The train ride to Philadelphia was long and tense. With no Cora to take care of, Jack had all the time in the world to think...to doubt himself. What if Hockley was too powerful? What if he couldn't get Rose away from him? What if Rose decided that it was with Hockley where she belonged? What if Hockley had hurt her? What if…
Annoyed, he shook the what if's out of his head. There was no point in thinking that way! He knew Rose. There was no way that she'd choose to stay with Hockley and Hockley wasn't as powerful as he thought he was...at least that was what Jack chose to think.
It didn't take him long to find the Hockley estate either. Everyone in the city knew where it was, so when he gave the address to the driver, the man knew just where Jack wanted to go, even though he was probably curious on why. After all, not many people from the lower class visited that side of town.
Jack's eyes widened in shock when the car pulled up to the Hockley residence. The estate was much bigger than Molly's mansion. However was he going to find Rose? Much to Jack's horror, he was beginning to doubt his ability to rescue her.
"Shall I wait for you, sir?" the driver asked, not picturing Jack to be there for that long.
"Um….sure. It's probably a good idea," Jack nodded, feeling that it was for the best to have a vehicle waiting. Cal would probably be giving chase and the car would be needed.
Swallowing down his raising doubts, Jack got out of the car and walked up to the front door and rang the bell. He was going to confront Cal directly. No hiding. No beating behind the bush. He was there for Rose and he was not going to leave without her!
A tall slender, middle aged man answered the door and looked at Jack with cold gray eyes. "May I help you? If you are from the charity, the Hockley's have already given all they are going to give. There is no more use in wasting your time, sir."
"I am not from any charity. I am here to see Caledon Hockley. I believe he'll know who I came for," was Jack's cold answer. He was not going to be intimidated. Lovejoy hadn't scared him off and neither would this butler or any other henchman the bastard may have under his employ.
"Do you have an appointment sir?"
Jack rolled his eyes, his patience at an end. "No. I don't need one for what I'm here for."
The butler frowned, not liking this young man's attitude at all. Did he have no idea about who lived here? How busy the Hockley's were? This was absurd.
"Well I am afraid that you can't just walk in here without an appointment, sir. Mr. Hockley is a very busy man and..."
"Smithers, who is that at the door? Do let them in, it may be the artist for my portrait that dear Cal has hired," A lovely young woman appeared behind the butler. She wore a deep green dress and her blond hair was pulled back in a braid. Her blue eyes were curious. "Are you the artist sir? Do come in."
"Um...I'm not who you think I am, Miss," Jack stammered, not having it in him to be rude to a lady. "I am an...acquaintance of Cal's. I needed to see him about an important matter..."
"Oh and acquaintance of Cal's! Smithers, shame on you! Let the man in immediately!" The girl gasped, glaring at the butler. Honestly, she wished that the servants here had better manners! That was definitely something she was going to fix.
"As you wish, Miss," the butler stood aside and watched as the young woman reached over and grabbed Jack's arm and pulled him into the house. "Come in, Mr…."
"Dawson."
"Mr. Dawson. I do apologize for Smithers. Honestly, he's like the family watchdog," the girl chuckled. "My name is Alice. Let me show you to the setting room and I'll go fetch Cal for you so you two can have a nice visit."
Jack forced himself to smile, his mind wheeling. Who was this girl and what did she have to do with Cal? She was too nice to be related to the man, at least in his opinion. Did she know anything about Rose? Where Cal may be keeping her? She couldn't be a maid, she was dressed too fancy for that. Once they were in the setting the room, the girl was off to fetch Cal herself, not wanting to disturb a servant's work. Plus she wanted to see the look on Cal's face when he came face to face with an "old acquaintance."
The man will probably be surprised to find that Jack had found them already. He probably thought that he could get away with just grabbing Rose and whisking her back here. Well, Jack had news for Cal. If he wanted Rose, he was going to have to fight Jack for her.
Five minutes later, Jack turned to the door when he heard Cal's voice out in the hallway.
"Sweetpea, what is this about? I am a very busy man with the wedding approaching and father's business, I have no time for old acquaintances. You should have allowed Smithers to make an appointment," Cal's voice was gentle and there was a trace of affection in the voice, causing Jack to frown.
What the hell, did he just call Alice sweetpea? That was his name for Rose?
