by Jeff Dixon
“You were the only survivor, and you spent the next four weeks in the hospital in critical condition. The rumor at the time of the accident was that you may have been driving under the influence. Due to the catastrophic nature of the wreck, those charges were never filed. It was a horrible and tragic accident.” She paused. A small tear rolled down her cheek.
She glanced down at her notes. Once she looked away and broke eye contact with Hawk, he turned toward the window and looked out toward the Magic Kingdom. She had told the story in perfect, heartbreaking detail. He had spent years wrestling with guilt, remorse, and the knowledge that his own stupidity and reckless lack of judgment had taken those he had loved the most from him. It was his fault; he knew it, he owned it, and he couldn’t forget it. It haunted him. He knew that God had forgiven him. He knew it was an accident. But forgiving himself and moving forward, that had been and would always be the struggle.
He turned his attention back to Kate, who was allowing him time to gather his thoughts. They were not done yet. He thought about getting up and walking away, but it was too late. He never should have agreed to the Total Access project.
“Did I get the story right, Hawk?” He heard a softness to her voice he had not heard from her before.
“Does it matter?” His voice trailed off as he glanced toward the ground before looking back at her. A numbness settled over him. He had always worried about the moment when everyone would find out about his past mistakes, and he realized that very soon this interview would be seen by the entire world.
As a pastor, he had walked through crisis with people many times as they had to come to grips with mistakes of their past. He had explained that falling never hurt anyone; it was the stopping when you land that really hurts. Now it was his turn, and he was in an emotional free fall, without a parachute. The looming impact was terrifying. Kate would tell the world about the moment that changed him forever, and he was about to find out if he could move forward once people knew. As he tumbled through his thoughts, he heard her voice.
“I’m sorry.” Kate spoke softly. “I didn’t hear you. I asked did I get the story right.”
“I said—” He cleared his throat, searching for more volume. “—does it matter?”
He saw a slight hitch as she took in her next breath. His response was not what she had expected. He was not going to admit or deny the account. She knew it was what had happened. Her research was as good as it could have been. He knew she had checked the facts and verified them as accurately as she could. After all the years, he knew that eventually someone would unearth the report. It had been buried for years.
When Hawk had stepped into the public eye, a retired policeman from a small community in the panhandle had contacted him and asked if he was the same Grayson Hawkes that had almost died on the highway. Juliette had stepped in and followed up with the man and told Hawk not to worry about it. He assumed this was Kate’s source, and once she had the overview she was able to confirm much of the rest. That was why Juliette had been so careful to keep him in front of handpicked interviewers. He knew she had been terrified of his meeting Kate Young, and now he understood why. Juliette, having set up this interview out of necessity, had warned him, trying to protect him from himself—and he hadn’t been smart enough to let her.
Kate studied the man sitting across from her in the hot seat. Over the last couple of minutes, she had painted a horrific story of a tragic event that would have shattered the life of anyone it had happened to. When he’d asked whether it mattered, it caught her off guard. He had spoken so softly, she wasn’t even sure if the microphone would have picked up what he said. He had repeated it, and she had heard him correctly. It took her a moment to register what he meant.
“Of course it matters.” Another tear leaked from the corner of her eye and streaked down her cheek.
She tried to find something besides him to focus on. She hadn’t expected to say that. Glancing down at her notes again, she shifted in her chair and decided to shift the subject matter too. Normally she would work to change the topic in such a way as to completely throw off the interviewee, causing him to reveal information he had never planned on giving up. Grayson Hawkes had not given her anything. She knew she was right. She could see it in his eyes, could read the expression; she saw what the camera did not. She had hurt him. Not because she wanted to, but because it was her job. This was a secret that Hawk and the people he had surrounded himself with had hidden from the world. But Grayson Hawkes had chosen to live large in the public spotlight, and the cost of celebrity is privacy.
“I have a video clip for you to see,” she announced. She produced a small handheld camera. She wanted to see his reaction to the clip that would be edited into the segment.
“Can’t wait.” Hawk leaned up to look at the camera.
She was surprised that he bounced back and responded. Her fear was that she had not only hurt him, but that something in him had broken and he could not continue the interview. He was much stronger than she had thought. The clip began to play, and she knew it was not what he had been expecting to see. Instead of the shot of Hawk on his knees digging in a cemetery in the rain, this clip was from a few days ago.
She watched as he saw himself leaping from boat to boat in the Pirates of the Caribbean and then jumping into the water as the city burned around him. The clip ended, and she lowered the camera. Someone had used a cell phone to capture Hawk’s heroic efforts to reach the body in the water and had gotten the clip to Total Access.
“According to reports, a body was found floating in the famous Pirates of the Caribbean attraction this week.” She smiled her famous smile, but this time with less enthusiasm. Tiredly she asked, “Was there a body found in the attraction?”
“No, I promise you.” Hawk’s voice burned with intensity. “There was not a body in the Pirates of the Caribbean this week.”
“This footage was captured by a park guest in another boat. The rumor was there was a body. However, a number of people reported seeing you move into the attraction and, well, literally jump in to solve the problem. What are we seeing here?”
