The bachelorette party tipped extremely well but when the women got off the boat, Huck turned to Irene and said, “I can’t wait for you to get your captain’s license so I never have to do that again.”

It all sounds rosy on the Huck-and-Irene front—until the story that united them rears its ugly head. Todd Croft is brought up on four charges of first-degree murder thanks to the evidence that Marilyn Monroe presented. (In addition to the three murders we all suspected he was behind, we learned Todd had also killed Oscar Cobb. Sure enough, once Marilyn Monroe had voiced her suspicions, traces of Oscar’s blood were found all over the stern of Bluebeard.) Somehow Todd’s lawyer cuts a deal. Todd pleads guilty to one charge of second-degree murder and three charges of manslaughter and pays fines of nearly four hundred million dollars. He’s sentenced to twenty-two years in federal prison. With good behavior, he could be out in eighteen.

Both Huck and Irene are aghast. Four lives violently snatched away, and the guy gets only twenty-two years? It’s the money, Irene thinks. The territory wanted Todd’s money. Either that or he agreed to talk to the Feds about some of his clients—which may end up getting him killed.

“I’ll tell you who will be waiting for him the day he gets out,” Huck says. “Me.”

Irene squeezes Huck’s hand. The estates can sue for reparations in a civil case. Natalie Key is asking for two million dollars on behalf of Russ and ten million on behalf of Rosie. Stephen Thompson has a brother who lives in London, but the brother won’t sue because he wants “nothing to do with the whole sordid mess.”

Huck and Irene have decided not to even think about the possibility of that money. Instead, they focus on their daily blessings. Irene receives boxes filled with her clothes—most of which she’d forgotten she owned—as well as her books and kitchen implements. When she pulls her food processor out of the box, she says, “The cooking in this house is about to improve.”

“How can you improve on perfectly grilled fish?” Huck asks. “How can you improve on Candi’s barbecue?”

Another blessing: Agent Vasco’s job on St. John is finished. She goes back to Puerto Rico.

Adios, Irene thinks.

Swan Seeley tells Baker what happened between her and Duncan Huntley, and Baker nearly drives out to the East End to give the guy the thrashing he deserves. When Baker tells Ayers the story, she mentions that Dunk routinely waits for Tilda across the street from La Tapa after service. Baker can jump out of the shadows and scare him to death.

But then fate intervenes and Baker bumps into Dunk at Pine Peace Market. Duncan is buying vape pods and Baker is buying pizza-flavored Pringles for Floyd and Ben and Jerry’s Red Velvet Cake ice cream for himself. When Dunk sees Baker, he gives him a little bro-nod but it’s clear he can’t really place him. He’s not important enough for Duncan to remember, Baker supposes. He stands behind Dunk in line, glaring at the back of his neck. Duncan seems shorter than he did when Baker met him on the plane, and he’s downright scrawny. What does Tilda see in this guy? Is it just the money?

Dunk leaves the store and Baker sets his chips and ice cream down and says to Nestor, the cashier, “I’ll be right back.” He follows Dunk out and catches him as he pulls open the driver’s-side door of a forest-green G-wagon.

“Hey,” Baker says. “Duncan? Dunk?”

Dunk turns. “G’day.”

“It’s Baker. Baker Steele? My little boy and I met you on the flight from Houston. You gave me a ride over here on your boat?”

“Ah, yeah?” Dunk says, though it’s not clear he remembers who Baker is. “How ya doin’, mate?”

Baker reaches out his hand, and when Dunk takes it, Baker squeezes as hard as he can and holds on a little longer than he should. “I’m good. Real good. Except for a couple of things.”

“Sorry, mate, wish I could shoot the shit but I’m in kind of a hurry.”

Dunk makes a move to get into his car but Baker reaches over Dunk’s head and slams the driver’s-side door shut, then leans against the car, arms folded across his chest. He has six inches and at least sixty pounds on Dunk. Baker hasn’t been in a fight since high school, and even then, he mostly scrapped with Cash. He’s thirty-one years old, the father of one with another one on the way. He never thought he’d find himself trying to physically intimidate someone. But that’s exactly what he’s going to do right now.

“First off,” Baker says, “you moved in on Tilda when she was dating my brother, Cash.”

“Cash is your brother?” Dunk says. He laughs nervously. “I didn’t make the connection, mate, I’m sorry.”

“But you did know Cash and Tilda were together,” Baker says. “When you and Tilda went away, you knew she had a boyfriend. You had dinner with him.”

“Right, but I wasn’t sure how serious it was,” Dunk says. “She told me they’d known each other only a few weeks. And she said that Cash moved in with her because he had nowhere else to go.” Dunk fiddles with the packet of vape pods in his hands. He’s trying to pop one out. “Your father was part of that whole Ascension thing? That’s some nefarious shit, mate.”

Baker snatches the pods out of Dunk’s hands and tosses them beyond the truck. He whips the vape pen out of Duncan’s shirt pocket and tosses that too.

“Nefarious?” Baker says. “Are you smart, Dunk? No, not terribly. Because the next thing you did that pissed me off was you insulted my friend Swan Seeley, told her you hired her only because she was hot—”

“It was a compliment,” Dunk says. “Show me a bird who doesn’t like hearing she’s hot, come on.”

“It was inappropriate,” Baker says. “And then you touched her. You leaned into her, you put your hand on her back, you gave her a massage, and you rubbed up against her from behind.”

“Her word against mine, mate,” Dunk says.

Baker grabs the front of Dunk’s shirt and pulls him in. Will Baker hit him? He wants to. He would love to pop Duncan Huntley in the face and watch him bleed. “I’m not your mate.”

Nestor pokes his head out of the market. “You okay?” he asks Baker. “Need any help?”

“I need help!” Dunk says. “He’s attacking me!”

Nestor goes back inside.

“Here’s what you’re going to do,” Baker says. “You’re going to apologize to Swan in an e-mail. You’re going to offer her her job back. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” Dunk says. His eyes keep sweeping to the other side of the truck. He’s worried about his vape pen, Baker realizes. Baker is never going to let Floyd start vaping.

Baker lets Dunk go, and in a few quick strides, Duncan retrieves the pen and pods from the ground.

Baker leans back against the driver’s-side door. “One more thing,” Baker says. “There’s nothing I can do for Cash—all’s fair in love and war, and Tilda chose you, a decision I’m sure she’ll come to regret. It was dirty pool. I know it; you know it. I now work with Jacqui at the Westin time-share office, and what you might not know about Jacqui is that she is very well connected. We wouldn’t want her spreading any rumors about you. People on this island already think you’re sketchy—the sex app, the weed-edibles company, the jeans-and-Sambas thing, the fasting—but what if they hear that you’re an untrustworthy snake, a two-timer, a Me Too menace?”