The Trojan Colt (29 page)

“Up to you,” he replied with a shrug. He was back in three or four minutes, clutching his ticket in his hand.

Then they were in the gate, and a few seconds later the bell rang, the doors opened, and the Morpheus colt shot out to a lead, tracked by the favorite. I didn't have any binoculars, and Khalid Rahjan's silks were a dull color, hard to spot. I had no idea where Tyrone was until they turned into the homestretch. Then a sleek chestnut circled the field, caught the leaders with an eighth of a mile to go, and began pulling away from him. I still didn't recognize his silks, but I couldn't miss the scar on his neck.

Chessman cashed his ticket, teased me all the way back to Lexington, and then I drove home.

They say dogs can't laugh. Bullshit. Marlowe spent the whole night laughing at me.

M
IKE
R
ESNICK
is the all-time leading award-winner for short fiction in science fiction history and is the author of seventy-one novels, over two hundred fifty short stories, and three screenplays, as well as the editor of forty-one anthologies. A number of those novels and stories were mysteries set in the future or on other worlds. But Mike doesn't limit himself to science fiction, as fans of
Dog in the Manger
know, and Seventh Street Books is pleased to have enticed him back to contemporary mysteries with
The Trojan Colt
. Visit him online at
www.mikeresnick.com
, at
www.facebook.com/mike.resnick1
, and on Twitter @ResnickMike.