He never realized the others were behind him until Joshua shot the feds. Everyone in the crew had grabbed a weapon to help out Joshua. And being Joshua, he was upset with them, but Ben never expected him not to be. Joshua always looked out for people and didn’t want others to be put back helping him.
Shaking his head and getting back to the here and now, Ben was over a hundred yards away from the house when Mrs. Anderson stepped out on the porch. “No sneaking up on her,” Ben said, waving and breaking into a trot.
When he reached the yard, she smiled at him. “Ben, what are you doing here?” Then she saw his serious face. “Is Joshua alright?”
“Yes, but we need to talk Mrs. Anderson.”
Feeling her legs get weak, she stepped back to one of the rocking chairs and sat down as Ben came up on the porch. He had known Mrs. Anderson as long as he had known Joshua and knew she still saw him as the little boy spending the night.
Sitting down beside her, Ben explained what had happened and what had been done, but left out him and Gene moving the guns. That would stay with them alone until they died. When he’d finished, she had tears coming out of her eyes. “Mrs. Anderson, they will be coming here soon.”
“I’ll get my God damn gun!” she shouted getting up. “Try and kill my boy? I’ll murder all the sorry bastards!”
Ben’s mouth fell open never recalling her ever swearing, but remembered a few spankings from her because he and Joshua had cussed and she had heard it. “Mrs. Anderson, don’t,” he said as she reached the front door, and he had no doubt she was heading for a gun. “Sandy and William are going to need you because Joshua is hiding. You know a lot of people, and need to get the word out about what the feds did.”
“I’m shooting the bastards when they drive up in my God damn yard!”
“Mrs. Anderson, please, Joshua couldn’t take that,” Ben begged.
Taking a deep breath, she nodded. “Okay, but I’m not taking shit from them!”
“That’s okay, but if you have some friends, I would invite them over so you have witnesses,” Ben said raising one eyebrow. “Like how they accosted an innocent man’s elderly mother.”
“I’ll call my sewing circle,” she said opening the door.
“Mrs. Anderson,” Ben said grabbing her arm. “I can’t be here and you can’t tell them I was here. Now, I need you to remember that they will be tapping your phone, so never mention it, not even to Sonya or William.”
“Those assholes!”
“I’m sure they aren’t tapped yet, but they will be,” Ben said hoping to stop her from grabbing the gun anyway. “I’m taking the BMW so they don’t know about it, okay?”
The anger left her face hearing that and she reached over patting his cheek. “You do that dear,” she smiled. “I cranked it up a few days ago. You need any money for gas?”
“No ma'am,” he said as she hugged him.
“Don’t get in trouble or Joshua will be cross with you,” she said kissing his cheek. “You were always a good boy.”
“Thank you,” he said releasing his hug. “I need to get going, you don’t have long. I just left the sheriff’s department and the feds are here.”
“Is Joey part of this? Helping them frame my boy?” she snapped with fire returning to her eyes.
“No ma'am. He’s helping Joshua.”
“He damn well better or I’ll call his mom and she can spank his butt,” she said grabbing the door. “Ben, you get. I’ll be okay.”
When she went inside, Ben ran around the house to the carport out back. He saw the 1986 BMW 325e, still a glossy black and in immaculate condition. Yanking open the door, he hopped in and got the keys from the center console and fired it up. Only letting the engine warm for a few seconds, he backed out and took off.
Reaching the highway, he slowed to the speed limit and headed toward Washington. A few hours later, he was pulling past Browns Lake in Washington and parked the car at a spot that hikers used. Getting out, he walked over to a massive ugly gray and green boulder and put the keys under it, covering them with some rocks.
Breaking into a jog, he called a friend that lived in Cusick and told him to pick him up. Ben didn’t have to worry about his friend; he hated cops of any kind. The people in eastern Washington were nothing like those on the coast. They wanted to be left alone and expected everyone to work for what they wanted.
