"Makes sense to me. I think so much of both of you I can't imagine there'll be a problem, but I get what you're saying. Now, don't get upset with me, but she'll be here before long. Her friend is going to drop her off here, and I told her I'd get her back home tonight. Sorry."
"No, don't worry about it. Maybe it's better. This way I won't have time to rethink my idea and chicken out." He took a few moments to think about the situation. "If she calls the police, will you come visit me in jail?"
"They wouldn't really arrest you for spanking her, would they?"
Derek shrugged and said, "It would depend on who the officer was and what Kelli said."
"I don't think that will happen. Thanks, Derek. I owe you."
"I haven't agreed to do it yet. Let me talk to her tonight, and we'll see how it goes."
"Agreed. Hey, a friend of mine who lives in an apartment two floors down asked if I could help him move some furniture this evening. It should only take a minute. If I run down there quick, can you let Kelli in if she gets here before I'm back?"
"Sure, go ahead."
Phil left, and Derek sat down to ponder what he'd just agreed to do. He pulled out his phone and made a few calls, then sat back to think it through, and decided to play it by ear. If that's what would help his best friend's sister, that's what he would do. As he came to that conclusion, he heard a commotion outside the apartment in the hall and went to see what was happening. He opened the door and saw two men and a lady, all yelling at each other at once.
Heading toward them he said, "Hey, hold it, all of you. What's going on here?"
One of the men offered, "This bitch stole my wallet."
Derek turned toward the young lady. "Is that true?"
"No, it's not. I told the asshole I didn't take it. His buddy ripped him off while we were in the elevator, but he won't listen to me."
Derek looked at the second man. "Is that true?"
"Hell, no. The bitch has it." They all started arguing again.
"Okay, everyone calm down. I think we should call the police and let them sort it out," Derek advised.
"Why the hell don't you mind your own damn business?" The young lady was glaring at him.
"Watch your language," he told her. She glared harder.
The friend of the apparent victim said, "See? That pretty much proves she took it. She's the one who doesn't want you to call the cops. Rick, you wait here and make sure she doesn't go anywhere. I'll go in your apartment and call the cops."
Something wasn't making sense to Derek, and he studied all of them a moment while he said, "No, wait. Don't go anywhere yet."
All three of them looked at him, and the victim asked, "Why?"
Derek said, "Tell me what happened. I want to hear your version, what you know."
"All I know is I had my wallet when I got on the elevator, and when I got up here, my wallet's gone. There were only the three of us on the elevator. Bill's a friend, so that leaves her."
"Okay, that makes sense." He turned to the young lady and asked, "What do you have to say about it?"
"I didn't take his damn wallet. I watched this prick lift it from his back pocket."
The apparent victim turned to look at Bill, and said, "What?"
Bill told him, "Rick, come on, you know me. She's just trying to pawn it off on someone else. Stay here and don't let her go, while I go call the cops." He turned again to leave, when Derek reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him.
Bill spun around, and Derek ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding Bill's fist. He quickly had Bill turned around and up against the wall, his arm behind him. When he had him subdued, he reached into his back pocket and took out a pair of handcuffs, which he placed on Bill. Turning him back around to face him he said, "Now, I'll call the cops."
He took out his cell phone and did just that, as Bill tried to convince Rick that Derek was nuts, and tried to get him to help him get loose.
The lady started backing away as Derek ended his call, and he told her, "Huh-uh, young lady. You're not going anywhere yet, either. Get back over here." She looked at Derek, then glanced at the stairwell. "Don't even think about it. Get back over here, now."
He saw her look over toward the stairs again and gave her a warning. "If you try it, you'll wish you hadn't. Now get back over here." He barely got the words out of his mouth before she took off running. Instead of the stairs, though, she sprinted down the hall. He immediately pursued her. He was impressed with her speed, but she was short enough that her stride wasn't nearly as long as his, and he was able to catch up with her just before they reached the staircase at the other end of the hall.
