Chapter One

"Man this job really sucks sometimes." Kevin grumbled as he stared out at the unending blueness that was
his piece of ocean to watch over. All he really wanted to do was to shirk his lifeguard duties and go
swimming. He hated swimming in salt water but on days this hot it really didn't matter. It had been over
ninety degrees every day this week and today was by no means an exception. Unfortunately he was working
all day today and his next break was not for another three hours.

It was an absolutely beautiful day for going to the beach, and that was exactly the problem. Even though
there were a lot of people at the beach there were hardly ever any real emergencies. Most of his job was
only helping people who had cut themselves or lost their children. Unfortunately, there were never any
emergencies that demanded him to go in the water. This was a private beach and everyone here knew how to
swim very well. It seemed like everyone who had a membership was in attendance at Stonybrook Private Beach
today. There were not enough lifeguards on duty today to deal with the sheer magnitude of people. The
ratio of people to lifeguards was still ten to one but that was not even close to enough to help all the
people who needed attention.

"You know they really should change policy from ten to one to something like seven to one or at least
eight to one on days like this. There just aren't enough of us here to deal with this many people. Whatever
happened to the 1,000 person limit. There are at least 1,500 people here. This is a big beach but there
has to be a limit. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah man whatever. . . ." was Paul's only answer.

"I mean what happens if there is a real emergency"

"I don't know. I guess we'll have to burn that bridge when we come to it."

"Lifeguard! Lifeguard! Can you help me I cut my foot on a shell." The little girl was looking at Kevin
and Paul on their lifeguard chair with tears starting to form at the corners of her eyes.

"Don't strain yourself Paul I'll get this one." Kevin muttered as he got off the chair. At least this
may distract him from the fact that it must be nearing one hundred degrees. Kevin rummaged around in the
first aid kit until he found what he was looking for: hydrogen peroxide, bandages, and of course rubber
gloves.

"What are the gloves for, Mister?" The little girl asked with an inquisitive expression on her face.

"Well just as a precau. . .did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Somebody screaming!" Kevin said as he ran to grab the paddle buoy. There was no way he was going to let
somebody else take this one. He had been waiting for this all day. He knew exactly where the buoy was
too because he had been practicing earlier.

The drowning woman was about one-half mile out. Kevin was able to paddle out there in about ten minutes.
He had always been good with the paddle buoy. It was really nothing more than a surfboard and he had always
wanted to learn how to surf anyway. When was approaching the drowning woman, whose name he later learned
was Stephanie, it looked as though something was trying to drag her underwater.

When he finally reached her it was clear what was going on. There was a mysterious black object trying
to pull her under. As soon as Kevin got within arms reach the black thing darted away in a flash. He
swam Stephanie all the way into shore and dragged her onto the beach.

By the time the paramedics arrived and the majority of the people left it was well after midnight. The
only people who remained were Kevin and Detective Larson.

"So what do you think it was?" Larson inquired. He was officially assigned to the case. It was his job
to find out what exactly happened and whose fault it was that poor Stephanie died. After she was dragged
to shore she went into a state of shock that she never came out of.

"I really don't know. She was out there swimming and suddenly she started screaming. I figured she got a
cramp or something like that. I saw her here a lot and she was quite a proficient swimmer. I never got
to really know her though. Too bad what happened to her. Do they know what she died of yet?"

"They think just shock. She had markings on one of her ankles as if something had grabbed he by the
ankle and tied to drag her under. I guess those are what did it. Do you know of any animals that might
have done that?"

"Not a clue. I've never seen anything like it before. What really bothered me was how quickly it moved
away, it was like it was afraid of me but not of Stephanie."

"You're right that is odd. Well, I guess that's all for now. I'll probably contact you later this week
or next week sometime but it's looking like accidental death."

"Well then detective I suppose I'll see you later."