THE HEART GOES ON
Chapter Fourteen

Mid-October, 1912
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Lake Wissota
Cal

It pained my heart and made my head spin as I crouched low behind the blackberry bush, watching him, the gutter rat, as large as life, the blond hair catching the sun, his laugh echoing around the lake. She was lying next to him, dressed like a peasant wench. She was laughing, too, their happy laughter carrying on the wind. They were kissing.

She was never like this with me, cold and formal. If I kissed her, she’d turn her cheek and wince, all ice princess. What did he have that I didn’t? He could not offer anything to her. I could give her the world.

"Open your heart to me, Rose," I had whispered when I gave her the Heart of the Ocean. She had looked at me with clear, cold eyes, pretending she hadn’t heard me.

Bonner, kneeling next to me, nudged me. Tears filled my eyes. I could not take my eyes off the horrendous image of Rose kissing Jack passionately, blond hair and red combined.

Oh, what a journey to find them. The private detective had traced them to Santa Monica, and lots of bribes and coercion later, the stationmaster had revealed their whereabouts, as they had left by train.

Arriving in the hick, hillbilly town by car, money had soon loosened the tongue of the innkeeper, who was quick to let me know how the young Dawsons had arrived home. Mr. Dawson and his girl were living in ramshackle farmhouse with the elderly aunty and uncle. Eagle-eyed Bonner had been told by a neighbor where they had gone with a picnic hamper.

So, here we were. Bonner nudged me again in the ribs. I looked at him. He was no Lovejoy. He was one valet in a thousand, but Bonner was astute and loyal. As I shifted my body, my foot snapped a twig. It sounded like a gunshot. I held my breath and cursed inwardly.

Rose, nearby, gave a small gasp and clung to Jack. He spun around and jumped to his feet, panic on his steerage rat face.

"Who’s there?" he shouted.

Bonner tapped his pocket to indicate to me he had his gun. I nodded, reaching into my pocket for mine, the gun I had procured on the Carpathia from a steward. It had enabled me to lure Rose from the dockside and now it would help me secure her again. A smile played on my lips.

She would be mine again. I would get rid of the gutter snipe once and for all, and the Hockley fortune would be rightfully mine.

Rose

I crouched behind Jack. He was shouting for whoever it was to come out.

I knew. He was like a poison drip feeding into my life. He was so close I could almost smell him. The hairs on my neck stood up in terror. I held myself tightly crouched down in a tiny ball.

"Come out! We know you’re there!" Jack shouted, whirling about and looking desperately.

I heard rustling behind us, and Jack and I turned to the sound of the noise.

"Hello, Sweetpea," droned a familiar voice, turning my blood cold. I felt the color drain from my face.

Cal was standing there, dressed in a black suit. He had a gun trained on us. Bonner was next to him, his gun aimed at Jack’s head.

Jack gulped and pushed me behind him.

"Cal," he said quietly. "What do you want?"

Jack

The gun barrel was trained on me. Cal walked towards me, his dark eyes narrowed and cold. They glittered with an unexplainable intensity. Rose was shivering behind me.

"Hello, gutter rat," he mocked. "I have come for what is mine."

"No!" Rose cried, and stumbled to her feet. "I will never go with you!" she screamed at him. She clutched my arm tightly.

Cal’s eyes drank her in. He gazed at her with hungry eyes. Then his expression contorted. "You’re pregnant!" he yelled with the anguish of a wounded animal.

Cal

"Rose!" I cried. My body was in shock. She was pregnant. Her belly was distended, heavy with child. Anger chilled my blood.

"How could you?" I cried hysterically. "How could you, my wife, do it with him, have a brat by him?"

Bonner glanced sideways at me and took charge.

"You, boy!" he barked at Jack. "Over here." Jack grabbed Rose tighter.

"Get off her!" I yelled. Bonner went forward and gestured to Jack to stand to one side. Jack was whispering to Rose that it would be all right.

He stepped to one side and I walked up to him slowly. There was fear in those blue eyes, but defiance, too.

