“Oh, I am,” Joshua smiled. “You just saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties.”
Not liking the sound of that, Wayne looked at Gray. “You know what he’s talking about?”
“No,” Morgan said shaking his head.
“My contract says if the site is closed to me for any reason, I’m not liable,” Joshua said feeling relief flood his body.
Agent Ward laughed. “Boy, we are the government. We can do anything we want, so your contract means nothing.”
FBI Agent Gray groaned and turned to Ward in a low voice. “Will you calm down and act professional.”
Wayne sneered at Joshua as the two agents whispered back and forth. “I’m so happy to be here and see you shut down.”
“Officer, that’s enough,” Agent Gray snapped, feeling like he was lecturing kids. Taking a deep breath, Agent Gray turned to Joshua. “Mr. Anderson, how long would it take you to produce this contract?”
“Long enough to walk over to my truck,” Joshua said, staring at the Homeland Agent beside Gray. Agent Ward was red-faced, glaring at the side of Agent Gray’s face.
Startled, Gray shook his head. “You keep it with you?”
“Yep,” Joshua said still looking at Agent Ward glaring at Gray. “Dad always said to keep it with you on a sale site.”
“I’m in fucking charge here Agent Gray!” Ward screamed. “Homeland is over every agency!”
Forcing a smile, “May I see it please?” Gray asked and Joshua nodded. “Thank you.”
As Joshua turned around, Gray spun on Ward and the two started quietly arguing. Before Joshua had even taken a step Wayne fell in behind him, still keeping his hand on the butt of his pistol. “You’re fucked, Joshua. The IRS is seizing your assets,” he chuckled.
“Fuck off Wayne,” Joshua said as the two Agents started raising their voices as they argued behind them.
“Think I’m kidding?” he laughed. “I sat in on the briefing this morning on how they are taking you down. IRS was there, FBI, Forestry Service, Homeland, Department of Labor, EPA, OSHA, CPS and the Department of Justice. All of them laid the plan out, how they are going to take everything from you. When they are done, you’ll have nothing. The only way you’re not going to spend the rest of your life in prison, is if you plead guilty.”
Knowing Wayne was just pushing, Joshua tried to keep calm. “Wayne, I’ve done nothing wrong, so I don’t have anything to fear.”
“They are going to shut you down and sell off your equipment this month,” Wayne laughed. “They don’t even have to prove you’re guilty, it’s called ‘civil asset forfeiture’. You’ll have to prove you’re innocent just to get it back, but you’re going to have to plead guilty just so you don’t spend the rest of your life in prison.”
Reaching his truck, Joshua took a deep breath and turned around. “Wayne, will you just shut up?”
“Just to let you know, I’m the one that called Child Protective Services in,” he grinned. “Seems to me, you’re endangering your son, bringing him here on this site with all this dangerous equipment. The feds loved it.”
“Don’t fuck with my family,” Joshua growled and Wayne tightened his grip on his pistol.
“Tomorrow morning the IRS is seizing your assets, so how can you even pay your lawyer?” Wayne smirked. “You’re going to sit in jail while we take everything. I’ll make sure your son goes somewhere nice.”
Glad his beard covered his face as he felt his cheeks getting red, Joshua looked up as Agent Ward stormed over with FBI agent Gray behind him. “I didn’t tell you to walk away!” Agent Ward screamed.
“Agent Gray told me to get the contract,” Joshua said, fighting to keep his voice calm.
“I’m in charge here and you’ll do what I say! Get it?!” Ward bellowed.
Crossing his arms, Joshua glanced at Wayne, then at Ward. “So, do you want to see the contract or not?”
“Yes,” Gray said stepping up.
Ward spun toward Gray. “This is my investigation asshole. Speak again and I’ll have you brought up on charges for interfering.”
“Seems my contract isn’t worth much,” Joshua said glancing at Gray. “I’ve heard you’re already going to seize everything.”
Gray just closed his eyes and shook his head as Ward turned to Joshua. “You’re goddamn right we are,” he growled. “Nine o’clock tomorrow, you have nothing. The IRS says we will get over two million in forfeiture of assets from you so fuck your contract, but by all means, you can show it to the college grad if you want,” Ward said motioning to Agent Gray with a nod.
