Among the Oil Derricks: Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

Aldridge sat on the bench impatiently. Selena had told him to meet her there. Where was she? She was no longer trailing Hades, so she couldn’t have fallen into danger with him. Had she tracked down the doctor and made a rash move and gotten herself killed? Good riddance, he thought sarcastically, she was too much trouble for the whole agency anyhow. How her grandfather managed to raise her is a wonder! She ought to have been sent to boarding school to learn the meaning of order, not allowed to take care of her own education at home when she decided she didn’t like the public or private schools any longer. Her grandfather had some cheek sending her to aid the agency before she was an adult. He should have lost custody years ago.

Of course, none of this was truly what he thought. Aldridge had known Robert Morris Sr. since they had first joined the CIA and been transferred together with their pals to different more secret agencies. They had been each other’s first partners. When Selena’s mother was murdered by her father, Aldridge had helped Morris gain custody over her and her two older half-brothers before they could even be picked up by CPS. Selena was in fact a favorite in Morris’ circle and Aldridge thought of her more fondly than a niece, making him anxious to keep her safe. He had faced many dangers, told many sad stories, but he knew he would not have the courage to face Morris and tell him that his granddaughter whom he had entrusted to him was dead or missing or met some horrible fate. It did not matter that he knew he did not have to worry. No matter how many times he told himself Selena was a competent young woman, more wise, patient, and even obedient than many agents, he would be very glad for her to arrive.

Finally he spotted her jogging up. “Sorry I’m late,” she apologized breathlessly, “Everything went wrong since this morning. I’ll not tell you about it because it began with make-up and you’ll only laugh at the trouble girls go through to make themselves presentable.” He was smiling now. She feigned a frown then said, “You weren’t worried about me?”

“Of course not,” he lied obviously.

She smiled tolerantly, “Of course not. Anyhow, despite all the things that have gone wrong, something has gone wonderfully right!”

“And what is that?” he asked amused at her youthful energy and animation.

“The Carlsbad police have arrested Derek Walker,” she said.

“I never imagined you would be happy someone was arrested, I thought you liked him,” Aldridge remarked. In his mind he followed where the conversation was going so that her next words were no surprise.

“I do, he seems like a decent man, but listen,” she was very excited, “he’s the man who has been looking after Drake.”

“And…?” asked Aldridge with a knowing smile that revealed he was as thrilled as she was.

“Drake is our key to the doctor! But the boy won’t trust anybody else but Derek and Emilie,” she continued.

“Why don’t we just use Emilie to get to Drake and not go through all the issues of using a prisoner?”

“He made a very stupid mistake, but I think I can understand, and I think we can help him out,” explained Selena.

“Now wait just a second, young lady,” interrupted Aldridge, “You are suggesting a deal, aren’t you?”

“Why not?” asked Selena.

“Because the reason he was arrested is not our case, our case is the doctor Johanson and his go man, Ares,” Aldridge explained.

“Mr. Aldridge,” Selena put on her persuasive voice he knew too well. He was about to lose. “If we can convince CPS that this is for the good of both the caves, national security, AND Drake, can’t we at least try?”

“Well, that wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be,” Aldridge sighed, “It is actually something we can do. Satisfied?”

“No, compromised, but I can’t always get my way,” answered Selena contently.

“Thank goodness for that,” teased Aldridge, “How about driving me back to the hotel?”

“You said you didn’t trust my driving,” laughed the girl.

“That was last year, but you haven’t killed anyone, so I guess I’ll take my chances. Do me a favor and don’t get pulled over. It doesn’t look good for the agency,” Aldridge climbed in.

“I’ll try,” grinned Selena climbing on in the driver’s side. Despite their silly interchange, they still felt the heavy weight of the case.

“He’s dead,” Aldridge said bluntly a few minutes into the drive.

“Who?”

“Dr. Johanson, he was found in the Pecos River earlier this morning.”

“Coincidence?” Selena asked ironically. Aldridge smiled grimly. “I don’t think that changes our plans, though. We can still get at the doctor. Only this time, it will be a different doctor.”

Aldridge nodded, “It does seem like this mysterious person has been copying Dr. Johanson.” There were several moments of silence. “I wonder what that’s like.”

“What’s like?”

“It was a little girl who found the body. She had gone to the river with her family to play and she finds a mauled body of a man. I don’t know if I will ever be able to comprehend what that’s like for a child.” He looked at Selena to see if she understood. She had no emotion on her face. “I’ve seen my fair share of bodies, but I remember the first time. It was a bit shaking for both me and your grandfather.”

Selena smiled. It was hard for her to imagine her grandfather being fazed by a body. “It can be traumatizing for a kid to find a body,” she said as though from experience, “It can also be hardening.” She wondered to herself whether she should be more sensitive to this sort of thing. Selena couldn’t remember a time she hadn’t seen a dead body. He mother had been murdered by her father when she was three years old. She and her two older half-brothers on her mother’s side, Robert and William, were there when it happened. They were all taken in by Mr. Robert Morris, whom her second oldest brother was named after. Their mother had sent them often to stay with him when Selena’s father became too violent. Selena’s heart beat with indignation. She was the oldest child of a man she could never forgive. Growing up with Grandfather Morris who was an agent brought her all sorts of adventures and being surrounded by men, she was their little girl. The anger from her early childhood and the adventures from her youth made her a soft young woman with a titanium hard shell that was only getting thicker.

Derek had barely been in his cell for thirty minutes when a guard once again came in and called his name.

“Here.”

“Come with me.”

Derek slid off his bed and followed the officer. He was led to the interrogation room. It looked no different from the last time he was there and gave him just as little hope.

The young woman Derek had seen with Hades sat in the interrogator seat and an older man he had never seen before stood very close behind her. The young woman no longer had the air of a rebellious young person looking for an edgy relationship but the air of an agent of the law on a mission. The man had a stern face of a lawman. Both looked as though the situation was grave and neither looked like ordinary officers. Some sort of special investigators perhaps, supposed Derek, what do they want with me? It was rather unnerving.

“Walker, charged with harboring a runaway, correct?” the young woman asked. Derek nodded. “Drake Bryon, blonde hair, fair skin, blue eyes, age twelve - or thirteen - we don’t actually have his birth certificate. Right?” Derek nodded again. “Well, Walker, if you were going to harbor a runaway, Drake would be the one,” she told him with a pleasant, expectant smile. Derek looked perfectly perplexed. “Do you know where we can contact him?”

Derek paused then said, “He might come to Emilie if he sees her, he might come to me if he sees me. I don’t know. He won’t come to an officer if he can help it.”

“Then, Walker, this just might be your lucky day,” the man declared, “We need his help, therefore we need your help. We are willing to make a deal. If this works and CPS agrees, the charges will be dropped completely. Do we have a deal?”

“What do you want?”

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Sorry I was late posting this chapter. I've been really busy and I completely forgot, which is really funny considering how much I can hardly wait to post the next chapter that I tend to do it on Sunday.