“That’s good,” Buck said walking over to Stanley. “You really don’t need to be here for what I have to say to Ralph.”
“I’ll stay,” Stanley said putting the letters in his coat.
“No Stanley. You ‘really’ don’t want to be here to hear what I say,” Buck stressed, reaching out and grabbing his arm. “You’re a lawyer and have certain rules I don’t want you to break, in case you have to go into private practice in the near future.”
Looking at the worry in Buck’s face, Stanley shook his head. “You want me to stay away for my own good while the ideals of the country that my daughter is going to inherit goes to hell, is that it?”
“For this, yes. I’m going to break the law and I can’t have you here,” Buck said letting Stanley’s arm go. “Ralph is protected by attorney/client privileges; you’re not. But I do need you to call those people you mentioned, but try the Easter Bunny last; I heard he’s kind of hard to get ahold of.”
***
Two hours later, Ralph walked into Buck’s office with Sonya holding William’s hand and Ben behind them. “Never been in here,” Ben said looking around with a grin. “I usually come in another way and the rooms I’ve seen have bars.”
Ralph stopped, looking at a woman who’d been sitting at the table and now was leaving. “Karen, what are you doing here?”
“Advising my client,” she smiled, holding out her hand and Ralph shook it. “If you need anything, Ralph, call my office.”
When she’d left, Ralph looked over at Buck still sitting at the table. “You need a heavy hitter like Karen for an attorney?”
“Yes, Ralph. Would all of you please sit?” Buck said rubbing his face with his hands. “Ralph, I want you and your clients to listen to something before we talk.”
“Can I take notes?” Ralph asked.
“If you want, but I made you a copy and yes, by doing it, I’ve broken the law; federal law, so you choose.”
As Ralph was pulling a legal pad out of his briefcase he froze. “Buck, are you serious?”
“Just listen,” Buck said and pressed play on the recorder. When the conversation with Agent Moore ended, Buck pressed stop. He looked at Ralph, “Now do you understand?”
“Buck,” was all Ralph could say.
“Ralph, I asked you here so I could talk to your clients, but not as sheriff, as a friend.”
Wiping tears from her eyes, Sonya cleared her throat, “What do you want to say, Buck?” After hearing that recording, she knew in her heart what the feds were going to do.
“Sonya, they are going to kill him on sight. I know you don’t know where he went, but I know you or Ben can get word to him. He needs to know that they aren’t looking for him to arrest, they are looking to kill him.”
“Buck, you’re suggesting my clients know how to get in touch with a-,” Ralph stopped when Sonya grabbed his arm.
“Buck, what’s the difference? He’s hiding and we don’t know where,” she said.
“Sonya, if you’re hiding from someone who’s chasing you: you can make a mistake like letting them see you from a distance or try to lay low till they pass. If you’re hiding from people trying to kill you, you have to disappear or make sure they can’t tell others where you are. If they see you, they shoot. You heard the agent say they labeled Joshua a lone wolf terrorist, right?” he said and she nodded.
“That is the most dangerous kind and they can use any means necessary to capture or kill them,” he said and Ralph nodded in agreement.
Sonya got up shaking her hands out. “It’s Joshua,” she moaned. “How could anyone see him like that?”
“They don’t,” Buck said. “They want to make him a lesson to others who fight back when the government comes to take their life’s work.”
“Buck, you better not be recording this conversation,” Ralph said in a low voice.
“I’m not, and Stanley knows I recorded the other one. He’s already talked to the governor, but I haven’t found out what was said.”
“William, will you come give mom a hug?” Sonya said from across the room holding out her arms. William got up and walked over into her arms as she hugged him. William wrapped his arms around her and Sonya hugged him tight, putting her lips to his ear and breathed. “What do you think?”
She rotated her head, putting her ear to William’s mouth. “I’m not giving it to Buck. I know he’s a friend, but he’s a cop first, like he said.”
Rolling her head back to press her mouth to William’s ear, “We can’t do it William. That was a federal car following us.”
