The Bonner Incident: Joshua's War (26 page)

“I take it we aren’t getting more helicopters today?” Wagner asked carefully.

“Two days at the earliest for Blackhawks. They are flying in three Hueys that the forest service uses in Oregon,” Griffey said, feeling very tired. “Your men did set up the monitoring stations, right?”

“Yes sir,” Wagner beamed and Moore looked over at Schmidt who was making notes.

“Schmidt, what else did you find?” Moore asked glancing at Griffey.

“Joshua arranged the spent fifty caliber shell casings to spell out ‘Fuck U’,” Schmidt said and looked up. “He used two different rifles.”

“What?” Wagner said. “He may have help.”

Winters laughed, “That’s against Joshua’s MO.”

“Then why two rifles?” Wagner asked, not convinced.

Schmidt looked down at his notes and continued writing. “I think he has run out of fifty caliber ammunition. The agent he took that Barrett from only had thirty rounds.”

“If that’s the case, then he didn’t have enough to blow all those holes in our birds,” Moore said and Griffey winced.

Shaking his head but not looking up, “No, I think he got more ammo from one of the other agents he killed. The SRT members usually carry extra sniper ammo,” Schmidt said, glancing over at Moore. “I do, in two different calibers. Not fifty cal though because that is just too much gun to lug around.”

Winters snorted, “Honestly, you can’t figure it out,” she chuckled and they all looked at her. “Joshua wanted to see if his rifle would damage a chopper. Because of the BATFE, we know he has two 338 Lapuas. I’m sure he has lots of ammo for those and now, he knows his rifle will put a Blackhawk out of commission.”

Moore stared at her in shock. “How did you come to that?”

“Easy, when I was in HRT, we would put bullet proof vest on targets and see what penetrated them and at what range,” she said, then looked back at her computer.

Thinking about it, Moore raised his eyebrows impressed at both Winters and Joshua. “Well, seems we are creating a stronger monster,” he said, then glanced over at Schmidt. “You did get pictures of the scene, right?”

“I’m in the FBI,” Schmidt said, not looking up from his notes. “I have them on my camera.”

“Will you go and get my secretary to print them? I’m old school,” Moore said.

Pushing back from the table, Schmidt nodded. “Be right back.”

When Schmidt walked out, Moore turned to Griffey and lowered his voice. “Griffey, you need to be careful on how many people you let know that we are watching Joshua’s cabin.”

Hearing that, Winters almost fell out of her chair. She knew who Moore was worried about and also knew he would never tell Griffey. It was just the fact that he didn’t trust Schmidt that blew her away.

“I thought I was paranoid,” Griffey said with a straight face.

“Wagner hasn’t told anyone because he wants glory, so very few people know and I would like to keep it that way,” Moore said.

“People will know if Joshua goes there,” Griffey said.

“Yes, and you will take every phone from every person that knows until you kill Joshua or find the cabin empty,” Moore said and Winters hid her shock by staring hard at her computer screen. The fact that Moore had gone so easily to kill, scared her some.

Wagner nodded, “That couldn’t hurt and I can vouch for every man in my unit.”

Moore looked up, “Trust me, I have little fear that any of your gun-happy bimbos would tip off Joshua.”

Letting out a gasp, Wagner’s face started turning red as Griffey held up his hand. “I’m the only one who gets to yell today, so drop it,” he said and Wagner snapped his mouth closed and nodded.

Glancing over at Moore, Griffey just lifted his chin. “That sounds fine by me but if you think we have people giving out information, I want to know.”

“No, I don’t, but I don’t want to take the risk. We only have one chance at this,” Moore said and Griffey nodded with a smile, hearing some confidence in Moore’s voice that it might work.

They all turned to Winters as her laptop started beeping loudly and then stopped. Leaning back to look at her screen, Moore smiled. “That email better be work-related,” he chuckled. “My computer only beeps, not ring klaxons.”

