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Chapter 3

Ellie Derstine swam through the water. Her long eel tail propelled her effortlessly. By this point she could barely even remember what it was like to walk. Slung over her back was a spear gun. Most people assumed it was for protection from sharks. In reality, she most often used the speargun to catch her dinner. Ellie had no trouble with sharks ever since she took up residence in Blalva Beach, or at least the waters off the coast of Blalva Beach.

After everything was said and done, the park was shut down. Ellie had heard a land development company eventually bought it up. As for Atargatis Entertainment, all funds and property that could be seized, were. A portion of this went to helping set up the mermaids in their new lives. The mermaids were spread out across the country. Some were in aquariums, some working as divers, a few had, tragically, ended their own lives. The only one Ellie was still in contact with was Lisa. She had gotten a job working at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. She seemed to be happy in their online interactions.

As for Ellie, she had stayed in Florida and was self-employed in the salvage and underwater recovery business. She spent most of her day below the surface. The majority of interactions she had with the residents of Blalva Beach were with food delivery people when she was tired of eating fish. Tonight was just such a night. She swam towards the boat shed she had purchased with her portion of the reparations. It served both as her home and the office for her company. Ellie had enclosed the area around the piles to serve as her wet room. There wasn't much there beside her bed, some lights, and a few odds and ends. The mermaid swam up to her dry room.

Ellie's nose wrinkled after she broke the surface. There was still the smell of gasoline lingering in the shed, despite her efforts to air it out. She swam to her desk, hitting the button for the huge ventilation fan on the way. Ellie dried her hands slightly on a towel and picked up the phone. She saw there were messages waiting for her, but she was hungry and wanted to at least order her pizza first.

***

“Captain's Pizza, how can I help you?" Ralph greeted the customer on the phone. “Oh hey Ellie, been a while since you've last called...Yeah we still have the Tuesday Special" Ralph started to scribble out a ticket, “...with pepperoni? You got it. It'll be out to you in like fifteen to twenty minutes...Yeah, slow night...ok, bye."

“Is that pick-up or delivery?" Josh asked looking up from his phone.

Ralph let out a quick laugh, “It's delivery all right, down to the marina." Ralph was smiling to himself as he started to make the pizza, “How long have you lived here again?"

“I don't know, a month and a half I guess?"

“It has been a while since Ellie last called. Anyway, you're going to meet one of the more interesting members of our community."

“As long as she isn't a spaced out drug addict and tips, I don't really care."

“Ellie is a good tipper, Just don't stare and try to accommodate her."

“So what, she's disabled then?"

Ralph smiled, “You'll see."

***

Ellie went through her voice mail. She immediately deleted the ones trying to recruit her to a new underwater job; she was happy with being her own boss. One was a reminder from her accountant to email some information for her taxes. One was from the local crazy mom demanding that she cover her sinful body and stop tempting her boy. She had two job inquiries, and a call from Agent Harper checking in on her.

Has it been another year already?

Harper always called around the anniversary of when the world found out the mermaids were stuck that way forever. He was now the head of the Augmented Human Crime Division, mostly because no one else wanted it. He kept her apprised of the search for the former heads of Atargatis. It also seemed some of their research was popping up in new illegal augmented humans.

She sighed and felt her stomach grumble. Ellie looked up at the wall clock.

“That pizza better get here soon…"

***

Josh followed the GPS on his phone as he drove slowly through the Marina. Josh was a transplant to Blalva Beach, and Florida in general having grown up in Virginia. Being a delivery boy was not where he had envisioned himself being at twenty-six. Everything had gone so well just a few years ago. Josh graduated college debt free thanks to a scholarship with a management degree, went right into a job after interning for two summers with them, and married to his long-term girlfriend by the time he was twenty-three. Then everything went wrong.

His wife divorced him after having an affair with her middle aged widowed boss. The bastard made five times Josh's salary and she still took the car and half their savings. At least he didn't have alimony or kids to worry about. Josh was just starting to recover from that when his company was raided by the FBI. Turns out they were dealing in equipment being used in the illegal human augmentation trade. As a low-level manager he was quickly cleared of any wrongdoing, however the damage to his career was done.

The best piece of experience in his resume was interning and working for one of those companies. Not to mention he was put on blast on social media for working there. It didn't matter that Josh knew nothing of what was going on behind closed doors. He tried desperately to get some kind of work, even just working retail like he had in highschool, but got nothing. His savings were almost depleted when his mom called him from their place down in Blalva Beach. His father had a heart attack and died.

