Among the Oil Derricks: Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

“If you’ll just put your hands on your head… you do have the right to remain silent; anything you say can and will be used again you.”

“Sir, I’m sure you know, I’m a celebrity,” Derek interrupted pleadingly, “if the vaguest rumor or picture gets sent to the media or a magazine it will be plastered everywhere and twisted anyway it can be. For our safety and the benefit of the doubt, would you please allow me to take my car down to the station?”

The officer eyes him warily as he radioed someone else while Derek prayed in his mind. “I have the OK. I’ll lead, you’ll follow, and another patrol will follow you, so no tricks.”

“Thank you!” Derek breathed both to the officer and God.

“Under any other circumstance this wouldn’t be allowed, but as it is, you probably couldn’t get away easily,” the officer followed him to his care, “My daughter’s a huge fan, in fact. I can only imagine how she’ll scream when I tell her I’ve arrested her celebrity crush.”

Derek would have laughed if he didn’t feel so much like crying. This was all going wrong! Arrest? Harboring? When he wanted a different path in life, this was not what he had in mind. How many years could he get in prison? Ten? Eleven? Or was that kidnapping? At any rate it was too many. He’d be nearly forty by the time was was out. Drake would be long caught and gone. Emilie probably married with child. His career would be over for sure.

Derek sighed as he pulled up at the police station. To his humiliation he had his picture taken, his fingerprints copied, and information taken down before being asked the well expected question of “Where’s Drake Byron?”

Derek shrugged and answered earnestly, “I don’t know. He ran off somewhere.” No one disbelieved him.

“Would you like a lawyer?”

“No, I’d like to make a call, though.”

“There's the phone.”

Derek dialed Emilie’s number. “Hello?” Emilie’s voice came over the receiver, “Derek? Drake wants to see you. Where are you? I came back and the care is gone.”

“I’m at the police station.”

“You’re what?” Emilie cried.

“I was arrested for harboring a runaway. Could you come down? I guess you’ll have to bring him with you?”

“He’s not with me, I don’t know exactly where he is,” Emilie replied, “I’d be willing to come down, but you drove me here, remember?”

“We’ll send someone to pick her up,” an officer mouthed to him.

“They’ll send someone for you,” Derek repeated.

“Am I charged?” Emilie sounded upset. An officer shook his head.

“No.”

“Okay, I’m at the derrick.”

An officer stood and left the room. “Someone’s coming… could you contact…” Derek was flustered and an officer was motioning for him to end the call, “Would you contact my family, don’t tell them much, and assure them everything’ll get cleared up.” The officers looked skeptical.

Six hours later they were no closer to ‘clearing it up.’ Emilie had come down and done everything she could but they would not let Derek go. So, Derek sat in an uncomfortable old cell, hungry because he hadn’t eaten the dinner and miserable out of dread while Emilie sat tired in the waiting room too exhausted to brainstorm any more.

“Station is closing, Miss, I’m afraid we have to send you out,” a secretary told her.

Listless and red-eyes, Emilie stood and stepped outside. The cool air woke her from her zombie-like state. “-I could show you,” the officer who had arrested Derek was saying to her.

“W-what was that?” Emilie shook her head to wake herself more.

“A hotel, down the road,” he repeated.

“Oh-oh, yes,” she stumbled down the stairs so tired she appeared drunk.

“Miss, I could call my wife to pick you up, you shouldn’t drive, or a taxi,” the police officer caught her.

“Thank you,” she mumbled. Five minutes later the officer’s wife arrived and helped her in.

“We have a spare room, why don’t you stay with us,” the wife suggested at last seeing her state, “I can give you dinner and my daughter would die to meet you.” Emilie nodded. She had stayed awake long periods of time before, but never under this sort of stress. Not even staying up to finish movie projects the night before the cinema release date took so much energy out of her.

“What did Dad want - OMG!” a thirteen year old girl suppressed a scream when Emilie walked in, “OMG! OMG! OMG! Emilie Lawrence! Can I have your autograph, PLEASE!”

“Shelly, she’s had a stressful day, tomorrow, okay?” Mrs. Buskirk to her daughter, “Why don’t you calmly show her into the dining room?” Shelly obeyed as well as she could in her excitement.

