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

water, doing his best to scrub away the accumulated dirt.
    "It's got a hole on top, and then in the center are the letters SL and the number 428 below them on the front. There's nothing on the back side."
    "Send me another picture."
    He did and waited while she retrieved it.
    "I don't know, I've never seen anything like that. At first I thought it might be a token of some kind, but with the hole in it like that, it could be a tag that went on something."
    "Like what?"
    "I don't know. Anything from an animal trap to a dog tag. Who knows?"
    "You said something about a token. What did you mean?"
    "There was a time when businesses issued tokens. They called them trade tokens. They were usually good for a discount on something. Like a bar might give them out for a free drink, or a free sandwich if you bought a drink. Almost like they do with coupons today."
    "Interesting."
    "Believe it or not, cat houses even issued tokens."
    "Cat houses? Like brothels?"
    "Yes. Do you have any brothels in Somerton County, John Lee?"
    "Not that I'm aware of."
    "I'm sure if there were, you would know about them."
    "What's that supposed to mean?"
    "Oh don't get all defensive and start telling me you're one of those guys that never has to pay for it because you get plenty of it offered free. I just meant, you being a cop and everything."
    "I wasn't getting defensive, I was just..."
    "So do you, John Lee?"
    "What do I what? Do I know of any brothels here, or do I get plenty of it offered for free?"
    "Your choice, answer whichever one you want."
    "No."
    "No, what?"
    "Your choice, choose whichever question you want."
    She laughed again and said, "Oh, I don't think you have to pay for it. I think there's a whole bunch of little gals running around over there in Somerton County that you could have at your beck and call. All you'd have to do is ask."
    "If nothing else, you're good for my ego."
    She laughed again, and then she said, "My friend, you have no idea how good I am."
    He did know how to reply to that, and he heard her laughter over the phone again. "Good night, John Lee. Sweet dreams."
    And then the call ended.
     
    ***
     
    Cradling the old Remington Mohawk Model 660 bolt action rifle, the sniper hidden in the thick stand of pine trees across the street had watched John Lee playing with the German Shepherd. He was easy to see in the security yard lights. Centering the Bushnell 4X scope's crosshairs on his chest, finger inside the trigger guard, all it would have taken was a light pull on the trigger. It would have been so easy to send a 180 grain bullet tearing through his chest, the soft exposed lead tip and notched copper jacket expanding inside and transferring its energy into a destructive force destroying everything in its path. So very easy.
    But what would it accomplish? The damage had already been done, thanks to the road grader, and killing the deputy would only bring more attention to the case. Someone else would just replace him. Shooting at the police car the first time had been a stupid mistake that the sniper now regretted. It would have been better to let it be and see if the whole thing would just blow over. It had been so long ago, what could they have discovered? But there was no use crying over spilt milk. What was done was done.
    Who knows? Maybe they would decide that the shots fired at the police car had come from somebody target shooting at a distance. Some careless shooter who didn't even know where his bullets were going. Or maybe a crank. A kid out playing a dangerous game for kicks. The sniper took one last long look through the scope at the deputy. Yes, it would be so easy, but all it would do was complicate things. Still, it was good to know that if it came down to it, taking John Lee Quarrels out would be easy. As easy as shooting fish in a barrel.

 
     
    Chapter 15
     
    John Lee didn't know his way around the Internet very well but he knew someone who did, and the next morning he called Maddy.
    "Are you working