"You little shit! I will make you pay. I always win. I told you that on the ship. You should have drowned, you piece of trash!" I slammed my fist into his stomach hard. He fell awkwardly.

"Jack! Please, Cal, don’t!" Rose was screaming. Bonner walked over the prone Jack, pulled him to his feet, and frog marched him off with the gun pointed at his back.

"Rose, stay strong!" Jack shouted.

"Jack! Jack!" Rose was wailing. I walked over to her.

Tears ran down her face. She trembled, and recoiled as I reached her.

"Rose. My sweet Rose," I said softly, and touched her much-loved face.

Images played in my head. Rose and I in Paris on her sixteenth birthday, me asking her to marry me. Her smiles and acceptance, the only time she had kissed me with passion. It was so good at the start. We visited museums, went to parties, danced, laughed, and joked. When had the rot set in? By the time the Titanic sailed, she was freezing me out. The more I tried to love her, the more cold she was.

I waved the gun in her face.

The green eyes filled with tears. Her body was horribly distorted by the baby. Her clothes looked like shit. Her rich hair was in a milkmaid’s simple ponytail. She looked like trash.

"You look a fright. What have you done to yourself?" I asked belligerently.

"You can’t do this, Cal," she wept. "I am married to Jack. This is his baby. You can’t do this. Please, just leave," she pleaded, her voice trembling.

I went right up to her, grabbed an arm, and hissed in her face.

"I can do what I want. We are leaving together. We’ll get the brat adopted. Then you’ll be my wife. Do you understand?"

Tears fell faster down her face.

"I am Jack’s wife, Cal. I will never come with you," she spat out.

"What does he have that I don’t?" I spat back.

"Love! Love! I love him!" she retorted. "I never loved you."

The words hurt. Oh, it hurt.

"You forget yourself, my dear," I said sarcastically, anger blurring my vision. "I am a Hockley. If you don’t behave and do as you’re told, the gutter rat dies."

"Jack!" she screamed with a voice full of anguish.

Nearby, Bonner had Jack kneeling with his hands on the back of his head. Bonner had the pistol at the back of his neck.

"One word, and Bonner will blow him away," I crowed. "Execute him like a dog! Now, will you come with me, Rose?" I barked at her, and laughed.

Defeat crept into her eyes. "You leave me no choice," she said quietly. "Don’t hurt Jack, please."

Our eyes met. "He’s dead either way," I said coldly. She started to yell inhumanly. I slapped her face hard and she stopped, mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"Cal, please don’t hurt Rose and the baby," Jack called faintly.

I could not believe the gutter rat was still trying to protect her after I had them caught like a rabbit in a snare.

Bonner smashed him in the back of the head with the gun, and Jack collapsed, unconscious.

"Please, Cal," Rose whimpered, snot running down her face. "Please. Please." Her words faded. She was whipped, broken. Mine now, right where I wanted her. And I knew it!

"Right, bitch. Where is the necklace you took? I will have that back, too!" I demanded.

Gerard

Coming back from my walk, I heard raised voices, shouts, and screams. I ducked back into the undergrowth and made my way to the sounds on hands and knees.

I heard a familiar voice demanding that Rose come back with him. Caledon!

Oh, my God. He had found them. I did not know how, but he had.

I reached behind me and felt a large, heavy stick. I picked it up, and with my heart thumping in my chest, I crept up towards the valet, who had his back to me, who had Jack before him, lying still.

Was I too late? Was Jack dead?

Rose’s anguished sobs tore my heart. Cal was caressing her cheek with his hand. She looked terrified. He was waving a gun about like a lunatic.

My brother was mad. Did he think he could take anything he wanted at any cost? What had my father done to warp him to be this twisted psycho?

I surveyed the scene. Both Cal and the valet had their backs to me. I had to act.

Jack groaned and came around; the valet grabbed by the collar and hauled him onto his knees, execution style.

Adrenaline pumped through me. I raised the stick higher and charged full tilt at the valet, yelling like a marauding warrior.

