Bonner Incident

by Thomas A. Watson

  Buck swallowed hard and moved to the front of the room as one of his deputies handed him his notes. Clearing his throat, “Good afternoon, for those that don’t know me, I’m Joey Harper, sheriff of Bonner County. Yesterday afternoon, a state patrol officer and two federal agents were shot southwest of the small community of Lamb Creek,” he said and a reporter shouted.

  “Do you have a suspect?”

  “We have a person of interest, but multiple eyewitnesses state the suspect fired in self-defense,” Buck said and the room became deathly quiet as shock set in. “Until we interview the person of interest, the county isn’t going forward with prosecution, but I’m told that Homeland has issued a warrant for our person of interest.”

  Buck looked up from his notes to a sea of gaping mouths and for some mysterious reason, that was the last live broadcast of Sheriff Joey “Buck” Harper.

  Chapter Seven

  Hearing a knock on the door, Buck cracked his eyes open. “Yeah,” he groaned sitting up on the couch he had in his office. He had been up most of the night talking to people.

  Duane walked in, “Hey Buck, I have those copies you wanted,” he said handing over three thumb drives.

  Buck looked at the three thumb drives and then up at Duane. “That laptop fit on these little things?”

  “Ah, yeah,” Duane said yawning.

  Buck got off the couch, heading to his desk. “Then tell me, why in the hell the laptop has to be so big if it can fit on just one of these damn things?”

  Taking a deep breath, Duane started going over in his mind just how to explain it. “Well, Buck, it has to have other stuff to run the monitor, power, sound and other stuff,” he said hoping that was enough.

  “Shit, I remember when a computer took up half a room,” Buck said looking out his window seeing it was dawn and looked at his watch. “I said I wanted to be up at five, why was I still asleep at seven?”

  Walking over and sitting down in a chair in front of the desk, Duane grinned. “Three people woke you up Buck, and I was one of them.”

  Hitting the intercom on his desk, “Can I get some coffee?” Buck said and then released the button turning to Duane. “Well, what’s happened since I passed out last night?”

  “I’m told the governor didn’t like your press conference,” Duane said pulling out a small notepad. “We’ve had like six calls from the feds demanding that you change your statement.”

  “Shit on that,” Buck said dropping in his chair as a young woman brought in a large cup of coffee.

  She sat the coffee mug on the desk. “You want some breakfast sheriff?” she asked stepping back.

  “Please,” Buck sighed picking up the mug. “I really don’t give a rat’s ass what it is, as long as it’s eatable.”

  When the woman left, Duane looked at Buck, “You’re going to have visitors again today Buck,” he said in a low voice. “Seems the feds don’t like the fact we gave them ‘copies’ of the evidence. They want everything we have.”

  Seeing Duane glance around as he talked, Buck grinned. “I had some of the boys sweep the office and they didn’t find anything.”

  “You may want to make that a daily routine,” Duane said looking down at his notes. “They are demanding to question all of the eyewitnesses, along with Sonya and William. I told them to contact their lawyers to set up times.”

  “Bet that chapped their asses,” Buck chuckled as he blew on his coffee and Duane looked up with a grave face.

  “Buck, they told me to give them the locations of the witnesses and they would pick them up,” Duane said shaking his head. “The homeland agent that called, point blank told me they weren’t being interrogated of a crime, so legal representation wasn’t required. In matters of national security, federal agents don’t have to allow for due process.”

  Choking as he sipped his coffee, Buck pulled the hot liquid away from his lips. “You better be shitting me when you say that,” he said wiping his mouth.

  Slowly shaking his head, Duane jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “They faxed over the executive orders, unclassified national security directives, and sections of the Patriot Act that clearly covers them. I have it on my desk.”

  Jumping out of his chair, Buck shouted. “My God. Man! That’s KGB and Gestapo shit you’re talking about!”

  Nodding as he raised his eyebrows, “Said almost the same thing and the fucker hung up on me,” Duane mumbled. “Then I questioned his manhood, saying he had a little dick. Don’t know if he heard that before he hung up.”

