Stillborn Armadillos (John Lee Quarrels Book 1) (15 page)

Chapter 29

County and state police cars, an ambulance, and two vans from the State Crime Lab were parked along the shoulders of the small two lane road. Many deputies had tears in their eyes as they tried to go about the job of processing the crime scene. They had all seen death in its many forms before, and in a small county like Somerton, oftentimes the victims were people they knew. Neighbors, people they had gone to school with, friends from their church, softball league teammates. It was never easy, but they all knew it came with the job.

But Ray Ray Watkins had been one of their own, and that made all the difference in the world. Every one of them had worked alongside him, had shared meals with him during their shift breaks, had depended on him to have their backs, just like they had his. And every deputy knew that it could just as easily be them lying there dead in the front seat of the police car.

Their emotions ranged from disbelief to profound grief to rage, and back again. "Who would want to hurt Ray Ray? Why, he never had an enemy in the world!" "This just can't be happening. I keep thinking it's a nightmare and I'm going to wake up." "We need to find the prick who did this and we need to take him out once and for all!"

Normally someone who never passed up an opportunity to preen for the news cameras, D.W. had ordered deputies to keep the media at a distance and tell them he would issue a statement later, but right now the top priority was investigating the crime scene and taking care of his people.

"From all appearances, I'd bet the shooter was over there in the cemetery," said Ralph Doherty, a state crime scene technician.

Ray Ray's cell phone began to ring again from inside the car, like it had over a dozen times. John Lee looked at D.W., who looked at Doherty. "That's his wife calling."

"Do you want to answer it?"

"No, sir, I don't. But somebody has to. I imagine by now she's goin' crazy."

The sheriff looked at John Lee, who nodded and reached inside the car to retrieve the phone from the dashboard. He pushed the answer button and said, "Hello."

"Oh, thank God, Ray Ray... I heard about a deputy being shot and I kept calling and calling."

"Marcella, it's not Ray Ray, it's John Lee."

"John Lee? Where's Ray Ray?"

"Marcella...."

"I want to talk to Ray Ray. I'm out here on the road and they won't let me in and I just want to talk to him. I just want to know he's okay."

"You stay there, Marcella. I'll be right down."

"No. No, no, no! No, don't you come down here, John Lee! I want Ray Ray. I want my husband."

"Marcella..."

All he heard was a scream and then the call ended.

***

"That poor woman. Two little kids at home and another one in her belly. It ain't right, John Lee. It just ain't right!"

It was after 2 AM and John Lee felt dead inside. It had seemed like he was in a trance as he went through the motions of helping to process the crime scene, filled out endless reports, tried to comfort his fellow deputies, and then drove to the hospital in Perry to check on Marcella Watkins, who had collapsed when he and D.W. had delivered the news that her husband had been murdered.

They were driving back to Somerton County, D.W. behind the wheel of his white Tahoe. John Lee watched the white lines of the highway unfold ahead of them, but all he could see in his mind's eye was Ray Ray's bloody body. That and the look of anguish on his widow's face.

"I'm tellin' you somethin' and I want ya' know I mean it. When we catch this son of a bitch, if he gives you any excuse at all, blow him away. You pass the word out to the rest of the guys, okay?"

"Yeah, I think everybody feels that way right now, D.W., but is that right? We're the police, not judge, jury, and executioner."

"Ain't nobody respects the law more'n I do, You know that. But whoever did this to poor Ray Ray, far as I'm concerned he don't deserve anythin' more than what he did to him. Only difference is, I want him to know it's come'n. And why."

As tired and as emotionally wrung out as he was, John Lee was still surprised at his father-in-law's words. He had always thought of D.W. as more politician than lawman, more concerned with the next election than the case at hand, except for possibly how that case might impact his political future. This was a whole different side to the man, one he had never seen before.

"I know I told you to keep workin' on those skeletons, but put that on the back burner for now, John Lee. There ain't nothin' more important than findin' the bastard that shot Ray Ray."

John Lee agreed with that. The first shooting out at the construction site while they were excavating the crime scene had led him to believe that it was tied into the deaths of the men they found there. But the subsequent attacks showed that whoever was doing them was on a vendetta against the Sheriff's Department for something, and there was little likelihood it had anything to do with whatever had happened to those men so many years ago.