“I thought Dad said there was a woman who was trying to help her friend out of jail who needed a ride to a place to stay because they were tourists,” Shelly said to her mom, “Wait! Please tell me… who was it?”

“Shelly, your dad had to arrest Derek Walker today -”

“WHAT?” Shelly screamed, “He arrested Derek WALKER?! How could he? She’ll never give me an autograph now, nor will he for that matter. Why did Dad do that?”

“Harboring a runaway or something.”

“He’d never do that! Derek Walker is great! He wouldn’t break the law! Not without a good cause!”

“Maybe he thought he had a good cause. Now, to bed! How Emilie to the guest room, please.”

Shelly showed Emilie to her room, apologized for the mix-up, and went to her own room. Emilie fell right to sleep. It was ten by the time she woke up.

Earlier in the day, Hades had watched all the commotion from afar muttering to himself, “So much trouble, we could have just kidnapped the brat. Seth really blew it this time. The police will be on us. I don’t know how or why, but they will. Boy, have we played dumb.”

 “Mr. Hayden Ares?” Someone said behind him.

“Oh hi.” It was Selena. Behind her was an older gentleman. Uh-oh, was this her old man?

“Hi, I just wanted to introduce you to my supervisor, Mr. Sam Aldridge. I’m an agent and we are arresting you.”

“What?” Hades hand went to his inside coat pocket.

“I don’t think so,” Selena drew her concealed weapon as did Aldridge.

“We have you covered, Ares,” Aldridge stepped forward to take his weapon, “Don’t try anything. We’ve been watching you for awhile but it wasn’t until Selena here came around that we got a break. Looks like you finally have a weak spot.” Hades didn’t let him finish before swinging a punch. Aldridge managed to block but couldn’t grab him in time. There was a small scuffle. The agents were hesitant in shooting in the fray near so many people giving Hades the chance to bolt.

“Stop or we’ll shoot!” they shouted as they rounded a corner.

“I don’t think so,” Hades stood before them with a trembling young girl in his grasp, his pistol to her head. “Now drop your guns and I’ll just walk down to the parking lot, take this little prize with me and be on my way. If you don’t follow me, I might think about leaving her on the side of the road for you to find.” The girl let out a cry and struggled. He shook her harshly and shouted, “Put Down Your Guns! I’ll shoot her, you hear!” He shook his gun threateningly. The agents glanced at each other.

“Haden, you’re surrounded,” a feminine voice shouted from behind him, “Let the girl go or we will be forced to shoot you. We don’t want to do that!”

“I bet you don’t,” the man whirled around, forcing the girl with him. Selena was on the ramp just below. He glanced to his right and there was Sam Aldridge his gun drawn.

“Fine, this is your fault!” Hades began to pull the trigger. The girl shrieked and there was a series of shots. The captor fell to the ground unconscious. At the same moment Sam took a quick step forward and pulled the weeping little girl away and pushed her into the her terrified parents’ open arms. Agents surrounded the fallen foe and handcuffed him. He began to awake from the taser stings as they forced him to his feet.

Hades glared at the young agent woman who stood to the side with her supervisor. She didn’t respond with either fear or pride. She simply looked at him and followed the other agents who surrounded them to the police car. “Now the next step,” he heard her say as he was guided into the back.

Just before they police car pulled away, Hades happened to see a young man approach Selena from behind with a smile that told him he could be no other than her significant other and tap her on the shoulder. The young woman turned, then with a cry of delight, threw her arms around him. “Tay!” she exclaimed, then the car pulled away and he could see nothing more.

He was informed of his rights. His picture was taken. The secretary raised her eyebrows when she heard his name and looked up his records. He had never been arrested before, but they still had records on him, to his surprise. His fingerprints were taken and he was interrogated, but he said nothing. “He’d better get me out of this,” thought Hades to himself, “He’d better not betray me. If he does, he’ll have another thing coming, I don’t care how long I have to wait.”

