War on the Home Front

"Who are they?"

"I don't know. I've never seen them before."

"Why such a violent entrance?"

"Again, I don't know. You'd have to ask them, but I recognize that's going to be a bit difficult."

"Is there anyone else in the house?"

"I have four guests, a young woman and her three children. They're barricaded in an upstairs bedroom."

"Can you please have them come down here?"

"Not until you have cleared the property, including the barn and all the outbuildings. I'll not put them at risk of there being another attacker on the property. And you need to cover the bodies. There's no reason for any of them to witness what happened here."

By now there were several other deputies on the scene. They proceeded to thoroughly search the area surrounding the house as well as the barn and outbuildings, then stationed a deputy at each entrance to the house. The deputies also covered the deceased with a couple of blankets from their vehicles. With that, accompanied by a deputy, Matt went up the stairs and asked Sarah to join him on the first floor. The children, asleep, were left in their cribs. Sarah placed her pistol under a pillow before accompanying Matt down the stairs.

The deputy conducting the interview asked Sarah what she had seen. "Nothing," she replied. "Matt told me that there were intruders on the property and to barricade myself in the bedroom. I heard a blast, then several more blasts. They sounded like gunshots. After the noises stopped, Matt told me to stay in the room until he came for me."

Pulling down the blankets far enough to show faces, the deputy asked Sarah, "Do you know these men?"

Before she could answer, the Sherriff walked through the door. "Jesus Christ Almighty, Matt. What the Hell happened here?"

"Home invasion, Sherriff. Security system gave me advance warning and I was ready when they came through the door. They blew the door lock with a shotgun and came in together. I was ready and got them before they got me."

"Does your system record?"

"Sure does. Want a copy?"

"Let's see it. Then I'll get you send us a copy."

Matt pulled the security footage up to the first notice generated by the system and played it for the Sherriff and the deputy leading the investigation. It confirmed Matt's description of the events.

"Damn, Matt. You didn't give them much of a chance."

"Two shotguns and a rifle against my.45. Not exactly an even match. Once they fired on the door, I knew they weren't going to throw their hands up and say, 'I surrender.' Plus, I had Sarah here and the three kids upstairs to protect. What would you have done in my circumstances?"

The Sherriff thought for a moment, then said, "Probably the same thing. We'll need to take the pistol you used. You got another one somewhere in case you have more visitors?"

"I do. I'll get it out once you've cleared the scene."

"You can't stay here tonight. This is a crime scene. Can you bunk at your mother's tonight?"

"I'll call her and ask. We're going to need protection until this mess is cleaned up. These guys might have friends and families who will be looking to get even."

"We'll park a couple of deputies outside her house until we figure out who these guys were and whether you're still in danger." Turning to Sarah, he continued, "Please get the children ready to move to Sally's place. You all can use Matt's truck, if you have seats for the children. Pack enough stuff for several days. I'm pretty sure DCI will be wanting to talk to you both about this. We don't see such things here very often. They'll definitely want control of the investigation to keep us from 'screwing it up', or so they'll claim."

With that, Matt said, "Then how about we come in tomorrow morning and give you a statement? It's late, we have small kids to deal with and you've seen what happened on the security footage." The Sherriff agreed and Matt and Sarah went upstairs to pack and prepare the children for a ride to Sally's house.

CHAPTER FIVE

Midway through the following morning, Matt, Sarah and Matt's attorney, Robert Williams, arrived at the Sheriff's office. They found two DCI agents awaiting them, along with the deputy who had begun the investigation. After some preliminary discussions, the agents began their interrogation. "We had DOJ pull your military records overnight, Matt. There's very little detail available. You were a career soldier, apparently spent most of your time in special forces units. There's no information available of where you were stationed or what you did, except that you have some very impressive awards. We called a contact at Department of the Army this morning. His only remark about what you did during your career was that you were very good and that the bulk of your career is classified. He said that if he gave us detail about your deployments, he would have to kill us. Who are you?"