  Mad as hell, Buck still had to grin at that. “Please tell me you called Stanley and told him.”

  “Yes, and he will be here in a little bit.”

  “Did you give them the locations of the crew and Sonya?” Buck said sitting back down.

  “Ah, no, sorry,” Duane said looking at his notes. “I told them, to get information out of this office, they would have to clear it through you.”

  “Well, what else?”

  “You’ve had over a dozen calls from the owners of resorts and the hotel in Nordman about having to cancel all summer reservations because the feds took over their buildings. Seems the feds got the judge to say that they only had to pay off-season rates and no other compensation.”

  Closing his eyes, Buck wanted to crawl under his desk. “Unfortunately, that is only the beginning.”

  “Your wife called and said Mrs. Ethel died after surgery. She developed a blood clot that went to her lungs,” Duane said looking up with a hard face. “Stanley refused to present it to the grand jury, only leaving the charges pending on the homeland agent that pushed her down. He said it would be dismissed under the Supremacy Clause. A state can’t prosecute a federal agent for any reason if the agent is performing his appointed duty without malice. And Stanley said there is no way we would ever prove malice for pushing an old woman down. Oh, and that covers civil suits as well.”

  “Motherfucker,” Buck mumbled looking away.

  Flipping a page on his notepad, “Lt. Conner called three times last night, saying the feds went to Sonya’s house and demanded to be let in. They kept waving that warrant with Joshua’s name that lists him as primary owner. Conner called Stanley at ten last night and Stanley said they could be let in, but had to be escorted by a deputy, since that property isn’t on federal land and the sheriff’s department designated it a crime scene first. He spit out some legal mumbo jumbo to back it up,” Duane said looking up. “The feds refused to be led around by the hand and left.”

  Picking up his coffee mug and taking a sip, “Bet that’s going to bite me in the ass,” Buck mumbled.

  “Just to warn you, the IRS will be here when the feds come. They are pissed that the shop was empty and they can’t locate the equipment,” Duane said looking up from his notes. “They also want Sonya to turn over everything that she took out of the bank.”

  “Hold that thought,” Buck said picking up the phone to call home. “Hey, sweetie,” he said when his wife answered. “Will you bring Sonya and William down here around ten?” Listening to her response, Buck cringed. “Babe, I’m not turning them over, but they want to talk to them and I’m going to let them. But only here in my office.”

  Duane grinned as he listened to Buck. When Buck hung up, Duane shook his head, “Buck, we’ve had over two hundred phone calls since five this morning from people in the county demanding the feds leave. The operators told me it was averaging thirty calls an hour. Seems the entire county knows about Mrs. Ethel, along with what happened to Joshua.”

  Setting down his mug, Buck sighed. “Sometimes, I wish I would’ve lost re-election.”

  “Well Buck, you still have three years in office,” Duane said flipping a page on his notepad. “Sheriff Delgado from Kootenai County said he would be able to meet with you and Sheriff Figueroa from Boundary County this evening. Sheriff Delgado said you wouldn’t believe how many cargo planes are landing, offloading federal agents and supplies.”

  A tap sounded at the door and
the young woman came in carrying a tray of food and set it on the desk. “No Duane, I would believe it,” Buck said grabbing a fork and digging in. “You eat?”

  “Yes sir,” Duane said shaking his head. “Buck, the feds have rented every car from here to Spokane and they have bought every van in the area from dealerships. They didn’t pay sticker price, of course, they signed them out at government purchase price. Luckily, we don’t have that many dealerships in Bonner County, but Sheriff Delgado is beyond pissed. Seems he’s had like a hundred calls from car lots in his county, claiming it was highway robbery.”

  Shoving food in his mouth, Buck nodded. “I’ll talk to him when he gets here. Have the feds started to actually start searching for Joshua?”

  “Not really,” Duane shrugged. “They are waiting on…” he paused looking at his notes. “FBI Senior Special Agent Albert Moore.”

