Read Online Bad Bones (Claire Morgan) by Linda Ladd - Free Book Online
Authors: Linda Ladd
Ads: Link
have some issues with this Parker guy,” Claire said.
“The guy Parker beat over there at the Lake Inn? Name’s Frankie Velez, but he calls himself Pancho Villa, you know, after that Mexican guy who did somethin’ down in Mexico once upon a time. Don’t remember what. But Parker’s from down around here. They say he lives somewhere out around the lake.”
“Any address on him?”
“No, but it says he got his start at a fight club over around Lebanon. They called it the Knock Down Drag Out.”
Bud laughed. “Well, that’s highly appropriate. Pretty much nails what goes on in those places.”
“Okay, Bud, let’s go. Shaggy, you got a location for that place?”
“Highway 54, too. That’s all it says. Can I go, too, Claire? Maybe we could watch some of the guys spar? Get some autographs, stuff like that?”
“Don’t think so.”
“Okay, but if you see that Pancho dude anywhere, tell him that I’m a big fan of his. He just had a tough night, and the Punisher’s an all-out beast.”
“Oh, yeah, sure, can’t wait to meet him,” Claire said, letting her unenthusiastic tone do the talking.
Shaggy just grinned. “Want me to see what else I can pull up on those guys?”
“Sure, and print it out. That would help us big-time. Thanks.”
“No problem. I do love me that MMA stuff. I’ll e-mail you anything else I find, too.”
Buckeye said, “Well, first, you’re gonna finish processing this guy. Then you can play on the Internet.”
“No problem. Not much to process, except his DNA.”
And there lies the problem , Claire thought, but at least they had some good leads now. Mixed martial arts was a new concept for her, new and alien and absurd, at least from her point of view. But to each his own. And Parker’s fighting connections matched the kind of wounds found on his body. It wasn’t going to be a slam dunk, but it was a start. So square one, here we come.
Afterward, they stood by, breathing masks in place, and reluctantly viewed the autopsy, and then they took off, fairly eager to get out of the morgue and away from the horrifically injured body and into the interviews. They were halfway out the door to the parking lot when Shaggy came running down the hall after them. “Hey, Bud, dude, wait up. I got something to tell you!”
They stopped, came back inside, and waited by the door for him. Shaggy skidded to a stop in front of them, but then started hemming and hawing around like he was big-time nervous or had forgotten what he was going to say. But that was Shaggy for you. Nobody ever knew what he was going to say next, even him.
“Bud, I’m just gonna have to say it, man. Brianna’s come back home. She wants to see you.”
Mightily startled by that little tidbit of news, Claire darted a quick glance at Bud. His face had blanched as white as their beaten and broken corpse, mouth open a little, if only by the pure shock. Nope, he had not been expecting that to come out of Shaggy’s mouth, either. Brianna Swensen was Shaggy’s sister, and an old girlfriend of Bud’s, one who had been involved in one of their homicide cases and had been terribly injured as a result. Bud never mentioned her anymore, but Claire was pretty sure he had never gotten over her, either.
“Bri’s here? At the lake?” he finally got out after a few seconds of stunned silence.
“Yeah, she’s stayin’ out at my house. She wasn’t sure you’d even want to see her, or nothin’.” Now Shaggy really looked uncomfortable. “You know, the way she just took off on ya, and all that crap.”
Awk-ward , Claire thought. Then they stood there in a very uncomfortable silence and waited for Bud to say something. He didn’t. Still flabbergasted, she guessed. They waited some more.
Finally, at long last, Bud said, “Sure. I want to see her. Sure I do.”
Despite the double amount of sures , he didn’t sound the least bit overeager, oooh, no, not at all. It sounded more to her like Bud was dragging his feet or
“The guy Parker beat over there at the Lake Inn? Name’s Frankie Velez, but he calls himself Pancho Villa, you know, after that Mexican guy who did somethin’ down in Mexico once upon a time. Don’t remember what. But Parker’s from down around here. They say he lives somewhere out around the lake.”
“Any address on him?”
“No, but it says he got his start at a fight club over around Lebanon. They called it the Knock Down Drag Out.”
Bud laughed. “Well, that’s highly appropriate. Pretty much nails what goes on in those places.”
“Okay, Bud, let’s go. Shaggy, you got a location for that place?”
“Highway 54, too. That’s all it says. Can I go, too, Claire? Maybe we could watch some of the guys spar? Get some autographs, stuff like that?”
“Don’t think so.”
“Okay, but if you see that Pancho dude anywhere, tell him that I’m a big fan of his. He just had a tough night, and the Punisher’s an all-out beast.”
“Oh, yeah, sure, can’t wait to meet him,” Claire said, letting her unenthusiastic tone do the talking.
Shaggy just grinned. “Want me to see what else I can pull up on those guys?”
“Sure, and print it out. That would help us big-time. Thanks.”
“No problem. I do love me that MMA stuff. I’ll e-mail you anything else I find, too.”
Buckeye said, “Well, first, you’re gonna finish processing this guy. Then you can play on the Internet.”
“No problem. Not much to process, except his DNA.”
And there lies the problem , Claire thought, but at least they had some good leads now. Mixed martial arts was a new concept for her, new and alien and absurd, at least from her point of view. But to each his own. And Parker’s fighting connections matched the kind of wounds found on his body. It wasn’t going to be a slam dunk, but it was a start. So square one, here we come.
Afterward, they stood by, breathing masks in place, and reluctantly viewed the autopsy, and then they took off, fairly eager to get out of the morgue and away from the horrifically injured body and into the interviews. They were halfway out the door to the parking lot when Shaggy came running down the hall after them. “Hey, Bud, dude, wait up. I got something to tell you!”
They stopped, came back inside, and waited by the door for him. Shaggy skidded to a stop in front of them, but then started hemming and hawing around like he was big-time nervous or had forgotten what he was going to say. But that was Shaggy for you. Nobody ever knew what he was going to say next, even him.
“Bud, I’m just gonna have to say it, man. Brianna’s come back home. She wants to see you.”
Mightily startled by that little tidbit of news, Claire darted a quick glance at Bud. His face had blanched as white as their beaten and broken corpse, mouth open a little, if only by the pure shock. Nope, he had not been expecting that to come out of Shaggy’s mouth, either. Brianna Swensen was Shaggy’s sister, and an old girlfriend of Bud’s, one who had been involved in one of their homicide cases and had been terribly injured as a result. Bud never mentioned her anymore, but Claire was pretty sure he had never gotten over her, either.
“Bri’s here? At the lake?” he finally got out after a few seconds of stunned silence.
“Yeah, she’s stayin’ out at my house. She wasn’t sure you’d even want to see her, or nothin’.” Now Shaggy really looked uncomfortable. “You know, the way she just took off on ya, and all that crap.”
Awk-ward , Claire thought. Then they stood there in a very uncomfortable silence and waited for Bud to say something. He didn’t. Still flabbergasted, she guessed. They waited some more.
Finally, at long last, Bud said, “Sure. I want to see her. Sure I do.”
Despite the double amount of sures , he didn’t sound the least bit overeager, oooh, no, not at all. It sounded more to her like Bud was dragging his feet or
Similar Books
