Derek is an employee at Calson Marine in Newport News, Virginia, where he works cleaning grinding machines. He has three sons, Lucas, Ryan and Danny. He is looking forward to working at his company's new facility In Portsmouth, because it is closer to his house, and he'll get to see his kids more often. Under duress, Derek helps Elizabeth and a disguised Philip obtain the plans for a US military propeller.
He fears Elizabeth will kill him once she has what she wants, but instead she keeps a photo of his youngest son, as a threat, and lets him live. When the plans stolen by the Jennings are used back in the USSR to attach a propeller to a Soviet submarine, it malfunctions and all aboard are killed.