“Providence.” I answered, pointing to the sky.
Luke studied me for a moment, and then he arrived at a decision.
“If you say so,” He turned to the men at the barricade.
”Boys, get the barricade out of the way. This gentleman needs to be on his way and, LISTEN UP, he was never here. Now, to be clear, THAT’S AN ORDER. Get the lead out!”
Chapter 57.
I had barely left the roadblock behind me when the call came in. I checked the caller ID before I pushed the button to answer the call.
“Hey, Jack, what’s up?” I asked wearily, by way of greeting.
“What the hell are you playing at?” said Jack.
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t act stupid with me. I know you’ve spent the whole day in the vicinity of that farmhouse. You’re not supposed to be interfering in an FBI operation.”
“You really are keeping tabs on me aren’t you? Let me guess. You’re tracking me using the GPS in my truck. Is that about right?”
“How I do my job, doesn’t matter. Why were you there, and what did you see?”
“Do you really want to talk about this on an open phone line?”
He was silent for a second.
“I nearly had you picked up. I probably should have sent someone to get you. Hell, I should have come after you myself.”
“How do you want to handle this?”
“Meet me in the usual place, as soon as you get back to Tyler. It should take about fifty minutes from your present location.”
“Sure, Jack. I’ll meet you there.”
So that was it. Jack knew exactly where I had been, but not specifically what I had been doing. I wondered if Jack had told Doug I was in the area. Considering what I had seen and recorded, I doubted it. If Doug had known I was there, he would have done something about it. This was a mess of historic proportions. The FBI could not have gotten a drone attack authorized without the DHS and someone in the DOD knowing about it. The Attorney General of the United States would have had to sign off on it. Jack’s friendship with me would only protect me so far.
What were they thinking? Did they really think they could kill American citizens without even giving them a trial? Clearly, they did think so. Was this the due process of the future? Welcome to the bold new America, where no warrants, arrests, or trials were needed, An America where a man could risk his life in service to his fellow citizens and be murdered for his trouble.
Not on my watch.
I was late to my meeting with Jack. I had to unload some equipment, copy some files and send some e-mails before I met him on the top level of the parking structure.
“What have you done?” Were the first words out of his mouth.
“…My patriotic duty.” I replied, wearily.
“I thought you were above all that. I thought all you cared about was what you believe God wants you to do. Now, all of a sudden you go back to being a, a…I don’t know what you are.”
“Did you know what was going to happen out there tonight?” I asked him.
“What did happen out there? What did you see?”
“Oh come on, Jack. You seem to know everything about everything. Are you telling me you didn’t know what was going to happen?”
“Are you asking me if I knew a group of anti-American domestic terrorists, who had attacked and killed a public servant and was conspiring to kill other government personnel, was going to be the subject of a police action? Did I know the FBI was going to take them down? I knew the leadership of the Righteous Patriots Brigade was not going to get the chance to do any recruiting in prison. I knew they wouldn’t get the chance to spew anymore of their hate speech. And, I knew those animals were not going to get the chance to kill anyone else. We saved the American people, all of the American people, untold misery, terror and expense in bypassing the judicial process. I don’t approve of the method, but I approve of the action. It was in the best interests of national security.”
“Really, you approve of the cold blooded murder of men who were never even accused of a crime? You approve of the murder of my friend, Gary?”
“What? No. What are you talking about? What happened to Gary?”
“I saw an FBI agent shoot him in the head, while Gary was lying on the ground, just exactly as he had been instructed to do.”
“My God, there must have been some mistake!”
“…Mistake, Jack? The Attorney General of the United States authorized a drone strike on American soil, specifically to kill American citizens, and you think there must have been some mistake!”
“Now see here, John. You don’t want to go around making statements like that without any proof.”
For a moment, I stared out at the lights of the city, twinkling through the trees. I took a deep breath and scrubbed my face with my hands.
“No, Jack, you’re right. Without any proof, I would be wasting my breath. Nothing good could come from me running my mouth about something I can’t prove.”
“That’s right! Now, you let me handle this. I’ll look into what happened to Gary.
I nodded dully, in response.
“John, you’re upset. That’s perfectly understandable. I can’t imagine how horrible it must have been for you. Try to put all this behind you. You have another mission don’t you? Concentrate on the next thing you need to do. Can you do that?”
I looked Jack in the eye. “I’m all about my mission.” I replied.
“Good man. I knew I could count on you.”
I had learned a couple of useful things from Jack. He hadn’t denied that a drone had been used. He and I both knew a Hellfire missile could not have been fired from the FBI helicopter. The other thing was that Jack did have prior knowledge of what was going to happen. It meant there was more than one federal agency involved.
I thought about all those things for a moment. Then I made the phone call.
“Hello, John, I was just about to call you.” Special Agent in Charge, Doug Booker said.
“Hey, Doug. Yeah, I thought I should call. I knew I wouldn’t hear anything from Gary. He told me you were going to take down the meeting tonight. I know you put him straight into protective custody, so he can’t contact anyone. I just wanted to know how the raid went.”
