Jaws Part 17

"I just..." He paused momentarily, then said, "I studied some water samples. And read."

"Where? In your hotel room?"

"Part of the time, yeah. What are you driving at?"

"I called your hotel. They said you were out all afternoon."

"So I was out!" Hooper said angrily. "I don't have to report in every five minutes, do I?"

"No. But you're here to do a job, not go galavanting around all those country (75) clubs you used to belong to."

"Listen, mister, you're not paying me. I can do whatever the f.u.c.k I want!" Vaughan broke in. "Come on. This isn't getting anybody anywhere."

"Anyway," said Hooper, "I haven't seen a trace of that fish. Not a sign. Then there's the water. It's getting warmer every day. It's almost seventy now. As a rule --I know, rules are made to be broken --great whites prefer cooler water."

"So you think he's gone farther north?"

"Or out deeper, into colder water. He could even have gone south. You can't predict what these things are going to do."

"That's my point," said Brody. "You can't predict it. So all you're doing is guessing."

Vaughan said, "You can't ask for a guarantee, Martin."

"Tell that to Christine Watkins. Or the Kintner boy's mother."

"I know, I know," Vaughan said impatiently. "But we have to do something. We can't sit around waiting for divine revelation. G.o.d isn't going to scribble across the sky, 'The shark is gone.' We have to weigh the evidence and make a decision." Brody nodded. "I guess. So what else has the boy genius come up with?"

"What's the matter with you?" said Hooper. "I was asked for my opinion."

"Sure," said Brody. "Okay. What else?"

"What we've known all along. That there's no reason for that fish to hang around here. I haven't seen him. The Coast Guard hasn't seen him. No new reef has popped up from the bottom. No garbage scows are dumping stuff into the water. No extraordinary fish life is around. There's just no reason for him to be here."

"But there never has been, has there? And he was here."

"That's true. I can't explain it. I doubt if anyone can."

"An act of G.o.d, then?"

"If you like."

"And there's no insurance against acts of G.o.d, is there, Larry?"

"I don't know what you're getting at, Martin," said Vaughan. "But we've got to make a decision. As far as I'm concerned, there's only one way to go."

"The decision's been made," said Brody.

"You could say that, yes."

"And when someone else gets killed? Who's taking the blame this time? Who's going to talk to the husband or the mother or the wife and tell them, 'We were just playing the odds, and we lost'?"

"Don't be so negative, Martin. When the time comes --if the time comes, and I'm betting it won't --we'll work that out then."

"Now, G.o.ddammit! I'm sick of taking all the s.h.i.t for your mistakes."

"Wait a minute, Martin."

"I'm serious. If you want the authority for opening the beaches, then you take the responsibility, too."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that as long as I'm chief of police in this town, as long as I'm supposed to be responsible for public safety, those beaches will not be open."

"I'll tell you this, Martin," said Vaughan. "If those beaches stay closed over the Fourth of July weekend, you won't have your job very long. And I'm not threatening. I'm telling you. We can still have a summer. But we have to tell people it's safe to come here.

Twenty minutes after they hear you won't open the beaches, the people of this town will impeach you, or find a rail and run you out on it. Do you agree, gentlemen?"

"f.u.c.kin' A," said Catsoulis. "I'll give 'em the rail myself."

"My people got no work," said Lopez. "You don't let them work, you're not gonna work."

Brody said flatly, "You can have my job anytime you want it." A buzzer sounded on Vaughan's desk. He stood up angrily and crossed the room. He picked up the phone. "I told you we didn't want to be disturbed!" he snapped. There (76) was a moment's silence, and he said to Brody, "There's a call for you. Janet says it's urgent. You can take it here or outside."

"I'll take it outside," Brody said, wondering what could be urgent enough to call him out of a meeting with the selectmen. Another attack? He left the room and closed the door behind him. Janet handed him the phone on her desk, but before she could depress the flashing b.u.t.ton to release it from "hold," Brody said, "Tell me: Did Larry ever call Albert Morris and Fred Potter this morning?"

Janet looked away from him. "I was told not to say anything about anything to anybody."

"Tell me, Janet. I need to know."

"Will you put in a good word for me with Golden Boy in there?"

"It's a deal."

"No. The only ones I called were the four in there."

"Push the b.u.t.ton." Janet pushed the b.u.t.ton, and Brody said, "Brody." Inside his office, Vaughan saw the light stop flashing, and he gently eased his finger off the receiver hook and placed his hand over the mouthpiece. He looked around the room, searching each face for a challenge. No one returned his gaze --not even Hooper, who had decided that the less he was involved in the affairs of Amity, the better off he would be.

"It's Harry, Martin," said Meadows. "I know you're in a meeting and I know you've got to get back to it. So just listen. I'll be brief. Larry Vaughan is up to his tail in hock."

"I don't believe it."

