Bonner Incident by Thomas A Watson, Michael L Rider Page A

said reaching out and grabbing her hand. “My only chance is to stay away and hope.” They both knew Joey ‘Buck’ Harper and were good friends with the sheriff.
    “Dad, we have a lawyer for this,” William said as he dragged his forearm across his nose.
    “Son, we’ve seen how the feds treat people here. They’ve killed women and children before, in this very county, just across the lake and were never punished. The three I shot all but said, they would shoot you two because of me. If I’m not here, they have no reason or justification to.”
    “Is that why you wanted me to empty the bank accounts?” Sonya sobbed.
    “Yes, they are seizing them tomorrow morning, and I wanted to make sure you and William had it. If you need anything, get in touch with Ben. The house is in your name so they can’t take it, but they are going to search it and I’m sure take a lot of shit,” he said then looked at William. “If you have stuff on your computers that shouldn’t be there, get it off.”
    “Yes, sir,” William said trying not to cry. He looked at his dad’s belt and saw his cellphone. “Dad, leave your cellphone so they can’t track you.”
    “I will son,” he said with a forced smile.
    William looked at the pile of gear and noticed his dad’s laptop. “Hold on Dad,” he said getting up and walking out.
    “Joshua, what are we going to do?” Sonya said launching out of the chair and wrapping her arms around him.
    Almost falling over when she collided with him, Joshua wrapped his arms around her and stood up. “Whatever we have to,” he said squeezing her tight. “Go through the house and take out what you think is important and hide the money, but not in the house because they will take it.”
    “I will,” she sobbed.
    “Sonya, do you have any pictures of me without my beard on your computer?”
    “No, that laptop died and William couldn’t get them off,” she said and gasped lifting her head up. “The picture in your office.”
    “I have it,” he grinned. “Along with the IDs.”
    “Holy shit,” Sonya said stepping back. “If they would’ve found those…”
    “I’m taking them,” he said caressing her face. “You two take care of each other.”
    “When do you think we can see you?”
    Taking a deep breath, Joshua sighed. “Not for a while because I’m positive they are going to watch you like a hawk.”
    “We need to tell Ralph, damn it. For what his firm charges, he should be able to do something,” she said stepping back as William came in.
    “Yes, you call him and tell him that you need to meet him at his office tonight, after you’re done here. I don’t want you two here when the feds show up.”
    “Okay,” Sonya nodded.
    “Dad,” William said grabbing his laptop case. “You can’t take your computer because it can be traced. Take this one,” he said holding out a laptop. “It’s a ghost computer, so it changes IP addresses.”
    “I wasn’t going to hook up to the internet,” Joshua said taking it.
    “Well, you can with that one. Just do it somewhere with a lot of people using wireless,” William said and handed over a phone. “This is the cellphone I use to surf the web and not get tracked. It’s a disposable phone and I have one more card for it. I know the number and when I think it’s clear, I’ll send you a message.”
    “Son, no. They will get you for that if they find out.”
    “Dad, trust me. Now don’t go to any site or email you’ve ever used,” William said taking his dad’s laptop. “I’ll wipe this one.”
    They talked more for half an hour and Joshua hugged them again. “Guys, I have to go. I’m sure they are looking for those I shot.”
    “Please be careful,” Sonya said burying her face in his chest.
    “I will,” he said. “Don’t worry, it may be a while, but I’ll be back.”
    They helped him carry his stuff out and load it into the truck. He hugged them again and climbed in the truck and pulled out. Sonya put her arm