Bullet Work (26 page)

“What about the other side?” Dan said,
pointing toward the opposite door.

“Locked.”

Dan saw a body lying on the ground alongside
one of the stall doors. He was still a little dazed, but the
shooting in the house came back to him. The smoke was heavy, but it
was Skelton. Had to be.

Parts of the roof were beginning to fall in
flame balls from the pitched ceiling. A beam came down in a fiery
blast like a blazing tree falling. The barn creaked and listed to
the side. The whole thing was going to cave in. Dan covered his
head and limped over to where AJ was standing.

“Get on,” AJ said, motioning to the mare.

“What?” Dan looked across the barn. Smoke
filled the inside, and flames were running up the inside of the
barn.

AJ had his hands back on the mare, calming
her. “Get on.”

Dan went around the side of the mare and put
his leg up. AJ grabbed his ankle and hoisted him on the mare’s
back. The pain in his leg caused him to cry out, but that was the
least of his worries now. AJ reached up with his right arm, and Dan
pulled him up in front of him on the mare. Dan didn’t know what he
had in mind, but the barn was beginning to collapse.

AJ leaned down, gripping the mare’s bridle on
either side of her head. He whispered something to her, then
shouted. The horse took off and was at full speed in two strides.
Dan nearly flew off the back but had AJ around the waist. What the
hell was he doing?

They flew across the barn. AJ half turned and
said, “Get low.” Dan closed his eyes. They were going to run right
into the barn door on the other side. He leaned forward over AJ,
getting as low as he could, and braced himself.

The trio hit the barn door like a head-on car
collision. They veered to the right slightly. Wood splintered. The
mare cried out. Despite the explosive force, they nearly came to a
stop, then the remaining momentum carried them through the wall of
wood and flames. They spilled out on the other side.

A splintered part of the barn door swept Dan
from the horse’s back. He landed and rolled just outside the barn
door. AJ stayed on, but the horse stumbled forward and fell.

A loud creaking sound rose from behind Dan.
He rolled away from the barn just as the roof collapsed, and two
sides of the structure crumpled. The wash from the falling building
sent flames skyward and blew ash, straw, and splintered wood
outward, covering Dan.

He scrambled to get the burning embers away
from him. A mushroom cloud of smoke erupted into the night sky. The
remaining sides of the barn slumped inward as if giving up—too
tired to actually fall. The flames kept eating the building.

Dan rolled over and got up, limping toward
the mare. They had fallen several yards beyond where Dan went down.
AJ was standing and had his hands on the horse. She was trying to
get up. The mare lunged, couldn’t get her feet under her, and fell
again. AJ moved to her side. She lunged again and this time got her
bearings. Who could blame her? Hitting that wall would knock anyone
silly.

Blood was running down the side of AJ’s face
from a laceration over his eye. His head had to have slammed into
the barn siding when they burst through. The blood oozed and mixed
with soot that covered his face, making a twisted watercolor of
black and red. He was oblivious to it. He shivered and mumbled,
keeping his hands on the mare.

“AJ, we better get out of here.” He had his
head against the mare’s chest and was breathing heavily. Dan
reached out and touched him. “AJ?” He flinched from his touch, then
pulled his head away from the horse and looked at Dan. “She’s
okay.” Tears mixed with the blood and soot covering his face. He
patted the mare. “This one’s got the heart of a champion.”

“I know, okay?” Dan said, looking around. He
wasn’t sure if Belker was nearby, perhaps drawing a bead on them as
they spoke. “Let’s get out of here.”

Chapter 49

dan forcefully pulled open the door
to the racing office. Allan Biggs and Detective Darrell Manning
followed, with two deputy officers in tow. He limped down the
hallway. A picturesque multi-colored bruise adorned his upper
thigh. He was lucky the mare hadn’t broken anything. The plump
gray-haired secretary outside the office looked up. “He in?” Dan
said.

“Let me—” She stood and her eyes shot back to
the procession behind Dan.

He pointed a finger at the woman as he passed
by. “Don’t do anything.”

He entered Belker’s office, but it was
vacant. The secretary scampered from behind her cubicle to the
office.

“Where is he, Gail?” asked Biggs.