"Listen, I said! The fact that he's in debt doesn't mean anything. It's who he's in debt to that matters. A long time ago, maybe twenty-five years, before Larry had any money, his wife got sick. I don't remember what she had, but it was serious. And expensive. My memory's a little hazy on this, but I remember him saying afterward that he had been helped out by a friend, gotten a loan to pull him through. It must have been for several thousand dollars. Larry told me the man's name. I wouldn't have thought anything about it, but Larry said something about the man being willing to help out people in trouble. I was young then, and I didn't have any money either. So I made a note of the name and stuck it away in my files. It never occurred to me to look it up again until you asked me to start snooping. The name was Tino Russo."

"Get to the point, Harry."

"I am. Now jump to the present. A couple of months ago, before this shark thing ever began, a company was formed called Caskata Estates. It's a holding company. At the beginning, it had no real a.s.sets. The first thing it bought was a big potato field just north of Scotch Road. When the summer didn't shape up well, Caskata began to buy a few more properties. It was all perfectly legitimate. The company obviously has cash behind it --somewhere --and it was taking advantage of the down market to pick up properties at low prices. But then --as soon as the first newspaper reports about the shark thing came out --Caskata really started buying. The lower real estate prices fell, the more they bought. All very quietly. Prices are so low now that it's almost like during the war, and Caskata's still buying. Very little money down. All short-term promissory notes. Signed by Larry Vaughan, who is listed as the president of Caskata. The executive vice-president of Caskata Estates is Tino Russo, who the Times has been listing for years as a secondechelon crumb in one of the five Mafia families in New York." Brody whistled through his teeth. "And the sonofab.i.t.c.h has been moaning about how n.o.body's been buying anything from him. I still don't understand why he's being pressured to open the beaches."

"I'm not sure. I'm not even sure he's still being pressured. He may be arguing out of personal desperation. I imagine he's way overextended. He couldn't buy anything more no matter how low the prices go. The only way he can get out without being ruined is if the market turns around and the prices go up. Then he can sell what he's bought and get the profit. Or Russo can get the profit, however the deal's worked out. If prices keep (77) going down --in other words, if the town is still officially unsafe --his notes are going to come due. He can't possibly meet them. He's probably got over half a million out now in cash down payments. He'll lose his cash, and the properties will either revert to the original owners or else get picked up by Russo if he can raise the cash. I don't imagine Russo would want to take the risk. Prices might keep going down, and then he'd take a bath along with Vaughan. My guess is that Russo still has hopes of big profits, but the only way he has a chance of getting them is if Vaughan forces the beaches open. Then, if nothing happens --if the shark doesn't kill anybody else --before long prices will go up and Vaughan can sell out. Russo will take his cut --half the gross or whatever --and Caskata will be dissolved. Vaughan will get what's left, probably enough to keep him from being ruined. If the shark does kill someone else, then the only one who gets screwed is Vaughan. As far as I can tell, Russo doesn't have a nickel in cash in this outfit.

It's all --"

"You're a G.o.dd.a.m.ned liar, Meadows!" Vaughan's voice shrieked into the phone, "You print one word of that c.r.a.p and I'll sue you to death!" There was a click as Vaughan slammed down the phone.

"So much for the integrity of our elected officials," said Meadows.

"What are you going to do, Harry? Can you print anything?"

"No, at least not yet. I can't doc.u.ment enough. You know as well as I do that the mob is getting more and more involved in Long Island --the construction business, restaurants, everything. But it's hard as h.e.l.l to prove an actual illegality. In Vanghan's case, I'm not sure there's anything illegal going on, in the strict sense of the word. In a few days, with a little more digging, I should be able to put together a piece saying that Vaughan has been a.s.sociating with a known mobster. I mean a piece that will hold up if Vaughan ever did try to sue."

"It sounds to me like you've got enough now," said Brody.

"I have the knowledge, but not the proof. I don't have the doc.u.ments, or even copies of them. I've seen them, but that's all."

"Do you think any of the selectmen are in on the deal? Larry loaded this meeting against me."

"No. You mean Catsoulis and Conover? They're just old buddies who owe Larry a favor or two. If Thatcher's there, he's too old and too scared to say a word against Larry.

And Lopez is straight. He's really concerned about jobs for his people."

"Does Hooper know any of this? He's making a pretty strong case for opening the beaches."

"No, I'm pretty sure he doesn't. I only wrapped it up myself a few minutes ago, and there are still a lot of loose threads."

"What do you think I ought to do? I may have quit already. I offered them my job before I came out to take your call."

"Christ, don't quit. First of all, we need you. If you quit, Russo will get together with Vaughan and handpick your successor. You may think all your troops are honest, but I'll bet Russo could find one who wouldn't mind exchanging a little integrity for a few dollars --or even just for a shot at the chief's job."

"So where does that leave me?"

"If I were you, I'd open the beaches."

"For G.o.d's sake, Harry, that's what they want! I might as well go on their payroll."