“I’ll give it to Ben then,” he breathed when she pressed her ear to William’s mouth. She lifted her head back and nodded. The others watched and it had looked like they were distraught as they’d hugged each other.
They walked over to the table and William looked at Ben, “Ben, are the feds watching you?”
“Hell yeah,” he laughed. “I called a sex line yesterday afternoon and when the woman answered I yelled, ‘Josh, meet me in my driveway in thirty minutes’ and hung up. The feds came in three SUVs and a helicopter.”
“Ben, that was stupid. They could just as easily have shot you,” Buck said shaking his head.
Shrugging, “Well, I had twenty or so friends over at the house at the time and you won’t believe it, but they brought their rifles with them,” he said smiling.
“Ben, could you get away from the feds when you leave here?” William asked with a serious face.
Reaching a hand up, Ben stroked his long red goatee and smiled at William. Leaning over and looking down the table at Buck, “Buck, can I get away from someone who’s watching me?” he asked with a grin.
Buck gave a snort. “I have several deputies that can testify to that.”
Ralph reached over stabbing the table with his index finger. “These aren’t deputies, and if you’re caught contacting a fugitive in flight, they will crucify you and there will be little I can do.”
“I’m shocked that you’d even suggest I’d be caught,” Ben said in mock horror still stroking his goatee as William reached over and pulled a sheet of paper off of Ralph’s legal pad and took his pen.
“I’m serious Ben. They are quoting laws that nobody’s heard of and they are enforcing them,” Ralph said. “That’s my advice. But if you do try to contact someone, I suggest you don’t use any person’s phone who knows you.”
“Duh, it was my cellphone I used last night,” Ben chuckled. “I knew they would have it and all the others in the crew.”
“Ben, after hearing that recording, I’m certain they are pulling all communications in around here.”
“Yeah, it’s really easy to do,” William said writing. “They let a computer scan the conversations for keywords and then it will zero in when they pick up one. A friend of mine hacked the program once and he said it was really good.”
“William, you’re sitting in front of a law enforcement officer,” Ralph said in a low voice.
“I said ‘a friend’,” William said still writing.
Sonya reached over, rubbing his head, “You don’t lie well hon,” she smiled with tears in her eyes.
“I’d like to see anyone prove it was me,” William said looking up, laying the pen down and folding the paper in half. He turned to Ben and smiled. “I never thanked you for getting Dad to promote me to foreman Ben,” he said and pushed the folded paper to Ben.
Dropping his hand off his goatee, Ben’s face became serious as he picked up the paper and read it. His eyes got big then looked over the paper at William then back down to the paper. His eyes moved over the paper and his mouth was moving but nothing was coming out, like he was memorizing.
Ben closed his eyes and moved his mouth like he was talking for several seconds then opened his eyes and looked at the paper, reading. Suddenly, he smiled and crumpled the paper up and shoved it in his mouth making William and everyone else gasp in shock. “I didn’t say eat it!” William cried out.
Chewin
g the paper up and swallowing hard, Ben rubbed his throat as Buck passed him a bottle of water. “Thanks,” Ben said hoarsely and then drained half the bottle.
They all stared at him in shock as Ben looked at William smiling. “I didn’t want anyone to see my thank you letter, seeing as how I got emotional,” he grinned reaching over and ruffling William’s hair. “Besides, who’s going to dig it out now?”
“Dad’s right, you’re crazy,” William laughed.
“Among other things,” Sonya said raising her eyebrows.
“Sonya, don’t,” Ben said raising his hands. “Barbara and Sammy moved in with me three weeks ago.”
Sonya froze and William reached over to pat his arm. “I’m glad,” William said. “Mom didn’t like you whoring around.”
“William,” Sonya said snapping out of her shock. “When did you tell Joshua?” she asked looking at Ben.
“Day before the shit hit the fan,” Ben said. “I think he had other things on his mind, Sonya, so don’t be mad that he didn’t tell you.”
She reached over and patted his hand. “I’m not, but you need to tell me these things.”
