Bonner Incident (37 page)

“I trust this isn’t a social visit.”

“No,” Moore groaned, just wanting to sit there and stare at the lake and mountains. “Sheriff, I’m here begging for your help. If this goes on, it’s going to be bad. I’m sure you’ve heard about the work at the Forestry Service airfield.”

“Yes, you’re planning on bringing in more agents rebuilding the task force to find Joshua. This afternoon you put out an APB on two state troopers wanted for questioning about the murder of a federal agent and three others missing. And this afternoon I heard that ‘Ivan the Terrible’, otherwise known as Homeland Senior Agent Benjamin Wagner, has been assigned to the task force.” Moore’s mouth fell open. “Moore, I may only be a sheriff of a small county, but I have friends.”

“Please help me get to Joshua before they do, and end this,” Moore begged.

Taking his eyes off of his beloved lake, Buck turned to Moore. “The grand jury didn’t indict, so Joshua’s broken no laws here.”

“He killed an IRS agent in Spokane,” Moore said solemnly.

Setting down his glass, “You know, Joshua wasn’t born yet, but we could pin the Kennedy Assassination on him,” Buck said.

“He left a calling card,” Moore said pulling out an envelope from his laptop bag. “It was a chainsaw wrench with his thumbprint, stuck in an air conditioning unit. If he wouldn’t have left it, we wouldn’t have known where the shot came from. He’s letting us know; he’s at war.”

Turning away and grabbing his glass, looking at the lake, “It’s called a scrench,” Buck said taking a sip. “And Moore, you already know he’s at war. Spokane isn’t in my county, so my position hasn’t changed.”

“He killed an innocent man,” Moore said putting the envelope back.

“That may be, but you’ve tried to do that as well by killing Joshua, the only difference was your guys missed. Your innocent man became a fugitive and you kidnapped his son to get at him. Moore, just how far do you think you have to push a man before he fights back? I’ve always followed the letter of the law, Moore. I know for a fact, you can’t say the same,” Buck said taking a drink.

“If presented with a valid warrant from Spokane county or Washington State, if I see Joshua, I will detain him. But if I only see a federal warrant, I can with a clean conscience, just wave at him if he walks by. You and your people created the monster, Moore. A monster that threatens you, and only you.”

“Sheriff,” Moore said with a sigh. “What would it take for you to help me?”

“Oh, you think you can buy me off? I love how the insurance claims were paid before they were even filed on the houses around the lodge. How those families that were standing in the county prosecutor’s office ready to file charges suddenly left. Nice houses were provided for them for a whole year, from some kind of government grant that nobody’s heard of. No Moore. I’m bought and paid for by the people of Bonner County. They bought me with their votes and that’s where my loyalty lies.”

Feeling the world sit down on his shoulders, Moore turned to the lake and leaned back in the chair. “You know what’s coming, sheriff. I’ve been told there are paramilitary men at Mr. Anderson’s house, turning it into a fortress.”

“On that, you can thank me,” Buck said raising his glass. “Never even knew they existed, and some are my deputies.”

“Militia?”

“No Moore. I know all the militia around here and have talked to them as well. They were getting ready to make your life a living hell. They stopped when I told them I would put their asses in jail if they attacked you. But I also told them if you attacked them on private property without a valid warrant, I would come to their aid,” Buck said setting his empty glass down.

Buck glanced over at Moore. “Just to warn you, they called everyone they know who lives in your search area and offered their services to protect their property. Of the three militias here with two hundred members, all of them are in your search area now, waiting.”

“Sheriff, I only got a report from a video feed from a drone. Those at Mr. Anderson’s home don’t move like want-to-be SEALs. They have training, and it’s good training.”

Chuckling, Buck rolled his head to look at Moore. “Oh, you have no idea. You try your little stunt there like you did at the school; you will get your ass handed to you with both hands. I’m sure you’ll find out sooner or later, but they call themselves the Panhandle Minutemen. Now, I would be very careful who you told that name to, it could have bad consequences for you. In case you’re wondering, I was given permission to tell you and only you who they were, for some reason. They aren’t some rowdy country boys thinking he’s John Wayne, they are real Americans who love this country.”

“If they are Americans, then they should be helping us,” Moore said lifting his head. “We are the government.”

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,” Buck said laying his head back. “Sound familiar? I can recite it, if you wish. Unlike now, when I was a kid, you couldn’t graduate fifth grade until you could recite The Constitution. I can also recite the Declaration of Independence, but didn’t have to learn it until seventh grade.”

“Sheriff!” Moore snapped sitting up. “The government is the people, so don’t lecture.”

“Don’t snap at me on
my
deck beside
my
lake or you will find yourself with a bullet hole in you at the bottom of
my
lake,” Buck said closing his eyes. “I will turn myself in of course, later after enjoying
my
lake and
my
deck, but no shit from anyone is tolerated toward me on
my
deck beside
my
lake.”

Shaking his head hard, “Sheriff, I’m sorry and I do apologize for breaking an area of solitude,” Moore said genuinely.  “But the government is the people.”

“No, it’s not. If you believe that, then you’re an idiot. The government has never been the people, just representatives. The people are and will always be, America. The government now is money; people be damned unless they have money to support you or you can just take it. You have parties spending billions, that’s with a ‘B’ on a job that pays a quarter of a million a year. It’s a proven fact; the party that spends the most, gets elected. Care to explain how a congressman, whose salary is just over a hundred grand a year, can leave office in four years with a net worth of twenty million dollars? And that’s on the low side. I had to dig back all the way to the fifties to find a congressman that didn’t come out filthy rich after his term.”

“It may not be perfect, but it’s America,” Moore said leaning back in the chair.