***

Early Monday morning, heavily armed deputies raided the home of Dennis McRae, the older brother of Earl McRae The same brother who had provided his alibi for the day Greg Carson's patrol car had been shot at by the sniper. They brought in Dennis, his wife Georgette, and Earl's son, Lonnie.

"I swear to God, I didn't have anythin' to do with any of the shootings. Good Lord, man, just because my name is McRae don't mean I'm as crazy as my brother!"

"You think it's just a coincidence that Deputy Carson and Deputy Watson arrested your brother for drunk driving, and both of them got shot at? And now one of them is dead? Dead right after we arrested Earl?"

"I don't know nothin' about that," Dennis insisted. "I'll put my hand on the Bible and swear to it, or take a lie detector test, or whatever you want me to do!"

Fig's face was red and he leaned so close into the other man's that spittle sprayed him when he said. "Oh, you're gonna take a lie detector test, all right. And when it shows that yer lyin' to me I'm gonna see that I'm sittin' right there in the front row when they stick a needle in your arm for killin' that deputy!"

"I didn't kill nobody. I swear I didn't. I keep tellin' you, I'm not like Earl. Not like him at all. I mean we're kin and all that, but he was trouble from the day he was born. You check my record, I've never had so much as a speedin' ticket. I'm a deacon at Grace Lutheran Church. You can ask anybody from there, I was there at the church yesterday afternoon helpin' get ready for Sunday night services. Poor old Sister Standridge, she had an accident when she was leavin' Sunday mornin' services and I was steam cleanin' the carpet."

"An accident? What kind of accident? I don't remember any reports of an accident out by the church yesterday."

"Not a car accident, you know, an
accident
."

"No, I don't
know
! You start talkin' straight to me, mister, or you're never goin' to see light of day again."

"She crapped herself! Poor old lady's 86 years old and she usually wears those Depends or whatever you call 'em. I guess she ran out or somethin'. I don't know. Anyhow she made a mess when she stood up from the pew and started walkin' out after mornin' services was over. Poor old woman was humiliated. Some of the ladies took her in the bathroom and got her cleaned up, and I told Reverend Leyendecker that I'd rent a steam cleaner and come back and get things cleaned up and ready for evenin' services. You can check with Christopher Rosenfeld, too. He came down and opened up the Ace Hardware for me so I could rent the cleaner. Had to call him at home, since he's closed on Sunday. I went home and changed clothes, then went and picked up the steam cleaner and went back to the church. Some of the other men from the congregation helped out and we figured while we had the machine anyway we'd steam clean the whole carpet. We moved all the pews and worked all afternoon. It took longer than we thought it was goin' to, so we wound up hav'in evenin' services in the Fellowship Hall because the carpet in the church was still too damp to walk on."

Flag looked at Bob Patterson and said, "Make some calls. See if his story checks out."

Bob left the room and Flag turned back to Dennis. "I'm tellin' you right now, McRae, if your story don't hold water, you and me are goin' to have a problem."

Bob was back in twenty minutes and motioned for Flag to join him out in the hallway.

"Man's story checks out, just like he said. Reverend Leyendecker says he's a good man, that Dennis has even come to him to ask him to pray for Earl and his family because of the direction their lives are headed. I don't think he's our man, Flag."

"What about Earl's son? Not the one we arrested, the other one? The one that was staying with the uncle and his wife?"

"His name is David, I know him. I don't think so. Just like the difference between Earl and Dennis is like day and night, it's the same way with the two brothers. Jackson, the one we've got in custody, who came at John Lee with that hammer? He's a psycho just like his dad. But David, he's a... I guess we can't say retarded anymore, but he's real slow. My wife had him in her fifth grade class for two years in a row. She said he was a good kid, never gave her any trouble, but he just wasn't able to grasp even basic stuff. He played Little League for a while when he was younger and half the time he couldn't remember which direction to run when he hit the ball. He stopped coming when his dad showed up one night all liquored up and got into an argument with the umpire and caused a big scene."

"Shit," Flag said. "I was sure Ray Ray's killin' was revenge for us lockin' up those others." He turned and stared at the door of the interview room, then said, "Cut him and his wife and the kid loose."

Watching him walk away, Bob shook his head and said, "Least he could do is apologize to the man in there for us showing up like we did and dragging them in here while they were still half-asleep."