Josh broke down, it was too much. Everything had gone to hell and he wasn't even thirty yet. Josh drank his way through what was left in his liquor cabinet that night. After the worst hangover of his life, He gave his mom a call. After a lot of crying on both of their ends, He hung up and started to pack. Whatever didn't fit in his beater of a car he sold or gave away. Josh had about five hundred dollars to his name when he started his trip south.

Josh's mom was happy to not be alone, and gave him a place to stay. Since his car was still somehow running he took the job delivering for Captain's Pizza. He wanted to do something and not be a leech on his mother. In the meantime, he was scouring want ads and applying to anything he could. Josh was starting over from scratch, but at least he was starting.

This is the place he looked at the sign on the side of the building, Eel Bait Recovery and Salvage, huh?

After the slow day at the shop, Josh was hoping what Ralph said about this Ellie Dearstine being a good tipper was true. He got out of the car and took the insulated bag with him. He got to the door and saw the sign asking him to 'please ring'.

Ellie turned to the security monitor when she heard the ring. She didn't recognize the person, but she could see the pizza bag.

“Thank god," she muttered and she hit the intercom button, “Hello?"

“Ah, Yeah, I have a pizza for Ellie."

“That's me, let me buzz you in."

“What, you've got a front desk in there?" She could see his smirk on the video feed.

“You're new in town, aren't you?" She smirked back, “just come on in."

When he heard the loud buzzing sound Josh pushed open the door. He had never been inside a boat shed before. The first thing that struck him was the absence of an actual boat. The next thing was the desk set at the edge of the water with a young woman behind it. She had to be in the water to be at such a position.

Ellie smiled at the confusion on the young man's face.

“I'm guessing not only are you new in town, but Ralph didn't fill you in either."

“Ah, not exactly…"

Josh trailed off as he watched the long eel tail slowly arc out of the water. Ellie let it splash back down before she swam out from behind her desk.

“I'm Ellie Derstine, resident mermaid of Blalva Beach, and I'm very hungry."

“Ah! Right!" He fumbled with the insulated bag. “Ah, large pepperoni, right?"

“Yes, you can place it on my desk." She said, swimming the long way around.

She honestly missed performing for an audience and although her current home was nothing like her old performance tank, she got a kick out of it. Josh wasn't sure if it was rude to stare or worse to look away. Everyone knew about the mermaids and the scandal with Atargatis Entertainment, but he had never met one in person before.

He crouched down and placed the pizza on the desk, “Ah, the total is fourteen seventy-nine."

“Just a moment, let me dry my hands a bit first," She held up her hands, displaying the webbing between her fingers, “I doubt you want soaking wet money," she used a hand towel that had to be there for just such a reason.

“Thanks, Ms.-"

“Just Ellie is fine, it's a small town."

“I know, I'm still adjusting to that. I've lived in big cities all my life."

“What brings you to this little shore town then? You look a little young to be a snowbird."

“My mom moved down here a few years ago with my dad. He just passed away and I had a streak of bad luck and ended up moving in with her while I sort things out."

Ellie counted out thirty dollars from her cash box, “I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

“Josh."

“Well, Josh, just remember, “she held up her webbed-fingered hand to offer him the money, “things can always get worse."

“Heh, I'm no stranger to that," he took the money, “Thank you."

“See you around, Josh, have a good one."

***

The pizza box sat empty on her desk as Ellie cracked open a second can of cheap beer. She was just about to watch a cat video when her phone rang. She had a good idea who it was.

“This is Eel Bait Recovery and Salvage, Ellie Derstine speaking."

“Good evening, Ellie."

“Agent Harper, I thought you'd be calling me back."

“I wouldn't forget to." He sighed slightly, “How's things in the salvage business?"

“It's a feast or famine situation most months, but I enjoy it. I found some jewelry today while I was out, so I treated myself to some pizza. How are things on your end?"

“Busted another company about two months ago. They weren't doing any augments themselves but were a supplier of certain key pieces of equipment. It was a reputable business, they've been around for almost twenty years. And now because of unbridled greed over five hundred people are out of work."

“Idiots," she paused to take a drink, “Do you think their buyers have any ties to Atargatis?"

“I can't discuss an ongoing investigation with you, you know that. But before you needle me all night, we have tracked down one former VP in another investigation."

