Chapter 82

"These photos could have been photo-shopped," Denman said. "A DNA sample would probably be more ample evidence. Are photos such firm truths?"

"Now why would I fabricate information, doctor? I swear on my life that these photos depict an actual event I witnessed. They are not fraudulent in any way," Hunter stated earnestly. "And you know it," he added with a smirk. There was a moment's silence as Denman contemplated what the young man had said.

"You know Hunter, this girl looks pretty scared. Have you thought about her livelihood?"

"Yes, I have," he said. "She deserves to suffer – she used her mermaid magic on me,"

Denman got a chill from how deranged the man looked.

"I thought you didn't care about all that, just the science," Hunter continued with a scowl.

"Well," Denman began, "To a degree…Look, how much are you thinking?"

Denman was conflicted but she knew that this man would just go to another scientist, another scientist without the same morals. A scientist like the one she used to be.

She had promised the girls that she would never bother them regarding this again. Then again, the mermaid in this picture was not them. She hit closer to home. If she pursued this, it would cost her her relationship with her nephew, Alan. She mused over her options.

"Ten thousand dollars," Hunter stated confidently.

"That's an awful large sum for a few photos," Denman replied.

"Doctor, think about the research projects you can launch and the benefits for the larger scientific community that you can have from this purchase. I think it is a fair demand." Hunter watched Denman contemplate the offer.

Was it worth it? Her options were to either buy the photos or not. If she bought the photos though, what would she do with them? She could do the research she had wanted to do all those years earlier and get the substantial royalties, forcing Jessie into submission. Another option was to ask Jessie if she was interested – a kind of consultation research – she would only do what the mermaid wanted. She could do it in a way that proved mermaids existed without revealing her subject's name. Still, she could buy the photos but keep them a secret. In any case, if before she bought them she would have to get a lawyer she trusted to draw up a strong confidentiality agreement with no loopholes, so that Hunter could never mention or pursue mermaid research again. The final option was to reject Hunter's proposal and send him on his way.

The more she thought over it, the more Denman realised that she had to buy the photos, either to exploit the mermaid or save her, the best and most riskless option was to buy them herself. However, what to do about money? Ten thousand was a huge sum if she was not going to use the evidence for research. Unless she took it from her pocket account the board was never going to go for it, she would have to explain in detail. No.

"Okay, Mr Tasman, I have decided to take your offer. Ten thousand for the photos," Denman said. A triumphant grin spread across his smug face.

"But I have some conditions," Denman continued. Hunter nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"I will need a week to finalise my decision and come up with the funds. In that time you may not mention the photos or mermaids to anyone, otherwise the deal is off. For this to work, I need to have complete control over the research and if a rival scientist gets wind of it…"

"Say no more, complete confidentiality I get it," Hunter said, sitting back in his chair.

"Right, so we'll have a meeting with my lawyer at this time next week?" Denman said, looking at her calendar.

Hunter smiled and got up to leave.

"One more thing, Mr Tasman,"

"Yes?" he turned.

"You may not mention my name to anyone either,"

Hunter gave her a strange look before continuing out of her office. Denman sighed. What was her decision going to be?

OoOoO

"Hey, Aunt Linda," Alan answered the phone after checking the caller I.D. He and Jessie were cuddled up on the couch. She needed some serious moral support after the stress the Hunter fiasco was putting her through. Jessie lifted her head from his chest when she felt him tense up. Gently pushing her from his side, Alan got up and went into the kitchen.

"A man by the name of Hunter Tasman came by my office today, offering to sell me photos of a mermaid," Denman said through the phone.

"Of a mermaid huh?" Alan replied, trying to keep his voice neutral. "Anyone we know?"

"Alan, honey, he showed me photos of your girlfriend, Jessie,"

Alan took a deep breath. He felt anger growing. Hunter was going to expose her.

"By your silence, I'm guessing you already knew about her," Denman guessed correctly.

"Yeah," he sighed. "What are you going to do?"

Now it was Denman's turn to sigh.

"I don't know. I know I can't just exploit her, there's too much at stake for her, and you,"

"Thank you. I love her, Auntie. You have to know that I'll do anything to keep her safe,"

Denman heard the earnestness in his tone.

"I don't doubt it, Alan. He's asking for ten grand for the photos,"

"Wow," Alan replied. "If you did buy them, would you make sure he could never spread them around?"

"Yeah, I could draw up a tight confidentiality agreement and copyright clause – documents that would make it so costly for him to betray that it wouldn't be worth it,"

"I take it that the board won't approve any funding for the photos without knowing what it is for?"

"No. If you want me to get a hold of these photos I'll need you to pitch in..."

"…Done," Alan interrupted. "I'll do anything,"

Denman continued to explain things to Alan so that he got a full picture of everything.

"I'll have the money put into your account before the meeting with that grunge bag,"

"Forgive me, but I must ask, how long have you known about Jessie?"

"About seven months or so, I figured it out a few weeks before she trusted me enough to tell me,"

"Oh wow," Denman said. "Well, I really hope this deal with Hunter works out,"

"Thanks, Linda,"

Jessie was beginning to get restless. She wanted to know what had her boyfriend tense up so much. Recently, there was only one thing that could have caused that reaction– Hunter.

"Alan? What's going on?" she called.

"Just a second," Alan said into the phone.

"I'm just talking to my Aunt, I'll tell you in a minute," he shouted back.

"Is that Jessie?" Denman asked.

"Yeah," Alan replied.

"Is that your marine biologist aunt?" Jessie asked nervously, coming into the kitchen.

"Ah, yeah," Alan replied hesitantly.

"Alan, I can speak to her if you want," Denman suggested. "It might be better coming from me directly,"

"Maybe," Alan said into the phone. "Okay," He turned to his girlfriend.

"Jess, Aunt Linda wants to speak to you,"

Jessie gave him a puzzled look before taking the phone.

"Hi Jessie, how are you?" Denman asked casually.

"I'm good thanks," Jessie replied. Denman could hear the question in her voice.

"Good good. I'm not sure how you're feeling, but you may want to take a seat," Denman began.

Jessie did so slowly; she had a sickening feeling in her stomach as she sat. She knew exactly what this was going to be about.

A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Again, sorry for the long time coming. I hope this chapter was enjoyable and easy to understand. I try to keep things as realistic as possible. If you think it is straying from this, please let me know how so I can fix it (I'm no expert on legal stuff :P ) Please tell me what you liked and disliked (preferably likes, but I do take into account good constructive criticism.) Do you like the storyline? You guys have interesting ideas of where it is heading ;)

Your reviews inspire me to write so keep 'em coming :)

I have final exams for the semester coming up soon, so hopefully I can update before then, if not, I'll update after.

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