"Darling, you should make time. You are always shut away in that stuffy office. You need to come out and enjoy the sun. If you won't take time to spend time with me, your fiance, at least do so to talk to an old friend," Alice answered, causing Jack's eyes to widen in shock.
Darling? Fiance? Did this girl know anything about Cal and his nefarious dealings? Did she know that he had kidnapped Rose? He didn't think she did….
Cal stopped in his tracks when he entered the room to see Jack standing there with folded arms and an open glare. He blinked a few times, rubbed his eyes and then paled, realizing that he was seeing a ghost.
"Dawson?" Disbelief was clear in the man's voice. Jack was obviously the last person that he was expecting to see.
"Surprised to see me, Hockley? Surprised that I found you?" Jack glared at the business man, struggling to keep his anger in check.
Cal stammered, not sure on how to respond. Jack Dawson was supposed to be dead. Frozen at the bottom of the North Atlantic, not standing here in his sitting room, openly glaring at him! What did this mean? If Dawson was alive, did that mean that...she was alive? Swallowing down his shock, he turned to his fiancee. He needed her gone. He needed to do this alone.
"Sweetpea, Mr. Dawson and I are indeed old acquaintances. You wouldn't mind if we caught up...alone do you?" Cal gave a her a pointed look, begging that she would do as he said without too much of a fuss.
Alice simply nodded. It was clear by her expression that she was disappointed, but she didn't see a reason to ignore her fiancee's request. She gave a nod towards Jack and smiled. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Dawson. I do hope that have a pleasant visit."
Cal and Jack both watched her leave before turning their glares back on each other, each having their different questions.
"What the hell, you're supposed to be dead," Cal growled, his expression turning stormy now that Alice was gone.
"Drop the act. You've known for quite some time that I wasn't dead...that she wasn't dead! That's why you took her! But you're not getting away with it! I came to get her back! You are not getting away with this Hockley!" Jack growled, his temper again rising.
"So the bitch survived too. How selfish of her, leaving her mother to think her dead. Causing her to..."
"Will you drop the act?!"
Cal blinked, taken aback by Jack's outburst. How dare Dawson! Cal was the one who should be demanding answers! After all, he had been the one that was tricked and lied to! Now here Dawson was, acting as if he was the victim! "How dare you!"
"How dare me? Rose and I were happy, we have a daughter and were living quietly and away from you in Santa Monica and somehow you found out that we survived and went and kidnapped her! What? Did you think that I was stupid and wouldn't have guessed what had happened? Rose would never have left Cora by herself! She would never have left me willingly!"
"What are you going on about Dawson? This is the first I'm hearing of either of you surviving and even if I had found out that she was alive, I wouldn't come for her! I've learned my lesson and refuse to chase after the girl any longer. She doesn't want me. So be it. Let her and her mother live in the lap of poverty. I no longer care."
Jack shook his head, not believing him. He couldn't! If Hockley hadn't taken her...but he had! There was no other explanation, not one that Jack could accept anyway.
"I don't believe you."
"Believe me or not. It does not matter. I am through with the Dewitt Bukater women. As you can see, I have a new fiancee, one even lovelier and even more well mannered than Rose. One that actually likes me. Why would I give that up for that shrew? You tell me. You wanted the slut, you can have her. But wait...you don't have her, do you? If you're here, accusing me of kidnapping her, that means that she's left you, too. Looks like she wasn't all that fond of you either, Dawson," Cal snorted, his shock turning into amusement.
A part of Jack admitted that what Hockley was saying could indeed be a possibility, but another part of him, a bigger part, refused to believe such a thing. Rose loved him! He knew she did or why had she saved his life? Why did she marry him? Why did she have his baby? Why not leave him once they were back on solid ground a year ago? Why now, when there was Cora?
"I don't believe you."
Cal shrugged, his mind once again settled, now over the shock to find Jack Dawson alive and in his sitting room.
"I don't care if you believe me or not," Cal chuckled, now clearly amused by all of this. In his opinion this was karma for Jack Dawson. He had thought he had won, winning Rose away from a better man the way he had, just to find out that he obviously hadn't been enough for the little slut either! "But by all means, have a look around. Go in search of the missing shrew. You will not find her here, Dawson."
