“Lynch?” Teddy gasped. “Wha… what are you doing here?”
The stranger eyed the marina owner. “Still running a shithole for outcasts, I see.”
Ted paused, then swallowed hard.
Lynch stepped to a partially open window and looked out over the edge of the dingy marina.
“What are you doing here?” Teddy asked again.
“Me and my men are here on business. We need to borrow a few boats. And we need your magnetometer.” Lynch eyed a Louisville Slugger signed by Pete Rose resting on a rack beside the window. “You do as I tell you, and who knows? There might be some coin in it for you.”
Teddy chuckled. “If you think I would trust you again, you’re out of your mind, Lynch. You may be fine doing time behind bars, but I’m never going back, you hear me? I may run a shithole for outcasts here, but I’m no criminal. Not anymore.”
Lynch pressed his tongue around the inside of his mouth. “You seem to be getting the wrong idea,” Lynch finally said casually.
Teddy shook his head. “No. I know I’m right because I know you, Lynch. You haven’t changed.”
Lynch laughed. “No, no. I mean, you seem to be getting the wrong idea about this conversation.” Lynch squeezed his lower lip. “You seem to think that this is some kind of… negotiation. But it’s not, Ted. I’m not asking you. I’m telling you.”
Teddy fumed. “This is my establishment. You come here and say things like that? After all we’ve been through? You should know better than that, Lynch.”
“Should I?”
Teddy clenched his jaw. “I don’t know what dumb shit you’re into this time. Drugs, weapons, trafficking, I don’t care.” He stepped toward his old friend and narrowed his gaze. “But if you don’t get the hell off my property right now, I’ll kill you and sink you in the deepest part of the channel. It’ll make the crabs good and happy, and the world will be much better off without you.”
Lynch snickered. “Teddy, now you’ve gone and pissed me off. After all we’ve been through, I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Not anymore.” Lynch paused, staring at the shorter marina owner. “After that spiel, I’m just going to have to use this place over your dead body.”
Teddy’s eyes bulged and he stomped his heel twice into the creaky floorboards. The door slammed open and a man came running up the stairs. It was the young guy in his mid-twenties with short curly hair that Lynch had talked to downstairs. In his right hand he clasped a Desert Eagle 9mm, which he aimed straight at Lynch as soon as he came into view.
“We’ve had another pest infestation, Casper,” Teddy said. “I need you to deal with it.”
The young man stepped between them, pointing the barrel straight at Lynch. But Lynch didn’t shudder. He was cool and calm, unaffected.
“What are you waiting for?” Teddy said. “Shoot him!”
Lynch’s gaze shifted from Teddy to Casper, and he smiled.
“You remember my proposition, kid?” he said calmly. “Well, it’s time for you to decide.”
Teddy’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t believe it. What the hell was Lynch talking about, what the hell was going on?
Casper lowered the weapon, then turned to face Teddy. The marina owner shook his head as a cruel smile came over the young man’s face.
“Casp, what… what the hell are you—”
“He’s sick of you, Ted,” Lynch spat. “And so am I.”
Lynch scanned to the right, searching for a weapon. There was the Louisville Slugger on the back wall, an old knife resting on a bookshelf, and a dirty highball glass on the coffee table. Lynch chose the glass out of convenience. It was closer, just within arm’s reach.
He snatched it, shattered the rim on the edge of the table, then lunged toward Teddy and held the sharp edges up to his neck. Teddy gasped and shuddered.
“All right… I’ll… I’ll do whatever you—”
“It’s too late for that, Ted. You threatened to kill me. That has consequences.” Lynch forced the smaller man to the floor and shoved a knee into his chest. “Sharp, painful consequences.”
He held Teddy down, shoved a towel into his mouth, then slowly pressed the razor-sharp glass edges into his throat. He shook and convulsed and yelled muffled groans of pain. Lynch shoved the glass all the way through, making contact with the wood floor on the other side. Blood splattered out like water from a leaky pipe. It pooled around them as Teddy weakened, then fell back motionless.
Lynch stared at the dead body of his old friend, then casually rose to his feet.
“Congratulations, Casper,” he said. “Teddy’s Marina now belongs to you.” He stepped toward the young man, who was frozen in shock from what he’d just witnessed. “And when we find what we’re looking for, you’ll be handsomely rewarded for your efforts.” Seeing that the young man was still flustered, Lynch placed a hand softly on his shoulder. “Forget about him, Casper.”
He stared the young man in the eyes. Casper blinked, then looked away from the man who’d been his boss for the past seven years.
“What do you need for your search?” he finally stuttered.
Lynch smiled. “What boats are operational?”
“The skiff and utility boat are the only two running right now. We’ve also got the pontoon boat, but it needs new engines.”
Lynch nodded. “I brought engines for all of them.” He motioned toward the stairs. “My men are outside. Come on,
