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uncomfortable with the questions. He looked down the tunnel as
the last of the competitors moved through, toward the track. “Seven
is hurting, two looks sick, nine don’t wanna race today.”
    Dan again stared down at his program. The boy
had just called out the top three favorites in order, despite the
fact that he had no program, not even a slip of paper in his
hands.
    “Seven. Jasper June. He’s hurting? What do
you know?” Dan was hoping for some inside information.
    “Just watchin’.” The boy started rocking like
he was about to jump down from the fence.
    Dan realized he was coming on too strong. He
was spooking the boy.
    “Hey, I’m sorry. I’m Dan. Dan Morgan.”
    He extended his hand. The boy looked down at
the hand, and after a pause reached down and shook it
delicately.
    “What’s your name?” Dan said. “You see, when
you introduce yourself and give your name, the other guy is
supposed to tell you his.” Dan laughed, trying to break the ice.
The boy didn’t react and just treated it like another
interruption.
    Finally. “AJ.”
    “Okay, AJ. Nice to meet you. I saw you the
other morning in the kitchen, when those guys were hassling you.
I’m sorry about that.”
    AJ just nodded, looking off in the
distance.
    Like it happened all the time, Dan
imagined.
    “Look,” Dan said. “As long as I’m around,
those guys aren’t going to bother you. Or if they do, they’ll catch
hell from me. That’s our deal. Okay?”
    AJ nodded, looking toward the tunnel.
    “I’ve got a couple horses. Jake Gilmore
trains for me.” Dan was getting no reaction from the kid. “I heard
you work for Latimer. He’s a good trainer.” Dan didn’t know if that
was true or not; he just said it. Silence.
    “AJ? So what does AJ stand for?”
    The boy paused a long time, probably hoping
Dan would just move on, but he didn’t.
    “Stands for Ananias Jacob. Ananias Jacob
Kaine.”
    “That’s an unusual name. Is it a family name?
Ananias, I mean.”
    “It’s from the Bible.”
    “That’s cool.” Dan’s knowledge of the Bible
wouldn’t fill a thimble, but he tried to convey that he was
impressed. “AJ, I’ve got to run. I want to get a bet down before
they get to the post.” He started to walk away, then stopped and
turned back. “Uhm, I don’t mean to trouble you, AJ. I’m a lawyer,
and we ask a lot of questions. I’ve just seen you around and—” And what? Dan thought. “And if you ever
need help, you call on me. Okay?” He held out a business card.
    The boy took the card and looked at him for
the first time. “Okay, mister.”
     

Chapter 8
     
    Dan scampered up one of the back
stairways to the mezzanine level. He didn’t have a strong feeling
about the race but thought he would take a flier on the horses AJ
touted. “Give me a five dollar exact box, one, three, four,” he
said to the cashier. What did he mean, the four looks angry? Is
that good? “Give me twenty across on the four.”
    Dan scooped up the tickets and headed out
toward the track. From where he stood on the mezzanine deck he
could see the whole racetrack. The horses were still warming up,
and it was four minutes to post.
     
      
     
    From that first day with Uncle Van at the
racetrack, Dan was hooked. He followed the stake races leading up
to the Kentucky Derby each year like a forensic scientist tracking
DNA. The events leading to the midsummer derby, the Travers’, at
Saratoga were indelibly etched in his mind.
    The season wasn’t complete without total
devotion to the Breeders’ Cup in the fall, the Super Bowl of horse
racing. They constituted championships for virtually every category
of racing. Two-year-olds, fillies and mares, sprints, distance,
turf and dirt surfaces.
    From the time he was legally old enough—okay,
and maybe a few times before that—Dan would be at the track or at
some nameless off-track betting establishment to get a bet
down.
    One summer, between his sophomore and junior
years in