Robert took the lead in responding. "Matt's career is classified. He won't discuss anything relating to his assignments. Sarah grew up in Crockett County and lived there until about a year ago. She's hiding from her abusive, alcoholic husband with her three children. Matt found them in a broken down truck on the side of the road back then and they've been living with him since then. She neither saw nor participated in the gunfight you're interested in and can only relate what she heard after Matt told her to lock herself in her room and barricade the door. And no, they are not in a relationship."

Robert continued, "Before Matt answers any questions, we need you to state for the record that you have determined Matt's actions in the gunfight are recognized as self-defense, and he will not be subject to any criminal charges. You need to speak with the County attorney and get us an answer before we continue this interview."

Two hours later, the DCI agents returned with the County's senior assistant county attorney, Michael Simpson. The county attorney then proceeded to place a statement on the record confirming that Matt's actions were taken solely in self-defense and that there would be no criminal charges placed against him because of those actions. He then began the interview. "So Matt, why do you think that these three men tried to break into your house?"

Matt replied, "Well, it was either a home invasion gone wrong, or they were looking for Sarah and the children. Which it was will depend on what you can do to identify them and find out if they were just a violent robbery crew or were acting on behalf of someone else. I've never seen any of them before and don't know why they would have picked my house to invade. Everyone in town probably knows that I've spent a lot of money in the last year doing renovations. They may have thought I had something worth stealing. But other than a big screen TV, some upgraded kitchen appliances and a couple of firearms, there isn't anything I can think of that would generate an attack of that kind."

The county attorney then turned to Sarah. Placing facial photographs of the three deceased home invaders in front of her, he asked, "Do you recognize any of these people?"

Sarah looked at Robert and Matt, both of whom gave slight nods. "I don't recognize the younger two men, but the oldest one is a guy from Crockett County named Johnnie Mac. He is, or at least was, my father-in-law's enforcer."

The county attorney studied her for a moment, then asked, "Who's your father-in-law and why does he need an enforcer?"

"My father-in-law is Judge Johnson. I'm married to his youngest son."

"The Judge Johnson? The county judge/executive?"

"That's correct."

"Why does he need an enforcer? Seems odd for a county judge to have use for someone like that."

"How well do you know Crockett County?"

"Not well. I grew up in the city and moved out here after law school because my wife is from around here."

"So, if I told you that the judge, his brother the sheriff and his older son the county attorney are all involved in a host of criminal activities up to their eyebrows, what would your response be?"

"Frankly Mrs. Johnson, I'd find that quite hard to believe. Judge Johnson has been an official in Crockett County for quite some time and his father was the county judge/executive before him. His son was named County Attorney of the Year a couple of years ago."

"I'm aware of the family history. What would it take to make you believe me? Would a ledger detailing the family's activities in the judge's handwriting, with his fingerprints on every page, make a believer out of you?"

"I'd be astonished if such a thing exists. The judge was an experienced prosecutor before he succeeded his father. He'd know better than to keep a record like that unless it was encoded in a fashion that was virtually unbreakable."

"Have you ever heard of the concept of hubris, Mr. Simpson?"

"I'm familiar with the term."

"So, aside from you're being astonished if we produced such a ledger, how else would you respond?"

"We would have to take it very seriously. We would need to provide it to the Commonwealth Attorney's office and have it analyzed and the pages checked for fingerprints."

"And how long would that take?"

"I don't know." Then, awareness finally dawning, Simpson continued, "Wait a minute. Is this the reason for the home invasion? You actually have a ledger like this and they're trying to get it back? How, what, why, really? Are you shitting me, pardon my French?"

With that, Sarah turned to Robert and said quietly, "Robert, would you please show the man the book I gave you this morning?"

Robert reached into his briefcase and pulled out an old-fashioned ledger book, which he handed to the county attorney, saying, "Before you or anyone else starts paging through this, you need to get gloved up. We don't want you destroying fingerprints on any of the pages. And please don't think that you can make this disappear if the political pressure gets too great. There are multiple, high quality photocopies stored on-line. We have emails with copies attached ready to go to every major newspaper in the Commonwealth with the copies attached. Now, let's talk about how you are going to protect my clients and their families while you conduct your investigation."