Meeting his friend several miles from where he’d parked the car, Ben told him what had happened. Every one of the crew had told at least two other people, and with the exception of Mrs. Anderson, those two told several more. Before the day was over, Mrs. Anderson had told over a hundred.
***
While Ben was on the way home, Buck was sitting at his desk looking at his phone, daring the damn thing to ring again. Stanley, the county prosecutor walked in and saw the death look on Buck’s face as he stared at the phone. “You can’t kill people over the phone Buck. Lord knows I’ve wanted to and tried punching the numbers, hoping the tone would rupture their brain,” he said sitting down in a chair on the other side of the desk.
“I just got off the phone with our congressman, telling me to cooperate with the feds. He told me, not asked me,” Buck said looking up at Stanley.
“Yeah, had both call me, but they just suggested.”
“You get a chance to look at Duane’s report?” Buck asked opening a drawer and pulling out a bottle of water.
“Oh yeah,” Stanley said raising his eyebrows. “Eight eyewitnesses and all the evidence supports their testimony. Shit, our grand jury wouldn’t indict. Hell, I would be hard pressed to even present it.”
“So you come over to cheer me up?”
“I wish,” Stanley sighed. “They will be here soon, so I figured I should be here with you.”
Turning up the bottle, taking a long drink, Buck sat it down on his desk. “Stanley, I wouldn’t shoot them in my office. You are going to be there at the press conference, right?”
Stanley smiled, “Yes, I’ll be at the conference and I know you wouldn’t shoot them in your office, Buck,” he said with a wink. “But they are very pissed that I blocked the repossession of Sonya Anderson’s house, which they have no right to take. It was her house that she inherited from her grandmother before they were married and was paid off. It also seems Sonya withdrew all their money from the bank yesterday, along with the safe deposit box.”
“Just shows you that crew of Joshua’s were telling the truth, those guys were goading him to do something, so they could shoot a crazy Idaho logger.”
Getting serious, Stanley dropped his smile. “Buck, you can’t stop them from searching for Joshua. If you try, they can bring charges against you.”
“I know, but I don’t have to help.”
“True, but how far are you going to take this? They can make our lives hell,” Stanley said.
Putting the cap on the bottle of water, Buck looked over at Stanley. “He’s innocent, you know it and I know it. To answer your question, as far as I legally can.”
Holding up his hands, Stanley nodded. “I’m with you Buck, but I’m sure you know, they are going to throw money around during the next election and I’m sure we will both be out of a job.”
“Need to do more fishing anyway,” Buck said as his secretary came in.
“Sheriff, you have a Special Agent Burrows and Homeland Agent Griffey here for you,” she said.
“Show them in,” Buck said getting up and moving to a long conference table with Stanley.
When he turned to the door, Agent Burrows was almost charging him. “Some asshole cut a tree down blocking us in!” he bellowed as another man in a suit walked in casually.
“Lower your voice,” Buck said calmly. “If I remember correctly, you told me to leave. When I leave, my deputies leave.”
“I had to stay up there for three hours until some hick showed up with a chainsaw to clear the road!”
“Sounds to me like that ‘hick’ was a pretty good guy,” Buck said f
eeling his pulse rise.
“Agent Burrows,” the other man said stepping in front of him, then turned to Buck. “Homeland Agent in Charge, Steven Griffey,” he said extending his hand. Buck shook it and introduced Stanley. “Does the county prosecutor always stay at the sheriff’s office?”
“Only during shit storms,” Stanley said with a forced smile shaking Griffey's hand.
“I was under the impression you would want to apprehend a murderer that gunned down a state officer along with two federal agents,” Griffey said moving to the other end of the table and sitting down.
Pulling back his chair, Buck sat down. “You read the witness statements and the initial crime scene report?”
“Yes, but I’m waiting on our report,” Griffey smiled. “No offense, but our agencies are far better at doing this than yours.”
“Yeah, I’m beginning to see that,” Buck said leaning back in his chair. “So, you read those statements and reports and still refer to Mr. Anderson as a murderer, not suspect or anything else?”