Finally they gave up and sent him to a cell. While passing the office he saw Emilie sitting there anxiously. He smirked. So his call had brought them on those two, but would they be able to trace it to him? If they did, would that cause them to let Derek go? Suddenly he had an uncomfortable thought. What if they were in the same cell?

He was taken to his cell. It was dinner time so no one was there. He was told which bed was his then taken to the cafeteria. There he saw Derek. With a quick step he slipped next to him. “So you’re here, too?” he asked in a low tone. Derek glanced at him in surprise without a word. “Yes, I’m here. But I’ll be out soon and take my advice. The first opportunity that comes your way to get out, you’d better take it. Prison is where we’re going or else and that’s not an easy place to get out of even if you can break out. It will never come off your record.”

“Why are telling me that?”

“We’re both in here, just a friendly word of warning amongst prisoners before we’re at odds again. Watch yourself. They don’t play friendly here.” With that word he slipped away so quietly and quickly it gave Derek a chill. It was no wonder he had stayed out for so long and he had no doubt he would get out, which only served to depress Derek more. He could not bring himself to eat anything so he passed.

The next morning Derek woke up from an unpleasant sleep at seven sharp. Breakfast was as bad as last night’s dinner, so he skipped it, too. Most of the prisoners sat around watching TV. Derek wasn’t interested in anything they were watching, so he sat on his bed keeping as much to himself as possible. Many of them recognized him and most left him alone, but a few found him too tempting of a bully victim to resist.

Derek lay on his bed feeling sorry for himself when the headline of a newspaper another prisoner was reading caught his eye. Without a thought, he snatched it out of the man’s hand. “Hey!” the man shouted, but his voice was not heard. Derek desperately scanned the article. It was about a Ponzi scheme. The police were looking into the matter, but it was too late for the people who had invested in it. “The greatest, cleverest ponzi scheme in history,” they said. Many businesses, celebrities, and influential people had been tricked. Derek’s heart beat in dread as he read each name. It felt like hours, even days, though it was less than seconds before he reached his name.

“Derek Walker took the greatest loss from this. Though he is in a financial scrape, if he finds his way into several movie roles this year to work on, which he no doubt will, he can pull through without losing all his possessions, though he might have to relocate to a smaller house and opt out for a cheaper car for a little while. Reporters are trying to locate him. At present no one seems to know where he or his girlfriend Emilie Lawrence is.”

“Did you hear me or are you deaf?” a towering prisoner tore the paper out of his hands.

“No,” Derek answered defiantly looking the man right in his eyes, “I didn’t. ”

“Fine!” the man threw a punch that Derek managed to duck, but he wasn’t going to be allowed to get away that easily.

Because the prisoner he was fighting was bigger, stronger, and had eaten he had the obvious advantage, but Derek still held his own. It was not until the guards were headed over that the fight ended. Unfortunately the fight ended before the guards could see it, so no one was caught. Derek sat frustrated on his bed. Now he was hungry, miserable, broke, and bruised and bleeding. He felt his lip wondering if it was swelling as badly as he felt it was. No, it wasn’t, thank goodness. What about his - ooh, yes, there was definitely a bruise there. Was the crash before or after he paid for the hotel room? What about the rental car? And the tours? If not, he would be in debt for the rest of his life! Ugh! Why did this have to happen?

“Would you turn back, if you could?” a voice asked him.

Derek turned in surprise to a smaller prisoner speaking to him. He looked so young he must have just turned eighteen, Derek supposed. “What?”

“I watched you on TV and heard some interviews about what you were going to do,” the prisoner said eagerly, “If you had the chance, would you turn back now?”

“I don’t think I’ll have it,” replied Derek uninterested in a conversation.

“But if you did, a chance to go back, would you? Would you give up all your goals and hopes?” The young man seemed pitifully desperate for an answer.

Derek rolled his eyes and groaned inwardly. Why couldn’t he be left alone? “You know, I am in a bit of a financial straight right now! Before, I wasn’t sure if I would, but now I think I would. I never believed I would say this, but I think I might owe a lot of money!”

“After coming so close?”

“So close to what?”

“To making it past your first trial, as Christians call them.”

“Yah, well, Christians get in trouble for things they don’t do, not for things they did.” answered Derek shortly.