“Oh, Mr. Biggs,” she said, nodding as though
in the presence of a deity. “He was in early this morning but then
got a call that his aunt had passed away. He’s flying down to
Sarasota to be with the family.”

Dan and Detective Manning eyed one another.
Dan whispered, “Sure as hell, about the time he learned that the
mare had been moved back onto the grounds.”

“What time did he leave?” Biggs asked
Gail.

“You just missed him.” She scurried back to
her desk. “I’ll bet I can get him on his cell phone.”

“No, don’t bother,” said Manning. “No need to
disturb him.” He motioned for Biggs and Dan to enter the office,
and a nod told the deputies to stand outside. He closed the
door.

“He got a jump on us,” said Manning.

“Think he’s really leaving?” Dan said.

“He’s leaving. But you can be sure he ain’t
going to Florida. I’m going to put an APB out for him.” He turned
to Biggs. “You got a vehicle description for him?”

“Yes, detective, all full-time staff have
assigned parking, so we’ve got what he reported to be driving at
the time.”

Manning thought for a moment. “We’ll put a
man outside his residence, but he’s probably cleared out of there
already—or damn sure is in the process.” He turned to Dan. “You
better watch your back.”

“Hell, he’s gonna be a thousand miles away
from this place as fast as he can,” said Dan.

“Better hope you’re right,” said Manning.
“You’re the only link we got to nailing this guy. Well, you and
that kid. I’m gonna assign someone to keep an eye, and I’m going to
put a man on the backside just to make sure he doesn’t slip back
over there.”

“Whatever you need, sheriff,” Biggs said,
shaking his head. “No idea. We had absolutely no idea. Right under
our noses, too.”

Manning turned to Dan and continued. “I’m
going to need you to come down for more questioning as we work to
put a ribbon and bow on this for the DA.”

“I’ll give you a call this afternoon,
Darrell.” Dan patted him on the shoulder as he moved past him. “Now
I’ve got to visit a filly.”

He walked outside and was racked with a fit
of coughing as the fresh air hit him. Despite the coughing, a
bruised pelvis, assorted contusions, and a lump the size of New
Hampshire on the back of his head, he felt perfect. Painful as it
was, he enjoyed the walk to the backside. Dan had an undefeated
filly heading into a graded stakes race on Saturday.

He had other business on the backside, too.
If he could keep his courage up, he was going to try something he
hadn’t done for a long, long time.

He was going to ask a girl on a date.

Chapter 50

dan took a long pull on his coffee.
Saturday had arrived, stakes day. For the past three days he’d
focused on client matters, along with healing his beaten body. He’d
hoped that his redirected attention would cause the time up to race
day to go faster. He was wrong.

A quiet dinner with Beth on Thursday night
was a positive diversion. She was quick-witted and carefree in all
the ways Vickie wasn’t. It wasn’t an official date—or at least he
didn’t present it as one. But he definitely enjoyed spending time
with her.

He’d rolled around in bed last night and
didn’t get more than a couple of winks. The My Lassie Stakes was
the ninth race on today’s card. He was one of the first patrons to
walk through the turnstile when the track opened. He even had to
wait for the first pot of coffee to be brewed.

“Nice suit, mister,” the long-haired teenager
said as he handed Dan his change.

Dan never wore a suit coat and tie at the
track. Even when he came from the office, he stripped the tie and
coat and left them in the car. Dan had owned horses for four years
and had enough starts that he couldn’t remember most of them. But
this was different. This was the biggest race of his life. This was
his Kentucky Derby. Abandoning his usual custom, he decided to
dress for the occasion.

After five days of healing, he still had a
purple bruise in the shape of a horseshoe on his upper thigh. He’d
learned to walk without appearing to be too much of a sissy.

Lennie’s box was empty; heck, the whole
grandstand was empty as Dan sat down and poured through the racing
form, studying the entrants. There was nothing Dan could do. He
wasn’t looking for another horse to bet, and all of his
handicapping would make no difference to the outcome or to his
rooting interest. Kyle, Jake, and Aly Dancer would either make or
break it.

