It is getting toward dusk and the sun is starting the last
part of its descent in the western sky. An unmarked,
nondescript police car is parked in the lot. Inside are
ROBERT HERNANDEZ, chicano, overweight, 40's, detective
lieutenant in the department and TONI DICKENS, detective,
28, long brown hair and an intelligent face. They
are sitting in the front of the car looking out to sea and
munching on donuts with coffee cups on the dash.
the police converse near the Sea
TONI
The lifeguard almost made it
to the lady.
HERNANDEZ
What would
he have done if he'd made it to her? Beat on
the shark with his flotation device?
They look at one another in acknowledgement of the futility
of that.
TONI
What does
the mayor expect the police department to do about
death by sharks. It's a homicide,
a killing
of a person, but the instrument is a
sea mammal. Do we have jurisdiction
for that?
Shouldn't
they call in the zoo people, or Sea World, or the
fishing industry?
HERNANDEZ
All of the
above.
Toni looks over at him, donut in mouth preventing her from
speaking.
HERNANDEZ
The mayor wants
us to do the leg work between all of those agencies
and whoever else can help
us with
the problem. We co-ordinate the
investigation. Find out everything
about sharks, why they
happen to
be in San Diego right now, their living
habits, feeding habits, why they
attack humans,
everything.
TONI I bet
the hotel and restaraunt people are worried the
tourists might stay away
and they'll
lose money.
HERNANDEZ
This lady
today. That's bad enough. But that shark attack
last week.
Hernandez just shakes his head slowly.
HERNANDEZ
One death
by shark every week and this town will go back
to being a quiet navy port.
No tourists,
no hotels, no restaraunts, no need for
a large police force.
Toni has been watching his spiel intently.
TONI
That might not be so bad. Small quiet
town, not much crime in the street.
Hernandez gives her the look to bring her back into the real
world. She goes back into police mode.
TONI
And I've been volunteered to be laison
between all these sources of shark
information,
to bring all this information
to a central command post, so to speak?
Hernandez nods his head in affirmation.
HERNANDEZ
Do you want to hear to best part?
Toni nods her head slowly.
HERNANDEZ
They're calling this thing Operation
Bruce. Get it?
She nods 'no.'
HERNANDEZ
That great white in Jaws. His name
was "Bruce."
Still shaking her head.
TONI
Cute. Real cute.
CUT TO: EXT. SHORES PARKING LOT - DAY
Hans and Mark are seated against the wall at the Shores,
Hans is drinking beer, Mark has an orange juice. The surf
behind is of small size and the beach is sparsely crowded.
sitting against the bathhouse wall at the Shores
MARK
Not much happening down here. Surf
is small up and down the coast.
HANS
I hear that.
Turns over his shoulder and takes a long look at the water.
HANS
Let's go uptown, maybe somethin's
happening up there.
They move away from the wall and walk across the cement,
carrying their drinks past the 'no alcohol' sign and cross
into the street. Hans looks back at the sign, points at
it with his left hand for Mark and continues walking.
HANS
Nowadays, since you can't drink
anymore, that sign doesn't apply to
you.
Mark just looks at him, holds his orange juice in front of
his mouth, shakes his head sadly, and takes a drink of it.
As he walks to his car, Hans looks down the roadway and sees
a bright red Toyota pickup truck moving in his direction,
driven by JULIE DAHL, 21, long blond hair and excellent
body. The discerning eye will note the license plate
of her car is Arizona. Hans stops in the middle of the
road as Mark proceeds to their old cadillac surf convertible
with the boards sticking out of the back seat.
The pickup truck is moving slowly through the parking lot as
Hans stands in front of it and waves his left hand for it to
stop.
hood check
HANS
Hood check!
Mark looks back at him and he motions to the Toyota truck as
it approaches him. With his left hand raised
like a traffic cop, Hans forces Julie to stop as she
drives right up to him. She is a mixture of amused and
amazed at his boldness and she pulls to a stop, inches from
him. Hans walks over to her driver side, where the window
is down.
HANS
Hi there.
He smiles at her coyly and then proceeds with his spiel.
HANS
Not to alarm you or anything, but you've
got some dark fluid draining beneath your engine.
I thought you might like to know that before
it blows up.
A look of concern crosses over Julie's face.
HANS
Could cost you a lot of money.
Hesitant look on her face.
HANS
I think I should do a hood check for your
right now, could save you a lot of money.
Julie is thinking of the possible problems with her truck.
HANS
I won't charge you anything.
Anxiously.
JULIE
My parents just bought this truck
for me. There can't be anything
wrong with it.
HANS
Hey, the government is always making the
auto manufacturers recall new vehicles.
He motions his hands to the side.
HANS
Pull it over to the side, here.
He motions to the hood of the truck.
HANS
Open your hood, and I'll show you.
Julie grimaces a little, expecting the worst, and moves the
truck off to the side of the road. Hans reaches through
the driver window and pulls the hood latch. Then he moves
to the front of the truck and opens the hood up. He looks
into it for several seconds, looks beside it toward Julie,
looks back where he pours some of the beer from his can
onto a hose, and then moves around to the driver door.
Hans pours some beer onto a hose
HANS
I think you better turn your engine off and
take a look at what I've found.
Julie turns off the engine, Hans opens the door for her and
she steps out of the cab and around to the front of the truck.
Hans is with her and points at the beer fluid.
HANS
Not as bad as I thought. Real small leak.
You probably could have gone a couple
of hundred more miles before your engine
would blow up.
JULIE
Really? Thank you very much for pointing
this out to me.
Hans moves over to the Cadillac and starts looking for a
tool in the trunk, which has no lock.
HANS
Let me get a screw driver. I'll tighten up
that clamp and your problem will be fixed.
Hans retrieves the screw driver and carries it over to the
engine, where he tightens up a clamp that is already at
optimum torque.
HANS
There. Good as new. Now you can drive in safety.
Julie looks at him in new light, gradually becoming aware of
his good looks.
JULIE
Thank you
very much. You're very kind. I don't suppose
you want payment?
Hans shakes his head in agreement.
HANS
But you
know what. Nah, you probably don't know how to
swim.
She looks at him with interest.
JULIE
What? I
can swim. Come on! Three years on the high school
swimming team.
Hans gives his good looking smile.
HANS
How would you like me to teach you how
to surf?
JULIE
You mean now?
HANS
Yeah. While the sun is still out. The ocean
is right over here and I've got my board in the
car
