When a single bar popped up on his phone, Joshua hit Sonya’s work number. She worked as a manager at an insurance company and turned her phone off while she was at work because of company policy. “Mountain Insurance,” a female answered.
“Hey it’s Joshua. I need to talk to Sonya.”
“Hey Joshua, she just left to pick up William from school.”
“Thank you,” he said and hung up before tapping her cell number.
“How the hell are you calling me from the top of a mountain?” Sonya answered the phone.
“Have you picked up William?”
“He’s getting in the car now,” she said laughing. “Josh, I’ve never forgotten to pick up William.”
“Sonya, I need you to go to the bank right now and withdraw all our checking, savings, and the company’s checking and savings. Don’t forget to empty the deposit box as well,” he said and Sonya gasped.
“What the hell is going on?” she yelled.
“Babe, I can’t talk now, but you need to hurry. Don’t close the accounts, but get the money. Tell them I have to make a down payment on a private piece of equipment and the man won’t take a check,” Joshua said as he yanked the steering wheel rounding a hairpin turn.
“Josh, we have checks out and-.”
“Sonya, please,” Joshua begged interrupting her. “You don’t have much time.”
Panting into the phone, “Okay,” Sonya said. “You will explain why to me later, right?”
“I’ll meet you at the house,” Joshua said feeling the first bit of relief. “Love you and tell William I love him, too.”
“Okay, hon,” Sonya said with a worried tone and Joshua hung up.
Before three, Joshua was on the highway speeding home. Glancing down at his speedometer, “Shit,” he mumbled, seeing he was near triple digits and hit the brakes. Keeping the needle at the speed limit, Joshua kept working on his plan.
Reaching the house, he pulled over to the pasture and backed up to his horse trailer. All the horses and mules ran over to the fence as he climbed out and hooked the trailer up. With the trailer hooked up, he went to the gate. “King,” he called out and his horse trotted over to him.
He reached up patting the gray half Percheron. “I’m in deep shit,” he said rubbing the massive horse. King had been his since he was a colt, and Joshua treated him almost like a dog. Opening the gate, Joshua led King over to the trailer. “Get in, boy,” he said and King neighed as he stepped up into the trailer.
Closing the stall, Joshua went back for the mules. For them, he used a guide rope to lead the two mules in the trailer. William and Sonya’s horses looked at him like they were wondering why they weren’t going. “Not today, guys,” Joshua said closing the trailer.
He pulled over to the small barn and jumped out. Grabbing his saddle and the pack harnesses for the mules he threw them in the back of the truck. He looked at the stacked bags of feed and stopped. “A little more would never hurt,” he said walking over and throwing several bags in the back.
After grabbing a few more things, he drove over to the house, just pulling the truck in the front yard. Jumping out, he ran to the garage and grabbed some empty suitcases and headed inside to the kitchen. Opening the pantry, he started tossing bags of rice and beans in one of the suitcases.
Tossing a few bottles of Tabasco and others sauces in, he looked at all the canned food. “No, too heavy,” he said and grabbed bags of noodles. Seeing the suitcase was almost full, Joshua grabbed two containers of salt, putting them in and closing the suitcase.
Grabbing more dry goods, he tossed them in the other suitcase and then carried it to his office. He opened the small safe behind his desk and grabbed a large manila envelope. ‘Don’t ever take this out of the house’ was written on the outside in black marker.
“Well, I guess I’m in trouble,” he said opening the envelope. Inside were several passports and driver’s licenses. Last year, William had been up at the cabin with him and found a guy on a website that made fake IDs and William had begged his dad to let him order some. More out of curiosity if it could be done, Joshua had said ‘what the hell’ and had given William some money.
When the first ones arrived, Joshua was blown away at how real they’d looked. It was then that Joshua’s mom had asked him if he would shave his beard, just so she could see his face before she passed on. Not liking it, Joshua did it and Sonya took some pictures. With those pictures, Joshua had William send off for more IDs but this time, he’d got them for other states.