As Joshua opened his truck, Gray leaned over to Ward whispering. “You don’t tell the suspect when you’re going to serve the warrant, dumbass. They can destroy evidence.”
Grabbing the contract, Joshua looked down at the door storage compartment seeing his 1911. Leaving the door open, he turned and opened the contract up. “It says in appendix C, if I’m barred from the sale site for any reason the contract is void, and I have ninety days after the site is reopened to fix any violations,” he said flipping the contract open.
“So?” Ward chuckled as Gray took the contract and started reading.
“It means I’m not in violation until ninety days after I’m done,” Joshua said now fighting to keep calm.
“Theft or destruction of national assets is a direct violation of the federal law that falls under the terrorist acts,” Ward growled. “I might just make the recommendation that you be labeled a terrorist and sent to one of our black rooms for questioning. As a senior Homeland Agent, I can do that.”
“I’m a citizen. I have rights,” Joshua said, for the first time getting scared.
Seeing Joshua’s eyes widen in fear, Ward’s grin broadened. “No, you lose those.”
“Ward,” Agent Gray said holding up the contract. “Step back here, you need to read this.”
As the two stepped to the front of the truck, Wayne laughed. “Told you,” he said. “It’s taken almost thirty years, but I finally get to see the Andersons fall.”
Knowing he couldn’t reply without his voice trembling, Joshua kept his mouth shut and watched the two agents arguing. “This contract was drawn up by the Forest Service and throws a lot of our case out,” Gray said as Ward read where he was pointing. “We can’t charge him with most of the violations until he turns the site over to the Forest Service.”
Not understanding what he was reading, Ward looked up at Gray. “You can’t maybe, but I can.”
“We will lose,” Gray whispered.
“No, we won’t. He has no choice but to do what we say. We’re taking everything he has, so he can’t fight back. This won’t come up in court for years and during that time, I’ll make sure he’s held without bail. What’s his family going to do? Nobody can fight us,” Ward said proudly.
“Hey, I want this as much as you do, but we need to proceed with caution and get the Justice Department to go over this contract,” Gray said closing the contract.
“Well, give it to them,” Ward said waving at the contract.
“Our warrants aren’t good till tomorrow.”
“Pussy,” Ward spat as he spun around walking back over to Joshua who was still standing at his door. “We’re taking this contract.”
“I’ll need to see the warrant,” Joshua said fighting to keep his voice from trembling.
Seeing Joshua trying to stay calm, Ward chuckled. “Don’t worry, it won’t be destroyed, but it might accidentally get lost.”
“So? I have a copy at home and the original is with my lawyer,” Joshua said forcing a smile. “Just in case that one gets lost.”
Ward’s face flushed red with anger at the audacity of Joshua trying to stand up against the federal government. “I’ve a good mind now to just haul your ass in,” he snapped. “I’ll make up charges later.”
With his arms still crossed over his chest, Joshua said. “I must admit, I’ve never felt more threatened in my life.”
“You
backwoods hick, I could shoot you now and wouldn’t even get a letter of reprimand,” Ward said opening his coat and tucking it behind his holster. “Hell, we’ve even shot women and kids and never been questioned.”
“Like I said, that is only a copy of the contract. The Forest Service has one original, and I have the other,” Joshua said with a slight tremble in his voice.
Reaching over to Gray, Ward grabbed the contract and threw it at Joshua. Instinctively, Joshua reached out to catch it. “Hold it!” Wayne yelled as Joshua caught the contract and hit the thumb snap on his holster.
“Jesus Christ, I’m holding a stack of papers!” Joshua yelled, glancing at Wayne and seeing that only the barrel of his pistol was still in the holster. Looking up at Ward, Joshua’s heart sped up seeing he had his hand on his pistol, too. “You’re going to shoot me with witnesses?”
“Hah,” Ward huffed. “Who’s going to believe loggers over federal agents?”