"Have you ever known Flag to apologize for anything?"

"No, John Lee, I haven't."

"Doesn't mean we can't."

Dennis McCrae looked up when they came back into the room, his eyes hopeful. "Did you talk to Reverend Leyendecker? Did he tell you I was at the church all day yesterday?"

"Yes, sir, he did," Bob said sitting down across the table from him. "You're in the clear, Mr. McCrae."

The man, who looked so much like his brother but who was so very different, seemed to sag with relief and tears came to his eyes. "I wish... I wish Earl would get on the straight and narrow. I really do. Him and his wife and Jackson, they're just... they need the Lord's help but they won't take it. David and the two little girls, we try to show them there's another way, but it's hard when that's all they've ever known or seen."

"Listen, Mr. McCrae, I'm sorry we put you and your wife and son through all this. We just..."

Dennis raised his hand to stop John Lee. "No apology necessary, Deputy. I know y'all was just doin' your job. It ain't the first time me and my woman has been looked down on because people just associate the McCrae family name with Earl and the messes he's always gettin' into. We prayed last night. We prayed for the soul of that poor deputy that got killed, and we prayed for his family. And we prayed that the Lord keeps his hand on all of you so somethin' like this don't happen again. And we'll do it again tonight."

John Lee didn't know what else to say to the humble man except, "Thank you, sir. Right now we need all the prayers we can get."

Chapter 30

Representatives from law enforcement agencies across the region came to Somerton for Ray Ray's funeral. Led by highway patrolman on motorcycles, the cortege stretched all the way from the high school gymnasium where the services were held because there were too many people to fit into the church, all the way out to the cemetery. Stores downtown closed for the day and it seemed like almost every citizen in the county was either at the funeral or lining the roads leading to the cemetery, their heads bowed as the hearse passed.

Riding in the car behind the limousine carrying Ray Ray's wife and children and his parents, John Lee had a lump in his throat as he saw so many people turn out to honor the fallen deputy. Sitting beside him in the front seat of his Charger, Maddy patted tears from her eyes with a Kleenex.

"It just doesn't seem real, does it?"

"No, it doesn't," John Lee told her. "I keep feeling like I'm gonna wake up and this was all just a bad dream."

"That could have been you or me, John Lee. It could have been any of us. Why Ray Ray?"

"I don't know. Why does a fellow at one end of a boat catch fish all day and the man at the other end doesn't get a bite? Why does lightning hit one guy on a golf course and miss everybody else? Why does a drunk cross the line and hit a car head on instead of the one that was right in front or right behind it? Fate? Luck of the draw? I don't know Maddy. I really don't."

During the services, deputies and agents of the FDLE were assigned to watch the crowd, and some in covert locations were taking photographs. It was not unknown for perpetrators to show up at the funerals of their victims, even if they didn't know them. There was such a big turnout, in a county where almost everybody knew everybody to some extent, that John Lee wondered what they might find out, if anything. Looking away, across the road to the spot where Ray Ray had been killed, John Lee wondered if the sniper had waited right where they were standing at attention. Had he been right here when he raised his rifle and fired? They had searched the cemetery, going over every inch of ground, but had not found any evidence that would lead them to the shooter.

And then, it was all over. The minister said his final words, off in the distance rifleman fired a 21 gun salute, with tears in his eyes D.W. presented Marcella with the folded flag as his deputies held their hands in salute for their fallen comrade, and then the mournful tones of
Taps
echoed across the cemetery. People lingered for a while, coming to Marcella and Ray Ray's parents to pay their respects, to tell them how much they had loved Ray Ray, and every deputy promised them that they would do whatever it took to see that justice was done and that his killer was punished. Eventually everyone drifted away and the three men who been waiting a discreet distance away came and lowered Ray Ray's coffin into the ground.

***

There was a gathering at the church, with lots of food donated and more good words said about Ray Ray. Eventually John Lee, Maddy, and several of the deputies left and went to John Lee's house, where they sat on the deck, grilled burgers and hotdogs, drank beer, and talked about their friend.