“How come that's not plastered all over the news?"

“Don't want to spook other former members of Atargatis still out in the wind." he let out another sigh then lowered his voice, “there are other reasons as well."

“What do you mean?"

“This shit is going way beyond exotic toys for the insanely wealthy. They're starting to weaponize augments, and some governments out there are rumored to be interested in buying in. That's why so much news on the augment rings is being kept suppressed."

“Fucking hell…"

“Yeah, I know," Harper's voice returned to normal, “I trust you Ellie, and despite what my superiors may think, I feel you deserve to know what's going on."

“I appreciate the risk you're taking. I'll keep my mouth shut and stay out of internet conspiracy forums."

“One more thing, Ellie. I know you've said before you like being your own boss and aren't interested in job offers, but do me a favor. If you get any that seem a little too good, give me a call."

“Care to elaborate a bit more on that request?"

“You already know the companies that have hired your fellow mermaids for various underwater jobs. But if a new one approaches and their offer sounds too perfect, let me know."

“That sounds comforting. Should I keep my speargun handy if they show up in person?"

“Depends if they roll up in a truck or a boat big enough for a mermaid tank."

“Alright, I'll keep you informed. Anything I can do to help round up these fuckers, I will."

“Thanks, take care of yourself out there."

“You too, talk to you later."

Ellie hung up the phone and looked at her computer screen with the video waiting to play.

“I'm going to need more than just one cat video now…" she muttered to herself as she clicked play.

***

Ellie woke to the door alarm vibrating her bed. She let out an inaudible growl as she slipped out of her sleeping net and swam up to the surface. She looked bleary eyed at the clock as she pushed back her wet hair.

“The hell? It's seven in the morning!" Now she was mad. She hit the intercom button hard before she even looked at the camera feed, “We aren't open until nine-thirty, please stop ringing the damn bell!"

“Ms. Derstine, Ma'am?" She saw on the screen it was one of the local cops, “I apologize for the rude awakening, but this is an emergency and we could only get your voicemail."

“This emergency better not involve that Stanton bitch." She grumbled, reaching for a bikini top.

Ellie buzzed in the officer and was just finishing tying her top as he came into view.

"If it's any consultation, we're tired of her complaining as well. I'm sorry if I got off on the wrong foot, I'm Officer Clemens, and Chief Blair has a situation. Like I said, we tried to call…"

“I know, I know…"

Ellie swam over to her fridge. She pulled out an energy drink, not having time to brew a pot of coffee. Clemens waited until she took a pause in gulping it down.

“The thing is, ma'am, we had a situation last night, out on The Point. There were several gunshots heard and we got two people missing. The chief was wanting you to dive in the waters off the point to see if you can find anything."

“Is he asking this officially with the town's blessing, or is this another favor?"

“The latter, ma'am."

Ellie rolled her eyes then finished what was left in the can, “You can tell Chief Blair he owes me a twelve pack this time for getting me up so early," she let out a long sigh, “I've got appointments this afternoon for paying jobs, so I hope I can swim down to the point and take care of this now."

“Yes ma'am, he's down there already."

“I'll get my things and swim on down, and oh, Officer Clemens. In the future if I am woken up like this, the least you can do is bring me some coffee and a doughnut."

He smiled slightly, “I'll remember that, ma'am. I'll go see myself out."

Ellie nodded to him, but her mind was already on the task at hand. First she changed to her work top, a sleek form-fitting wet-shirt that covered and supported her upper body and arms. Ellie then slung a belt over her shoulders with her most commonly used tools. She did a quick scan of her voice and email, but other than the chief there were no new messages. She dove down to the lower door and let herself out.

Ellie swam down deep; she could hear the boats in the marina already moving around above her. Normally she would be scanning the sea floor looking for anything valuable, but she was in a hurry today. Ellie knew the way to the point well enough, she had found quite a few things in the waters around the point. The swim out there helped to wake her up at least. The mermaid swam as close to the rocky beach below the point as she could then broke the surface. The chief was scanning the waves looking for her and waded out to the shallows, having already traded his uniform pants for a pair of board shorts.

“Morning Ellie, thanks for coming out, I appreciate it."

“I would appreciate it more if the town would pay me for my time."

“You know I want to, but they're a bunch of stingy bastards. I have to beg them for a few extra boxes of ammo just so the boys can practice." He shook his head, “I know I'm asking a lot of you as a private citizen, but ever since Carl retired from the force we haven't had a diver. Even then, he was using his own gear."

