MAKING LUCK
Prologue
December 1, 1929
Whitehall, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Caledon Hockley sat in his
grandiose study, staring hard at the note before him. He had composed it
without making a single mistake; he had thought this over in his mind for quite
some time. There had always been that lurking guilt in his mind, the voice whispering
that everything was his fault. It was the truth, too. He was about as
despicable as Henry VIII.
Perhaps Cal truly was cursed as
they said. His father had left not a penny to him when he died; his mother
defended him when he and everyone else knew that he was in the wrong; his
brother and sister and sister-in-law detested him and avoided him whenever
possible; he had two ex-wives who had wasted no time in forgetting him; his
third wife was much too young to be married and was already contemplating divorce;
he had seven children who feared him and even resented him; he was the ruin of
a woman who had respected him over her own daughter; and he was the reason two
people had died. No, more than two; God knew how many people he had kicked out
of that lifeboat.
But that wasn’t what hurt him the
most. What killed him was the knowledge that his stupid arrogance and
selfishness had lost him the one thing he ever really wanted--Rose. He had
cared about her, he really had. He had the world at his fingertips and he could
have given her anything. Naturally, he was insulted when she became so enamored
of that Dawson fellow. Dawson wasn’t half-bad, he supposed; his philosophy on
life was contemplative. But Cal had only seen red. And why shouldn’t he? Who
was this little snot who thought he had the right to Cal’s princess?
Out of all of the women Cal had
alienated, Rose was the one that left him with the deepest feeling of remorse.
Perhaps it was because she was the only one who had died. Whatever the case, it
was one of the few things Cal could never quite absolve himself of. And now, as
he held the handgun, all he could see was her accusing face, glaring at him for
all he had done. He raised the gun and cocked it in his mouth.
"I’m so sorry, Rose,"
he groaned.
Bang!