Gargantuan_ A Ruby Murphy Mystery - Maggie Estep [83]
I detour into the enormous women’s bathroom. Sadie is sitting at her post in a stuffed chair near the mirrors. A white apron covers the front of her blue smock. Her jet black hair is pulled into a severe bun on top of her head. She nods at me but doesn’t offer a smile. Those are reserved for the women who hit it big and come in to tip her lavishly. Since there aren’t many women at Aqueduct, there aren’t many women hitting it big. Sadie doesn’t get to smile much.
As I emerge from the bathroom, Attila walks right by me. He’s got a watch cap on and has his coat pulled up close to his chin. This is his idea of incognito. I’m about to accost him when I notice a strange stringy-haired guy walking just a few steps behind Attila. Normally, a strange stringy-haired guy at a racetrack wouldn’t be cause for alarm but I’ve seen this guy before. It seems like I’ve seen him close to Attila before.
I follow them both. Attila seems to be heading to the racing secretary’s office. The stringy-haired fellow follows until Attila goes inside the office, at which point the guy turns the corner and lurks there looking hesitant. I’m just a few feet away from him but he doesn’t seem to have noticed. I pretend to be absorbed in the tote board as I try figuring out what the hell to do. My thinking process isn’t working very well and I find myself walking up to the guy without any idea of what to say.
“Aren’t you Fred?” I accost the man.
He looks like he’s seen a ghost.
“What are you talking about?” he asks. His eyes are watery and worried. His mouth is pulled into a straight line, even when speaking.
“You’re Fred, right? Didn’t I meet you last week?”
The man’s eyes dart around. Clearly I’m interfering with his stalking of Attila.
“I’m not Fred,” he says finally. He’s gazing at me firmly now. “We have something to talk about though,” he adds.
All my alarms go off at once. I glance at the racing secretary’s door to see if Attila is emerging. He’s not.
“Why don’t we go over there,” the guy says, motioning toward the far wall of the clubhouse where the elevators and emergency exit stairs are.
“Whatever for?” I ask, trying to keep a light tone.
“Trust me, you want to talk to me. It’s to do with your boyfriend.”
I doubt that any of this is good. But I have to know. Who is this guy? Why is he shadowing Attila?
I follow him over to the stairs. He pushes through the door marked Exit and we are in a quiet stairwell.
“Now,” he says, producing a gun and leveling it at my heart, “I would like you to come with me.”
For a moment all I feel is lightheadedness. Then the fear comes.
“Don’t scream,” the guy warns. “I have no qualms about shooting people.”
I keep quiet.
BEN NESTER
28.
The Girl
Carla drives the horse van and I follow in my car as we head over to Aqueduct where we’re running a nice claiming filly in the ninth race. My boss didn’t understand why I wanted to bring my car so I told her I had some errands to run after the races and left it at that. I have Crow with me too since I may not be able to get back to Belmont to retrieve him later. I follow Carla in through the backside entrance and over to the receiving barn. I leave Crow in the car as I help Carla unload the filly. She’s a fairly bombproof filly and unloads without fussing. As soon as the filly is settled in her stall, Carla tells me I’m free for a few hours. She seems to be brewing something with Lalo, a groom who works for Shug McGaughey and who happens to have some horses in the stalls right next to our filly. I’ve noticed my boss getting buttery around Lalo for a few days in spite of the fact that I’d previously thought she batted for the other team. Lucky for me, Carla’s fixation on the groom makes her want to hang around the filly’s stall doing all my work and freeing me to hunt for the Jockey. I walk past the stall where Henry Meyer’s got Jack Valentine, the horse the Jockey is riding in the fifth race. I see Meyer there, in the horse’s stall,