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I
said. “At least, not this part of it.”  I quickly recounted most of the detail
of my meeting with Kellan. Minus some of the more embarrassing, less relevant
parts.  
    Thom turned his
chair all the way toward me. “Hmm, could be some sort of bareknuckle boxer?
That’s the kind of shit you hear about in those underground fighting rings.”
    “Underground
meaning ‘illegal,’ right?” I asked. It made sense. Kellan had alluded to as
much when I’d pressed him about it at the bar. That would totally fit his
story.
    Thom rolled his
eyes. “Yeah, Parker. Underground as in ‘illegal,’ rather than literally under
the earth. Though sometimes if you’ve got a basement big enough…” He shrugged.
“Anyway, how does this guy tie in with your story? Sounds more like my
territory.”
    “It might be
both,” I told him. “This guy was a veteran, having trouble finding work ever
since he got back from overseas. That’s my angle with the senator, and this
could tie it all together.  Assuming it’s what we think it is, but it all fits,
right?  His knuckles were all banged up and he kept going on about how he was
dangerous and the only job for him was one that wasn’t exactly legal. He looked
like the MMA-type, too. Grizzled, lots of muscles.”
    Thom sat forward,
a brow raised. “Lots of muscles, huh?”
    It was my turn to
roll my eyes. “Give it up, Thom. He’s straight. Besides, aren’t you engaged?” I
nodded to the simple band on his finger.
    “That doesn’t stop
me from looking,” Thom replied with a grin. “But yeah, could be your guy is
part of some glorified Fight Club, especially if he’s looking to make a buck.
Those pay out pretty good. Or they do, if you have the right manager. A lot of
the guys in charge skim a hefty fee off the top, whether their fighters know it
or not. It’s a corrupt business—happens, when you don’t have any regulations to
worry about.”
    “They fleece their
fighters? Isn’t that dangerous?”
    Thom shrugged.
“Only if they get caught. Besides, most of these guys are desperate. They’re
one accident or act of God away from living on the streets. And if they’ve come
out of the military, they’re used to following orders. When you’ve got someone
in charge telling you that you need them, who is seemingly taking a chance on
you, doing what no one else would, that tends to breed loyalty, however
inappropriate.”
    I wondered if that
was the situation Kellan was in. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d let
anybody get one over on him, but if he didn’t know it was happening…
    “How many of them
are veterans, do you think?” I asked Thom.
    He considered for
a moment. “Probably more than few,” he came up with at last. “So, your angle is
that Senator MacFarlane’s failure to support this bill has doomed these
veterans to putting their lives on the line again?”
    I nodded
emphatically. “That’s exactly it. And if I can get this guy to talk, I
can put a real face to the problem.” A real handsome face, I added
inwardly, though I was betting Thom had picked up on that already.
    “This could be
good for both of us,” he mused. Then he grinned. “All right, Parker. I’m in. As
long as you understand I’m getting a slice of the pie, too. From a sports
angle, anyway.”
    “Not my
department, not my problem,” I said, holding out my hand for us to shake on it.
    Thom clasped my
palm tightly, then stood up and grabbed his blazer from the back of his chair.
“I’ll tell Melanie we’re taking off early,” he told me. “We’ll need to gather
some intel before we can find your guy.” He eyed me. “You might want to change.
If we’re headed into the belly of the beast, you’ll be much safer if you don’t
stand out.”
    Thom was right. In
my work attire, I would look suspicious as hell. But what was I supposed to
wear? It wasn’t as if my closet was teeming with halter tops and leather pants.
    Something
low-cut, I thought as Thom walked