“Hello?” Buck said from the end of the table. “Will someone address the reason I asked you here?”
“We will say a prayer that Joshua finds out,” Sonya said slowly turning to Buck and looking at the legal pad William had torn the page from. “You are too smart, dear.”
“What? I’ve seen how you can see what was written on a pad after the page has been torn out,” William said with a grin. “Can we go to the store?”
“Of course,” Sonya said getting up. “Which one?”
“I don’t care, I just want to piss those guys following us off,” William grinned.
Buck picked up the phone, “I’m going to send a deputy with you.”
“Buck, you have one at the house,” Sonya said slinging her purse over her shoulder.
“Right. At your house, where you are not at,” Buck said then spoke into the phone.
“Wow,” William said pointing at the black box beside the windows. “A laser mic disruptor.”
“Huh?” Ralph said standing up.
“It makes it so they can’t use a laser on your windows to hear what’s being said inside,” William explained as Ben and Ralph stood up.
Ralph looked at the box and then at William. “Where do I get one?”
“You can’t as a private citizen, but I’ve got the plans for that one at home.”
Buck stood up and walked over, shaking everyone’s hand. “Please stay safe,” he said looking at Sonya. “If William or you are hurt, Joshua’s not the only one who will deal retribution.”
“We will Buck, but I swear, if they screw with me, they will bite off more than they can chew. Mrs. Anderson is staying at the house with us and she really wants to shoot a fed. She paid some of her friends’ kids to guard her house while she’s at mine and told them to bury anyone they shoot. She told them to plant them in the front flower bed, the ground needs fertilizer.”
William laughed, “Nana brought her double barrel shotgun over and it’s bigger than she is.”
Ben hugged Sonya and William. “I need to go,” he said. “I’m going to do my part on pissing off the feds. I’m on my motorcycle.”
The others watched him walk out and Buck shook his head. “Never in my life would I believe I would be teaming up with Ben.”
“Don’t worry,” William said pulling Sonya to the door. “Dad said he could keep Ben out of trouble, but the only other person that could do it was Gene and he’s going there to tell him about my thank you letter.”
When they’d left, Buck stood alone in his office. “Joshua better instill some fear in his boy,” he said staring at the closed door. “William thinks he’s ten foot tall and bulletproof.”
Chapter Ten
Winding down a small canyon road, Frank slowed as he pulled up to Gene’s shop. Cracking the door of his F250, Frank slowly opened it, knowing a rifle was in Gene’s hands. Even if Frank couldn’t see Gene, Frank knew very well that Gene could see him, and gave Gene time to see who it was. Stepping out slowly, he saw Gene step out of the shop, lowering the barrel of his Winchester 270. “What’s up Gene?” Frank said closing the door of the truck.
“Not much Frank,” Gene said leaning the rifle behind the doorway.
Glancing around the hillsides of the valley that Gene’s house and shop sat in, Frank walked over to the shop as Gene sat down in the doorway. “Me and the rest of the crew was wondering what to do about jobs. With Josh gone and the equipment hidden, we still need to eat.”
“Well, Sonya told me she was going to cover fifty percent of your wages, that plus your rocking chair money, you’ll do well,” Gene said as Frank stopped in front of him.
“Damn it Gene! That’s not what we were worried about. We’re loggers and we want to work not be on the Dole. I haven’t collected unemployment in over a decade. Don’t want to start now, because Sonya can’t keep that up for long,” Frank said scratching his chin and spitting out his chew. “Tell Sonya thanks and we appreciate the offer but we will work and help her and William out, not be a drain on them.”
Watching Frank dig in his pocket, Gene waited until Frank pulled out his can of ‘worm dirt’ and placed a new dip in his lip. Having given up snuff years ago, Gene looked on with a little envy. As Frank closed the can, Gene got up, “Give me that can, I need a dip,” Gene said taking it out of Frank’s hand.
