Stillborn Armadillos (John Lee Quarrels Book 1) by Nick Russell Page A

interesting women he had met in a long time. He was glad to have had the opportunity to meet her.
    Driving through Somerton he saw Emmitt Planter sitting in his city police car in the parking lot of Dogs-N-Suds and pulled up beside him. Somerton only had four officers on the city police force and they worked closely with the sheriff's department.
    "What's up, Emmitt?"
    "Nothin' but the cost of livin' and my cholesterol level. How ya' doin', John Lee?"
    "Fine as frog's hair."
    "That's a nice Charger."
    "Thanks. I sure do like it after that old Ford I've been driving the last two years."
    "Any news on those bones you fellas found out there on Turpentine Highway?"
    "I was just over in Tallahassee at the State Crime Lab. We don't know much more than we did to start with, except that they were black."
    "That don't surprise me at all. Lots of niggers got killed around here over the years. Either killin' each other or gettin' out of line and the Klan takin' care of business."
    John Lee didn't appreciate the slur but he had learned a long time ago that old prejudices were still alive and well in many people, including some of those who wore a badge. And while the Klan was still around, for the most part, they kept their identities secret. He wouldn't be surprised if more than one person who wore a uniform during the day put on a white hood and sheet at night.
    "Yeah well, it's been a long day. I'm gonna head on home. You have a good night, Emmitt."
    "You too, John Lee."
    He drove away, angry with himself for the fact that he accepted the way people like Emmitt talked. Didn't that make him just as bad? Would he have ignored it the same way if Shania had been with him? Then again, why would she have been with him? That was a can of worms he didn't even want to think about, let alone open.
    He was dreading who he might find waiting for him at home. He wasn't looking forward to seeing either Emily or Beth Ann, and he was relieved to have only Magic greet him when he pulled in the driveway.
    John Lee felt guilty for being so busy that he had been ignoring the dog lately and spent half an hour in the yard throwing a big rubber Kong toy across the yard so Magic could retrieve it and bring it back to him. Then they would tussle over control until the dog would relinquish it and John Lee would throw it again.
    Magic was still going strong, but John Lee was tired and ready to call it a night. They went in the house and he fed Magic, then went into the bedroom to hang up his gun belt and change out of his uniform. As he was going through his pockets he felt the small evidence bag and realized that he had forgotten to show the disk they had found at the crime scene to Shania. He glanced at his watch. It was after 10, but he took a chance and called her cell phone anyway.
    "Hello?"
    "I hope I didn't call too late. It's John Lee."
    "Wow, you don't waste any time, do you?"
    "No, it's not like that..."
    "It's not? I'm disappointed."
    "Really? I mean..."
    He heard her laughing over the phone, a sound he had come to enjoy since he first met her earlier that day.
    "You white boys are so uptight. What do you need, John Lee?"
    "There was something else we found at the crime scene. And I keep forgetting about it."
    "Okay, what was it?"
    He could tell by the tone of her voice that she was all business again.
    "I don't know, exactly. It's a round metal disk, about the size of a fifty cent piece and I think it's brass. It's still got a lot of dirt on it so I can't really tell you much else about it."
    "My specialty is bones, but I'd like to see it. Can you take a picture with your phone and send it to me?"
    "Yeah, hang on just a minute." He took the disk out of the evidence bag, set it on the kitchen table and took photographs of both sides and sent them to her number.
    "It's hard to say," Shania told him after looking at the photos. "Why don't you try to wash some of the dirt off of it and see what you get?"
    "Okay."
    He went to the kitchen sink and ran some