"But I thought you brought the dolphin . . ."

Frank sighed. "Do you see a dolphin, Joe?"

Joe stared at his feet and kicked an empty soda can across the boardwalk. "No."

"Then there ain't no fucking dolphin." "But . . ."

"I don't wanna hear it." Frank stared down toward Morey's Pier, where the lights of the Ferris wheel had long since gone out. The only illumination came from the lights arching over the boardwalk like vultures. One of them flickered, as if it were gasping for breath. Frank sighed again, tasting the salt air on his tongue. The ocean waves lapped the shore with a gentle rush that told him to calm down, that his troubles would wash away with the tide, but his fingers twitched. "We have to think of something else."

Joe's head snapped up, his eyes as wide as his gaping mouth. "What about one of those horseshoe crabs? Think he'd go for one of those?"

"A horseshoe crab? Are you an idiot?"

"But they're all over the rocks."

"Exactly. The big man doesn't come to us for things he can pick up off the damn rocks." Joe stared at his feet again. "Just trying to help."

"A dolphin." Frank threw his hands in the air. "What in the hell does the Prince of Darkness want with a dolphin?"

"We should of got one of those . . . what is it the dolphins are always getting caught in?" Joe slapped his leg in excitement. "Tuna nets! We should've gotten us a tuna net!"

"I'm gonna smack you any minute now, Joe." Frank raised his hand for emphasis, stopping it just short of Joe's face. When he was certain he had the man's silence, he reached into his jacket for a cigarette. He popped it into his mouth and let it dangle there as he fished for a lighter, but there was no need. Without a sound, a tall figure appeared beside him. The air grew hot, and Frank's cigarette lit on its own. "Thanks, boss."

"You really should quit," Satan said, stepping out of the shadows. "That shit'll kill ya."

"So will that shirt." Frank eyed Satan's getup with a frown--khaki shorts, a straw hat, and a Hawaiian shirt that resembled one of Frank's nights at the bar when it came back up the next morning. "Is Jimmy Buffet in town?" Satan gave him a playful slap on the arm.

"You're a funny guy, Frank."

Frank blew a puff of smoke off the singed blackness of his sleeve. "Yeah, I'm hysterical."

Satan stuck his hands in his pockets and waltzed toward the boardwalk's edge to stare out across the ocean, his back to them. "So where's my dolphin?"

Frank and Joe exchanged uneasy looks.

"Couldn't get one for you, boss," Frank said. "Joe here was gonna get one of those tuna nets, you see, but . . ."

Satan turned back with a sigh. "I really wanted a dolphin."

"Give us a bit more time and we could . . ."

The Prince of Darkness waved his hand. "No, no good. Got a big crowd coming down tomorrow. Joe here would like them--tuna fishers. Boat's gonna capsize. Was hoping to give them a proper welcome feast." Satan shook his head.

"Dolphin would've been really good."

Frank and Joe exchanged another look; their master didn't always take disappointment so well.

"Is there something else we could get for ya?" Frank asked, fully expecting Satan to snap and reduce him to a puff of ash.

"Hmm . . ." Satan tapped his finger against his chin. After a moment, his eyes lit up; that red glow that always made Frank worry. "Horseshoe crabs! Can you boys get me a couple of horseshoe crabs? Heard they taste just like dolphin."

"Yeah, boss." Frank sighed, determined to smack Joe later for the smirk on his face. "We can get you a horseshoe crab."