joshua’s house?”

  “Yep,” Moore said, backing into the door and opening it. “Now I really wished they would’ve because after that video he put out, more people are going to back Joshua.”

  With a startle, Winters shook her head and picked up her stuff. “Moore, he’s not some serial killer. He was a working man until we turned him into a fugitive,” she said as Moore held the door open.

  “That may be, but Joshua is now a threat to America,” Moore said in a low voice as she walked out and he walked beside her. “I’m worried that others will try to fight the government with force.”

  They weaved through the halls until they walked in their area. Other agents on their team were working away on computers and Winters dropped her stuff on her desk. “When I started this job, that would’ve terrified me,” she said looking over at Moore. “Now, after what I’ve seen, I really couldn’t blame them.”

  “You don’t fight your government with force,” Moore said. “You elect new officials and get laws changed.”

  “Ah, Moore, how many laws have we broken since we’ve been here? Without even thinking hard, I know of several dozen.”

  “The elected officials justified them,” he said sitting down. “Where do you want to start?”