Chapter 13

Jack couldn't believe his rotten luck. Things just seemed to get worse minute by minute. Since he was pulled from the water he'd been suffering from a pretty severe case of frostbite in his fingers and toes. It was getting better all the time but he still did not have normal use of them back just yet. And now for the first time since being on the Californian, he learned that the ship was not heading for New York as he'd assumed; it was headed for Boston. The only thing he could say he was thankful for was that he survived, though even that was questionable. He could only be thankful if he knew one thing was for certain and that was if Rose was safe.

But was Rose safe? It's certainly not what he was being told but he had a hard time believing it. The last time he saw her she was rowing away with the others in her boat to safety, so what could have happened? He pondered a thousand scenarios of how she may have died, none of which seemed plausible. Then again, who would have thought the Titanic would ever sink? Nothing much seemed to make sense these days.

Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but Jack had a better explanation for Rose's "disappearance". She meant what she told him just before the Titanic struck the iceberg. She was going to run away with him when they got to New York, leaving everyone behind. If she still planned to carry it out, then there was never a better time for her to make her escape. If she managed to convince her mother and Cal that she was dead, all the easier it would be for her to start a new life.. One might think it was a bit extreme, even Jack had to admit making your mother think you were dead was a bit drastic, but for Rose it may very well be the only way out. Her mother and Cal had stopped at nothing to keep them apart before, why should things be any different now? Cal had been so angry he tried to kill them both. No, Rose was not running away from her life; she was running from certain death. Not necessarily physically, though Cal had demonstrated it as a possibility, but more realistically, emotionally. Just like they had discussed the night of the collision. Rose knew it to be true, that's why she told Jack she was going to run away with him.

The truth was still to be discovered, but he vowed he would not rest until he learned exactly what happened to her, even if it would take him the rest of his life to find out. It wasn't going to be easy though. He would be arriving in Boston shortly where he was told he would be taken to jail for "stealing" from Cal. Great. If things weren't already bad enough, he could count on Cal to complicate things even further. Sure enough, when the Californian arrived in Boston, Cal was waiting at the dock. Jack began to prepare the story he was going to give Cal. If Rose wanted everyone to believe she was dead, Jack fully intended to help carry out her wishes.

Sure enough, when the Californian pulled up to the dock, Cal was there waiting to jump aboard. During the last hour of the voyage, two officers had handcuffed and escorted Jack to the bridge and secured him to a pipe where he could be carefully watched by the officers while they were preparing for arrival. Cal spotted him immediately and ran to him with a wry smile on his face.

Cal stood before Jack, looking him up and down in utter disgust. "Well Dawson, I see you're looking rather well. You must be so thankful to still have your life. Especially given the fact that Rose didn't make it. You must be feeling awfully lucky indeed."

Jack just shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous Cal. I'd do anything to keep her safe Anything. I did everything in my power to protect her. She just slipped. I...I couldn't bring her back up. I...". The very thought of the lie he was about to tell brought real tears to his eyes.

"What are you talking about Dawson? Never mind for now. I have other matters to attend to. You and I are in for a long evening. You will tell me everything then. If you do, I might just let you walk away. If you don't, well, who knows what might happen to you". Cal chuckled maliciously and winked at Jack before going off to find the captain.

Oh lord, Jack thought. What on earth is Cal up to now? Whatever it was Jack was sure it involved ruining his life and finding Rose, thus ruining her life. Jack watched as Cal approached the captain and began speaking to him. Whatever he was saying the captain seemed to become alarmed and he summoned for the crew to gather below decks for a meeting. One of the officers went to Jack and unhooked him from the pipe and brought him below as well. He dragged Jack to a small utility closet where he threw him inside and locked the door.

The men began their meeting in the next room and Jack could hear every word they were saying. Cal did most of the talking at first, lying through his teeth of course about why Jack had been put under arrest on Titanic. Jack shouted out responses, denying the charges but either no one heard him or they just didn't care. The crew of the Californian for the most part seemed to agree with the idea of not reporting their finding, but some challenged the idea, hoping to be rewarded for their heroism.

What Jack heard next he wasn't sure whether or not to believe. Cal was accusing the crew of the Californian of neglecting Titanic's distress calls and not coming to their aid. He presented them with some statistics that seemed to quiet the captain and crew all at once. Between the Titanic's and Carpathia's crew, they established that when the Californian had stopped because of the ice on the night of the collision, at the time of the collision, the two ships were merely ten miles apart. The wireless operator tried to argue that they didn't know because he had already retired for the evening that night, but Cal was quick with a comeback. Many on Titanic had seen another ship. Jack had seen it to. If they could see it, they certainly could have seen them. Seen the rockets. Captain Lord, of the Californian, then tried to argue that it wasn't them, that they were much farther away. Cal yet again presented them with some very surprising information. The crew of the Californian claimed they heard of the sinking for the first time around 5:45 AM and sent out a message right then they were on their way to assist. If they were so much farther away, how were they then able to reach the site a mere two hours later? Cal was quick to point out that it was half the time it had taken the Carpathia to get there. Half the time? Could it be true? Judging by the reaction of the Californian's crew, Jack gathered it was the only bit of information that Cal was giving them that was. One man even blurted out that he did see the rockets and that he urged the captain to help and he did nothing. Jack sat and listened in disbelief as the captain acknowledged it to be true. Cal closed the deal with a combination of a promise to keep that bit of information secret, and a couple thousand dollars apiece. That's it, Jack thought. Now his story would never get out. He didn't care about the publicity or money, he only wanted to find Rose. Getting his story out simply brought him one step closer to finding her.