“I'm not a jerk, I know this is a serious situation. And I know that beer is coming out of your pockets. But I could use a little return on the good will I've been showing Blalva Beach."

“You're right. I'll see what we can do later, but right now-"

“Right now, you need me to see if there's a body down under the water, I know."

“I'll be searching the beach, so let me know if you find anything."

***

Within an hour Ellie was helping to haul a body up onto a boat. She had also found what was believed to be the murder weapon.

“I'm sorry you had to see that," Chief Blair said as he zipped the body bag shut.

“Eh," Ellie was hanging on the side of the boat keeping her gills in the water, “I knew it was a possibility when Officer Clemens came and got me. Speaking of which, I should get back to my place."

“I think we can handle it from here...oh! Hold on, Clemens said this was for you to make up for the lack of coffee," he pulled out a twenty dollar bill, “lunch was on him."

“Heh, well, I'm not going to turn down lunch," she said, accepting the money.

“I'll swing by tonight with the beer."

“See you then," Ellie slipped back under the water to swim home.

***

Ellie's meetings went well, and the pair of jobs she lined up would set her up well for at least a couple of months. She was still working on the paperwork when her doorbell chimed. She glanced at the monitor and smiled slightly when she saw the chief. She buzzed him in right away.

“Hey Ellie, I know you only asked for a twelve-pack, but I think you deserve a case instead." He smiled hoisting a cold case of her favorite beer up onto her counter.

“Well, not that I'm upset," she said as she saved her work, “but why the bonus?"

“We got the bastard!" He smiled as he opened the case and handed a cold can to the mermaid.

“What? Already...how?" She asked, taking the beer, “go ahead and help yourself to one too."

“Thank you, ma'am," he smiled and did just that, “we had an APB out on both of them since they went missing last night. Staties caught him making his way up towards Georgia. When he heard we had his friend in the morgue and the pistol used to shoot him, he broke down and confessed."

“Damn, I mean, glad I could help but still, didn't think you'd close this case in time for dinner."

“You and me both." he took a long drink, “used that as a little bit of ammo talking to the mayor today. He said he will bring up the idea of hiring you on a retainer for your diving services during the next council meeting. I can't say they will offer you good money but better than nothing."

Ellie sighed, “I'm willing to take the hit for a little community good will."

“I'll keep you updated, but I better head on home now, too many late nights as of late."

“Tell Rosa I said hi."

The chief left Ellie alone with the rest of the case of beer. She finished her current can, and pulled out another before fitting what she could into her small fridge. Ellie had ended up skipping lunch, and it was starting to catch up with her. She remembered the money Officer Clemens had given her.

I know I just had pizza last night, but damn it, I want to celebrate! She thought as she reached for her phone.

***

Josh had just pulled back in front of Captain's pizza. He was making his way back in to cash out and finish up for his shift, having started two hours before the shop opened to help Ralph with inventory and some deep cleaning in the kitchen. Josh was tired and was looking forward to dinner with his mom.

“Oh hey, you're back," Ralph said as he sliced a pizza, “Don't clock out yet, I got one more delivery for you."

“Can't Jeremy handle it?"

“He's all the way out in the boonies on a run right now. Come on, I don't want to make Ellie wait an extra fifteen minutes for her pizza."

“It's for Ellie?" He asked, perking up a bit.

“Yeah, she had a good day today and is celebrating with more pizza. Cash out with an extra large pepperoni and text me after you deliver. I'll clock you out and that way you can head right home after the delivery."

“Alright, but just because she's a good tipper."

***

Josh sent a quick text to his mom saying he'd be a little late and headed down to the marina. He still used his GPS out of habit, but he remembered the way from yesterday. Josh hit the buzzer by the door and waited.

“Hey, come on in!" Ellie's voice came over the intercom before the door buzzed.

“So," he said smiling as he walked towards her desk, “pizza two days in a row, hmm?"

“Oh shut up, like you've never done that."

“Not since college," he chuckled, setting down the pizza. “I heard you were celebrating."

“Yeah, I have two recovery jobs lined up." she then let out a sigh, “It's going to be a lot of work though, so I better enjoy myself tonight."

Josh looked around. “You work here all by yourself, don't you?"

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, it's just me. Not that I could have afforded any help when I was getting started. I had to catch my dinner more often than not. Made me appreciate pizza all the more though."