“That’s not true, I was a Christian before I came here, but I guess I never really knew the meaning of the word,” the young man sighed, “big mistakes and mine weren’t even paved with good intentions like yours. I should have listened to what I learned as a kid, but I didn’t.”

“What are you in here for? And how old are you?” despite his best efforts, he was becoming interested in him.

“I’m eighteen, I just turned eighteen three days ago,” he replied, “they moved me out of juvie pretty quickly.”

“Hmm…”

“I joined a gang,” he confessed seeming eager to talk,  “and we killed a man. Last year, it was.” Tears filled his eyes, “I don’t think the guilt will ever go away. I don’t think it will. The guy had a sister that he was taking care of. She had nobody else, just an innocent little thing. He wasn’t a good guy, but he had a soft spot for her. If he had been better he might not have found himself in the situation, but then, if I had been better or stronger, he might not have died. I couldn’t say no before. All those little yes’s and inabilities to say no grew into YES! YES! YES! wholeheartedly which grew into the same bitterness and hate and desire for villainy as the gang. Guess it’s like it says in Proverbs.”

“You’re still a Christian?”

“More now than I was, for certain,” the young man shook his head, “but Christians do bad things, too, they are people.”

“Mhm…” Derek became uninterested again. What did he care about Christians doing bad things? Everyone did bad things. That wasn’t what bothered him, what bothered him was HIS bad thing.

“But, would you really turn back?” He seemed so insistent on this subject.

“Yes, I would, why on earth do you keep on asking?” Derek wanted to exclaim, but something stopped him. Maybe it was the earnestness of the young man that caused him to rethink his answer. Suddenly he became curious. “What would you suggest, then? Since you are not satisfied with my answer, before?”

“Well,” the young man smiled shyly almost embarrassingly, “I was actually praying a couple days ago and I felt that God was about to bring someone that I was supposed to challenge on this. I saw you and He told me you were the one.”

“Okay…” Derek shrugged. He tried to keep himself stoic, but something about that touched him. God had sent someone to challenge him on giving up? Really? Did He care that much? That was - amazing. What? What was he saying? That couldn’t really happen, could it?

“You know, if you do turn back, it won’t go back to normal,” the young man remarked.

“What are you saying?” Derek knew in his heart what he meant, but he didn’t want to have to admit it so he wanted the other to say it. He was not ready to give up on giving up yet.

“Well - “ he was about to explain.

“Walker, Derek,” a guard came in.

“Here,” Derek grumbled.

“Phone, come with me,” the guard led Derek to the phone in the hall.

“Hello, Derek Walker,” he hoped it was Emilie.

“Hello, Derek!” a familiar voice greeted him cheerfully.

“Mr. Chandler, good to hear from you,” Derek said hesitantly.

“You bet it is! We have a movie and the lead role screams your name!” the casting director and producer told him.

“I’m a bit-” Derek began.

“Yep, yep, we heard!” Chandler interrupted, “Why else would I call here? But we’re willing to take care of this. We’ll get you out and keep it hushed. It if leaks, we’ll work the media. You sign the papers and leave your reputation and freedom to us not to mention the money.”

Derek said nothing. He had no doubt Chandler could and would do exactly what he said successfully, but he also knew the movie he would be asked to play in would be PG-13 at beyond best. Still, he was stuck in jail and Chandler could get him out and take care of PR all for one movie he’d still be paid for. “If you’re thinking we’d do this dishonestly,” Chandler added, “you’re wrong. It will all be ethical!”

“Technically,” Derek corrected in a subdued tone.

“What? Oh, I see. Look, Derek, you’re an actor,” Chandler told him, “not a family man, not a PK, not even a suburb or city kid. You’ve been acting since you were a baby, I remember, I hired you and your mom for your first commercial. I’ve helped make you what you are! Naturally not knowing any other life might make you curious, especially after meeting a hot, innocent girl like Emilie who is like no one else you’ve ever met, but hear me out. You were living the dream, and Emilie, once you get to know her, she won’t be so mysterious and you’ll get tired of her, but you’ll have given up everything for her, a single woman amidst thousands. That’s not my fault, that’s not her fault, that’s your fault. It’s how you and I were born. Look what all this change has done for you. You looked for a god, you looked for good, and this is what you’ve got. There is no god except who you choose and there is no good except what you decide. I’m offering you a free way back like nothing has ever happened all costs paid. You’d be a fool not to take it.”