He picked her up and casually slung her over his shoulder and headed back to Rick and Bill. Rick was watching, his mouth wide open, while Bill was trying to get the door to the stairs open. Luckily he wasn't having much luck, with his hands cuffed behind him. Derek pulled him back into the hall. He set the lady, who had been pounding on his back the whole time, down in front of him. "What's your name?" he asked her, frowning.
"Who the hell are you; some kind of cop?"
"No, I'm not a cop. What's your name?" She glared at him again, but did not answer. Derek ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Looking at her, watching her reaction, he said, "I'm a probation officer, Kelli." When her head snapped up to look at him, he knew he'd guessed correctly.
The elevator door opened and a police officer stepped out, looking at the four of them. Noticing the man in handcuffs, he asked, "What's going on?"
Derek said, "Apparently this gentleman, Rick, had a wallet lifted while in the elevator with the man in handcuffs, Bill, who is supposedly Rick's friend, and this lady, Kelli. Everyone's blaming everyone else, but my guess is you'll find the wallet somewhere on Bill."
The officer nodded and asked Derek, "And you are?"
Holding out his hand, he said, "Derek Anderson, probation officer."
"Thank you, Derek. Do you live in one of these apartments?"
"No, but I'm here visiting my friend. We can use his apartment."
He led them all into Phil's place, where Bill immediately started denying Derek's accusation. "It's ridiculous to think I'd steal a wallet from my friend. I insist you arrest this man for manhandling me for no reason."
"Officer, he did take a swing at me when I told him to stay where he was until an officer could get here, which is why he's in cuffs. Also, Kelli claims to have seen him lift his friend's wallet."
The officer asked, "Is that true, Kelli?"
Now that Kelli knew who Derek was, she had been studying him. If they would have met under different circumstances he would definitely have been someone she would have loved to get to know. He was exactly what she would consider the perfect man; tall, she was guessing over six feet, maybe six two, and muscular. His shoulders were so wide she found herself wondering if she'd be able to get her arms around them. They tapered to a narrow waist, followed by muscular thighs. She knew his black hair would be wonderful to run her fingers through.
When the object of her wandering mind cleared his throat, it brought her back to the present and she quickly thought back to what the officer had asked her. She looked at Derek and saw a stern look on a very handsome face. A subdued Kelli answered the officer. "Yes, sir." When she glanced over at Derek again, he was now smiling.
"Okay, tell me where you were in the elevator in comparison to him, and exactly what you saw." Bill started to interrupt, but the officer said, "I'll hear your side in a moment. Right now I want to hear what she has to say."
Kelli smirked a bit before beginning her explanation. "I was standing on the left side of Bill, who was just slightly behind Rick. I had a book in my hand and I think he thought I was looking at it and didn't see when he used his right hand to slowly ease Bill's wallet out of his back pocket. It wasn't in there very good. About a third of it was above the outside of the pocket, so it was easy for Bill to slide it right out. He casually stuck it in his right
coat pocket."
The officer turned to Bill next. "Will you give me permission to look in your right coat pocket?"
"Unless you have a search warrant, absolutely not," Bill insisted.
"You did take it," Rick exclaimed. "What the hell?"
"I did not take it," Bill insisted. "I just don't trust cops. If I give him permission to search my pocket, how do I know he's not going to plant some drugs in there?"
The officer looked at them all, and had an idea. "Derek, did you say this gentleman took a swing at you?"
"Yes, Officer, he did."
"Would you like to press charges against him?"
Derek paused a moment, and when he caught the officer's eyes he was pretty sure he was following his line of thought. "Yes, Officer, I think I would like to."
The officer nodded, and Derek was pretty sure he saw a slight smile. "Okay. Bill, this probation officer wishes to press charges, so I need you to stand up." When he did, growling and complaining the entire time, the officer turned him around and pressed him against the wall. "Before I transport you to the station, I need to pat you down."
"What? You can't do that," Bill insisted, trying to turn around. "You don't have a warrant."
