A CALIFORNIA ROSE
Chapter Twenty-Three
Earthquake! Rose had felt numerous quakes in
her life--she had been born and raised in Southern California--but never one of
this magnitude. They seemed to be at the epicenter.
Across the parking lot, a vehicle bounced,
its weight no match for the shaking earth. It rolled over, then came to a stop
upside down. The restaurant seemed to withstand the shaking for an instant,
then caved in. A few people had managed to escape in time, but others weren’t
so lucky. Screams for help came from the rubble.
A cracking sound issued from the earth. Rose
watched in shock as a crevice opened, dividing the parking lot in two and
coming straight toward her.
Cal grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the
way. “Move!” he shouted, as the ground opened where she had been standing a
moment before. The SUV teetered on the edge of the crack, then fell in, the
windows shattering.
The ground dropped out from under them, then
flew back up. Rose and Cal fell to the ground, narrowly avoiding being crushed
beneath a falling streetlight.
Then, as abruptly as it had begun, it was
over. The earthquake had lasted just under two minutes. Nearby, a car radio
still sounded, the deejay trying to sound calm, but succeeding only in raising
more panic from listeners.
“Preliminary reports set the earthquake at
about a 9.1 on the Richter scale...”
Rose got to her feet, her hands shaking. Cal
was beside her, looking around. “My God...” he whispered, taking in the
destruction.
Half of the buildings on the street had caved
in. Others leaned at odd angles. Two buildings across the street leaned against
each other, held up only by a few solid beams.
The crevice that had nearly swallowed Rose
extended to the far side of the parking lot, ending just before it reached the
street. The sidewalk was broken, chunks of concrete lying everywhere. A water
main had burst, flooding the street. Light poles sat at odd angles, or lay on
the ground, some of the lights still glowing in the darkness.
The ground quivered again, in an aftershock.
A muffled explosion could be heard from the other side of town. Moments later,
flames began to rise into the air, spreading rapidly through the blocks of
wooden buildings to the west.
Cal looked around. Rose’s vehicle was half
crushed in the crevice--totally useless. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her
around the caved-in restaurant to his car, only to find that it had been
smashed by a fallen light pole.
Rose yanked her hand free and ran toward the
restaurant. People inside the building were still calling for help, begging
someone to get them out.
Cal went after her. “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to help those people,” she told
him, hurrying toward the rubble.
“That’s not your responsibility, Rose,” he
told her, dragging her away from the destruction.
“I’m here, I saw it, that makes it my
responsibility,” she responded, trying to break free.
“It’s too dangerous!”
“People are going to die in there!”
“They were in the wrong place at the wrong
time. No one told them to be in there at this hour.”
Rose stared at him, mouth agape, unable to
believe what she was hearing. “It was still open. People had every right to be
inside. If I had been inside, I could be dead.”
“Maybe people will be more careful where they
go after this.”
Rose stared at him, confused. “It’s an
earthquake. No one can predict when and where they will strike.” A thought
occurred to her. “Wasn’t Titan Construction responsible for building this
shopping center?”
He didn’t answer her. Prying open the driver’s
side door of his car, he pulled a few items from the glove compartment. She
watched him pull something from under the seat and slip it into his jacket
pocket, but didn’t see what it was.
“Titan Construction was responsible!” she
exclaimed, stepping back from him. “You advertise your buildings as being able
to resist a 10.0 earthquake. This one collapsed at 9.1...”
He wasn’t listening to her. Pulling out his
cell phone, he began to punch in a number.
“What are you doing?” she asked, trying to
see.
“Calling your mother, or weren’t you worried
about her? She may be able to give us a ride out of here.”
Rose half-listened to the call, her mind
elsewhere. She heard Cal reassure her mother that they were fine, and tell her
where they were. He finally turned off the cell phone.
“Your mother is fine. A few tiles fell off
the roof, a window broke, and some items fell down in your house. Otherwise,
everything is fine. She’ll be here to pick us up in a few minutes.”
Rose was relieved to hear that her mother was
well, but she had other things on her mind.
“What did the company do, Cal? Cut corners?
Bribe building inspectors? Maybe the reason you don’t want me helping is
because I might find and recognize evidence. I did work for you for a while.”
“Sometimes, Rose, a few corners have to be
cut to keep a business profitable.”
“At the cost of people’s lives?”
“There was no reason to believe that an
earthquake would occur.”
“No reason to believe--Cal! We’re in
California! The earthquake capital of the United States! Any fool could see
that an earthquake was likely to occur!”
He turned to her, his mouth twitching angrily.
She knew that she had struck a nerve. Cal had been responsible for many of the
decisions made by the company in recent years.