Getting the fake IDs in had made Joshua feel like a secret agent, but he knew if he ever used them, he was totally screwed. Just owning a fake government issued ID was against the law, but at the time, it’d been a gag for Joshua and really, it was one thing he’d always wanted to see if it could be done. He was a law-abiding citizen for the most part but the laws he broke, he didn’t believe in.
In the envelope were passports for William and even a Georgia Driver’s License that said he was sixteen. He opened one of the passports for Sonya and smiled, remembering her reaction when he’d shown her. Sonya thought it was the coolest thing ever and wanted to show everyone. It took some convincing to stop her.
Knowing the safe would be searched, he tossed the envelope in the suitcase and then turned to the wall, looking at a picture of him with his mom, Sonya, and William. It was the only picture of him without his beard, except for the ones on the fake IDs. “Have to tell mom ‘thank you’ sometime for that,” he said and rummaged around in the safe, not seeing anything else that could get them in trouble. Grabbing the stack of emergency money, he tossed it in the bag.
He walked over to the picture on the wall, taking it down and looking at it, running his fingers over William and Sonya. With a deep breath, he tossed it in the suitcase. Looking on the shelf beside his gun safe at the neat stacks of boxes of ammo, Joshua grabbed the bricks of 22s and tossed them in. He had more at the cabin, but a 22 was going to feed him.
Looking back at the shelf, he saw two boxes of hand loads for his Sharps .45 2 7/8 caliber. “Why the hell not?” he said grabbing them. Tossing in all of the 45 ammo, he opened the gun safe and looked at his rather large collection. Grabbing the Springfield XD and its clip-on holster, he shoved it onto his belt.
He pulled out the 1878 Sharps Long Range .45 2 7/8 black power and smiled at it. “It was good enough then,” he said running his hand along the thirty-six-inch-long barrel. Laying it down, he grabbed his AR from the safe that Chris had set up for him. “I have a feeling I’ll be using you,” he said, laying the decked out gun beside the Sharps.
Next, he pulled out his Savage BA110 .338 Lapua. It was set up on a tactical stock, but this was the gun he used to hunt elk and he had no trouble hitting one at a thousand yards. It was because of Chris that it was set up on a tactical stock with a massive scope that cost more than the damn rifle. But after Joshua had shot it, he’d understood. The last gun he grabbed was his Ruger 10/22.
“That’s enough calibers,” he said laying the guns next to the others. Grabbing all the ammo for the Lapua and AR, he tossed them in the suitcase and zipped it up. Picking up a large hard rifle case, Joshua put the Sharps and Lapua in and after seeing that he had room for the Ruger, he put it in too.
He closed the case and went to his bedroom, bringing back a tote bag and filling it with empty magazines for the AR, Lapua, Ruger, XD and his 1911. Zipping the bag closed, he looked at the magazines still on the shelf, but he had more at the cabin.
Carrying the stuff to the kitchen, he sat it on the table and headed back to his bedroom closet. Pulling down a large duffle bag, he started yanking down his summer hunting clothes. His winter hunting gear was at the cabin, and his hunting gear far outperformed anything that the government issued. Cramming it all in the bag, he grabbed his extra hunting boots and put them in as well.
Moving to the dresser, he threw in more stuff and was about to close the duffle bag, but stopped, looking again at his closet. He walked o
ver and grabbed a pair of slacks and a polo shirt, tossing them in with his loafers. “Camouflage for the modern world,” he grinned and closed the bag.
After dropping it off downstairs, he ran around the house, grabbing a few more items and bringing them to the kitchen table, but froze upon hearing a car pull in the driveway. Pulling out his pistol, he eased over to the window and peeked out to see Sonya get out of the car carrying a stuffed bank bag and her purse was way overloaded. “What the hell did he park on the grass for?” Sonya said, looking at the truck and horse trailer as she shut her door.
“Where’s he taking the horses?” William asked getting out of the passenger side.