"It's police policy to check everyone before we put them in a cruiser to be transported." The officer pushed him more firmly against the wall and held him there with his body and one hand, while he patted Bill's right coat pocket. He pulled out a wallet, and asked Rick, "Look familiar?"
Rick took the wallet. "It sure does, Officer. Thank you." He opened it and showed the officer his driver's license.
The officer nodded again. "Bill, you're under arrest now for lifting his wallet, also." He read him his Miranda rights, and asked Derek, "Do you want to help me exchange your cuffs for mine?"
"Sure." In minutes Derek had his cuffs back, which he replaced in his back pocket, and the officer had Bill in his cuffs.
Another officer arrived for backup. The two officers talked a minute, and one left with Bill, while the other stayed and took statements from Rick, Kelli and Derek.
The officer was leaving, when Phil got back. "What's going on? Is everyone okay?"
Derek assured him, "Everyone's fine, Phil. Come on in and we'll fill you in on everything."
Phil went to Kelli and pulled her into his arms and felt her trembling. "Kelli, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, big brother, just a little shook up."
He looked at her with narrowed eyes. "You didn't do anything stupid, did you?"
Kelli looked at Derek, then down at the floor. Derek put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Relax, Phil. The police weren't here because of Kelli."
They sat down and told Phil about all the excitement he missed.
"Well, I'm glad everyone's okay," Phil said after hearing the story. "So, I take it you two have met then?" He noticed the look that went between the two of them, and wondered what that was all about. "Did you have a chance to talk any yet?"
After a long moment of silence Derek said, "Phil, I'm sorry, I know this isn't how any of us wanted this meeting to start, but Kelli and I need a little time alone. I made her a promise when we met, and right now it's important that she learns I'm a man of my word. Then we can have a productive talk. Could we have a little privacy, please?"
Phil looked at Derek, who looked very determined, then at Kelli, who looked very nervous, and he had a pretty good idea what was about to happen, although he doubted Kelli did. He respected their need for privacy, but also wanted to be close by in case he needed to reassure Kelli, or calm her down. "Sure. Why don't you guys go to the extra bedroom; would that work?"
"That would be fine. Thanks, Phil." Turning to Kelli, Derek held his hand out for her and said, "Come on, Kelli. We need to talk privately for a bit." She hesitated, shaking her head slowly, until Derek added, "Unless you'd rather discuss everything out here?"
Kelli looked at Derek and could tell he was serious, and after looking at Phil, she looked back to Derek and said, "Okay." She took his hand and let him lead her to the bedroom.
Phil watched them, wondering what had happened while he was gone, and hoping everything worked out.
Chapter Two
Derek opened the door to the bedroom and gently nudged Kelli through. She sat down on the bed, and he pulled a chair from the desk and sat down across from her, saying, "Kelli, we need to talk about what happened earlier."
"I didn't do anything wrong," she told him meekly. "Bill stole the wallet, not me."
"I know that, and I'm glad. What I'd like to talk about is your behavior and language."
Derek watched her tense, and in an angry tone she asked, "You aren't going to let them transfer my probation, are you?"
"Do you want me to?"
She didn't answer, didn't even flinch, and Derek said, "Kelli, look at me." When she still didn't move, he used one finger to pull her chin up, but she still didn't meet his eyes. He said, "I haven't said I won't help you, but listen to me. Your brother and I are good friends. I'd like to help him, and help you, but if you won't listen to me enough to even look at me when I ask you to, I'm not sure I can help you."
She looked at him and very quietly said, "Sorry." Derek noticed the tears in her eyes.
"Thank you. Why wouldn't you look at me sooner?"
"Because I figured you were going to tell me you wouldn't take my case, and I didn't want to hear it."
"Why did you think I wouldn't take your case?"
"Because you want to talk about what I did."