Wayne looked over at Agent Ward, not liking to be left out. “Gentlemen, we need to control ourselves,” Gray said brushing his coat back and for a second, Joshua felt he had an ally. “Mr. Anderson, step back,” he said grabbing his pistol. “Don’t make a decision you’ll regret.”
“It’s fucking paper,” Joshua shouted.
“You made a threatening move toward a federal agent,” Gray said watching him. “Agent Ward was just returning your contract.”
“About time you got on board,” Ward said grinning as he glanced over at Gray.
Looking over at Ward, Gray nodded. “You better make damn sure you put in the report that I did an excellent job,” he said taking his eyes off Joshua looking at Ward. “I’m tired of working in the Northwest.”
“Don’t worry,” Ward chuckled.
Without moving his body, Joshua glanced at Wayne who was looking at the two agents with a grimace. “Here Wayne, you’re state. I’m voluntarily giving this contract to you,” Joshua said, tossing the contract to him.
Wayne moved his eyes from the two agents to see the contract flying at his face, he let go of his gun as he reached up with both hands to catch it. Both agents heard Joshua and turned to see the contract flying toward Wayne. Glad he chose not to stand against Ward, Gray let go of his pistol.
Nobody saw Joshua drop his hand to his open door. When Wayne caught the contract, Joshua brought up his hand holding the 1911. “I feel threatened,” Joshua said as he squeezed the trigger. Thunder roared as the bullet streaked across the ten feet from Joshua to Wayne.
Wayne’s head snapped back as the bullet hit him right between the eyes. Before Agent Ward even registered what had happened, Joshua had his sights lined up on Ward’s face and squeezed the trigger. Ward’s head snapped back as Joshua swung his aim at Gray.
At the first gunshot, Gray had reached for his pistol, but was looking down the barrel of Joshua’s gun as he grabbed it. “Please,” he said slowly relaxing his hand and taking it off his pistol.
“You want a war? You got one,” Joshua said squeezing the trigger.
Agent Gray’s head snapped back as the bullet blew out the back of his head, and Joshua looked down at the other two he had shot to see the snow around their heads turning red. Hearing Gray’s body fall, he turned around and noticed his guys standing only twenty feet away on the other side of the truck.
Each of them had an ax or hatchet in their hands to use as a weapon. “Are you guys fucking nuts?” Joshua shouted at them.
“They were going to fucking kill you Josh!” Ben shouted lowering his ax. “We weren’t going to just stand there and let them gun you down.”
“No shit,” Gene said lowering his hatchet. “We heard it and you had no choice but to defend yourself.”
Joshua shut his door and stepped over the bodies to walk to the front of his truck. “Guys, if you would’ve helped, you would’ve been accessories. This is all on me,” he said taking a deep breath to calm down.
“Let’s go tell the sheriff what happened,” Alex said as he leaned on the ax he was going to use on the agents.
“Buck can’t help me,” Joshua said closing his eyes.
“I’ll stand with ya,” Ben said walking over.
“NO!” Joshua said snapping his eyes open. “That’s what they want. My only chance is for none of you to get involved.”
“Bullshit!” Ben screamed. “I’ve known you my entire life, and you expect me to just sit back while they fuck you!”
“Ben,” Joshua said taking a deep breath. “If you help me, a jury would never believe your testimony. But I do need to ask something of all of you.”
“Name it,” Ben said and the others nodded.
“Watch my family. If I’m not there, the feds don’t have a reason to come in guns blazing, but they might lean on them hard later,” Joshua said leaning on the hood of his truck.
“You don’t even have to ask for that, Joshua,” Frank said stepping up beside Ben. “We heard them tell you they were taking everything, and basically threatened to shoot your family.”
“I know,” Joshua said as a plan started to form in his mind. “When the cops ask you, just tell them what you saw. Don’t lie or they can prosecute you.”
“What are you going to do?” Ben asked.
“I can’t tell you,” Joshua said pushing off the truck.
Ben turned and looked at the crew. “Get the low boy trailers hooked up to the rigs and get the gear you have out loaded up now,” he snapped and the guys took off running.
“What are you doing?” Joshua asked.
“Can I borrow this equipment?” Ben asked turning around.
“Why? They’re taking it tomorrow.”