  A clang sounded as Buck dropped his fork on his plate. “You’re sure that’s the name?” he said sucking in a breath. Duane looked at his notes and nodded. “Shit, I thought he retired.”

  “You know him?”

  “Not personally, but I’ve read about him. He used to be a profiler for the behavior science unit, then moved to special crimes task force. He’s bagged more serial killers and terrorists than any other agent I’ve heard. Hell, I’m surprised he’s still in the field.”

  “Well, he wasn’t,” Duane said laying his notepad in his lap. “He was teaching at the academy till they pulled him out here.”

  “They really want Joshua,” Buck said pushing away from the food on his desk, not hungry anymore. “He’s a nobody, why all the trouble? Shit, I watched the national news last night and they made Joshua sound like a home grown terrorist that hates America.”

  Picking up his notepad, Duane nodded. “Yeah, if I didn’t know Joshua, I would just say shoot him after what they said on the news last night. You listen to the radio stations here and they are painting another story on this.”

  “This is getting way out of hand,” Buck said getting up.

  Duane jumped up, “You’re not going to help them get Joshua, are you?”

  Glancing over his shoulder, Buck shook his head. “No, if I give up one innocent man, I have to give up everyone in the county. That’s not the job I took. I swore to defend the Constitution and uphold the laws of Idaho, not these communist laws that have been passed in the last few decades. Or these executive orders that aren’t law. Only congress can pass law. The Constitution states that very clearly.”

  “Whew,” Duane said. “I was about to freak out.”

  The intercom on his desk went off, “Sheriff, the county prosecutor is here to see you.”

  Walking back over to the intercom, he hit the button. “Send him in please.”

  Duane turned for the door. “I’ll take my leave boss.”

  “Hold it,” Buck snapped. “You’re the third in the chain of command, you stay.”

  “Ah shit,” Duane grumbled. “Why did you have to make me a captain?”

  “You think,” Buck said sitting down and Stanley walked in carrying a briefcase. Buck looked up at Stanley and shook his head, seeing the dark circles under his eyes. “I take it you haven’t slept much either.”

  “Sleep, what’s that?” Stanley said looking at Duane. “He staying?”

  “Yes,” Buck said opening a drawer pulling out a notepad. “I need someone other than me who knows what’s going on.”

  Stanley nodded as he opened up his briefcase and threw down three stacks of paper. “The FCC just shut down the radio stations in the county,” he said sitting down.

  “What,” Buck said snatching up the stacks of paper. “They pulled their license?”

  “Yep, they wouldn’t quit broadcasting that Joshua was being framed and that Mrs. Ethel died from complications from the attack by a federal agent,” Stanley said with a sigh. “Their lawyers are filing an appeal, but it’s not going to be heard til next week.”

  “Holy shit,” Duane said shaking his head with wide eyes.

  Turning to Duane, Stanley narrowed his eyes. “Have you read what you sent me on that flash drive?”

  “Not all of it, but I’ve read some of it.”

  “The Attorney General of the United States called my office at six a.m., demanding to be put in touch with me,” Stanley said. “When the feds picked up the copies of evidence you’d made for them, it seems they found out that copies were made of that computer, and they want names of who did it and all copies returned.”

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Duane said as sweat beaded up on his forehead.

  Closing his eyes, Stanley nodded. “Yeah, I tried that, but made a copy of the drive you gave me and sent it to the feds and told them that was the only copy. Seems there is a federal law that forbids anyone from downloading information off a government computer unless you are a federal agency. No state agency has the right or privilege to even petition for a warrant to do it. It’s a felony punishable by twenty-five years in a federal pen.”

  “That’s a load of shit,” Buck snapped. “They police themselves and nobody can question it? Last time I checked, that goes against the Constitution.”

  “That’s why I made a copy and if more exist, I don’t want to know,” Stanley said opening his briefcase up. “Buck, you better be damn sure that Joshua’s in the right because they are coming after both of us,” he said taking out several folders and looked up at Buck. “I just hired my own legal counsel and I suggest you do the same.”