Derek sighed. “Well,” he said quietly, “I guess I’m a fool.”

“You’re what?” Chandler spluttered, “Are you refusing?”

“Even in this short time, I’ve become aware of three things, God, real love, and my conscience,” Derek said evenly, “and even here, I have all three, while there I had none. And even in this misery, my conscience is more at peace than it ever has been. If I go back, it will die and I’ll become a man worse than ever I was. I’d rather pay the price for my actions than that even if I also have to live with what’s not my fault on the side.”

“You - you,” Chandler stammered, “Fine!” *Click*

Well, there goes my brute force chance to freedom, Derek thought, surprised at how little remorse he felt. His chest and heart was lighter and it seemed as though a power far greater than Chandler’s promised him that everything would be alright. He had burned his last bridge, there was no longer a way back.

The young man looked at him questioningly when he came back. There was an obvious change in the look in his face. “It’s all forward, now,” he murmured half to himself and half in reply to the young man’s inquiry, “It’s over, a new season’s begun.” Then in his mind, “No looking back, not now.” The young man smiled as though at an outcome not surprising but that he had been very worried would not come to be.

“What’ your name?”

“John Collins.”

“Nice to meet you.” Derek shook his hand. He did not want to be there, but if he were, it would be nice to have another who shared the faith.

Emilie climbed out of bed and walked out into the living room where Shelly was staring at the TV with her mother. “Oh, this is horrible,” she was murmuring. Emilie sat down on the couch to listen.

“Among the celebrities affected are Elsie Stone, Martin Brett, James Tate, Gabby McLeod, “ the anchor was saying, “and Derek Walker, who took the greatest loss. We were not given numbers, but it is rumored that he might lose everything because of this. The police are looking into this and the bank is naturally doing all within it’s power to find the culprits. Unfortunately, even if they do find them it is too late for many people. We can only hold our breaths as we wait for more news.”

Emilie was stunned. She knew better than they how great that loss was for Derek. “I wonder if he knows,” she mused out loud.

“It can’t have hurt him too badly, could it?” Shelly asked.

Emilie eyes answered her. “I think I had better be going,” she said quietly, “I have some things I need to do today.”

“Do you need to call a car rental?” Shelly’s mother asked.

“No, that’s alright, I could use a ride to the station though,” Emilie shook her head, “I’ll take Derek’s car. I don’t think he’ll mind.”

“I can take you there now,” she offered. Emilie accepted the offer.

At the station, Emilie pulled out Derek’s keys that she remembered only that morning that he had given her when she saw him the day before and climbed into his car. She drove down to the Carlsbad Caverns and went into the Visitor building. “Hi,” she said wearily to the ranger at the front desk, “I’m a friend of someone affected by the ponzi scheme. I am not sure if the payment went through and I wanted to pay for him.” The ranger smiled at her encouragingly giving Emilie a little energy.

“Would that be Derek Walker?” she asked. Emilie nodded. “Yes, we have that down. Funny thing, it said it went through, but when we checked after hearing the news we saw that many actually didn’t.”

“I don’t know, but, here, I can cover it,” Emilie handed her debit card to the ranger who swiped it through the cash register.

“All covered,” she told her, “that is a very nice thing of you to do. I am sure he’ll appreciate it.”

“It’s the least I could do…”

“No, ma’am, the least you could do is nothing. It is something. Don’t underestimate it; you’ll get discouraged that way.”

“Alright, thanks,” Emilie smiled and walked out feeling just a little lighter. Next she drove to the car rental to find the same thing happened. Again she covered the costs. She went around for several hours trying to recall where Derek had spent a lot of money. She couldn’t cover everything, she knew, but she did what she could. Finally she filled up the car with gas and returned to the station during visiting hours and waited to be permitted to see Derek. She wouldn’t tell him unless he brought it up.