Echoes of Titanic

by Mindy Starns Clark

  “Just a guess. Keep going.” Kelsey reached the elevator and pressed the “up” button.

  “Well, like I said, I thought she was going to surprise me with them, but as it got closer and closer to the date, she never said anything at all. To make matters worse, she’d been acting pretty strange for the past month, kind of secretive and evasive. Finally, on Sunday night, I asked her about the tickets. She got real weird and flustered, and she said they weren’t for us at all but instead a professional gift for a colleague. I took her at her word. What other choice did I have?”

  Kelsey didn’t reply. She just thought how much better Vern and Gloria’s relationship could have been if only they had talked to each other more. Then again, who was she to judge? Her and Cole’s original breakup could have been avoided entirely if only one of them had thought to bring up the exact figures of the deal involved.

  “Anyway,” Vern continued, “that next afternoon was the day she came home from the office a little earlier than usual. Around six o’clock I was in the kitchen, cooking supper. I thought she was in the living room, just resting her eyes for a bit, when I heard the front door open and close. Curious, I went to the door myself and looked out in the hallway—and that’s when I saw her getting on the elevator, tickets in hand.”

  Kelsey thought about that as her own elevator arrived and she stepped on board and pressed the button for the fifth floor. Monday afternoon was when Gloria had fought with Walter and gone home soon after.

  “I’m not ashamed to say I followed her down. By the time I got off the elevator, she was out in front of the building, handing off the envelope to somebody in a taxi. I tried to get a better look through the front window and realized it was Lou Strahan, of all people.”

  Kelsey closed her eyes, swallowing hard. Lou and Gloria. Together.

  “I wanted to bust out the front door and punch him in the face,” Vern said, “but standing there at the window, watching them, I realized they really were acting like colleagues, not lovers. When Gloria came back inside, I confronted her, and she just said that she and Lou had been working on some big business deal recently and that’s all it was. I believed her, Kelsey. I can’t explain it—and goodness knows I had no room to judge—but I really think their relationship was platonic.”

  The elevator came to a stop at the fifth floor and opened up. Kelsey stepped off but hovered there for a moment, wanting to finish her call before she continued on to Walter’s office. “Lou hasn’t worked at B & T for five years. Why would he and Gloria have been involved in a business deal together?”

  “I don’t know, but she said it had something to do with both companies, like B & T and Strahan Realty Trust were going to be aligning somehow. Merging, maybe? Are the two companies planning to merge?”

  “Over my dead body,” she replied. Then she thanked him for his help and said she had to go but would be in touch later.

  After she hung up, she took a moment to shoot a quick text off to Cole:

  Talked to Vern, learned a lot. Call me when you’re finished. I’ll be in with Walter.

  She was halfway across the reception area when he responded, so she paused again to read his text.

  Am on my landline with Brooke now. I forgot what a talker she is!

  Smiling, Kelsey responded, No problem. I’ll text you once Walter and I have finished.

  Cole replied, Sounds good. Let me know if/when you want me to come over there.

  Kelsey typed, Will do, and then she slid the phone into her pocket. Going to Walter’s door, she gave it a light rap before pushing it open.

  As expected, he was already there, sitting behind his desk, though the room around him was a disaster, with papers strewn everywhere and the furniture turned on its sides.

  Something was horribly wrong. Looking again at Walter, she saw that he wasn’t just sitting there; he was taped there. Numerous bands of duct tape were encircling his chest and upper arms, affixing him firmly to the chair. Each wrist was taped to an arm rest, and his feet were bound together at the ankles and to the metal base of the chair.

  Worse, he looked as though he’d been in a boxing match. His eyes were dark and swollen and his nose looked broken, with blood trickling from his nostrils and down across the strip of duct tape that covered his mouth.

  Their eyes met. Kelsey froze, unable to move or speak or even breathe.

  Who did this to you? She could hear the words screaming silently in her mind.

  But she already knew. Lou had done this to him.

  It had been Lou all along.