“I read eight eyewitness reports that said he pulled the trigger.”
Blown away, Buck looked down in his lap. “Holy shit,” Buck mumbled then looked down the table at Griffey. “You don’t see any reason Mr. Anderson had to defend himself?”
“No one has the right to fire on a federal officer for any reason. As you know, not one of our officers has ever been charged,” Griffey smiled. “You may allow that for your officers, but we don’t allow that for ours.”
“None of my officers would’ve gone out to execute someone.”
Still wearing the smile, Griffey leaned over the table. “That was just our agents wearing the suspect down to get information, we would never hurt a man’s family.”
“Beg to differ sir,” Buck said and Stanley yanked out a chair sitting down glaring at Buck.
Burrows pulled out a chair looking at Griffey, “Sir, may I continue?”
“Yes, but please, in a calm voice.”
Burrows turned to Buck. “Your officers were called to the house of the murderer’s mother and interfered with our search. Two of my men were hit by old hags with canes and walkers, but your deputies did nothing.”
Narrowing his eyes, Buck slowly stood up. “Sir,” he growled at Burrows. “One of those old hags was my ninety-two-year-old mother-in-law and you better watch it. That was a sewing circle that makes quilts for the kids at the children’s hospital in Spokane.”
“My apologies,” Burrows said, seeing Buck was really pissed off. “But my men were assaulted.”
“One of your men was shoving a woman using a walker and made her fall. Hell, if I would’ve been there, I’d have shot ‘em. She broke her hip, sir, and had to be transferred to Coeur d’Alene,” Buck said in a cold voice.
Stanley stood up looking down the table. “I have the agent’s name and charges have been filed.”
Griffey nodded and his smile seemed to turn colder. “Oh, I’m sorry, but Agent Wade had to fly back to Washington. I’ve notified the Attorney General and he assures me all charges will be dropped after reading the reports. He is a federal agent, therefore falls under federal guidelines under the National Defense Act.”
“My God man, Ethel is eighty-nine years old. Your man probably killed her!” Buck shouted.
With a slight shrug, “There seems to be a lesson here then,” Griffey said finally dropping the smile to a grin. “Don’t interfere with us. I assure you gentlemen, we will get our man. I have over a thousand agents heading this way, and more if I need them.”
Hearing that number, Stanley dropped in his chair. “You don’t even know if he’s still here?”
“True, but I have one of the best coming, and I will interview every person who knows Joshua Anderson and I’ll find him,” Griffey said and his cold smile returned. “We’ve taken over several resorts near the town of Nordman.”
“You can’t do that, it’s the start of tourist season,” Stanley said thinking about the owners.
“Oh we can, my men have served the judge’s ruling. We will pay them their basic rate or they can deal with the IRS and we will just seize them,” Griffey said with his smile turning back into a grin. “It’s perfectly legal, since you aren’t helping catch our murderer.”
“You want to catch Joshua?” Buck asked and Griffey nodded slightly. “Pull your guys out and he will show up in a month or two. I’ll bring him in and Stanley can present his case to the grand jury.”
“Oh no,” Griffey said. “I have it on good authority, Mr. Anderson will soon be listed as a terrorist and enemy combatant, and rest assured if he stands trial, it will be on the east coast, not here.”
“This meeting is finished,” Stanley said standing up. “A word of caution, gentleman. The people around here don’t kneel down so well.”
Griffey stood up and pulled his jacket closed, “Yes, I see. That’s why little old ladies get broken hips.”
Buck and Stanley watched them walk out and Stanley turned to Buck. “They’re going to kill Joshua. In the field or in court, but they mean to kill him.”
“Oh my God,” Buck mumbled. “They are worse than anything I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m going to call the governor and remind him about Ethel,” Stanley said walking out.
“Press conference in an hour,” Buck called after him and Stanley just waved. Buck hit the intercom on the phone. “Get Duane in here please.”
Feeling helpless, Buck dropped into his chair behind his desk and waited on Duane. When Duane came in, he was carrying a stack of papers. “Yeah Buck,” he said sitting down.
