State of Rebellion

pausing as he reached her breast. She whimpered and her body shuddered. “Just remember-we can come to your home if we need to, cops or no cops. They won’t watch you forever, and when they’re gone, we’ll come. It will take a long time for us to finish with you, but it’ll end with a bullet in your pretty little face. You tell the cops nothing-you could see nothing. We wrapped a cloth around your head and you were unable to see. You understand me?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice choking.

He gathered up her purse and the large oily rag that had covered her face and exited the van, locking all the doors. Then he entered the Ford Expedition, which was already occupied by the other two men. They started the engine and drove away, making for the freeway entrance to I-80 and driving west, taking the on-ramp at the I-5 North intersection.

“They killed Ralph,” the young bandit said from the backseat of the Ford after they had driven for several miles.

“They knew we were coming,” Krueger replied.

“How could they, First Sergeant?” the younger man asked as they sped past the airport and then over the bridge where they had previously hanged Lieutenant McFarland.

“Because we’ve still got a spy in the brigade. But that won’t be for long. And when I get my hands on him. .”

Krueger remained quiet the remainder of the trip north until they took the cut-off just beyond the city of Corning and headed east, up into the mountains.

The evening news ran footage of the robbery and hostage situation, including shots of the victims being taken out by stretcher, one hostage shot and killed and another injured, and one of the robbers also killed. Agents had directed the paramedics to take the body of Al Samuels quietly out another entrance, and no film was available of his remains. However, the report of an FBI agent killed in the line of duty was front-line news.

Later on The O’Reilly Factor, Senator Malcolm Turner took the opportunity to point out that this was a tragic story of yet another American citizen, driven to the brink of desperation by oppressive federal government involvement.

“Excuse me, Senator,” the host, Bill O’Reilly said, “but I don’t see how a bank robber-a killer, in this case-can blame the federal government for his actions.”

“Bill,” Turner postured to O’Reilly, “have you read the recent history of this unfortunate young man’s life? Here’s the case of a young American. .” Turner paused momentarily. “Perhaps, Bill, I should say a young Californian-a husband, father, and dedicated son, by all accounts-who sought only to right what he saw as the wrong being perpetrated on his mother by the unfeeling and federally controlled Internal Revenue Service.

“My Sacramento staff have spoken to the deceased man’s wife, and she explained that her husband’s father died about two years ago, and that the IRS has been pressing his mother-she’s sixty-nine years old, Bill-the IRS has been hounding her for back taxes, and finally, in a cold bureaucratic way that only the IRS can employ,” he paused as if contemplating the tragedy, and then shook his head in disbelief, “finally, they foreclosed on her home. Now you tell me, Bill, and your listeners will understand this, where is a sixty-nine-year-old widow going to live? And you know what galls me, what absolutely drives me up the wall? They wanted nine hundred and sixty-three dollars from this poor old woman. Can you believe it? Less than a thousand dollars, and they foreclosed on her home. She and her husband had lived in this modest little home in Daly City for over thirty years. It’s just unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. Now we have two widows, several fatherless children. . Bill, this is exactly why Californians need to turn out at the polls next month and vote ‘yes’ for secession. ‘We’re mad as hell, Bill, and we’re not going to take it anymore,’” Turner shouted, firing his well-recognized slogan. He continued to shake his head in disbelief.

“Senator,” O’Reilly said softly, “this is indeed a tragedy for this young family, but surely you don’t condone bank robberies as a way to right a government indiscretion or oversight? And murder?”

“Of course not. I’m against violence in all forms, Bill, you know that. But that still doesn’t excuse the government for driving this young man to do what he felt necessary to get the money to save his mother’s home.”

O’Reilly just shook his head in disbelief at the senator’s comments and redirected his attention to his other guest, displayed on a split screen besides O’Reilly. “Mr. Greenlaw,” he said, “what say you?”

“Bill, our hearts go out to these poor families, both the tragic victims of this robbery attempt and even the unfortunate family of the misguided young man who committed these crimes. And of course we wish them well as they pick up the threads of their lives. But Senator Turner misses the point, as usual. If this man had not had such easy access to guns, this tragedy would never have happened. We need to tighten gun control, Bill-you know my stand on that issue. Registration, no assault weapons. .”

And so the program went on, with neither the guests nor Bill O’Reilly concentrating on the dead FBI agent, as Nicole Bentley continued to watch from her Walnut Creek apartment, still in shock from the day’s events. Unknown to the swarm of people at the site of the shooting, Nicole had gone into the ladies’ room as Samuels’ body was being removed and vomited until nothing more would come up. She had killed her first criminal. . but was he a criminal, or just an unfortunate man who couldn’t cope with the system? And her partner-her friend-had bled to death in her arms.

For the next several days, the incident continued to make headlines, with the San Francisco Chronicle-firmly in support of the secession movement-running the banner: “Widow’s Son Dies in Misguided Robbery Attempt.” Little was made in the article of Al Samuels or the bank customer killed in the fracas. And the gun control lobby focused solely on limiting acquisition of weapons, claiming the FBI had fired prematurely. Killing the misguided young man should have been avoided.

In the U.S. Senate confirmation hearings, Judge George Granata was grilled about the bank incident and his plans to deal with such actions. His appointment was eventually confirmed, and Director Granata took office amid a flurry of inquiries about Bureau policy and tactics. But in a week, interest in the stories faded, replaced by the president’s upcoming trip to Japan and the continuing story of the hour, California’s court-ordered special election on the secession referendum, only forty-five days away in November.

Nicole Bentley was put on paid administrative leave while a shooting board conducted a routine investigation of the incident. The board cleared her of any wrongdoing, but she began counseling-a mandatory requirement for agents involved in a fatal shooting.

A handwritten note from Dan Rawlings, offering his condolences on Samuels’ death and the tragedy of her loss, went unanswered through the following month, part of which Nicole spent with Al’s wife, Linda, and her three children.

It was emotionally wrenching to watch Al’s family. Though it was in no way her fault, Nicole couldn’t help feeling a sense of guilt over her partner’s death, to say nothing of the trauma she experienced as a result of having to shoot the gunman. She doubted that she would ever be able to erase the sounds, sights, or even the smells of that bloody afternoon from her memory.

Chapter 16

Yolo County Administration Building

Woodland, California

In mid-October, less than two weeks before the election, Dan Rawlings was visited by three members of the board of supervisors. It was not unusual for supervisors to drop in to visit or to promote a particular agenda item, but Dan was immediately cautious regarding their intentions.