“John, I’m afraid I have bad news. Gary was killed tonight. At the present time, it appears he was shot by someone in the Righteous Patriot’s Brigade. Apparently they saw or heard us coming. They shot Gary and engaged our agents with gunfire. About that time someone inside the building touched off the explosives and… You can imagine. We have a big job on our hands sorting through the rubble and identifying the remains. I’m sorry to have to tell you about Gary. I know you were close.”
I waited a moment and considered my response.
“Are you sure? Maybe he got away…”
“John, I’m so sorry. Gary’s body was found just outside the farmhouse. We’ve made a positive ID. Again, I’m sorry.”
“I can’t believe it…”
“I know. It’s a shock. We didn’t anticipate they would choose to fight and die rather than be captured.”
“Did you get all of them?”
“Yes, John, we did.”
“How many did you arrest?”
“John, they were all killed, most of them in the explosion.”
“There were no survivors, Doug?”
“No, John, I’m sorry. I have to go. I’m still on the scene, and, as I said, there’s a lot of work to do.”
“Ok. I still can’t believe it.”
“I understand how you feel. Good bye, John.”
I had learned three things from our conversation.
Doug Booker had taken part in the massacre, he had no idea that Kevin Watkins was in the custody of the Texas Rangers, and he had no idea that I had ever been in the area.
Chapter 58.
The next morning, Christine, Tony, and I were sitting in the reception area of my office, watching the story of th
e FBI raid now being broadcast on every television news channel in the country.
Christine was crying, holding a ball of tissue clutched in her hand, so tightly her knuckles were white. Tony sat beside her with his arms around her.
“John, do you think there’s any chance the FBI made up the story about Gary being killed, to make keeping him safe, easier? Maybe they have him in protective custody somewhere and he will be starting a new life…” She suggested, plaintively.
“No, Christine. Gary is gone. He has started a new life, but not here in this world.”
She sobbed at that, and Tony wrapped her more tightly in his arms.
We sat and watched the story unfold.
The FBI had provided footage of what we were told was the inside of the farm house, supposedly taken by an undercover agent, just hours before the explosion. The unidentified undercover agent would have had to be Gary. How he was supposed to have done the photography and provided the video footage wasn’t mentioned.
The video showed rooms filled with automatic weapons, ammunition, RPGs, various types of military equipment and an assortment of explosives. I could tell the video had not been shot in that farmhouse, but how could the ordinary viewer know it was a ruse?
The scene cut to a live shot of the reporter standing a few dozen yards from the smoldering ruins of the farmhouse, wisps of smoke drifting in the light breeze.
“I’m here with the FBI’s, Special Agent in Charge, Douglas Booker. Agent Booker, I understand you led the raid on the terrorist compound last night. Is that correct?”
Doug was dressed in black combat fatigues.
“Yes, Tawny, I was in command of the FBI’s special tactical unit which raided this property at zero nineteen hundred and forty five minutes, last night. As you have reported, we had positively identified the persons on the property as being members of the domestic Christian terrorist group known as the Righteous Patriots Brigade, which is a splinter group of the Righteous Army of God. These were the same people responsible for the attack which caused the death of the Federal Prosecutor and the wounding of the Gregg County Sheriff, at the courthouse in Longview, just days ago.”
“When you say “domestic”, Agent Booker, are you indicating that this Christian terrorist group was made up of American citizens?”
“That is correct, Tawny. We are seeing a rise in religious extremism in this country. These people are irrational and dangerous. They believe in some unseen presence they call ‘god’, that directs them to do these horrible things. These religious hate groups are anti-government and they are becoming an ever increasing threat to national security and the safety of the American people.”
“After the shooting in Longview, where they killed the prosecutor, how did you know where to find them?”
“The FBI immediately employed every tool at our disposal, to identify and locate the perpetrators. We had an informant within the terrorist sect. He was instrumental in locating the meeting place and in providing valuable information about the plans and preparations the group was making.”
“My understanding is your informant was killed by the terrorists. Is that correct?”
“Our informant was killed just before we arrived on the scene.”
“Can you tell us who the perpetrators were?
“I am not at liberty to comment on that, Tawny. This is an on-going Federal investigation.”
“So there you have it folks…” The network anchor cut in. “At seven forty five, Central time, last night, the FBI raided a domestic terrorist compound in East Texas. A gun battle ensued and the terrorists detonated explosives, leveling the building where they were holed up. We have heard possibly as many as fifteen terrorists may have died in the raid; most of them were killed by the explosion itself. None of the dead have been identified at this…Correction; I’ve just been informed the man who was working as an informant for the FBI, the man killed on the scene by the terrorists, was named Gary Babcock. Mr. Babcock was a resident of Tyler, Texas, a town about forty miles from the scene of the horror visited on the region last night. Mr. Babcock was a retired firefighter for the city of Tyler…”
A picture of Gary in his Tyler Fire Department dress uniform was shown on the screen.
