Chapter 17

Finally, spring showed back up again. Mother nature is kind of funny that way. No matter what, if you wait long enough, you get back to where you started.

Between the 2 of us, Suzy and I discussed whether or not to participate in the Founders Day thing again. Reluctantly I agreed. And we went into a replay of the previous season. Fortunately, this time, without the grandstanding.

We were pleasantly surprised when 3 of the kids showed up. Kyle, Lucy, and Susan made an appearance on the first day. This time around, though, they were only there to say hello. They were on their way to Hells Canyon area. For a survival skills school. They planned to start a course that, as instructors, they would teach inner-city kids survival skills and how to be self-sufficient.

They even joined us in our display, showing the tourists how “easy” it was to start a fire from scratch.

The best surprise, though, was when SAC Charles Dupree showed up. Chuck was an old friend. A friend from when I first arrived on the mountain. He was in his signature rumpled suit, just as much out of place in Elk City as it was in the FBI. Suzy and I immediately invited him and his partner to lunch at Mabel’s.

After lunch, while we were enjoying our coffee, Charles let me know that he would be retiring. But that he had one last assignment to take care of.

I was a little apprehensive. I didn’t want to get involved in another adventure. Especially something cooked up by the FBI. Or any other government alphabet agency.

“Matt, this is about Nigel St. Gaudens.” both Suzy and I groaned. Again with this putz. He was like a bad penny. We couldn’t seem to get rid of him.

“Please, Chuck, tell me he’s in jail, or Thailand, or something other than the state of Idaho.”

“No worries Matt, after this I would be surprised if you ever hear his name again. But I do need to tell you the whole story.”

“You mean there’s more? Isn’t it enough, making me an international internet pariah, invading my property and home, and let’s not forget pulling a gun on me? What else could the bastard do to me?”

“Well, that’s the thing, Matt. His original plan was to have you convicted of assault. That would get you off the mountain and out of his way. Then he would have an unobstructed shot at the mountain.”

“We got that part already, Chuck. We knew that when the charges were dropped.”

“That was only half of his plan Matt. You already know about the spotted lynx fur?”

Suzy and I looked at each other. Suzy spoke up. “Mr. Dupree, you aren’t supposed to know about that. Matt and I are the only ones. Other than St. Gaudens, that is.”

“Yes, I suppose that from your viewpoint, that would be true. But we had been watching Mr. St. Gaudens for about 18 months before you two got involved. We suspected that he might have associations with domestic terrorists involved in animal rights and ecoterrorism. We were hoping that he would lead us further up the chain.”

I interrupted, “You had someone undercover with him. One of those six kids was an agent?”

“Not an agent, a confidential informant. We knew St. Gaudens’ plans before you assaulted him, Matt. Sorry, we didn’t give you a heads up. But we needed things to naturally progress. I will tell you, though, we didn’t expect you to beat the charges. Neither did St. Gaudens or his lawyer.”

“Gee, thanks, guy. It’s nice to know my friends are keeping their eyes out for me.”

“like I said, I’m sorry. At any rate, their plan was for you to have an extended stay at the state’s expense, which didn’t happen. So, they had to revise their plans. That’s what led to them trespassing on your property, which was another fiasco. The plan was for them to sneak into the property and sneak back out without you noticing. Then Nigel would announce that he had discovered evidence of the Canadian spotted lynx in the lower 48 states.”