"He feels intimidated and threatened by you, and that translates into a sort of competitive hostility," Nimec said. "Common equation in places where they don't get much new blood. Especially when it's coming from the big city."

Ricci shrugged.

"There's all that, and with Cobbs it goes even further," he said. "He's a weasel and he's dirty. I'd heard stories about him from divers as well as lobstermen. Give him a skim of your profits, he'll let you operate without a license or outside your zone, even look the other way if you row out at night and raid somebody's lobster traps. Up until now, you didn't play along, he'd hassle you for the slightest infraction of the rules, but wouldn't actually squeeze anybody outright. The stunt he tried to pull on me takes him to a new level."

"Claiming he'd seen you dive outside your zone so he could confiscate your entire catch," Nimec said. "That it?"

Ricci snapped his pointer finger out at him and nodded.

"Like you said, times are rough," Nimec said. He exhaled, deciding to take another stab at a question Ricci had already angled past twice."I want to try this with you again... you think Dex and Cobbs have something going?"

Ricci stared at his cup, still turning and turning it in his hands. It was no longer steaming.

"Been trying to work that out in my own mind," he said in a hesitant tone. "Cobbs and his deputy dog were waiting for me on the road, and I doubt it's a coincidence that they knew exactly when I'd be driving out to the market, and what route I'd take. Also bothers me that the day they chose to pull me over happened to be the one and only day Dex wasn't around to keep me company."

"Wouldn't it have been better for him if he came along for the ride?" Nimec said. "To act surprised, I mean. The way it went down just makes him look suspicious."

Ricci moved his shoulders. "Dex is no genius. Assuming the worst about him, could be that he was only worried having to look me in the eye when I drove into their little setup. Or maybe he doesn't care what I suspect. Maybe with Cobbs he gets a better than even slice of the action, and all that matters to him is running me out of it."

"And out of town in the process," Nimec said.

Ricci nodded. "Like I said, assuming the worst-case scenario. But right now that's all just for argument's sake."

They sat in silence for a while. Megan watched them, feeling strangely like an observer. She sensed the easy intersection of their thoughts, the unspoken communication of men who had done police work for much of their lives, and all at once thought she had an inkling why Nimec wanted Ricci for Max's position.

"Let's stick to Cobbs for the moment," Nimec said finally. "He's not going to just leave things as they are. You know his type. The way you embarrassed him, he'll be twisting like a corkscrew until he can get back at you. And that's probably going to happen sooner than later. He'll lick his wounds, convince himself you got lucky today."