Arestie was back for this race, and rumor was
she’d been working well. Dagens got the mount, which would be an
improvement. Three shippers were in the field, two from New York
and one from Kentucky. One of the New Yorkers, Shazzy Time, had run
a 101 Beyer in her first out. The other two had also won their
first outs. The Kentucky horse, Jillite, going wire to wire and the
other New York horse, Built In, won with a burst down the lane
against a good field at Saratoga.

The other entries came out of other maiden
races at Fairfax Park, none as impressive as Aly Dancer and
Arestie. The form had Aly Dancer at 4-1, with Shazzy Time and
Jillite favored ahead of her, 2-1 and 5/2 respectively.

At one hour to the first post time he was
still alone in the box, but people were starting to stream into the
grandstand seats.

“I see they flew Barrilla in to ride Shazzy
Time.” Dan turned and saw Lennie making his way toward the box.
“Kyle’s going to have his hands full today.”

Oscar Barrilla was the second leading jockey
in the country by purse money won. He was the leading jockey on the
New York circuit. The connections to Shazzy Time weren’t taking any
chances. They wanted the best. Barrilla wouldn’t have come down if
he didn’t think he could win. He had to give up a day of mounts in
New York at substantially higher purse structures to come ride at
Fairfax Park.

Dan stood and let Lennie into his usual seat.
“Unless Barrilla is going to pick up the horse and carry her across
the line, it don’t matter to me. Horses still got to run their
race.”

“I like your shot today, Danny boy.” Lennie
was unpacking his pages of racing data from his backpack. “You
didn’t get a clean shot last time, but she threw a huge late pace
fig despite the trouble she was in. A clear path—and I figure she’s
right with the girls they shipped in. I also think Arestie’s got
more topside. She should be a good price today. Heck, you both
will. By the time these knuckleheads empty their wallets, they’ll
have Shazzy Time down to even money; you just watch.”

Magic Milt got to the track in time to hit
the exacta in the first. No cash bonanza, but he was ahead and on a
roll. “You know what they say, don’t you?” said Milt.

Lennie didn’t even flinch or look up. “You
can’t win them all if you don’t win the first.”

“Yep, that’s what they say. I think I’m going
to run the card today,” said Milt.

Lennie glanced over the glasses on his nose
at the tote board. “I’ll alert security that you’ll need an armed
escort to your car tonight.”

TP showed up after the third race. “Let’s get
the big money today, Dan.”

“How’s Kyle doing today?” Dan asked.

“Ice water, Danny. Kid’s got ice water in his
veins.” He pulled the day’s program from his back pocket and sat
down. “Damn Barrilla flies in here and shakes up the place. Emelio
lost three mounts. One he had a real shot on. Where’s the sense of
loyalty these days? These trainers get all big-time on you when one
of the leading jocks wanders in.”

“You’d do the same thing if you could put
Barrilla up on one of your horses,” Lennie said.

“I know,” said TP. “Still pisses me off.
Guy’s got a right to get pissed off every now and then.” He quickly
turned to Dan. “We got a shot here, Dan-o. Kyle says she’s tearing
a hole in the track every time they lead her over. He won’t get her
in trouble like last time. If he does, I’ll kick his ass before you
get a chance.”

“I just want a clean trip,” Dan said. “I
don’t know if she’s like the horses they shipped in. She can take
any of the locals, but today we find out how she stacks up.”

It seemed like time was standing still. The
ninth race would never get here. Dan bounced his legs and tapped
his form against the side railing.

Lennie looked over from his computer
printouts. “You okay?”

“I think I’m going to burst right out of my
skin.” Dan shot upright and started to slide out of the box. “I’m
gonna walk around a little.”

“Danny, make sure you take the time to enjoy
this. Hell of a lot of owners never get to this position, not with
the real deal like your filly. This will be a day you’ll never
forget.”

Chapter 51

dan wandered the grandstand, trying
to take some deep breaths. There was a strong crowd today. Good for
the track and good for folks on the backside. He called Uncle Van
and chatted up the race. Van had seen Shazzy Time’s maiden win, and
he was cautious. It was an impressive win. Today his money would
ride on Aly Dancer. He wished Dan good luck.

Uncle Van and Frannie had retired and moved
to Fort Lauderdale. Uncle Van made his way to Gulfstream Park on
occasion—certainly more occasions than Frannie knew about. There
was no way he’d miss the simulcast of today’s race. No way in the
world.