Simpson asked to be excused so he could speak with his superiors. He was gone for more than an hour. When he returned, he said, "We can put deputies on the house and patrol the access roads to the farm. We'll keep them in place until we complete our investigation."

Matt then asked, "So you are releasing the farmhouse back to me? Can I replace the door and move Sarah, the kids, my mom and myself out there until this is done. I'd feel better in a place with a quality security system, deputies, or no deputies."

"Fine," said Simpson. "We'll put a convoy of sheriff's vehicles together, pick all of you up at your mother's and transport you to the farm. We'll leave at least six deputies in rotating shifts patrolling until this is resolved."

Matt said, "Great." Then he, Sarah and Robert departed for Sally's to pick up the kids with their escort.

During the interrogation, Matt had failed to mention one thing relating to security. The preceding evening, immediately after reaching Sally's, he had placed a call to a former special forces teammate named Bobby Lee. Bobby Lee and Matt went back at least a decade and Bobby Lee now owned a high-level executive security company staffed primarily by former special warfare operatives from various services. Matt's Silver Star and second Purple Heart had resulted from Matt's actions while his team rescued Bobby Lee's team from approximately two hundred Taliban fighters in the mountains of Afghanistan. Despite being wounded himself, Matt had kept Bobby Lee from dying. Although Bobby Lee's wounds resulted in his being medically discharged with a disability pension, he had gone home to his wife and two children and had produced two more children in the intervening years, the oldest boy having been named for Matt. Bobby Lee had repeatedly told Matt that he had a blank check and could draw on it at any time. Matt had decided to take Bobby Lee up on his offer.

When they spoke, Matt had related the entire history of the last year to Bobby Lee. He'd expressed considerable concern that there would be another attack and that the next one would be far more professionally conducted than the initial attack. Bobby Lee had said he'd take care of it. Within four hours after he and Matt finished speaking, twelve of Bobby Lee's best, fully equipped, were on a private jet heading for the airport nearest to Matt's farm. Another team of investigative specialists, equipped with the latest in bugs, cameras, and other detection devices was on its way to Crockett County. The second team would do a surreptitious entry of the Johnson mansion, the judge's office and car; the sheriff's office, home and car; and the county attorney's office, home and car. They would also insert key stroke monitors on all the three men's computers and try to hack both their computers and their phones. When Bobby Lee's team was finished, everything the Johnsons did or said in any of those locations would be captured and recorded.

CHAPTER SIX

Bobby Lee's team arrived before dawn the next morning and entered Matt's farm from the boundaries, concealing their presence from any observer who might be spying on the farm. They set up various additional security systems and devices, and a speaker system, all of which were monitored and controlled from the barn. Then they split into two teams of six each, taking four hour shifts to patrol the farm while awaiting the return of the six people Bobby Lee had sent them to guard.

Matt, Sarah, Sally and the children arrived in mid-afternoon, along with a crew of deputies who busied themselves walking the perimeter, except for the two stationed at the house's front and rear entrances. The deputies were aware of Bobby Lee's men being present but had been told to ignore them and refrain from interfering in their activities in any way. Bobby Lee's men had camouflaged themselves and were spread out over the most likely access routes to the farmhouse.

For the next two days, Matt, Sally, Sarah and the children went about their normal activities. Matt replaced the front door and cleaned the bloodstains from the porch and front hallway. The deputies quickly grew bored. It was clear that they were treating this as an exercise rather than a serious assignment. Fortunately, Bobby Lee's men remained focused on the task at hand.

The second attack on Matt, Sarah and the children was a much more serious effort than the first. The security team detected two SUVs stopping approximately half a mile from Matt's farm lane. There were four men in each SUV. Six of the men exited the vehicles, each in what appeared to be full tactical gear. All six were armed with AK-47s and appeared to be carrying hand grenades. The other two stayed with the vehicles. Rather than approaching from the farm lane, they had spread out in a line and were working their way across the fields in the dark. One almost stepped on Bobby Lee's man watching that field, but his camouflage was sufficient to render him invisible in the dark. After they had moved on, he whispered into his microphone, alerting both the six men on duty and the additional six preparing for the shift change.

