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aggravated by years of sun exposure compounded by years of smoking. He imagined for a moment,
this is how Janice will look in fifteen years. Maybe less if she doesn’t lay off the cigarettes and booze, and cut her sun exposure by about eighty percent. Her fondness for all three seemed to be increasing, though she hadn’t always been that way.
    “I guess I should have thought of that at the consultation appointment,” she said. “Too late now, right?”
    “There is a distinct protocol that we follow, but we can go through it at another appointment if you think you may want to know more about that particular surgery.”
    The last of the brown spots was transformed into an ash-like eschar.
    “Now these areas are going to look worse for a while before they look better. We’re going to review some instructions with you, but I want to emphasize that you must stay out of the sun for a while. Expect the areas to look a little pink or reddish. That will go away, but the after care is extremely important. Any questions?”
    Gianni noticed his receptionist standing at the doorway to the operatory. He stepped outside the door and she said quietly, “Mr. Duncker is on the phone. Will you take it or should I take a message?”
    “Tell him I’m just finishing a case, but I’ll be with him in a minute,” he said quietly. Gianni peeked back in to finish speaking with his patient, then walked to his private office, closed the door and grabbed the phone. “Good morning, Stu.”
    “Well good morning to you, Anthony. That colt of ours was certainly
impressive
his first time out. I’m glad you were able to be there, and we’ll send you the photo from the winner’s circle.”
    “That was a thrill, I must say.”
    “And we are
thrilled
with his performance. His jockey said he barely asked him the question in the stretch, and you saw how he responded. Quite a turn of foot, I must say. So we’re looking to enter him in a
stake
next. Maybe the Pilgrim Stakes back at Belmont. Only thing, that one comes up pretty soon. And he did have a little bleeding from his lungs after that first race, so we’ll up his lasix a little next time and I expect we’ll just
let the horse
tell us when he’s ready to run again.”
    “Bleeding? Has he ever shown blood before?” Gianni asked.
    “Once after a hard work on dirt, Jeff tells me, though he generally seems to do quite well on grass.”
    “Well, I’m all for letting the horse tell us when he’s ready. Let’s not push him too much, right?” Gianni said.
    “Right you are, my friend. We’ll be in touch, okay?”
    “Right, one more thing though. How’s the filly doing?” Gianni said.
    “Oh, Boots. She’s fine. Recovered completely from that sponging episode, thank God. Still no leads on who was behind it, I’m afraid.”

Chapter 6
    Gianni left the Diplomat Hotel in the late afternoon. The convertible top was down and the day was unusually hot for January in Miami. The smell of ocean salt was pleasant and strong as he headed south on Ocean Drive toward Hallandale Boulevard, then on to Gulfstream Park.
    He put a CD in the player. The first selection to play was from
Phantom of the Opera
.
    As he listened to the lyrics, he somehow knew that a victory loomed.
    Approaching the entrance to the track, Gianni was unnerved. Where he remembered a low profile clubhouse, he now saw a rather gaudy assortment of buildings, some a few stories tall, some higher.
Frank’s idea of progress, I guess
, Gianni thought, referring to the track’s current owner. It looked more like a casino, less like the old racetrack he remembered.
    Actually, it was because of Frank’s seemingly misguided attemptsat expansion that Gulfstream was even open this early, and for that, Gianni was happy.
Better a fresh turf course near the season opener than the well-worn and rough course at Calder Racetrack’s closing.
    He went directly to the paddock, arriving just in time to meet Chiefly Endeavor’s other connections.