“No, not anymore,” Buck said as his wife came out and refilled his glass. Sally cut her eyes at Moore, but set a glass filled with ice down and filled it with lemonade. “Thank you dear. That’s being a good host.”

“I’m sorry ma’am,” Moore said tilting his head. “Thank you very much.”

“He needs to relax, piss him off again on this deck; I’ll shoot you and throw you in the lake myself. He won’t arrest me because he would have to live with my mother without me,” she said raising her chin and walking inside.

“You know,” Buck said nodding as he lifted his head up. “She is absolutely right. My wife could cap you right now and I wouldn’t say a word because bullshit and by damn, if I end up living with that cranky old woman by myself.”

For the first time in weeks, Moore honestly laughed. “Then I shall refrain from breaking your harmony.”

Lying back in the chair, still in shock over the revelation about himself, Buck sipped his drink. “I always thought I would do the right thing,” he mumbled to himself. “Shit, I wouldn’t do it,” he gasped thinking it over and over again in his head. “I would take the blame for it before living with her mother.”

“Well, my ex-mother-in-law loved to call every chance she could and tell me how I could be a better husband and father. Looking back, I think she was right,” Moore said taking a drink.

“Sally’s mother is nice to me most of the time but others, my word, she cusses like a sailor and won’t shut up,” Buck complained. “She talks in her sleep. We put her on the other side of the house and can still hear her. She’s ninety and I think heaven doesn’t want her.”

Faintly from inside the house, “I heard that little Joe! I’m getting on my scooter and running your fucking ass over!” a very elderly voice screeched.

“And she has great hearing. I don’t know why I spent six hundred dollars on hearing aids she doesn’t need to wear, when she can hear a duck fart on the other side of the lake,” Buck said, hearing Sally try to calm her mother down.

“Sheriff, I truly didn’t mean to upset you, but this is growing bigger, faster and spiraling out of control. Please help me end it,” Moore said looking out over the lake.

“Giving up an innocent man who was pushed too far?” Buck said glancing over.

“Sheriff, let’s be honest, nobody is innocent. And that is not mine or your job, that is the job of the courts.”

“In our hearts, we know our innocence and have to live with that but in this county, notice I didn’t say country; we are innocent until proven guilty,” Buck said. “You and I both know, if Joshua is ever taken into federal custody, he’ll never see a courtroom.”

“What if I could guarantee it?”

Buck turned to look at Moore. “Like you did Beatrice Rowell, the sixteen-year-old girl that was sleeping with the Undersecretary of the Navy and had first-hand knowledge of bribery? Funny, how a sixteen-year-old is found in a wrecked car with a blood alcohol of .36, four times the legal limit, and four different drugs in her system when every friend she ever had said she never drank, did drugs or drove. You mean, like her?”

Setting his glass down, Moore wiped his eyes. “She left protective custody.”

“A minor can’t leave protective custody alone. A parent or legal guardian must do it for them. But you were pulled off that case two days before that tragic wreck happened.”

“Sheriff, that is my cross to bear,” Moore said in a whisper.

“So, Joshua could be another,” Buck said picking up his glass.

Moore looked over, “You honestly believe this confrontation that’s coming when they start to search, and teams demand to check private residences, is worth the carnage that will follow, just for one innocent man.”

“Yes,” Buck said setting his glass down. “If I say no now and take the easy road, just giving up an innocent man, then how many next time to avoid bloodshed; five, ten maybe twenty innocent men or women.
When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.
Know who said that?” Buck asked staring at the lake. “Thomas Jefferson. He knew when government got too big, the people would pay.”

“Sheriff, in the very least, don’t get in the way of the teams. Federal law says they may search a domicile in the pursuit of a fugitive.”

“Yeah, I read that ruling. Exigent circumstances, if a cop believes crime is being committed, he is given grand latitude, like forcing his way inside a house, shooting unarmed persons, shooting someone when you served a warrant on the wrong house. You know, that’s the first time I’ve said out loud what I’ve always thought and it makes me sick,” Buck said with a sigh.

A screech sounded behind them and Moore turned to see a tiny lady sitting on an electric scooter trying to open a sliding glass door as Sally tried to stop her. “You’re one of the cocksuckers who killed Ethel, fucker! I’m shoving this cane up your ass and going to pull your tongue out your ass and hang you up on a limb, you sumbitch!” she screamed, hitting the glass with the cane as Sally grabbed the handlebars of the scooter and drove her mother back into the house.

“Can she get through that glass?” Moore asked. “The image of having my tongue pulled out my ass just… Makes me shiver.”

“You can walk faster than that scooter can go,” Buck said calmly. “I’ve had her following me for a mile waving her cane at me till her batteries died.”

“You left her there?” Moore said in shock.

“I called Sally and told her where to pick her up,” Buck shrugged. “She wanted to cut my balls off and play polo with them on her scooter because I turned Judge Judy off.”

“That’s a valid reason to call your wife,” Moore said as a shiver ran down his spine.

“It was either that or deck her,” Buck said. “And unlike your agents, we just let the old people rant. Hell, they earned it. Look what we let happen to this great country they built.”

Moore gave a huge sigh, lying back in the chair as Buck glanced at him. “Agent Moore, like I said, I’ve always followed the letter of the law. That’s what the people of Bonner County elected me for and I will follow it as will those under me as we enforce the law of Bonner County. But on this I warn you, in this civil atmosphere, the letter of the law will be followed and adhered to, but this is your warning: break this civil atmosphere into anarchy with jack boot tactics and I won’t follow the letter of the law anymore. I will follow the rules of war and they are thus: kill your enemy without mercy as quickly as you can, so peace can return to your homes because there is no second place in war.” 

“Who said that?” Moore asked looking over.

“My grandfather did, talking about the Second World War.”

“I’ll do what I can but you’re facing huge odds sheriff.”