“Damn, now that's a rough start. Still, I'm a bit envious, I had wanted to start my own business eventually before…"

“Before shit happened?" Ellie offered as she counted out cash for her tab.

“Yeah, but I don't want to drag you down with me."

“Heh, a man dragging a mermaid down, that's a switch."

Josh cracked a smile.

“Trust me, I get it, better than most can. If you feel like letting it out, sometime, I could use the company." she handed him the money for the pizza and tip, “But for now, I'll let you get back to work."

“Actually, this is my last delivery, I need to text Ralph so he'll clock me out for the day." he said, pulling out his phone.

“In that case, I've got more beer right now than will fit in my fridge, if you'd care to hang for a while."

“You know what? I could use a beer."

***

Ellie shook her head. “Christ, as if the cheating bitch wasn't enough..."

"Yeah. After that I couldn't even get a job working retail because of course as a low level manager I was complicit in the illicit backroom deals."

"I can relate to that, unfortunately." she reached for another beer, "sure you don't want another?"

Josh shook his head, "I've got to drive home still, but thanks."

“I've seen your car, you'd be safer walking sober or drunk."

“Yeah well, I needed a car and only had one paycheck to work with. So, I bought a crap car to hold me over till my end of the year bonus. And you know how that worked out."

“I know a good scrap metal guy when she finally dies, so you got that going for you."

“Oh goodie." He smirked, throwing out his can and the empty pizza box.

"I hope your mom won't be upset, you're more than just a little late for dinner."

"She did say she wanted me to go out and make some new friends."

Ellie smiled, "well you can drop by to bitch any time. I'm sure I'll need to unload in the future too."

"I'll bring the beer next time, and maybe some food that isn't pizza."

"As long as it isn't sea food either." She chuckled, "Night Josh, have a safe trip."

"Thanks, goodnight." he turned and left.

Ellie placed her beer down unopened and leaned back, floating with just her head above the water. She was still smiling even after she heard Josh's car pull away.

You're not the only one who needs some new friends, Josh…

Reminiscing with Josh made her think about Lisa. It had been a while since they had spoken. Ellie decided to send her a quick email before calling it a night. She had a lot planned for the coming weeks, and she didn't want to forget about Lisa. Ellie swam to her computer and started to skim through her inbox, seeing if anything looked important. With nothing that needed her attention that night, Ellie started to write a quick message to Lisa. Just an update on her life and she also decided to pass on what Harper had said about too good to be true job offers. Ellie doubted Lisa would take any offers given how happy she was with her current job at the National Aquarium, but passing around the warning could help the FBI track down those bastards.

***

“Hey mom, I'm home!" Josh called out after letting himself in.

“I'm in the kitchen!" His mother Claire replied.

Josh tossed his keys in the dish by the door and then took off his shoes before walking into the house propper.

“I'm sorry I'm so late, mom. I just got talking with Ellie and next thing I knew…"

Claire smiled. “It's alright dear, I can't complain when you start to take my advice. Besides, meatloaf tastes just as good the next day."

“Well, yours does anyway." He leaned in and kissed her cheek.

“I'll heat you up a plate," Claire said before walking to the fridge, “So, what did you two talk about?"

“Mainly about getting screwed over by life," Josh chuckled, “I'd say she's got dealt a worse hand than me."

“Oh? I thought she ran her own business, is she having a rough time with it?"

“She's starting out and it's not always easy, but that's not what I meant. Ellie Derstine is our local mermaid, mom."

'Oh-oh!" she looked a little embarrassed, “I thought her name sounded familiar."

“It's not like you'd run into her at the gas station." As Josh said that, he realized how isolating her life must be, “Maybe she needed someone to talk to as much as I did."

“Sometimes life screws up and gives us exactly what we need."

“What?"

“It was something your dad said once. I was going on about how life was just completely against me between my parents, school, and job. That was his way of reminding me I still had him." Claire wore a sad smile as she started to spoon out the cold mashed potatoes onto the plate, “I wouldn't call your father an optimist, but he knew how to hang in there."

“Yeah.." Josh sat at the breakfast bar, “I could use a little of that right now."

“Just don't give up," she placed the plate in the microwave, “Your dad never did, never let me give up, and if he was here, he'd make sure you didn't either."

“Thanks mom," he smiled slightly, “I won't."

_________________________________________

Original story and setting by Syntaxerror37

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