Opening the email, ignoring Moore, Winters read it with her eyes getting big. She pushed away from the computer, jumping up. “Holy shit!” she cried out in shock. The others looked at her as Moore leaned over, reading her email. Winters spun away, forcing herself to calm down and not show any joy.

“Oh fuck,” Moore said.

“What?” Griffey shouted, jumping up and moving around the table where he stopped, staring at Winters computer screen. His jaw dropped open, reading the email.

‘
Winters, look at the news. Three senior IRS agents, one BATFE agent, and an EPA agent were shot by snipers in Atlanta. They were all killed in the span of fifteen minutes while walking out of their homes. Ask Moore if there is any way you two can come down here.

~Tim’

Gasping for air, Griffey backed away from the screen. He looked at Moore, “Don’t even ask to leave here.”

“Griffey, I was assigned here by the director himself with the Attorney General,” Moore said, then looked over as Winters turned around in shock. “Is that from Timothy Green?”

“Yes, he’s stationed in Atlanta, looking for that serial killer that the press nicknamed ‘Backdoor Killer,” she said distracted. “Don’t worry, I’m not requesting to leave. Tim worked with us long enough, he should be able to handle this.”

“If he stops going after the serial killer,” Moore said nodding.

“How about we call him tonight and talk to him?” Winters said, sitting back down. “You know how Tim likes to have a pat on the back.”

Moore nodded as the doors opened and Schmidt walked back in with another man who ran to Wagner. As Schmidt handed over a stack of photos, the other man leaned over, whispering in Wagner’s ear.

Wagner jumped up, “Sir!” he shouted, looking at Griffey with a huge grin.

“I want all phones on the table now,” Griffey snapped and everyone tossed their cellphones down. He turned to Wagner and Moore realized that Griffey was paranoid. “Please tell me you have good news.”

“They saw him enter twenty minutes ago and he hasn’t left,” Wagner beamed. 

“Twenty minutes ago?!” Griffey screamed with his face turning purple, glaring at the man who had whispered in Wagner’s ear.

“Sir, the guards outside wouldn’t let him in. Your orders were only senior staff could interrupt a meeting,” Wagner said, not caring if Griffey got angry at one of his agents but Griffey had power, and Wagner didn’t want it directed at him.

Taking a deep breath, Griffey stumbled back. “He should’ve pulled his pistol and shot the fucking guard.”

“Um,” Schmidt said, looking around. “Who have we spotted?”

“Where are your weapons Schmidt?” Griffey asked, moving to the table and grabbing all the phones and shoved them in his briefcase.

“Outside the door in the weapons locker,” Schmidt said, pointing at the door.

Looking at Wagner, Griffey gave an evil grin. “How are we getting there?”

“My team is loaded up in trucks outside, waiting for us,” Wagner said grinning.

“Schmidt, grab your shit and come on,” Griffey said heading for the door. “Come on, Moore, let’s end this.”

As Moore walked past, Winters walked beside him, following Griffey who was almost skipping down the hall. “You think Schmidt is with the Minutemen?” she barely breathed out.

“He fits the profile, but I doubt it,” Moore mumbled back.

She looked up at him, speaking quietly. “The same could be said about you or me.”

Moore cracked a grin. “Sorry, but you are too hot tempered,” he chuckled. “How many times have I gone to the review board for you because of that temper? You’re lucky the sheriff wasn’t a hard ass last night. If it wasn’t for your temper, you would have your own team, instead of being stuck under me.”

“People need to quit pissing me off,” Winters said with a scowl, but smiled on the inside.

“That’s my point,” Moore said as they headed outside.

“Moore, even if he was, there is no way anyone could get information to Joshua.”

Keeping a fast pace, Moore looked around, then over at her. “I know,” he said. “What worries me is the sheriff pulling his influence from the population. I know those are Minutemen at Joshua’s house, the sheriff told me and there are others around here. Now, someone inside could get information out to them. What worries me, is that Buck told me he was allowed to tell me and only me who they were. Don’t you see, Winters? They know I haven’t told anyone else and are sending me a message, ‘leave us alone’.”