Somebody laughed when they recounted how an excited Ray Ray had once stuttered a response to the dispatcher's call sending him to help a woman in labor who wasn't going to be able to wait for the ambulance. "10... 10... 10... "

"Jesus Christ, Ray Ray, just hurry up and get there before the kid's in kindergarten," another deputy's voice had said over the radio. A voice that sounded very suspiciously like John Lee's.

"Hey, do you remember the time Ray Ray took a call from a neighbor who thought someone had broken into a vacant house, and he caught Gloria Mathur's from the real estate company doing the nasty with some handyman on the couch?"

"I remember that," Maddy said. "When I got there, Ray Ray was just coming out the door and his face was so red. I asked him what was going on and he said, "They... they... they was fornica... fornica... they was fucking, Maddy!"

Someone raised his beer can and said, "To Ray Ray. We love you, brother. When we find the prick who did this to you, he's going to burn in hell!"

The other deputies raised their bottles and cans and said, "here here" or nodded their heads in agreement. At some point both D.W. and Flag showed up and put in an appearance. Both were subdued and neither stayed long.

Finally, people began drifting off, some to return to their families, others to try to get some rest before going on duty, and eventually only John Lee and Maddy were left.

"I guess I ought to clean this mess up."

"I'll help."

"You don't have to do that."

"I don't mind, John Lee."

It didn't take long, since almost everybody had been throwing their paper plates and cans in the large plastic trashcan at the end of the deck. John Lee put whatever leftovers there were in the refrigerator and fed Magic while Maddy washed the few utensils that had been used.

When they were done, they sat on the deck in the dark, listening to the crickets chirping and the occasional buzz as some flying insect incinerated itself in the violet light of the bug zapper, each lost in their own thoughts. Lightning flashed far off in the distance, too far away for them to hear any thunder.

At some point, Maddy yawned.

"Tired?"

"It's been a long day. I don't know if I'm so much tired as just emotionally drained."

"I know the feeling."

She yawned again and said, "Excuse me."

"Maybe you need to get to bed."

She didn't look at him, but after a long pause she said, "I don't want to sleep alone tonight, John Lee."

When he didn't say anything she turned to him, studying his face in the light from inside the house.

"Well, aren't you gonna say something?"

"I'm not sure what to say, to be honest with you."

"Well say
something
, please. Anything. Because right now I'm sitting here wishing I was anyplace else in the world."

"Why?"

"Why do I wish I was anyplace else in the world, or why don't I want to sleep alone tonight?"

"Maddy, you and me? Is that a good idea? I mean, we're so close, and we're such good friends. I don't want to screw that up by having sex. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you're not beautiful and desirable, because you are. I just don't want to lose what we have."

"Did I say anything about sex, John Lee? I just said I don't want to sleep alone."

"I'm sorry, I guess I just took it the wrong way."

"John Lee, you don't think I'm just as worried as you are that we could mess up what we have? Do you think I haven't asked myself that a hundred times? Hell, do you know I was out here the other night? That I was gonna knock on your door and I was going to spend the night with you? Until I saw Beth Ann's car here?"

"I'm sorry, Maddy. I..."

"Sorry for what? Banging your sister-in-law? You don't need to apologize to me for that. I don't have any claim to you. Personally I think it's kind of weird, but what the hell, you're a man and she's a woman, and it's not exactly like Emily's giving you any reason to believe she's ever coming home to stay."

"It's complicated..."

Maddy laughed and snorted, which made him laugh, too.

"Really, ya think?"

They sat in silence a little while longer, then Maddy stood up and took his hand and led him inside. In his bedroom they undressed without either of them saying anything. Her back to him, she unbuttoned her shirt.

"You do know you're facing a mirror, right?"

John Lee couldn't help looking, and while she wasn't putting on a performance, Maddy didn't seem shy at all about being naked in front of him except for just her panties. Her breasts were considerably smaller than either Beth Ann's or Emily's, but he found himself stirring at the sight.

Noticing, Maddy asked, "Are you going to be able to control that thing, or do I need to bring a Taser to bed?"

He pulled a T-shirt from his dresser drawer and offered it to her. Maddy put it on and they crawled into bed. She snuggled up against him and said, "Just hold me, John Lee. There may be another time, I don't know. But right now, I can't go back to that house and lay there in my empty bed and listen to Mama snoring through the wall. I need my friend to hold me. Okay?"

"Okay."

And that's what he did, all night long.