Jack

I could feel the metallic coldness of the gun on my neck. Bonner was sniggering. Fear made me numb. I was cornered. My head thumped with pain.

Rose was sobbing hard. Cal was murmuring gibberish to her, touching her face, and she was stood unmoving.

I did not want to die. Not like this. I had almost died once after the ship sank. I was not ready to die. I could not lose Rose twice.

"Jack!" I heard her cry. "Jack!" in a cracked moan.

The next sound that filled my ears came from behind me, an animalistic war cry, quick running movements, and a sickening thud.

Bonner, behind me, fell down behind heavily, his blood splattering me.

"Jack? Jack, are you all right?"

It was Gerard. He had felled Bonner with a crack across the head. He stood panting, holding the heavy stick.

Cal

I heard Bonner fall down. I whirled around, the gun poised. Jack was scrambling to his feet. Bonner was on the ground, bleeding from his head. Gerard, my brother, stood there, wielding a heavy bit of wood, anger flashing in his normally bland eyes.

"Caledon, put the gun down!" he commanded. I sneered at him.

"No!" I cried. He would not win. "You can’t have the fortune, Gerard! You can’t! Father will reinstate it to me once I marry Rose."

I pulled Rose close to me. She whimpered and tried to pull back, but I held her firmly.

"Cal!" Jack shouted. "She’s legally married to me. You can’t undo that! Let her go! She’s no use to you now!"

I eyed him. He stepped forward.

"Get back!" I demanded. "Rose is coming with me." I pointed the gun at him.

Jack

Cal’s face was sneering and cruel. He started to walk off, dragging Rose at gunpoint. Gerard and I looked at each other helplessly.

Rose was crying pitifully. This was not good for the baby.

I made a decision.

It could lead to me being shot.

"Cal!" I called. He stopped and looked at me. "I’ll trade you!"

"What?" he asked, confusion replacing his gloating expression.

"The necklace. I have the Heart of the Ocean," I said. I slowly edged towards the picnic basket.

"Where is it?" he cried, took his eyes from Rose, and fixed them on me.

"Trade!" I shouted harshly. "Rose for the necklace!"

"Never! I want both!" he yelled, waving the gun in the air.

Rose and I looked at each other. I nodded to her. "Trust me," I mouthed. Her eyes widened and she nodded back briefly, understanding.

"Get the necklace!" he barked, stepped away from Rose, and walked towards me. I stared him down. I would have to call his bluff.

I smiled. "Okay. You win. I’ll let you have the necklace and Rose. Come and get it."

Cal smiled. "I knew you’d see sense, Jack," he said.

I moved, keeping my eyes on him, and pulled the necklace out of the hamper.

The sunlight bounced off it as I swung it back and forth.

"Is this it?" I played with Cal.

"Give it to me." He came closer. Our eyes locked.

This was a game, and Caledon Hockley was going to lose for the first time ever.

He was nearly on top of me. I could feel his hot breath, his eyes transfixed on the flashing diamond necklace.

"Here you are," I said, keeping my tone normal.

Cal’s hand reached out for it, his eyes gleaming.

In the last instant before he touched it, I threw it hard to the right.

Cal gave a scream of anguish and dived for it, dropping his gun, and as he lost concentration on me, I smashed him hard on the chin. He spun around and fell like a stone!

"That’s courtesy of the Chippewa Falls Dawsons," I mocked. He was out cold. The necklace was lying just short of his fingertips.

"Jack," Rose said, and ran into my arms. I embraced her tightly.

"It’s over, Rose. It’s over. He’ll never win again," I told her.

Both Cal and the valet were out for the count! Both were lying inert on the ground.

Gerard ran over. "I’ll sort my brother out and that valet, too. I have the guns. I’ll have to get the police involved, and then they will escort my stupid brother home and explain his actions to Father. A pig my father may be, but he would not condone murder."

Rose just cried in my arms, shaken and upset.

"I’ll never let go of you, Rose. Never," I swore. "You are my wife for always."

Chapter Fifteen
Stories