Matt then notified the deputies that there were intruders on site and instructed them not to respond unless attacked directly. He informed them that Bobby Lee's security force would deal with the intruders. The deputies on the farm boundaries were instructed to hold their positions until ordered otherwise. The two guarding the entrances to the house were brought inside to avoid their becoming targets.

Matt had specifically requested that at least two prisoners be taken for interrogation if a second attack occurred. When the attackers drew within 100 yards of the farmhouse, the operative monitoring the security system triggered a pre-recorded command, which blared through the speakers located behind the attacking force. "Kentucky DCI. You are surrounded. Drop your weapons and raise your hands."

The attackers immediately turned toward the apparent source of the command and opened fire. Within seconds, all six were down. Bobby Lee's team had been tracking them with night vision scopes on their rifles since the attackers entered the property. Four of the attackers were dead. Two had been wounded. While the brief gun battle had raged, two of Bobby Lee's men seized the two drivers and the SUVs. Matt treated the two wounded men and then Bobby Lee's team took all four of their prisoners into the barn to begin an interrogation. They began by stripping all four to their underwear and then zip tying their hands and feet together. When the senior sheriff's deputy objected, Matt told him to leave the barn and continue patrolling the property. Bobby Lee's team would turn the prisoners over to the deputies once they had been questioned. After seeing the expression on Matt's face, the deputy disappeared, leaving Matt and members of Bobby Lee's team with the surviving attackers.

The interrogation was short and brutal. Since their concern was the continuing safety of Sarah and the children, not a criminal conviction of the surviving attackers, Bobby Lee's team made clear that they were not going to listen to any bullshit. They wanted answers and wanted them quickly. If that meant skirting legally acceptable interrogation practices, so be it.

The interrogators first established that the eight attackers were the entire force sent to deal with Matt, Sarah, and the children. One of the wounded men was the leader. He had been carrying a pre-programmed cell phone. When asked, he confirmed that once the attack succeeded, he was to contact David Johnson on the pre-programmed number to confirm that Matt was dead and Sarah had been seized along with her children. The plan was for the attackers to use threats to the children to force Sarah to reveal where the ledger was hidden. If Sarah did not survive the attack, the attackers were to burn every building and vehicle on the property, eliminating the possibility of someone later finding the ledger. When asked what was to happen to the children in that event, the leader simply shrugged and said, "Collateral damage." Two of Bobby Lee's men had to physically restrain Matt when he heard that answer.

The leader was then asked how he was to confirm the success of the attack. He was to send a text to the pre-programmed number. If the ledger had been recovered, he was to text "Mission complete. Joy." If it had not been recovered, but the farmstead burned out, he was to text "Mission complete. No joy." And if the attack failed, he was to text "Mission incomplete."

Matt and Bobby Lee's team leader both made clear to all four prisoners that if the information they had provided was not correct, none of them would ever see a cell. All four hastened to assure their captors that the information was correct. As there was no cell service at Matt's farm, there was time to discuss what to do before sending the text. The attackers would have needed some time to question Sarah or to burn the farmstead. After a somewhat hasty discussion, the decision was to text the "Mission complete. No joy." A half hour later, one of Bobby Lee's men drove to an area with good cell service and sent the text.

While the attack was in progress, all three criminal Johnsons were gathered in the mansion's office, eagerly awaiting the results. Oblivious to the cameras and recording devices Bobby Lee's second team had installed, they talked freely among themselves. The burner phone awaiting the text message sat on the coffee table in front of them. When it finally buzzed, David picked it up, looked at the text, and said, "Well, it looks like Richard's bitch and that guy she's living with are dead. No ledger, but the team burned the farmstead, so we're likely in the clear."