“If it’s not at your shop or here, they can’t take it,” Ben said looking down at Agent Gray and the red halo that had formed around his head in the snow. “Josh, you’ve always been there for me. Be damned if I just lie down and take it up the ass while they come after you. Believe me, this much I know. If the equipment isn’t where they have warrants for, they won’t dig hard.”
Looking at the three bodies, Joshua nodded. “Yeah, especially after this.”
“You know I’ll die for William and Sonya, what else do you need? This is just between you and me.”
Not wanting to ask for anything, Joshua stared at Ben and knew he would do the same. “The BMW that’s parked at my mom’s,” Joshua said as the plan in his mind kept building. “Will you drive it and park it where I went grouse hunting with you last year?”
“Sure, I’ll leave the keys at the base of that ugly ass boulder.”
“If the feds find out about this, you could go to prison,” Joshua said giving Ben a way out.
“Pfft,” Ben scoffed. “I forget shit all the time.”
Looking over at the guys running around the landing, Joshua turned to Ben. “Until I see you again,” he said holding out his hand.
“Me and the guys will be waiting,” Ben said shaking his hand.
Turning around, Joshua looked at the dead bodies as he stepped over them. Taking the radio off Wayne’s gun belt and seeing another clipped on Wayne’s pocket, he took them. “Assholes,” he said opening his truck and climbing in.
Ben stepped back as the truck fired up and Joshua sped off. “Stay safe, my brother,” Ben said then trotted over to the landing, calling the guys on the radio. Everyone met him at the loader. “Guys, we’re taking the equipment to my place.”
Everyone looked at him, then around at the group. “Ben, that’s the stupidest shit I’ve ever heard,” Gene said shaking his head. “You live on three acres. When they come and question us, they will see it parked on your property.”
“Well genius, what do you want to do, just let them take it?” Ben snapped.
“Hell no, let’s take it to my house and we can put it in that gorge at the back of my property. The only way they would ever find it would be to hike in there,” Gene said and everyone nodded, liking that.
“What about all the shit at the shop?” Alex asked. “There is
a shit load of stuff there.”
“Okay,” Ben said looking at the group and seeing everyone was determined to help. “We load up the Hahn and loader first and take them to Gene’s, along with the track steers. Frank and I will drive the skidder and crawler down the mountain and by the time the trucks get back, we should be close to the highway. Robert, Alex, you two take the other truck to the shop and hook up a trailer and load it down.”
Ben looked around at everyone as they nodded. “Guys, we don’t have to report a crime but if we’re asked, just like Joshua said, tell them the truth.”
“Remember, a federal agent can lie to you with impunity, but if you lie to a federal agent; you’re breaking the law,” Chris said.
“What do we say if they ask about the equipment?” Donnie asked and everyone looked at him. “Hey, I just want to make sure we have our story straight.”
“Say Josh let someone borrow it,” Ben said with a grin. “We don’t know who.”
Alex looked over at the bodies, “What do we do about them?”
“If we touch them, we are tampering with a crime scene,” Chris said. “Fuck ‘em.”
“How long you think we have?” Ben asked looking around.
“Maybe a few hours,” Chris said. “There’s no reception up here, but their buddies know where they went. It all matters on when they are supposed to check in.”
“We’ll be long gone from here by then,” Ben said looking at the group. “After the equipment is at Gene’s, everyone head to the shop and we’ll load up what we can. Then we meet at Gene’s and get our stories straight, then head home.”
“I’m sure the cops will be looking for us by then,” Frank said.
“Well then, we need to bust some ass, guys. Let’s get this stuff out of here,” Ben said and everyone took off running. He ran over to one of the log trucks and climbed in, calling out on the radio to get to the other log trucks. One answered back that he was on the highway and about to turn off. Ben told him the site was shut down by the feds, and to tell the other trucks to head home.
Chapter Four
Bouncing down the mountain road, Joshua glanced at his cellphone again still not seeing bars, but noticed it was fifteen till three. “Come on,” he said and pressed the pedal down a little further. The speedometer crept up to thirty-five and on a winding mountain road, that was hauling serious ass.
Bonner Incident Page 7