Watching Gene get a dip, Frank was spellbound. Gene sighed, putting the pinch of Copenhagen in his cheek and closing the can, slowly savoring the moment. “Frank, I understand your point. I feel castrated sitting here not working, but Sonya and Will need my help and God knows, Ben’s gonna be a handful. He wants to start a guerilla war on the feds.”
“Yeah, he’s already trying to get me and Kyle to help him,” Frank said spitting a stream on the hard packed ground.
Taking his hat off and running his hand over his head before putting it back on, a habit he had when he was thinking. “There are no jobs around here this time of year. Ours was the only one working,” he said then looked up at Frank. “Tell you what, give me a few days to come up with something that will keep the crew together.
Hearing that from Gene filled Frank with relief. “Okay,” he sighed. “Let us know.”
They continued bullshitting as Gene formulated a plan.
“Well, it’s almost feed time, so’s I’m gonna head for home,” Frank said as he turned and headed for his pickup. “Let me know. Tell Sonya and William that the whole crew is behind Josh and them, and to call if they need something.” Frank settled behind the steering wheel and he started the big Ford up as Gene gave him a nod.
Watching Frank drive off back down the dirt road, Gene grabbed his rifle and headed to the house to get his work phone book and truck keys. He had to make a call that wouldn’t be traced.
Pulling into a pizza parlor in Newport, the only place with a payphone nearby, Gene shut the truck down and looked back down the road. He knew he wasn’t a secret agent, but there wasn’t that much traffic in the panhandle of Idaho and he never saw another vehicle behind him.
Satisfied, he climbed out of the truck and walked over to the payphone, unloading a handful of quarters and setting his phonebook down. Grabbing the phone from the cradle, he dialed a number in Western Washington and a computer voice told him the amount for the first three minutes. Giving a startle, Gene started feeding quarters in the phone. “Damn near can drive there for that,” he mumbled.
When the quarters were in, the line started ringing as Gene looked around and saw a group of kids walk out of the pizza parlor. On the seventh ring, “What do you want?” a raspy voice answered.
“Damn Eddy, you ain’t got any better in all these years,” Gene shouted back at Eddy Shore.
“Who the hell is this?” Eddy snapped back.
“It’s Gene, you grouchy old coot, from Idaho.”
“Shit,” Eddie grumb
led. “What the hell is going on with Josh over there? The news is calling him a terrorist, by God. I know better than that. Them fed jay-birds probably had it coming. I know they sure do over here on the ‘wet side’. Damn, I may go and find me some to shoot.”
“Calm down Eddy. I need to talk some sense to you,” Gene sighed. Eddy Shore was a real old time logger. He was an old friend of Joshua’s dad. Eddy was ninety-one and a veteran of the Second World War.
“Since when do you know anything about sense?” Eddy grumbled and shut up.
“Eddy, did you ever transfer the titles to the Madill tower and link belt loader Josh bought from you ten years ago?”
“Hell no,” Eddy chuckled. “Josh said that an old logger always had to keep his equipment or he might have to go to work for some other outfit. Why? Besides, we shook on it and that’s a bond better than any paper.”
“You think you could find a small job for me?” Gene asked lowering his voice as the kids walked past him.
“What?!” Eddy bellowed over the phone and Gene yanked it away from his ear to hear the tirade. “You turnin’ your back on Josh?! Damn your hide, I oughta come over there and kick your butt!”
Bringing the phone back to his ear, “Calm down,” Gene shouted. “This will be to help Josh, but you could get dragged into this.”
“Oh, okay,” Eddy said calmly and Gene heard him spit.
“I want to keep our crew together and working till Josh gets this worked out. There’s just no work here right now.”
“Well, I heard down at Kelly’s that there was a small independent mill looking for a high lead side to do a thirty-acre cedar job near La Push for the Indians. Said none of the locals were available for a small job.”
Taking his hat off, brushing his hair and replacing it as he thought, Gene jumped when the electronic voice said. “Please deposit a dollar fifty for more time.” Shoving quarters in, Gene wondered how they could sleep charging that much.
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