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“He split, mister. Left his key in the room at least and, of course, his girlfriend had paid for the room ahead of time. But he’s gone.”

“Oh,” I say, relieved. “All right, thanks.” I turn and walk away feeling her staring at my back.

I DON’T KNOW why but now I’m determined to find Attila. I drive to the crummy little house where he rents the basement. I double park the truck and am about to walk down the three steps to his door when a woman’s voice calls out: “Can I help you with something?”

I look to my right and notice a middle-aged woman standing in the doorway.

“I’m trying to find Attila,” I say, forcing out a smile. She looks at me like I just crawled out of a sewage pipe.

“That makes three of us,” she says, putting her hands on her hips. “I’m looking for him because I need money for the electric bill and that nice wife of his was by yesterday looking for him too.”

I knew Attila had a wife, but I thought they’d long been separated. Or at least that’s what he’d told Ruby. I felt myself swelling with a protective feeling for Ruby.

“Okay,” I shrug at the matron. “If you see him, tell him Sal was looking for him.”

“Sal? That’s Italian?” she asks, cocking a judgmental Irish eyebrow at me.

“Egyptian,” I say, turning my back to her.

AS I PULL UP to the security gate at Belmont, I realize that the temporary parking sticker I’d been issued while chauffeuring Attila around expired yesterday. The security guard isn’t in a friendly mood and won’t let me through, so I ask her to call over to Henry Meyer’s barn. Violet answers the phone and, to my surprise, says she’ll come get me. As involved as Henry and Violet are with their horse lives, I wasn’t even sure they’d remember me by name, much less come fetch me. The security guard seems peeved, like she was hoping I wouldn’t be granted access. I pull my truck to the side and sit waiting for Violet. Ten minutes later, the good lady appears.

Before I have time to stumble out any explanation of what I’m doing here or why, Violet gives me a cheerful hello and watches as the security guard issues me a pass and a parking permit.

I offer to drive Violet back to her shedrow and she gratefully accepts, hopping into the passenger side of the truck. She’s wearing a huge red rain poncho but some of her hair has gotten soaked and is dripping onto the seat of my truck.

“I’m sorry about the puddles,” Violet says.

“Not a problem. Thanks for coming to get me. I guess you wonder what I’m doing here.”

“Oh, I never wonder what anyone is doing at the racetrack.” She smiles.

“Oh no?”

“I fell in love with all racetracks the first time I set foot on one. I understand when someone suddenly wishes to be at the track.”

“Oh,” I say, though I don’t feel like any deep love of the track has anything to do with my being here, don’t in fact know if I even like being at the track. I ask Violet if she’s heard from Ruby or Attila but she has not.

“And certainly everyone is looking for Attila,” she says. “It has been quite a day.”

“Oh yeah? What else happened?”

“That cretin Nick Blackman was arrested is what.”

“Nick Blackman? Who’s that?”

“Crooked trainer. Ran his horses into the ground. He was evidently following orders from a Mafia person,” Violet says. “I’d long heard there were Mafia connections in racing but I’d really never seen evidence of such a thing.” She shakes her head. “I’d also heard rumors about Attila, but I chose not to believe them. It seems he put himself at risk by winning the race on Jack Valentine.”

“Really?” I say, although that much I know to be true.

“Oh yes. The FBI was here. As well as dozens of police officers. You didn’t think poor Layla’s death would simply get swept under the rug now, did you?”

I tell her that no, I suppose I didn’t.

“You go park the truck and then come to the office,” Violet instructs me. “I’ll tell you the rest.”

I do as I’m told, dropping her at the barn then parking the truck. As I walk back to the shedrow, the rain starts coming down harder, punishing me. For what, I’m not sure.

Five minutes later, Violet has installed