“He’s got some explaining to do,” Sonya said heading toward the house.
Holstering his pistol, Joshua tried to harden his heart as he felt it breaking. Sonya walked in and froze, looking at the pile of stuff on the kitchen table. She turned to see Joshua looking at her and saw his eyes were misty. “What’s going on?” she said tossing the bank bag on the table and putting her stuffed purse on the floor as William walked in and gawked at the pile.
Not saying anything, Joshua walked over and wrapped his arms around both of them. He hugged them tight for several minutes, then let them go. “Sit down, I need to tell you something,” he said pulling out two chairs from the table. When he’d finished telling them what had happened and what was said by the agents, Sonya and William stared at him with open mouths.
“I’m heading to the mountains,” he said, kneeling down in front of them. “If I’m not here, you’re not in danger.”
“Josh, you have witnesses that they tried to kill you,” Sonya said as tears ran down her face. “We can go to tell Buck.”
“Joey may be the sheriff, but he can’t stand up to the feds, babe,” Joshua said reaching out and grabbing her hand. “My only chance is to stay away and hope.” They both knew Joey ‘Buck’ Harper and were good friends with the sheriff.
“Dad, we have a lawyer for this,” William said as he dragged his forearm across his nose.
“Son, we’ve seen how the feds treat people here. They’ve killed women and children before, in this very county, just across the lake and were never punished. The three I shot all but said, they would shoot you two because of me. If I’m not here, they have no reason or justification to.”
“Is that why you wanted me to empty the bank accounts?” Sonya sobbed.
“Yes, they are seizing them tomorrow morning, and I wanted to make sure you and William had it. If you need anything, get in touch with Ben. The house is in your name so they can’t take it, but they are going to search it and I’m sure take a lot of shit,” he said then looked at William. “If you have stuff on your computers that shouldn’t be there, get it off.”
“Yes, sir,” William said trying not to cry. He looked at his dad’s belt and saw his cellphone. “Dad, leave your cellphone so they can’t track you.”
“I will son,” he said with a forced smile.
William looked at the pile of gear and noticed his dad’s laptop. “Hold on Dad,” he said getting up and walking out.
“Joshua, what are we going to do?” Sonya said launching out of the chair and wrapping her arms around him.
Almost falling over when she collided with him, Joshua wrapped his arms around her and stood up. “Whatever we have to,” he said squeezing her tight. “Go through the house and take out what you think is important and hide the money, but not in the house because they will take it.”
“I will,” she sobbed.
“Sonya, do you have any pictures of me without my beard on your computer?”
“No, that laptop died and William couldn’t get them off,” she said and gasped lifting her head up. “The picture in your office.”
“I have it,” he grinned. “Along with the IDs.”
“Holy shit,” Sonya said stepping back. “If they would’ve found those…”
“I’m taking them,” he said caressing her face. “You two take care of each other.”
“When do you think we can see you?”
Taking a deep breath, Joshua sighed. “Not for a while because I’m positive they are going to watch you like a hawk.”
“We need to tell Ralph, damn it. For what his firm charges, he should be able to do something,” she said stepping back as William came in.
“Yes, you call him and tell him that you need to meet him at his office tonight, after you’re done here. I don’t want you two here when the feds show up.”
“Okay,” Sonya nodded.
“Dad,” William said grabbing his laptop case. “You can’t take your computer because it can be traced. Take this one,” he said holding out a laptop. “It’s a ghost computer, so it changes IP addresses.”
“I wasn’t going to hook up to the internet,” Joshua said taking it.
“Well, you can with that one. Just do it somewhere with a lot of people using wireless,” William said and handed over a phone. “This is the cellphone I use to surf the web and not get tracked. It’s a disposable phone and I have one more card for it. I know the number and when I think it’s clear, I’ll send you a message.”
“Son, no. They will get you for that if they find out.”
“Dad, trust me. Now don’t go to any site or email you’ve ever used,” William said taking his dad’s laptop. “I’ll wipe this one.”