“One of our very expensive audio-animatronic figures ended up in the water. It looked like a body for sure.” He smiled. “But I assure you, it was not a person. Just something of our own creation.”
“So all is going well in the world of Disney for the chief creative architect?”
“All is well.” His nod was in stark contrast to the alarms still screaming in his head. The revelation of his tragic past, his being seen digging in a cemetery, and now realizing that someone had footage of the unfolding battle raging around him had his senses on fire and ready for a fight.
Kate immediately stood to her feet and turned to the table hidden in the darkness behind the light. “Are we good?” she asked into the blinding light.
“We’re good, Kate,” Punky said from the darkness.
“Cut the lights,” she ordered, as she removed her microphone from her jacket.
The sudden change in lighting left Hawk blinking. Kate stepped in front of him, snatched off his microphone, and covered it with her hand. Leaning in and placing her mouth right next to his ear, she whispered, “The questions about the accident are my job. I don’t always enjoy it, but I do the job better than anybody else. You shouldn’t have tried to hide it. But Hawk, the video I showed you is my gift to you. I could have shown you what we filmed last night, but I didn’t. You were on the ropes, and I could have destroyed you.” She paused, and he could hear her swallow. “But I didn’t, remember that.”
Kate tossed both microphones into the chair she had been sitting in and rushed toward the door. Allie moved across the room to meet her, but Kate waved her off and exited alone.
Hawk sluggishly got to his feet and placed a hand on the back of the chair as he looked toward the control table. Juliette came around the table, reached out and grabbed Punky Zane by the injured arm. He winced, and she released her grip.
“Was it
necessary? You could have frontloaded where she was going.” Juliette hurried toward Hawk. “You alright, boss?”
“Sure, how’d I do?” He forced a smile, knowing that there was no way they could derail the Total Access train that had left the station.
“I’m sorry, we never should have said yes to their request.” She wrinkled her nose slightly and smiled apologetically.
“Nope, it’s not your fault. You tried to warn me. It happened, and hearing Kate’s questions reminded me that when you’re reckless, people you love get hurt. I’m the one who’s sorry. I did this.”
The two friends stood and looked out the window toward the Magic Kingdom. After a few moments of silence, Hawk noticed Juliette had turned and was waiting for him to look back at her. He shifted his stance to face her, and she tilted her head and raised her eyebrows.
“Well.” She held her palms up. “We always knew this day would come.”
“We did.” His stomach felt heavy, as he squeezed her hands and then let them go. “So what happens now?”
She paused thoughtfully, placing her hands on her hips. “I suppose I need to start preparing a strategy to deal with this new information that the popular and charismatic CCA of the world-renowned leader in family entertainment has a past . . . and in that past, had a tragic accident and lost his entire family.”
“That is just the start of it.” Hawk felt sick. “I didn’t just lose my family. The way the story is about to be told, I’m responsible for their deaths. And we tried to hide the story.”
“It was an accident.” Juliette looked at him seriously. “People will understand why this is a part of your life that you never have made public.”
“You really believe that?”
“Believe what?”
“That people will understand?” Hawk allowed a smile to crack his solemn face.
“No.” She laughed sadly. “The press will eat this story up, and there will be reporters and critics coming out of the woodwork to paint you as some kind of monster.” She raised her index finger between them. “But I will figure out a way to protect you.”
“I know.” Hawk nodded. “While Kate was finishing up her dissection of my life, something else dawned on me.”
“What?”
“I realized it when she showed me the clip of me in Pirates of the Caribbean. If the people who are trying to steal the key and organization from me knew about the accident, they would have used it to blackmail me into giving up the key.” He watched as Juliette’s mouth opened slightly as she understood where he was going with this line of thinking. “The truth is, my enemies don’t know about the wreck. So who is the most dangerous person or persons in my world right now? These enemies who want the key or Kate Young? Because she knows something that they don’t know.”
Juliette furrowed her brow. “And I wonder where Kate got the footage of you jumping around on those boats in Pirates.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
* * *
GUESTS ENTERING THE MAGIC KINGDOM emerge from the tunnel under the Walt Disney World Railroad and step into turn-of-the-century America on Main Street USA. They first enter the Town Square, complete with a City Hall and Fire Station. The lettering on the station reads Engine Co. 71, the number commemorating the year the Magic Kingdom opened. The Fire Station is located right across the alley from the Harmony Barber Shop. This is a real working barbershop with old-style barber chairs where haircuts and beard trims are offered. Standing on the corner in front of the barbershop, a person can look back across the street at the station and notice a long set of steps that run up the side of the building to a door on the second floor. Each day, people stand in front of the barbershop, not just to wait for haircuts, but also to catch a glimpse of Grayson Hawkes as he enters or leaves his apartment.
Shortly after he had converted this space into living quarters, the rumors began to circulate that, just like Walt had done in Disneyland, a new resident lived above the Fire Station in the Magic Kingdom. Once Hawk had descended the fire pole into what used to be a gift shop, guests began to wait for a chance to greet or get an autograph from the chief creative architect of the company. This day, there was a small group of people calling out to Hawk as he came around the building to head upstairs. He stopped and chatted with the guests that were there waiting. After a few minutes, he turned and raced up the steps to his home.
