"Good morning Mr. Brody!" I called as I brushed a strand of strawberry blonde hair from my face, it was mid morning and the poor man looked frazzled, he didn't even look my way, but I paid him no mind, I knew he was probably busy, so I made my way to the information office and sat down behind my desk, basking in my beautiful air conditioning. Within an hour someone called in asking about a missing young girl, I told them I had no information for them at the moment but to call back, then I called the Amity police station. "Hi Polly, it's Caroline at the information office, I had a call about a missing young girl?"
"Yes, poor dear, seems there was an accident. Mr. Brody is going to close the beach."
"Close the beach?" I breathed. That was unheard of in Amity in summertime.
"I know, but he seems to think it's best." she sighed. "The mayor and a few of the others have gone to try and talk some sense into him."
"Don't you think if the chief thinks he should close the beaches, he should close them?" I asked and she sighed.
"Oh dear you're so young." she said dismissively.
"What happened to the girl?"
"Well, some are saying shark attack, and some are saying she was hit by a boat." she said and I frowned.
"What did the autopsy say?" I asked and she grew silent. "Polly?"
"Caroline, I have to go." she said shortly before hanging up. Something didn't feel right, and no matter how many times I called all anyone would say was it was an "Accident", the words never tasted right. As I finished closing up for the night the silence was interrupted by the phone ringing again.
"Amity Information, this is Caroline how can I-" I answered the phone.
"Caroline, glad I caught you," Chief Brody cut me off and I smiled as I sat on the edge of my desk.
"Well hi there Chief." I said. "How is everything?"
"You've heard the news."
"Of course, I spent the entire day telling people it was an accident... It wasn't an accident, was it Chief?"
"See, now I'm not too sure." he said after a pause. "It just doesn't add up."
"What did the autopsy say?"
"Well, they're claiming it was a boating accident..."
"But….?" I prompted.
"But this was while the mayor and a few other concerned citizens prompted me to leave the beach open for the summer."
"Well, maybe this was a onetime incident..." I said hopefully.
"Maybe." he sighed. "Look, have you spoken to your father recently?"
"No, not in a few weeks." I said and cleared my throat. "But, I can... If you need me to."
"It would be good to know if he knows anything about it- if he's seen anything unusual, that sort of thing."
"Okay." I said softly. "I'll go."
"Great, thanks Caroline."
"No problem Chief." I muttered, before hanging up.
I pushed the door open to Harry's; a local bar in Crab Point that tended to cater to the thicker, fishermen type of people on the island, the tough guys who thought themselves the keepers of the sea. The inside of the pub smelled like cheap whisky, sea water, fish and smoke. It was the smell of Crab Point, and to any person not used to it, it would make them gag. To me, it was almost welcoming.
It had been some time since I had done any real fishing. When I had left my aunt's home I went to my father, the place I had spent summer holidays. We had been a team for some time, I had worked for him when he had people go out fishing, city people usually who needed the validation of killing something to feel manly; but when we weren't catering to that crowd we were doing what he called 'real fishing'. Namely sharking.
I knew most people on the island knew about our falling out, and they knew I had worked for him. I also knew most of them had probably told the Brodys about where I had gotten most of the scars on my body, but I had to hand it to them. They never once asked me, and for that I was glad.
"Hello Quint." I said softly to the man sitting at the bar, loosing himself in a glass of whisky.
"Huh, what're you doing here?" he asked, hardly looking up.
"You heard anything about a shark around here?" I asked and he looked from his glass, to me.
"You sure don't waste any time." he said after a moment.
"In case you haven't noticed I'm not too fond of being this close to you."
"Makes me wonder why you came here in the first place."
"I'm starting to wonder that myself." I said simply. "Shark, go."
"I haven't seen nor heard of any sharks near here in close ta ten years until right now." he said, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. "What happened?"
"No one will tell me anything."
"Now, you're the town gossip. Do you really think I'm going to believe you don't know what's going on."
"I work at the information booth. I'm not a gossip."
"Aye, so you're paid to be a gossip, but you're a gossip nonetheless. How're things going with you and your young man?"
"My young man?" I asked.
"Robert Lancer, ring any bells?" he asked.
"He's not my young man, and how do you even know about that?"
"You aren't the only Quint that knows things." he said, almost teasingly and I looked to the side, before I picked up his glass and took a sip.
"What, your own stuff isn't good enough for you?" I asked and he raised an eyebrow.
"That is mine." he said and I shot a look to the bartender, Harry who suddenly seemed pretty interested in cleaning one specific spot on the counter.
"Hm." I said and Quint raised an eyebrow as I handed the drink back to him and stood up.
"Where are you going?" he asked and I shrugged.
"Home."
"Why don't you stay awhile I'll buy you a proper drink." he said, rather than asked, and after a moment of consideration I slowly sat back down, telling myself if was because you never turn down a free drink, but knowing it was because of who I'd be drinking with. After a few drinks we were back on the subject of sharks. "Just because I haven't seen nor heard about a shark doesn't mean there isn't one. They're crafty, there's probably a lot of off shore caves for them to hide in too." he shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised if there's one floatin' around here. Just waitin'. For the perfect time. This place'll be crawling with tourists soon. Lotsa people, lotsa options. Sharks ain't picky." he let out a loud laugh, not realizing how true his words rang.