"And what did you do that you thought would keep me from helping you?" She looked back down at the floor again, until Derek said, "Kelli, look at me." He was happy to see her look back at him quickly. "I'll ask you again, "What did you do that you thought would keep me from helping you?"
He watched her fidget, obviously uncomfortable, and look back down at the floor, but she finally answered, "You told me not to run, but I did." She looked back at him and added, "And I cussed after you said not to."
Derek reached over and took one of her hands in his and said, "Thank you, Kelli. That helped me make my decision."
She looked at him anxiously. "Does that mean you'll help me?"
"That's going to be up to you, but I'm willing to help you. If you'll recall, I told you if you ran from me you'd regret it." She nodded, and he went on. "One thing you'll learn about me, Kelli, is that I am a man of my word. If I tell you something is going to happen, it will happen. If I tell you I'll lessen your restrictions after so long with no problems, I will indeed do that. If I tell you I'll buy you a cup of coffee if you get an A on a college test, if you show me an A, we'll go to Starbucks."
She smiled a little, and he continued, "However, I keep my word on everything. In this case, I told you if you ran you'd regret it, and you're right, you ran. There are consequences for that poor choice, and you will regret it, but you will be receiving those consequences. Afterward, though, we'll have a clean slate between us again, and we can start over. Then we can talk about getting your case transferred here, if you still want to."
He could easily read the uneasiness in her eyes as she asked, "What sort of consequences?"
He quickly reached over and grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her over to him and over his lap in one smooth motion. He landed several good smacks on her bottom before she had a chance to realize what was happening. When she found her voice she yelled, "No, don't you dare. Stop! Ow! That hurts!"
Derek told her, "Kelli, I know this hurts, it's meant to hurt. It's a spanking, and it's designed to let you know certain behavior is not acceptable, and to encourage you to make better choices in the future." He kept spanking her as he talked, not too hard, but as he continued his lecture he gradually increased the force he put behind each swat.
Kelli was desperately trying to get away from Derek, but his arm around her waist was just too strong. "Derek, no. This hurts too much. You have to stop. I can't take any more."
"Kelli, settle down. We're n
owhere near done yet. Let me assure you, however, that you can indeed take more. I will cause some pain on your bottom, most definitely, but I will never cause you any real harm. I will decide when it stops, not you, and I will stop when I feel you've learned your lesson. Right now we're dealing with the fact that you tried to run off when I told you not to, and that's what I want you to be thinking about."
He ignored her constant protests, and kept spanking. Before long she turned to pleading. "Please stop. I'll listen to whatever you say from now on. Please stop." He hoped that meant she was planning on working with him.
He continued a little longer, until she started to cry, and said, "I'm sorry. Derek, I'm sorry." That's what he was waiting for. He quit spanking and let her lay over his knees, catching her breath, while he gently rubbed her back.
When she had calmed somewhat, he gently pulled her up to sit in his lap. She immediately jumped up and ran for the door. He quickly caught her arm and pulled her back down on his lap again. "Oh, no, you don't, young lady. You are not running away without talking to me." He wrapped his arms around her, both to try to comfort her, and to protect himself from her flailing arms, and while he rubbed her back gently with one hand, he talked to her softly. "Kelli, it's all right now, it's all over. Let me hold you while you calm down. I care too much for you to allow you to just run off. I forgive you now, and we have a clean slate. There's nothing between us to prevent us from becoming friends, and I want you to know you can count on me to be here for you whenever you need someone. Like right now. I know you're in pain right now, and I want to hold you and comfort you until you feel better."
"Why would you want to do that? You're the bastard who caused the pain."
An immediate sharp swat on her sore backside stilled her. "Language," was all he said.
She looked at him and screamed, "Just let me alone."
"No, I will not, Kelli. I will not desert you now, or any other time you need comforting, or support of any kind. You'll feel a lot better if you just relax right now and allow yourself to calm down. I know you're upset, but if you'll allow yourself to calm a bit, you'll realize that awful pain you were feeling is already easing up some."
On Probation Page 2