Something else occurred to her. Looking in
the direction of the flames, which were moving inexorably closer, she realized
that the greatest damage was in the section of town that had been built with
low-income renters in mind. Titan Construction had been responsible for that,
too.
“You couldn’t have cared less, could you? All
that matters is profits, and your big bonus. It doesn’t matter who you hurt, as
long as the company benefits!”
Cal moved toward her, his hand raised to slap
her, when he noticed Ruth’s car slowly coming down the street, avoiding debris
and broken sections. He put his hand down and gestured to her. They moved in
the direction of the street, picking their way around the crevice and piles of
rubble.
“What are you planning to do, Rose? Become a
whistle-blower?”
“Yes.”
They had nearly reached the street. Ruth
pulled over and opened the door, stepping out.
Cal spoke to Rose in a low voice. “You’ll be
ruining your career before it’s even begun.”
Rose looked at him. “You know something, Cal?
I don’t care. I care more about people than profits, something you could never
understand!”
He ignored her last comment. Ruth came toward
them.
“Thank God you two are okay! Rose, I was
worried when you didn’t come back this afternoon.”
“I know, Mom. I’m sorry.”
“Well, let’s go. The phone lines are still
working at home, so I need to try and call my clients to see what kind of
damage has been done. Hopefully I’ll be able to reach the insurance company,
too. I hope it doesn’t take too long to get those tiles fixed on the roof.” She
paused, thinking, then turned to Cal. “This quake could be good for business. A
lot of earthquake damaged homes will need rebuilding, and redecorating.”
Cal nodded in agreement. “Titan Construction
may call on you, Ruth. With so much damage, and the fire, there could be some
major contracts up for grabs.”
Rose gaped at them in shock. Buildings were
in ruin, a fire was raging, people were dying--and they saw it as a business
opportunity.
When Ruth began to speak again, Rose couldn’t
keep silent any longer.
“Oh, Mother, shut up!”
Ruth turned to her, shocked that Rose would
speak to her that way. She opened her mouth to speak, but Rose wouldn’t let her
get a word in edgewise.
“Don’t you understand? All of these shoddily
constructed buildings are in ruins. The fire is going to destroy the buildings
that haven’t collapsed. Half the people in this town are going to be left
homeless--or worse.”
Cal had been listening. “Not the better
half.”
Something in his tone made Rose look up. He
was looking in the direction of the flames, an almost pleased look on his face.
Rose suddenly remembered what else was in the path of the flames--the brick
buildings of the old section of town--and the city jail.
Rose’s suspicions about Cal’s role in Jack’s
arrest suddenly came to the forefront. She stared at him, not wanting to
believe it. No one could be that bad. Even Cal wouldn’t frame someone and leave
them to die.
But Cal’s next words confirmed her suspicions.
“You know, it’s a pity you didn’t keep that drawing. It’ll be worth a lot more
by morning.”
Rose’s mouth dropped open. “You unimaginable
bastard.”
He just looked at her patronizingly. Ruth
called to her.
“Get in the car, Rose.”
Rose stared at her, as though seeing her for
the first time. She backed away a few steps.
“Rose, get in the car.”
Rose shook her head. “Good-bye, Mother.” She
turned and walked away.
Ruth shouted after her. “Rose! Come back
here! Rose!”
Cal ran after her, grabbing her arm and whirling
her around. “What are you doing? Are you crazy? You’re going to him--to be a
whore to that gutter rat!”
Rose yanked at her arm, trying to get away.
“I’d rather be his whore than your wife! Now let go of me!”
Cal grabbed her other arm and began pulling her
in the direction of the car. “No!” he shouted, as she tried to pull away. “I
said no!”
Rose suddenly came toward him. He stepped
back, surprised. Too late, he realized the danger.
Rose’s knee slammed into his groin. He
doubled over in agony, letting go of her. Rose turned and ran, darting across
the flooded street and into the shadows, headed downtown.
Ruth still shouted after Rose. “Rose! Wait!
Come back here! Rose!”
A police officer approached her car. “Ma’am,
you’re going to have to leave. We’re evacuating this area.”
Ruth shook her head. “Wait! My daughter--”
“I’ll go after her, Ruth.” Cal walked up to
the car, moving carefully, still in pain. “You get out of here.”
Ruth paused, uncertain. “Cal...she’s probably
scared. I don’t know why she ran off, but just remember that people do strange
things when they’re frightened. Don’t be too rough on her.”
“It’ll be fine, Ruth,” Cal assured her,
looking in the direction Rose had gone. “Now, you’d better get going. We’ll
meet you later.”
“Okay. Be careful.” Ruth started the car and
drove away, heading back toward her own neighborhood.
Cal looked back in the direction of the
flames, then started walking.