He had invited Juliette, Shep, Jonathan, and Farren to meet him so he could show them what he had found the night before in the cemetery. Now, after spending some time with the guests along the street, he was late. They would probably all be there waiting for him.
He stepped into his apartment, and his friends turned to greet him. Their faces showed concern, and he knew that Juliette had told them about the emotional interview with Total Access. He had decided to make the best of the bad situation and move forward. He was about to speak, when his focus shifted from them to his place of residence.
Stunned, he slowly stepped toward the center of the room and turned his head to take it all in. It appeared as if a bomb had exploded in the apartment. Papers and books littered the floor. Every piece of furniture had been turned over. The bottom of his couch, each cushion, the chairs, and each pillow had been slit open, and much of the stuffing strewn across the floor. Lamps lay on their sides, and shards of glass littered the small living space.
Moving toward his bedroom, he saw more of the same damage. Pillows, mattress, and bed linens were slashed. Clothes were tossed about; drawers from the dresser had been removed, emptied, and thrown across the bed. It looked as if nothing was left untouched. His stomach was churning as he silently walked back into the living room, where his friends were waiting.
“It looks like I’m probably going to have to stay in a hotel tonight.” He masked his rising frustration with a grin. “Anyplace around here I can find one?”
“Boss, I am so sorry,” Shep said, as Hawk continued to take in the damage. “I got here just before everyone else, and the door was ajar, so I just pushed it and found . . . well, this.”
“I’m sorry, Hawk.” Juliette’s eyes rimmed with tears. “This has been a horrible day for you.”
“Yeah, Juliette told us about Kate Young.” Jonathan came over and grabbed his friend by the arm and gave it a squeeze. “You hanging in there?”
“I’m fine, it’s not that bad.” Hawk did a double-take at Jonathan’s face and pointed his finger at it.
Jonathan cocked his head. “What?”
“Your eye, it’s all puffy.” Again Hawk pointed toward it. “This is nothing to cry over. Interviews and messy apartments are a part of life . . . now.”
“I’m sad, but I’m not crying.” Jonathan reached up and touched his eye. “Allergies, I guess. Woke up this morning and barely could see.”
Juliette straightened up a chair. “Well, if you’re allergic to things, then with all the junk that’s been stirred up in here, you’ll be having fits.”
“What were they looking for, Hawk?” Farren asked, as he moved over and took a seat in the chair Juliette had picked up.
“I’m going to assume they want the special-delivery package Aunt Jessie left for me.”
“They didn’t get it, did they?” Shep ran his fingers through his hair.
“No, of course not.” Farren pointed toward Hawk. “You’re much wiser than that, aren’t you?”
They all turned toward Hawk in anticipation. He shrugged and then widened his eyes and cut them back and forth as if checking to see if anyone was watching. Reaching behind him, he lifted up his shirt and removed the discovery from the night before, which he was toting in his back jeans pocket. Pulling it around and holding it in front of himself, he smiled.
“Yes, I am wiser than that.”
He gestured for them all to grab chairs, and they slid back what remained of Hawk’s belongings with their feet, making space. Seating themselves in a circle, they passed around the package Hawk had been hiding like they were playing a children’s gam
e. As the cylinder went from person to person, each studying it, the anticipation in the room crackled.
“So someone trashed your apartment looking for this.” Jonathan passed the cylinder to Farren.
“It looks like it,” Hawk said. “Good thing this isn’t my first mystery.”
“A very good thing.” Farren weighed the discovery in his hands. “Are you ready to open it?”
“Why don’t you?” Hawk offered.
“No, that is not my role. I helped design one small piece of this secret. It is your quest, your challenge, and your responsibility now . . . to figure it out, to do what needs to be done. What was it George said to you? ‘Unlock what never was, to protect what is yet to be.’ That was it, wasn’t it?” Farren offered the discovery back to Hawk.
Footsteps in the open doorway jolted their attention away from the conversation. Stepping inside was Kate Young, followed by Punky Zane holding a mini-cam and shooting footage. As soon as they entered the room, their faces slackened in shock. Punky immediately panned the camera across the entire wreckage of the apartment. Kate swung her head, and Hawk saw her begin to take inventory of what she was seeing and create her conclusions. He had been robbed, and she stopped looking at the mess and turned to face Hawk, as Jonathan and Shep jumped up and started moving toward them.
“Turn the camera off and get it out of here,” Jonathan said, as he headed toward Punky. “Now!”
“You have a lot of nerve coming here uninvited.” Shep zeroed in on Kate. “You need to leave.”
Punky did not stop filming fast enough for Jonathan, who snatched the camera from Punky and shoved him backward. Holding the camera in one hand, Jonathan gestured toward the door. Punky looked back at Kate, who was standing her ground as Shep approached. As Shep stepped up and stood nose-to-nose with her, all motion suddenly stopped. Shep probably wasn’t going to push her, and Hawk guessed she would back toward the door.
