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up there?”
    “It was just like he said.”
    His beady eyes shifted down to the hand I’d kept tucked in my sweatshirt pocket. “What’s wrong with your hand?”
    “Nothing. Just smacked it on a cabinet this morning when I was reaching for cereal. It’s fine.”
    He leaned forward and lifted his chin telling me to take it out.
    Reluctantly, I pulled it out. The knuckles had swollen to twice their normal size. My phone rang in my pocket, and Harcourt’s nostrils flared again.
    “You know you can’t take personal calls when you’re out on the dock.”
    “It will go to voicemail. It’s just my dad. I’m all he has out here now.”
    “Yeah, I’ve heard a lot of stories about your dad. He was a good longshoreman, but his temper kept him from advancing. I think you’d make a good longshoreman too, Warner. That’s why I’m so hard on you.” It was something I had never expected to hear coming from Harcourt.
    “Well, Sir, if you’re going for the tough love approach, I can promise you that I’ve already had plenty of that in my life.”
    “I can tell.” He looked pointedly at my swollen hand. “What concerns me is that you might have some of the same temper problem as your dad. Hotheads don’t do too well out here. Accidents happen when people lose their temper.”
    “I didn’t lose my temper up there.”
    “Those swollen knuckles tell me otherwise.”
    I tucked the hand back into my pocket. The warmth felt good on my sore knuckles. “Told you that was an accident at home.”
    “You’ll need to sign a paper that says the injury happened at home. Otherwise you’ll have to go to the clinic.”
    “I’ll sign.”
    His chair wheels scraped the floor as he scooted over to his file cabinet and fished out a release form. He scooted back to his desk and dropped the paper in front of me. “I’ll have to write you up for dropping your lashing bar. It won’t be good for your chances out here.”
    My stomach seized up. More shit was flowing and it only seemed to get deeper and thicker. I picked up the pen and scribbled my name under a completely false statement.
    “Unless you want to tell me what really happened up there?”
    My face shot up. He looked at me expectantly. The truth was right there on my tongue but I held it. I shook my head.
    He grunted as he reached across his desk and picked up the signed form. “You should see a doctor about that hand.” He was being unusually nice to me, and it made me nervous. He dropped the paper into one of several piles littering his desk and leaned back again. “I saw what happened up there. Bill is a clown, and it isn’t the first time I’ve seen him get careless. I’ve been out on these docks since I was your age, Warner. I know how the hierarchy works out here, and I know why you lied about the incident. Good work up there.”
    I nodded and placed the beanie back on my head. I turned to leave but he stopped me.
    “I won’t write you up, but I’m going to have to take you off the shift. The guys out there are going expect a punishment, and losing the hours is getting off easy.”
    “But I need the hours.” I yanked the cap from my head.
    “I’m sure you do. Take care of that hand while you’re off.”

Chapter 5
    Dray
    The marina was nearly empty as I pulled into the parking lot. Even though the summer heat hadn’t left and wouldn’t leave until mid October, most of the kids had gone back to school and the family vacations had ended. I’d always imagined what it might be like to go on a family vacation, packing the car with suitcases and ice chests, stopping along the road for pancakes and eggs before heading down an endless stretch of highway to some cool vacation place. But it would have sucked going anywhere with my parents, and I’d had no brothers and sisters to help absorb the misery.
    My hand had swollen into a smooth pink ball, which meant the workout at Tank’s was out. I would ice the knuckles and take some aspirin. I could have easily