Winters fought not to seem impressed and remembered Moore was one of the best profilers ever to work in the FBI. “I think you worry about too much stuff,” she huffed.

They saw Griffey standing beside a Suburban, waiting on them. “I don’t like it when Griffey smiles like that,” Winters said as Schmidt trotted up behind them, carrying his M4 and wearing his tactical vest.

“I trust someone will fill me in,” he said as Griffey motioned to the open door in the back as he climbed in the front passenger seat.

“We will,” Moore said climbing into the backseat.

“I fucking hate the middle,” Winters said, climbing in after him.

Schmidt climbed in, shutting the door. “I would sit in the middle, but seeing as I’m the most heavily armed, I think I need a window seat.”

The driver passed Griffey a laptop and then started the engine. Three MRAPs drove past and the driver followed them out of the gate heading north. “It’s really him,” Griffey said, almost giggling, staring at the screen.

“Griffey, you mind if I see?” Moore asked.

Griffey passed the laptop back and looked at the driver. “He hasn’t left?” Griffey asked with trepidation.

“No sir,” the driver said. “When Agent Moore is done, you can watch the feeds live. We have them monitored at the compound, but each vehicle has a live feed. Agent Wagner instructed me to show you the captured video of the target.”

Moore took the computer and saw a play bar at the bottom. He tapped the beginning and stared at the screen, seeing the front of Joshua’s cabin. Movement on the far left caught his eye and Moore felt his heart speed up as the figure crept across the yard.

Tapping pause, Moore tapped the screen, zooming in to see that the figure had a shemagh wrapped around his face and wearing a helmet. But seeing the eyes, Moore knew it was Joshua. He tried to zoom in more, but the image just blurred. “You only have one monitor?” he asked.

“No sir, we have three. One on the back and the other on the slope on the north side, looking down at the clearing. That’s the different angle you saw,” the driver said.

“Oh,” Moore said and tapped the play button. Joshua continued to the cabin looking around and jumped up on the side of the porch, easing up to the door. He reached out, touching the door knob, then walked past the door and jumped off the other end of the porch.

When he left the camera’s view, the screen blinked showing the angle from the slope as Joshua headed over to a small building that everyone assumed was a type of barn next to a corral. Walking into the building, Moore lost sight of Joshua for a few minutes, but then Joshua walked back out more casually, heading back to the cabin.

The screen blinked showing the front angle as Joshua jumped up on the porch and pulled out a key, unlocking the door. Giving a last look around, Joshua walked in, shutting the door and the video stopped.

“He moves very gracefully,” Winters said as Moore handed the laptop back to Griffey.

“He moves like a hunter,” Schmidt said. “Was my clearance not high enough for this?”

“Schmidt, with the laws we broke doing that, we didn’t want many to know,” Moore said as the driver showed Griffey how to watch the live feed.

“Like we haven’t broken enough?” Schmidt chuckled. “You do realize if we bring Joshua in alive, we will have mass riots across the nation.”

Moore gave a sigh of relief and Winters felt disgusted with her mentor. “I know, and that’s why Wagner is leading this little adventure,” Moore said. “We can’t let one man bring down our system.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were pulling off Highway 57 and onto a small dirt road. They only drove half a mile and then stopped. “We walk from here,” the driver said, getting out.

They climbed out and saw men in tactical gear pouring out of the MRAPs. “How many men did Wagner bring?” Winters asked pulling out her pistol and checking it.

“Thirty,” the driver said, putting on a helmet and walking away.

Griffey walked around the Suburban, looking at the laptop and Schmidt got in front of the three, stopping them. “If I’m not mistaken, none of you have on a vest. I advise you to stay in the back because we know Joshua is very crafty and I’m finding it hard to believe he made a mistake like this,” Schmidt said, looking around into the forest.

“He’s a man and eventually we all make mistakes,” Griffey said, looking up from the screen. “But you’re right, we should’ve brought our vests.”

When Griffey walked past, Schmidt looked at Moore. “Oh, Joshua’s made mistakes, but we just haven’t been able to capitalize,” he said.