“I need you to tell all the lieutenants that all vacation is canceled and I want all volunteer officers to report for duty,” Buck said in a droning voice.
“What the hell is going on?”
“We’re going to have to stop the people of Bonner County from killing federal agents,” Buck said leaning over the desk. “When they find out what the feds are doing, many around here are going to grab guns and declare open season on any federal officer.”
Nodding, Duane said. “I heard what happened at Mrs. Anderson’s.”
“You don’t know the half of it. They took over the resorts on the west side of Priest Lake. They have a thousand agents heading here.”
“Buck, that will kill those places. Even if they pay sometime this year, those places make money on boat rentals and tours.”
“I know Duane, but they are going after Joshua.”
“Man, if Joshua heard that, he would turn himself in,” Duane said leaning back in his chair.
Shaking his head, Buck sighed. “Then you don’t know him very well. Joshua will give you the shirt off his back, but if you demand it, he’ll kick your ass.”
“Can you come to my office?” Duane asked and Buck jerked his head, looking at him. “Boss, they just left yours and after what I’ve found… Let’s just say, I want to make sure it’s for your ears only.”
“They wouldn’t dare,” Buck said standing up.
Getting up, Duane headed for the door. “Say that after I tell you what I found.”
Following Duane, Buck started getting really worried about the feds. When they reached Duane’s office, he handed the papers he’d been carrying to Buck. “That is a list of what was in Joshua’s safety deposit box. Over a quarter of a million dollars in bonds, a coin collection worth a hundred grand and some jewelry, price unknown, but note: they have the carat weight of all the stones,” Duane said and Buck looked over the list.
“Yes, it’s his mother’s,” Buck said looking up. “How did they get this?”
“I talked to the bank and nobody has served a warrant and until yesterday, that box hasn’t been opened in over a year. They knew what Joshua was worth down to the penny, granted he’s in debt up to his ass, but he had very valuable assets. Buck, they started this for money, it’s plain and simple. Now it’s a quest to show others what happens when you stand against them.”
“And you got this off that l
aptop?” Buck asked and Duane nodded. “Our guys cracked it that fast. I would’ve thought it would take them longer to crack a government computer.”
“Ah, well, they said it was going to take a while, so I um, called my daughter,” Duane said in a low voice. “She broke in just under fifteen minutes.”
“Tell Scarlet thank you and I’ll write her a note,” Buck said looking at the printouts. “Is this other people they’ve gone after?”
“Ah yeah, sixty-two and all had small businesses. There’s another file that I haven’t printed that has sixteen larger businesses,” Duane said staring at Buck. “They’ve already taken down all of these and those businesses. All totaled, it’s just over a quarter of a billion dollars, not including the land they’ve seized. When you factor that in, I’m putting it closer to a billion. Buck, in those reports, there are nine other teams like this one, taking down businesses.”
“Oh shit,” Buck said feeling weak and falling back to the wall, Duane jumped to catch him.
“Yeah, busted my head when I fell back in my chair after I realized they are taking people’s money that can’t really fight. They are targeting smaller businesses that can’t call governors or congressmen.”
Buck handed Duane the papers. “I want you to make seven copies of that computer. Give one copy to Stanley. You take three and I’ll take three. I want you to give two copies to two separate people and don’t tell anyone who, not even me, understand?”
“Buck, this is shit like you see at the movies.”
“I wish,” Buck said looking at his watch. “You do that now. I have a press conference.”
Watching Buck leave his office, Duane started questioning his decision to go into law enforcement, then moved over to his desk to start making backups. When Buck walked into the press room, he froze on seeing the small room packed with reporters. “Sheriff, are you starting the report at five?” one shouted and he just nodded. “Thank you sir, because we’re going live.”
Stanley walked up behind him and whispered. “Yeah, I walked in and saw this and had to find a cigarette, and I haven’t smoked in eight years.”
Bonner Incident Page 11