"Stop talking about her like that," Jack frowned, not liking how amused Cal was. The man seemed to be an opened book now. He didn't seem to be hiding anything or anyone. But Jack refused to let himself believe what his eyes and his own senses were telling him. Rose had to be in this mansion. Her disappearance had to be Cal's fault! What Cal had said...about him and Cora not being enough….it just couldn't be true! He couldn't let it!
"Take a tour my mansion, Dawson. You will not find Rose hidden away here. I no longer have any need of her anyway."
Jack stood there, looking Cal over, trying to read any signs of deception, yet finding none. He hated how calm the man seemed now. He looked perfectly innocent of the wrong doing that Jack was certain that he was guilty of.
"Well what are you waiting for? Look for your damsal in distress! See if you can find her and save her once again, Dawson!"
Jack rolled his eyes and walked pass Cal out into the foyer. He walked through the mansion, checking every room, opening every closed door. He went out into the garden and checked the shed. He searched the Hockley estate up and down, just to find no sign of Rose. She wasn't there...and to make matters worse, Cal knew of their survival now...even though he seemed not to care.
But wait...why would Cal hold her here, where his fiancee would be able to find her? He was a very rich man! Surely he would hold her somewhere that no one would be able to find her!
He returned to the sitting room to angrily face the smirking Cal.
"I take it that you hadn't found her."
"You're not holding her here! How stupid of me to think you would! You're a smart man, so you wouldn't hold her here, where people could find her and your crimes be discovered! No, you have her somewhere else and you're going to tell me where!"
The look of pity in Cal's eyes made Jack want to throw up! How dare Cal pity him! There was no reason to pity him! He just wanted directions to Rose! That was all!
"I don't have her, Dawson."
"Damn it, Hockley! It's not just us anymore! We have a daughter! A daughter that needs her mother! How could you keep a child away from her mother, huh? You're cruel but not outright evil I don't think. Come on, just tell me where she is."
The pity seemed to grow and Cal sighed and ran a hand over his perfectly coiffed hair. "I...I don't know what to tell you. I don't have her. Not here. Not anywhere. Don't you think I would be boasting over my triumph if I did? Do you think I would really be planning to marry another woman while keeping her captive? Think, Dawson. You're anything but stupid. You're in denial, but not stupid. Do you really think that I'd risk all that I've managed to rebuild over a woman that did not and never will want me?"
Jack's stomach sank, forced to admit that Cal was most likely right. He had obviously moved on with his life and Jack couldn't see him risking that for a woman that didn't want him. Not even for revenge. Even if he had, he wouldn't be denying it. He'd be boastful and rubbing it in Jack's face, not here denying any involvement in Rose's disappearance.
"You poor bastard," Cal shook his head. "The bitch did you worse than she had done me. She not only made you love her, she stuck you with a child. Who knows where she's off to now."
"She wouldn't leave Cora," Jack's voice was weak, almost all certainty gone. Cal didn't have Rose. He was for once innocent, which left the questions, where was Rose? Why did she leave? Was Cal right? Did she find that the life they shared hadn't been enough after all?
"But she did leave Cora, didn't she? She left you both and without a word. Take my advice, Dawson. Forget about her. Put her behind you. Do what I did. Move on. You're a handsome young man and women love babies. Pick up the pieces, use your charms and looks to find a sweet young thing looking for a ready made family and move on with your life. Let Rose go rot wherever she ran off to. That is my advise to you."
Jack couldn't say anything else. What else was there to say? He had came here to look for Rose, just to come away empty handed and no idea where else to look. She hadn't left a note or anything. Maybe Hockley was right. Maybe he should just pick up the pieces and move on.
Sensing that he was about to be thrown out, Jack turned to head for the front door, ready to return to Denver for his daughter...the only thing he had left.
"Oh and Dawson," Cal spoke up, not ready to let his former rival leave just yet.
Jack just turned to look at him, not knowing what else Cal had to say.
"I want the heart of the ocean returned...that is if she hadn't taken it with her, which she probably had..."
"I'll mail it back," was all Jack said before turning and walking out the door with no idea what to do, now. Maybe Cal was right...but at that moment, he didn't feel like he could follow that advice. His heart belonged to Rose and Cora. There was none left to give to anyone else.