After hours at Dockside, the yard lights are off and the tide is dropping, but Finch keeps a burner going on the dock. He feeds Charles, Anna, and Todd mackerel fresh off the pier with vegetables Anna grabbed from Pier Street Market, and he talks the way he rarely does when the shop is open.

Finch starts in Vietnam, with a woman named Thuy and a memory that still catches on the way out. Then the story turns hard: a busted op, over half his unit gone, the rest scattered, and Finch alone with a satchel and the kind of gear that stays quiet. He shows the trio the bag he still carries everywhere, and he explains what each item is for, when it fails, and what he trusts when he has one chance to get it right.

In this free chapter

• Dockside after hours, a simple meal, and the kind of talk that only happens when the work is done

• Finch’s everyday carry bag, unpacked with reasons instead of brand names

• Fire and knife first, then light, then the habits that keep people steady when the plan breaks

• A short story from Anna and Todd’s childhood that explains why Finch carries bandanas now

Download the chapter to sit on the dock with them and hear Finch teach it his way.