Christine began sobbing in earnest, her body wracked and her breathing ragged.
My phone rang and the caller ID prompted me to take the call.
“John, have you seen the television news coverage of the raid?” Texas Ranger Captain, O’Brian asked me.
“We’re watching it now, Luke.”
“I watched the video you gave me.”
“All four hours of it?”
“…Pretty much, yeah. This is a cover-up, John. The FBI is trying to make out like they didn’t set out to kill everyone at that meeting.”
“Listen, Luke. I don’t want to talk about this right now.”
“Huh? Oh yeah, I get it,”
“We should meet sometime soon and discuss the various ramifications and possible course of action which might be most pertinent.”
“If you mean, figure out what happens next, you’ve got that right.” Luke said.
“I assume you’ve made sure everything I gave you is accounted for and secure?”
“Yes, and it has proven to be a source of valuable information.”
“That’s the only good news I’ve heard all morning.”
“Give me a call, when you’re ready to meet.” Luke hung up on his end.
“Tony, can I see you in my office? Christine, will you excuse us for a little while?”
When I had closed the door behind us, I brought Tony up to speed.
“Tony, I was there at that farmhouse last night. It didn’t go down the way the FBI is presenting it.”
Tony stared at me for a moment.
“What are you telling me, J.W.?”
“I have photos of everything inside that house. Photos I took just a few hours before the raid. I have aerial images of the entire property, including that farmhouse from every angle. The video we saw on the news, showing all those weapons and equipment was not shot inside the farmhouse. It doesn’t even resemble it. I also have video of the FBI systematically shooting and killing the few men who escaped the blast, including Gary.”
“Hold on, J.W. Are you suggesting the FBI gunned down unarmed men?”
“I don’t know whether they were armed or not. They probably had handguns, but they offered no resistance. They were crawling and staggering away from the burning farmhouse that had just been blown to bits.”
“Can you prove it?”
I told you, Tony. I have it all on film. Well, not really film, but you know what I mean.”
“J.W., are you telling me you were there, shooting video, while FBI agents killed Gary?”
“Yes and no, Tony, I was about a half mile away, using a remote control aircraft to get the video.”
“You have it all, the explosion, the shooting, everything?”
I nodded, solemnly.
“Show me.” He said.
Chapter 59.
Tony and I watched the most pertinent segments of the images I had recorded the previous night.
“As you can see, Tony, none of those guys are expecting any trouble. They’re just talking and…”
“Run it back, J.W. Did you see the flash, just before the explosion?”
I ran the images back and started again, from the point where some of the men began to emerge from the farmhouse.
“There! Did you see that?” Tony asked, about forty five seconds later, as the picture went to white and was broken up by the explosion.
“I did, Tony, and so did at least a half dozen Texas Rangers who were about a mile and a half away. There may have been other witnesses as well.”
“Can you run it back and then play it in slow motion?” Tony asked.
“No, Tony, I don’t know how to do slow motion on my computer. But the Texas Rangers have a copy of this, so does a guy who works for the local ABC affili
ate. There are people in Washington D.C. who are looking at this right now. They can do all kinds of things to enhance the image and look at it frame by frame.”
“J.W., that looked like an incoming missile strike.”
I nodded in agreement. “It was what caused the explosion, Tony. There were no explosives inside the farmhouse.”
Tony was scrubbing his face with his hands.
“This is completely…unacceptable.” He struggled for the word.
“It may be even worse than what you’ve just seen, Tony.”
“I don’t see how it could be any worse.”
Tony was almost incapable of imagining that any fellow law enforcement officer could be capable of horrendous crime. He had seen some things before, but he was so committed to his own personal integrity, he had a difficult time thinking another cop might be crooked.
“Tony, where did the missile come from, and why did they use it?”
Tony closed his eyes and shook his head.
The image now was the wide shot of the area, showing the FBI agents arriving on the scene, the helicopter spotlighting the action. Watching it again was even harder for me, because I knew what I was about to see. The picture was clear and there was no doubt about it, the heavily armed and armored FBI agents were shooting down the survivors of the explosion, without any provocation. We saw one of the agents standing over Gary, shooting him repeatedly with an assault rifle.
Tony groaned.
I stopped the video.
“That was a carefully planned execution. They never intended to arrest anyone.” Tony noted.
“…Exactly.” I responded. “It’s why they killed Gary. They couldn’t have him contradicting their version of the events.”
“They intended from the beginning there would be no witnesses and no survivors.” Tony observed.
“They failed, on both counts.” I answered
“What? Who survived?”
“One of the men who had been in the meeting, I hauled him out of there and turned him over to a trusted friend. Are you getting this, Jack?”
Tony looked at me, clearly confused.
“Tony, say hello to our friendly DHS agent, Jack McCarthy. I expect he and his cronies are, or will be, listening to this entire conversation.”
Special Agent Page 27