He wouldn’t mind stopping, because his work would be done. He wasn’t some thrill killer, murdering for kicks. It was true that his revenge had finally lifted the clouds from his mind and allowed him to take his place in the world as a real man, but that was a lucky bonus. If he stopped, he would still be able to fuck, because it wasn’t murder that turned him on. He wasn’t a pervert, he was simply a man with a mission. There was no pleasure for him in the deed itself, merely in what it signified. For him, pleasure was what he felt when he plied the waterways in the Wilhelmina Rosen. His other life was work, nothing more. The boat was what gave him joy.

They’d arrived at their destination right on schedule, reaching the wharf on the Weser with enough time to unload that afternoon. They didn’t have to pick up their next cargo until ten the following morning. It was all going immaculately to plan. They’d moved the Wilhelmina Rosen to the railhead where they were due to load up with coal, and now he was leaving Gunther in charge so that he could conduct his personal business ashore.

He gently lowered the car on to the dockside and released the grabs. ‘I’m off now,’ he said to Gunther.

‘Going anywhere interesting?’ Gunther said, not even looking up from his dog-eared paperback.

‘I need to see a couple of shipping agents. I wouldn’t mind a bit more work up this way.’

Gunther made a noncommittal sound. ‘We don’t get home enough these days.’

‘What’s in Hamburg that’s so special? You’re divorced, you never see your kids even when we are in port.’

Gunther looked up from his book. ‘My mates are in Hamburg.’

‘You’ve got mates everywhere,’ he said, walking off the bridge. He didn’t want to lose Gunther, but finding a new crew member wasn’t the hardest thing in the world. If Gunther didn’t like the routes his mission had thrust upon them, he didn’t have to stay. Of course, there weren’t that many good jobs on the barges these days. Somehow, he didn’t think he’d be looking for a replacement any time soon. But he wished Gunther hadn’t started on about Hamburg now. It was too much like a hook pulling him back into the past, when he was so intent on moving forward into his future.