Tuna Tango Read Online Free Page A

light three times at the boat, then reluctantly turned off the ignition and left the comfort of the truck. He walked to the seawall, where he waited as the boat backed slowly into the tight space. 
    Two men jumped off, both with lines in their hands, and tied the stern of the boat to two nearby pilings. A third man came from behind the wheel and tossed one of the men a line tied to a cleat at midship and then jumped onto the dock. The man scrambled forward on the decaying dock and tied it to a pile in front of the boat, to keep the boat from drifting backward. 
    George and the third man, clearly the captain, looked on as the crew went back to reset each line. One at a time, they removed the lines, pulled the slack out, and tossed the ends back to the boat, where they were attached to the same cleat. This way, all the lines could be removed from the boat if a quick getaway was required. 
    “Good. You still remember to take precautions,” George said to the man as he watched the crew work.
    “Always. Now let’s get this done.” He glanced nervously over his shoulder at the boat traffic. “I don’t like doing this on the weekend. Too much traffic.”
    “It’ll be worth your while.” George knew the timing was undesirable, but he had no choice. Originally, the delivery had been scheduled for Sunday night, when boat traffic would be much lighter; but a storm moving into the Gulf had accelerated the schedule. 
    “What do you have?”
    “Four Jewfish, about a hundred pounds each, plus two coolers of snapper and grouper. Got a small marlin, too.” He signaled for the two crewmen to start unloading the catch. “Had a bluefin on, too. Must have gone four hundred, but we lost it. First one this year.”
    “Good. Let’s have a look.” George reached into the pocket of his cargo shorts and removed a key chain. Selecting a key, he opened the padlock to the square building next to them. Cold air blasted from the freezer. He turned on the light and waited for the crewmen to bring the catch in.
    “What the hell? This is all supposed to be gutted and skinned!” 
    “Got most of it, but it was too bumpy to finish. Can’t afford to have one of the guys lose a finger out there.”
    “Shit.” George stood to the side and watched as the men unloaded the contents of three coolers onto a tarp placed on the stainless steel floor. They went back to the boat and returned with another tarp carried awkwardly between them. Once they were inside, they unrolled it to reveal a two-hundred-pound marlin. 
    George reached into his pocket and removed the cash he had been fondling. He peeled off twelve hundreds and paid the man, who grabbed the money and signaled his men toward the boat. George followed behind them, turning off the light and locking the cooler. He took a quick look at the street before climbing back into his truck and pulling out of the lot. 
    He drove back toward US19 and turned left, driving automatically as he calculated the profits in his head. He was discouraged that they had lost the bluefin, but he’d lost his share as well. Catching the behemoths on rod and reel from a small boat was far from a sure thing. The fish they brought in would net him a five-thousand-dollar profit, and there would be plenty of bluefin as they moved into the gulf to spawn. It was good news that the bluefin were starting to run. That was what he waited for every year. A large bluefin tuna could bring in ten to twenty grand a fish. 
    A smile crossed his face as he pulled into the crowded parking lot of the strip club and to the valet stand. Before he got out, he reached into the glove compartment and removed a gold Rolex watch. He put the watch on his wrist and admired it. 
    The valet greeted him by name and George tossed him the keys as he climbed down onto the running board and stepped onto the sidewalk. 
     
    ***
     
    “Thanks for giving those guys some work. They’ve been complaining about only having the weekend nights at the