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water from his lungs and communicated his agony is low groans. He lay face down on the deck of the
Wendy
, impaled on the gaff. The hook was buried deep in his belly, making the wooden handle stand straight up in the air like a fence post. Johnny lay still while I caught my breath, watching the lights of the docks off in the distance. We were moving so slowly that it seemed the lights were no closer than when I had turned the boat around.
    “See, Johnny, this is how we bring the big tuna in once we catch them. We drag them behind the boat until all of the fight in them is gone. Thing is, fish like the water so they can hold on for a long while even on the end of a hook. How long you think you can stay alive in the water on the end of a big hook? Think you're tougher than a fish?”
    Johnny had no response for me. His back rose and fell as he took in shallow breaths letting me know he was still alive. “I want to know what you did to the old lady, Johnny. You keep me in the dark much longer and I'll show you how much a fish has to put up with. I'll drag you the rest of the way back so I can get a hold of the chainsaw they use on the dock. You saw them do that today, didn't you? It'll be much easier with you. I promise.”
    Johnny's eyes fluttered and opened; his lips began to form a word over and over again. I put my hands on the gaff and pulled, lifting Johnny off the deck of the boat. If you ignored the hook in his belly, it would have looked as though he were levitating in a magic show.
    “Trunk.” Johnny's lips finally found a voice two feet in the air.
    “She's in the trunk, Johnny?”
    “Trunk. No more. Trunk.” His voice was quiet and gravelly, but understandable.
    The magic show continued as I pulled Johnny higher off the deck. I muscled him over the side as he continued to groan his new mantra, “No more. Trunk. No more.” His body splashed on the water and disappeared as the waves erased his existence. His hands stayed visible above the water in the boat lights, groping for something to hold on to — something that wasn't there. I breathed hard from the exertion and wiped my face with the arm of my shirt. It was then that I noticed my face. For a second time, my face had stretched into that grin I had shelved so long ago after leaving the city. It wasn't a sadist's smile; I took no pleasure in what I had done to Johnny. It was the smile of someone welcoming back an old friend. I knew then that Johnny was wrong — there was going to be more. Much more.

CHAPTER FIVE
    I used the bucket to wash the blood off the deck. After three buckets of water, no one would ever know about what took place on
Wendy
after her captain went home for the night. I pushed the engine of the clean ship harder and drove the boat fast through the waves, feeling each impact like a punch. I made it back to the dock in under ten minutes. I collected Johnny's belongings tucking his gun into the waistband under the front of my shirt — the back already taken by my knife. I pocketed his phone and wallet, but kept the car keys in hand. I left the boat keys in the ignition for Jeff to find and tied off on the dock before making my way to the parking lot.
    There were only two cars left in the parking lot — mine and a black Lexus. I used Johnny's key fob to pop the trunk as I approached. Inside, I saw the body of my landlady bound with duct tape. Nellie lay still in the trunk, but her rapidly blinking eyes told me she was alive. Her eyes registered fear when they adjusted to the new light from the parking lot and saw me standing over her, and panic when she saw me pull my knife. I cut the tape on her hands and feet leaving her to handle the strip on her mouth.
    “Mr. Wilson! There was a man. He grabbed me and tied me up. He said he was looking for you.”
    I admired the steel in the old girl. She didn't cry. She kept her wits about her despite just being let out of a trunk.
    “That man, he . . .”
    “He's gone,” I said.
    “You mean