"You said yourself that there's a strong argument for opening the beaches. I think Hooper's right. You're going to have to open them sometime, even if we never see that fish again. You might as well do it now."

"And let the mob take their money and run." (78)

"What else can you do? You keep them closed, and Vaughan'll find a way to get rid of you and he'll open them himself. Then you'll be no use whatever. To anybody. At least this way, if you open the beaches and nothing happens, the town might have a chance. Then, maybe later, we can find a way to pin something on Vaughan. I don't know what, but maybe there'll be something."

"s.h.i.t," said Brody. "All right, Harry, I'll think about it. But if I open them, I'm gonna do it my way. Thanks for the call." He hung up and went into Vaughan's office. Vaughan was standing at the southerly window, his back to the door. When he heard Brody walk in, he said, "The meeting's over."

"What do you mean, over?" said Catsoulis. "We ain't decided a f.u.c.kin' thing." Vaughan spun around and said, "It's over, Tony! Don't give me any trouble. It'll work out the way we want. Just give me a chance to have a little chat with the chief. Okay? Now everybody out."

Hooper and the four selectmen left the office. Brody watched Vaughan as he ushered them out. He knew he should feel pity for Vaughan, but he couldn't suppress the contempt that flowed over him. Vaughan shut the door, walked over to the couch, and sat down heavily. He rested his elbows on his knees and rubbed his temples with his fingertips. "We were friends, Martin," he said. "I hope we can be again,"

"How much of what Meadows said is true?"

"I won't tell you. I can't. Suffice it to say that a man once did a favor for me and now he wants me to repay the favor."

"In other words, all of it."

Vaughan looked up, and Brody saw that his eyes were red and wet. "I swear to you, Martin, if I had any idea how far this would go, I'd never have gotten into it."

"How much are you into him for?"

"The original amount was ten thousand. I tried to pay it back twice, a long time ago, but I could never get them to cash my checks. They kept saying it was a gift, not to worry about it. But they never gave me back my marker. When they came to me a couple of months ago, I offered them a hundred thousand dollars --cash. They said it wasn't enough. They didn't want the money. They wanted me to make a few investments. Everybody'd be a winner, they said."

"And how much are you out now?"

"G.o.d knows. Every cent I have. More than every cent. Probably close to a million dollars." Vaughan took a deep breath. "Can you help me, Martin?"

"The only thing I can do for you is put you in touch with the D.A. If you'd testify, you might be able to slap a loan-sharking rap on these guys."

"I'd be dead before I got home from the D.A.'s office, and Eleanor would be left without anything. That's not the kind of help I meant."

"I know." Brody looked down at Vaughan, a huddled, wounded animal, and he did feel compa.s.sion for him. He began to doubt his own opposition to opening the beaches. How much of it was the residue of prior guilt, how much fear of another attack?

How much was he indulging himself, playing it safe, and how much was prudent concern for the town? "I'll tell you what, Larry, I'll open the beaches. Not to help you, because I'm sure if I didn't open them you'd find a way to get rid of me and open them yourself. I'll open the beaches because I'm not sure I'm right any more."

"Thanks, Martin. I appreciate that."

"I'm not finished. Like I said, I'll open them. But I'm going to post men on the beaches. And I'm going to have Hooper patrol in the boat. And I'm going to make sure every person who comes down there knows the danger."

"You can't do that!" Vaughan said. "You might as well leave the d.a.m.n things closed."

"I can do it, Larry, and I will."

"What are you going to do? Post signs warning of a killer shark? Put an ad in the newspaper saying 'Beaches Open --Stay Away'? n.o.body's going to go to the beach if it's crawling with cops."

"I don't know what I'm going to do. But something. I'm not going to make believe nothing ever happened."

(79)

"All right, Martin." Vaughan rose. "You don't leave me much choice. If I got rid of you, you'd probably go down to the beach as a private citizen and run up and down yelling 'Shark!' So all right. But be subtle --if not for my sake, for the town's." Brody left the office. As he walked down the stairs, he looked at his watch. It was past one o'clock, and he was hungry. He went down Water Street to Loeffler's, Amity's only delicatessen. It was owned by Paul Loeffler, a cla.s.smate of Brody's in high school. As Brody pulled open the gla.s.s door, he heard Loeffler say, "...like a G.o.ddam dictator, if you ask me. I don't know what's his problem." When he saw Brody, Loeffler blushed. He had been a skinny kid in high school, but as soon as he had taken over his father's business, he had succ.u.mbed to the terrible temptations that surrounded him for twelve hours of every day of every week, and nowadays he looked like a pear. Brody smiled. "You weren't talking about me, were you, Paulie?"

"What makes you think that?" said Loeffler, his blush deepening.

"Nothing. Never mind. If you'll make me a ham and Swiss on rye with mustard, I'll tell you something that will make you happy."

"That I have to hear." Loeffler began to a.s.semble Brody's sandwich.

"I'm going to open the beaches for the Fourth."

"That makes me happy."