  “He’s the God damn sheriff and you’re the county prosecutor!” Duane shouted.

  Looking at the stuffed folders in his hands, Stanley looked over at the conference table. “Can we move there? I have too much shit I need to show you,” he said not waiting for an answer, but grabbed his briefcase and walked over to the table. “Yes we are, Duane, but unlike the feds here who seem to be untouchable, Buck and I aren’t.”

  Buck grabbed his pad and hit the intercom button. “Call my wife and tell her to call her sister Karen. We may need her to defend me.”

  “Yes sheriff,” a soft female voice answered as Buck and Duane joined Stanley at the table.

  “Wish I would’ve thought of Karen,” Stanley said sitting down spreading out the folders. “Now, I’ve looked up the laws and executive orders and legal rulings on the executive orders they are using. We don’t have to help and can’t be held accountable, but if the feds consider our actions as conflicting with their investigation, they can hold us accountable.”

  “Define ‘conflicting’,” Buck said sitting down.

  Looking up at Buck with a straight face, “Not kissing their ass with tongue,” Stanley said.

  “So, I take it you know something?” Buck sighed.

  “Yep, they’ve petitioned the governor to remove us and set up interim people in our spots,” Stanley said.

  Duane dropped into a chair, “The governor would never get re-elected if he did that.”

  “Yes, but he would get a job in Washington working at a lobbying firm and making four times as much as he does now,” Stanley said leaning back in his chair.

  “How do you know that?” Duane asked feeling his heart beating faster.

  Looking from Duane to Buck, Stanley said. “The governor told me.” Both men looked at Stanley in horror. “Oh, he said he wasn’t, but wanted me to know just how the feds were going to play ball. The governor told them he may have a job outside of the state, but his family would still be here.”

  “Okay Stanley, so you want to bug out?” Buck asked wearily.

  Stanley jumped up out of his seat. “Are you fucking crazy!” he shouted. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely and this is what we are looking at! This is why I went to law school to stand up for people who couldn’t stand up for themselves!”

  “Lord Acton: Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” Buck said reciting the quote. Feeling relieved, Buck nodded. “I just had to
ask because I’m not backing down either.”

  Sitting back down, Stanley stared at Buck. “If I was you, I would send my wife to the bank and withdraw all of your money because something tells me they will come after it.”

  Duane gave a low whistle as Buck nodded. “She’s bringing in Sonya and William, so I’ll tell her.”

  “Good, because I was going to tell you to bring them here for the feds to question them,” Stanley said pulling out his cellphone, but didn’t dial it. “Can I use your hardline?” he asked looking at the phone on the table. “I’m sure they are pulling all our cellphone signals by now.”

  “They can’t do that,” Duane said.

  Picking up the phone, Stanley nodded. “According to their rules, they can. I have the court rulings in my briefcase that even agree with them. But I’m also sure they have all the phones here in the building tapped because the ruling also stated under national security, they can do it. They only have to convince a panel of their own people that who they’re after, might be a threat to national security.”

  Duane looked over at Buck, then back to Stanley, “Um, how can they say Joshua is a threat to national security?”

  Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, “Joshua had the audacity to not allow the federal government to seize a large portion of his physical assets; meaning everything,” Stanley said. “They are claiming money laundering to hide monetary gain to defraud taxable monies, and the death of federal agents who tried to stop him are in the national interest. They have a very broad view of national security.”

  Buck’s mouth hung open as Stanley stared at him. “I know Buck,” Stanley said holding up a folder. “I’ve looked the other way when an officer has skirted the line of the law, but holy hell,” he said dropping the folder on the table. “The feds aren’t bending the laws; they are making them up to get what they want.”

  “So you’re saying we are going to lose?” Duane mumbled covering his face with his hands.

  “Huh,” Stanley scoffed. “No one could win against this playing field.”

  Leaning back in his chair, Buck grunted. “So, what’s your opinion on how we should handle this?”