They talked more for half an hour and Joshua hugged them again. “Guys, I have to go. I’m sure they are looking for those I shot.”
“Please be careful,” Sonya said burying her face in his chest.
“I will,” he said. “Don’t worry, it may be a while, but I’ll be back.”
They helped him carry his stuff out and load it into the truck. He hugged them again and climbed in the truck and pulled out. Sonya put her arm around William as Joshua disappeared from sight and they just stood, staring down the road.
Hearing a truck, she turned toward the shop on the other side of the property to see the guys pulling up. They all climbed out, running toward the shop and were soon carrying stuff out. “William, we have work to do,” she said, then leaned over and kissed his cheek.
Driving out of town, Joshua looked at the dashboard clock and saw it was after six. “This is bullshit,” he mumbled, wiping his eyes. Clearing his mind, Joshua thought about what he had to do as he drove on to his cabin. Reaching over into the passenger seat, he turned up the radio he’d taken off of Wayne.
The cabin had belonged to his great-uncle, who died in the war and was passed onto his dad, then to him. Like the BMW he’d asked Ben to move, the land was still in his great uncle’s name. When the renewal papers came in the mail, he’d just sent back a check. Joshua had thought of changing the land over to his name but liked having it in his uncle’s name. Now he was happy that neither he nor his dad had changed the title. It was just twenty acres, but it sat in the middle of a national forest.
Under no illusions, Joshua knew he couldn’t stay there long, but at least he had another place to go to. He’d found it the year after his dad died and took the biggest elk he had ever seen. It was an old dug out left by a trapper. Joshua had found trinkets in the dugout that dated to the early 1800’s and was certain that no one else had ever been there since.
Whoever had built it, just laid logs over a small ravine and dug it out. It was only twenty by twenty feet, but unless you literally stumbled on it, you could be next to it and never know it was there. Joshua had found it while scouting and had pushed past some bushes and found an ancient dilapidated door. He’d had to break the door because dirt had piled up inside against it.
Falling in love with it instantly, Joshua slowly over the years, had made small repairs and used it as an elk camp. He’d even dug up small bushes and placed them around the entrance to help hide it from other hunters. Feeling that he’d been the one to find it, so he shouldn’t have to share it.
This year, he had taken his elk on his first day of hunting and still had over a ton of hay
there for the horses, along with some feed. There was a tiny clearing half a mile away that he let the horse and mules graze in, when he came up in the summer to scout. Now, he would use it to hide and if pushed more, hunt different game.
He had never taken anyone there. This would’ve been the first year that William could hunt and Joshua was going to take him to see his special camp, that was only a stone’s throw from the Canadian border. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust William, but it was a hard trek in, and in winter was ten times worse. More than once, Joshua had to pack up and haul ass in a blizzard so he didn’t get snowed in.
Passing the town sign of Nordman, Joshua slowed and wondered if he should just turn himself in. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Be damned if I sit in a jail cell because they want my shit,” he mumbled and pressed the accelerator down, leaving that thought behind.
It was dusk when he pulled up to the cabin. He unloaded the mules into the small stable and then unloaded the truck, just dropping stuff on the floor of the cabin. Then he went back to the truck and took everything that was not a part of the truck out. Dropping everything on the floor of the cabin, he looked at the AR laying on the table and shook his head. “Haven’t heard anything yet,” he said holding up the radios he’d taken.
Trotting back to the truck, he drove down to Nordman Road and headed west to the Washington border only two miles away. When he entered Washington, he turned off of the highway onto a logging road. Driving back ten miles, he found the old landing they had used twenty years ago, when they logged this area.
Pulling the truck and trailer as far into the trees as he could, Joshua set the brake and climbed out shutting the door behind him. “Man, I’m going to miss my truck,” he said patting the bed as he moved to the horse trailer and got King out. Grabbing the saddle, he put it on the massive horse and King just stood still.
Bonner Incident Page 8
