It had been a long, silent trip back from the barge. Both recognized instantly what the great white shark would do to the tourist trade. People came to the Bahamas to scuba-dive, to snorkel, to swim safely in water as clear as air.

"You going to make the report or me?" asked Mike.

Jake raised his hand. "Just cool it, man. Relax. What's this report you're talking about?"

Mike looked into his eyes. They were veiled and distant. Keeping his own voice steady, he said, "We have to report it, Jake. You know that. You call Government House. I'll call the Nassau Daily Tribune—"

Jake shook his head. "Not before the annual Junkanoo. Tourists come down here to snorkel, mon, and look at the pretty fish. No Nassau Tribune, no Guardian, no wives—we got to warn William about that. No girlfriends. No Louisa, no Carla, not even Clarence. No mamas, which ought to make you feel good; she's had enough sharks for a while."

Mike stared at him. Oh, God, not again.... He took a deep breath. "Let me tell you a story, Jake."

"Look, it's quitting time."

"I'll tell you, anyway. My dad was police chief of Amity—"

"You told me that," Jake said with a sigh. "And he helped kill a couple of sharks up there... great whites?"

"And died from it." Mike took a long, cool draft from his bottle. It tasted good. His mouth was still dry, and his hands had not quit shaking. "My mother thinks the second shark killed him. Well, wrecked his heart, same thing. But you know what really killed him?"

"Mike, it's late—" Jake started for the deckhouse door.

"Stay where you are!"

Jake sat down again. "Okay. What killed your dad?"

"The first one."

"Why's that?" Jake raised the bottle to his lips and studied him with cautious eyes.

"The first shark broke his heart. The second one only stopped it."

"And how did the first one break his heart?"

"It killed a girl. And he figured it out. And he wanted to close the beaches. And the town council wouldn't let him. So he told the local paper, but they wouldn't print it."

"I can see why not. But here they might."

"Town council, mayor, realtors... they pressured him. Somebody even killed our cat. So finally he gave up. And then..." His throat tightened. He swallowed. "And then the shark killed a boy, and a little old man, and then they printed it, all right, and you know who they blamed?" Eyes blazing, he stepped closer. "My dad!"

"Take it easy, friend."

Mike felt tears filling his eyes. "And, Jake, because he hadn't closed those beaches, he was never the same again."