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.”