Kill the Ones You Love by Robert Scott Read Free Book Online Page B

flights of fancy about what he could accomplish rather than sticking to any actual plan to make it happen. Bill Pope had always had reservations about Gabe. As time went on, those reservations seemed to be more accurate than he would have wished.

CHAPTER 11
    Looking around for some way to earn a living, Gabe got a job at the State Hospital South, a psychiatric inpatient facility in Blackfoot, Idaho. His title was “psychiatric assistant trainee.” Gabe related later that he liked working at this job. A report indicated that Gabe got along well with doctors, staff and patients. Yet, once again, it wasn’t long before Gabe was looking for greener pastures. The hospital assignment was only a stepping-stone to something else.
    He applied to become a deputy sheriff at the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) in the Blackfoot area. Despite squandering so many earlier opportunities, Gabe actually got the job. It looked like he was on his way to becoming a lawman.
    As in most things, Gabe started off in fine form as a Bingham County deputy sheriff. He was always good at beginning things, but it remained to be seen if he could finish what he started.
    Later on, the sheriff would say that Gabe had done a good job as a deputy and took his work seriously. He took orders well and followed procedures in a manner that was proficient and up to standards.
    Then, in November 2005, daughter Kalea was born to Gabe and Jessica. Kalea was a beautiful baby. It seemed that at last the family could settle down to a comfortable and prosperous home life.
    As he traveled the main highways and back roads of Bingham County, Gabe performed well at his job. Besides the largest city of Blackfoot, there were the small towns of Rockford, Aberdeen and Atomic City. The main thoroughfare through the county was I-15, but there were also US Highways 20 and 26, as well as numerous back roads. Agricultural land spread along the Snake River Plain and ranches farther away. The southwestern part of the county was dominated by a huge lava bed, with the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve on the distant horizon. Another large sector in the county was the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, which had its own law enforcement agency. It was a very different world from the tall pine forests and rocky seacoast of Bandon, Oregon.
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    As had happened in the past, Gabe’s fantasy life and real life began blending in disturbing ways. To people outside the sheriff’s office, he started circulating stories that his job as a deputy sheriff was only a cover for his “real job.” He was supposedly with a top secret unit of the air force that did “black ops” work. He claimed that he was sent out on dangerous overseas missions and even worked as an assassin, when necessary. He indicated that these might have been in the Middle East and other world hot spots. Gabe was never very specific about where he would go or what he would do there. It lent an air of mystery about his life; and he, of course, explained being nonspecific about details because of national security. It’s quite possible that Gabe was envious of the life that his big brother Jesse McCoy had lived in this regard, and, therefore, he started inventing these tales.
    Jesse said later, “When Gabe became a police officer, we spoke all the time on the phone. We were still very close.” Gabe wasn’t telling Jesse these stories of black ops, with secret government groups, but apparently he started telling some fellow officers. The wool could not be pulled over their eyes so easily, and they derided and laughed at his stories. Unfortunately for Gabe, he half believed these stories himself. In some ways, he still felt inadequate compared to his older brother. These stories were one means of making him feel better about himself.
    Gabe should have been happy with his new profession as a sheriff’s deputy, but that was not the case. “Good