Chapter 13 - Derek Runs
Derek disappeared the night before his scheduled surrender.
His attorney claimed not to know where he was.
Federal agents tracked his company phone to a private airfield.
He abandoned it in a hangar.
Surveillance footage showed him boarding a chartered jet under another name.
The flight plan listed Canada.
Then changed over the Atlantic.
Derek carried two encrypted drives and several company account codes.
He was not fleeing only prosecution.
He intended to move money.
Evelyn learned about the escape during physical therapy.
Her first reaction was anger.
Her second was fear.
Derek knew where Claire Vale lived under protection.
He knew which evidence remained outside government custody.
General Hayes increased security.
Thomas told investigators Derek maintained an emergency apartment in Lisbon.
Agents contacted Portuguese authorities.
Derek was arrested two days later at a marina.
Inside his bag were passports, cash, and a photograph of Evelyn’s apartment building.
Prosecutors considered it evidence of intimidation.
Derek claimed he carried the photograph because he wanted to speak with his sister.
Evelyn did not believe him.
When he returned in custody, he requested a meeting.
She refused.
He sent a recorded statement instead.
“You always had everything.”
Evelyn watched from her attorney’s office.
“Dad loved you first. The company was supposed to be mine because I stayed. You left us and came back acting like a hero.”
Derek’s resentment had nothing to do with the mission.
The mission simply gave it a weapon.
He believed Evelyn’s courage was an accusation against his life.
Her medals made his shortcuts visible.
Her survival threatened his entitlement.
The video ended with:
“If you had kept quiet, none of this would have happened.”
Evelyn replayed that sentence.
Then she sent it to prosecutors.
Derek still believed exposure caused the crime.
Not the decisions he made.
That belief would matter at sentencing.
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Remorse required recognizing harm.
Derek recognized only consequences.