Shortly after the meeting adjourned, an officer opened the door to the closet where Jack was being kept and turned him over to Cal.

"Nice work in there Cal", Jack said sarcastically.

"Why thank you Dawson. I am a businessman you know, and a good one. There is nothing that can't be achieved with a little persuasion and financial restitution".

"Yes there is Cal. You couldn't buy Rose, could you?"

Cal looked around to make sure no one was looking and grabbed Jack by the hair, yanking him backwards, and dragged him down the hall to the stairwell leading down to the next deck. Sure that the ship was now deserted, as he had requested that he be left alone on the ship for a while with his prisoner, he dragged Jack to the top of the stairwell and gave him a swift kick in the stomach, sending him flying down below. Jack landed hard on his back and though amazingly escaping serious injury, lay there motionless and groaning in pain. Cal followed him, jumping down the stairs so swiftly he barely landed on one step. He grabbed Jack by the hair again and yanked him to his feet and dragged him to a nearby bench.

"You listen to me Dawson!", Cal screamed, shaking Jack violently. "Things were just fine between Rose and I before you came along, but she is very young and impressionable. You knew that and you took advantage of her."

"I didn't take advantage of her Cal, I wasn't trying to. I was trying to help her."

"Help her?", Cal looked perplexed.

"Yes, help her. She was miserable Cal. Look, she didn't want to marry you, and certainly not as a favor to her mother. I only wanted to show her that she had options. That's all."

"Oh, I see. Options. Like what, starving? Living on the streets? Having to work for a living? Instead of, of a life of privilege, a loving husband who would care for her and cater to her every need?"

"Loving husband Cal? You tried to kill her!"

"I was trying to kill you!"

"You were firing that gun like a madman Cal! You almost hit both of us several times!"

"She just got in the way! Oh never mind anyway, Dawson...tell me what happened that night. When was the last time you saw Rose?"

"On the raft. It was a door actually. We stayed on the ship as long as we possibly could. When it went under, we kept swimming until we found something we could float on, the door. I helped her get on, then I got on and we stayed there most of the night. I don't know how we drifted so far away that the other ship didn't find us. If only it had....well, it might not have been to late." Jack became emotional again in attempt to strengthen his story.

"What do you mean too late?", Cal continued to probe.

"She slipped off the door Cal. I didn't even realize it at first. We were both in such a state of shock, once we got on the raft we didn't even speak. Hours went by, we must have slept some because I don't remember much. She was probably asleep, or maybe even", Jack choked up, "dead when she did. I rolled over and saw she wasn't there and I panicked." Jack spoke with tears now streaming down his face. "I looked all around the raft and I saw her floating a few feet away. I jumped off and swam to her and tried to help her back. It was already too late Cal. She was gone. I still didn't give up trying though. At least if I could have gotten her back to the raft she would have been found. I tried."

Cal sat and listened to Jack's story patiently until he was finished. "Well Jack, do you want to know what I think?" Jack didn't respond and sat with his face buried in his hands, crying.

Cal continued anyway. "I think you're lying to me Jack. If you knew Rose was dead, why did you send a message to the Carpathia asking if she was aboard?"

Cal became furious again and punched Jack square in the jaw, sending him over the bench and onto the floor. He dropped to his knees and grabbed Jack around the throat and slammed his head into the wall behind him. "Tell me the truth! Did she get into a boat? Where did she go?"

"I just told you Cal. When I got picked up I was in shock and very confused. I couldn't comprehend then what had just happened. It wasn't until later I could think clearly and remembered. I'm sorry Cal. I know you'd rather believe otherwise, but so would I."

"You're right I don't believe it Dawson, not for a second! Tell me what happened now!"

Jack just smiled and shook his head at Cal. "That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. You can either believe it and move on or dwell over it for the rest of your life. Either way, you're never going to see her again Cal."

Cal chuckled and stood up leaving Jack still sitting on the floor, his back propped up against the wall. He had a small cut under his left eye which was bleeding slowly but steadily, and a wound on the back of his head which was staining the wall with blood behind him. Cal walked out of the room and down the hall and for a minute Jack thought that was the end of it. A few moments later however Cal reappeared, holding a long metal pole of some sort in his hand. He grabbed Jack around the neck and brought him back up to his feet once again and took a set of keys out of his pocket. He unfastened the handcuffs around Jack's wrists just long enough to bring his arms around a pole and cuff them again. Jack tried to break free of him but he was already so weakened by the wound to his head. Cal stepped back and began to circle him, using the pole as a walking stick as he did so.

"Well Jack, the story was very entertaining if nothing else. You know, you should have been an actor. That was very good, very believable. I almost believed it myself. I know she's alive and rest assured, I will die trying to find her. Who knows, maybe you're right. Maybe I will never find her. One thing I do know for sure Dawson...neither will you!"

Jack watched in horror as Cal drew back his arm, metal pipe in hand, and watched the pipe slice through the air, making a swishing sound as it did. It almost seemed as if time had been temporarily suspended. Clearly the first impact between the pipe and Jack's head had only been a matter of seconds, but he had enough time to start saying his goodbyes and hellos. Goodbye to all my friends! It was nice knowing you! Goodbye Rose! I'll be watching over you and I'll protect you! Be strong and do all those things we said we would do together...I love you. See you in heaven! Hello mom and dad, Fabrizio! Long time no see! Then, time resumed and the pipe came crashing down right across his forehead.

Everything went black.