Mercy (Atlee Pine #4)(39)

“Maybe we could. Shall we head back?”

He walked her to the shelter and watched as she disappeared inside after giving him a smile and a little wave.

“Saw you give her that money, mister.”

Buckley turned to see a woman standing there. She was in her fifties and had clearly suffered a hard life. Her clothes were dirty and disheveled and her eyes unfocused and her body wobbly. She said, “I live here, too.” She pointed to the shelter. “I heard you talking to that pretty Mex girl over coffee. I was having coffee too, with my last dollar.”

“I see,” said Buckley. “Perhaps you can earn some money, too.”

The lady looked at her falling-apart shoes. “I was here when El brought her in.”

“El?” said Buckley.

“El Cain.”

“Is El short for something? Ellen, Eleanor?”

“Don’t know about that.”

“Exactly how do you know her?”

“She used to be here, years ago. I come here off and on. You don’t forget El. Tallest woman I’ve ever met. And tough. She don’t take shit from nobody.”

“What else do you know about her?” asked Buckley.

The woman eyed him funny. “Saw you give her money,” she said again.

Buckley produced ten twenty-dollar bills and passed them to the woman.

She pocketed the money, looking warily around as though to check who might be watching, and said, “She’s a good person. Helped me.”

“Do you know anything about her background? Where she came from? What she does for a living?”

The woman thought for a moment and then snapped her fingers. “She does that kickboxing stuff. You know? That MM-something.”

“MMA? Mixed martial arts?”

The woman pointed at him. “Yep, that’s it.”

“Where does she fight?” “There’s a place on the south side of town. Old shoe factory or something like that. Went there one time to watch two gals near kill each other. Never saw El fight, but I bet she was good. Don’t take shit off nobody, like I said. She told me she fought there.”

“She apparently is a very good fighter. When was the last time you saw her?”

“Well, when she brought in the Mex gal.”

“Anything else?”

“She’s a good person,” she said again.

“I’m sure she is. Thank you.”





CHAPTER





26


BUCKLEY MADE SOME CALLS AND FINALLY located the old shoe factory. There was a fight scheduled the next night. He spent the day with his brother at the hospital after he’d undergone another surgery. As he stared down at his unconscious brother, Buckley had the sensation that this might be as good as it got for Ken. And that saddened him more than he thought it would.

The next night Buckley headed to the fights. The venue had an invitation-only list that he circumvented by passing the bouncer out front a hundred dollars.

“Go right in, sir” was the bouncer’s immediate reply as he tacked on a big smile.

The place held about two hundred people, who were both fired up and drunk. The fighters were two men with shaved heads and chiseled physiques, and tats that covered more of their exposed bodies than not. Buckley did not care about the fight. He made discreet inquiries among the staff and quickly focused on the man named Sam.

After the fight was over he cornered Sam in a back hall.

“El Cain?”

“What about her?”

“I’d like to know more about her than I do right now.”

“What’s it to you?”

“I’m a curious man. I understand she’s a good fighter.”

Sam shrugged. “Yeah, although she’s past her prime if you’re in the business and thinking about taking her on. But she’s sneaky. And do not get in range of her kicks. Man or woman, it don’t matter. She brings a load.”

“Any idea where she is now?”

“Again, what’s it to you?”

Five one-hundred-dollar bills answered that question.

“She lives in an old building they rehabbed into cheap units. It’s not that far from here. Or at least she did. Heard they just got rousted out by the new owners. So I don’t know where she’s hanging now.”

“What do you know about her past?”

“Heard she came in from out west years back. She showed up here one day. Said she could fight and wanted in on the action. Physically, she looked like she could handle herself, but just being tall and strong don’t make you a fighter. So I put her through a little test. I got her in the cage with one of my guys. He was in his forties back then, way past his prime, but he was still good and he was a dude.”

“What happened?”

Sam lit up a cigarette and grinned as he blew out the smoke. “Buddy, what happened was, she knocked my ‘tough’ guy out in about a minute. He woke up a half hour later wondering how a truck could’ve hit him inside the building. Well, after that, I told El if she really got serious about fighting she could go somewhere. Have to be boxing or some unofficial stuff like we do here ’cause UFC don’t have weight classes that heavy. But she only did it locally when she really needed the dough. She fought recently against a real stud, an up-and-comer. El snookered the lady and broke her jaw with one of the hardest kicks I’ve personally ever seen, guy or gal. She grabbed her thousand bucks and walked out of here. Haven’t seen her since.”