  Before she could speak, something caught Walter’s attention behind her. His eyes widened in terror. Sucking in a deep breath, Kelsey forced herself to turn around. Lou was standing there, just a few feet away, holding a black metal rod with one hand and smacking it lightly against the palm of the other. Staring at the rod, Kelsey saw that it was a tire iron. A big, black, heavy tire iron.

  “How could you?” she managed to utter, her mind racing to think of some escape.

  “It’s not like I enjoyed it,” he replied defensively. “Well, okay, maybe a little, but only because it’s Walter. I sure don’t want to have to do that to you. Believe it or not, I really am fond of you, Kels. You’ve always been like the daughter I never had.”

  Kelsey shook her head side to side. “You’re an animal.”

  “Not really,” he replied, taking a step forward, his voice oddly calm. “I just felt sure Walter knew where those bonds were. Turns out I was wrong. That leaves you. Give them to me and I’ll go away quietly. Nobody else needs to get hurt.”

  “And if I can’t?”

  Lou shook his head sadly. “Hold out on me, kiddo, and I’m afraid I’ll have to do to you what I did to him. Those bonds are all I have left. And as much as it pains me to hurt you, trust me when I say I’ll do whatever it takes to get them in my hands.”

  CHAPTER

  FORTY-SEVEN

  April 14, 1912

  JOCELYN

  Jocelyn smiled warmly at Tad, grateful he had been willing to miss out on the fun for her sake. Apparently, Titanic had struck an iceberg. Soon after it happened, another passenger told them that some of the young men were having a great time playing with the ice that had fallen onto the ship’s open deck. Tad had wanted to go up and join them, but Jocelyn asked him to stay with her. He’d agreed, remaining at her side and keeping her warm as they watched all the goings-on together.

  It was just like him to value her wishes over his own personal desires.

  Suddenly, Jocelyn felt someone grab her arm and give it a jerk. She turned, stunned to see Adele standing there in her coat and a life vest, her face screwed up in a dark scowl. Adele’s grip tightened, and she pulled again, this time wrenching Jocelyn from Tad’s side.

  “You’re coming with me,” she snarled. “Back to the stateroom. Your father wants us to meet him there now.” Not letting go, she pulled her cousin toward the door.

  Stunned, Jocelyn turned to Tad for help, but he was holding himself back, still standing at the rail and glaring angrily at Adele. Then his features softened as he shifted his gaze to Jocelyn.

  “It’s okay,” he called out to her. “You go ahead. I’ll wait for you right here. Just come back as soon as you can.”

  “I will!”

  “And don’t forget to bring me what we talked about when you come back.”

  She gave him a nod even as her mind was racing. That thing we talked about? Oh, he must mean the bonds.

  Jocelyn asked Adele to let go of her arm, promising she wouldn’t try to break away. Reluctantly, Adele released her, and the two of them wove together among the other passengers as they made their way to the stairs and began to descend.

  “Please don’t be angry with me,” Jocelyn pleaded as they reached the next deck and continued on. “I know I should have told you I was meeting with Tad, but I didn’t want to upset you when you already seemed to be having such a bad day.”

  Adele did not reply, so Jocelyn cont
inued.

  “Remember, just this morning I asked you what was going on with the two of you, and you said you weren’t interested in him that way.”

  Still she did not respond, though at least they were making progress against the crowds. Perhaps Adele was waiting until they were in the cabin before she spoke her mind.

  “Otherwise, I never would have agreed to see him,” Jocelyn tried one more time. “We were going to tell you eventually.”

  Adele remained silent all the way back to the stateroom. When they finally got there and stepped inside, Adele spoke, just as Jocelyn had expected.

  “You cannot possibly be interested in Tad,” Adele said fiercely. “He’s not good enough for you!”

  Jocelyn blinked, trying to understand what was really going on.

  “I’m sorry if the sight of us together made you feel jealous, Adele, but—”

  “Jealous? I’m not jealous!”

  Before she could speak further, there was a knock at the door. Jocelyn opened it to see her father standing there, his face pale and lined.

  “What’s wrong, Da?” she asked, fearing that he, too, had learned of her relationship with Tad and had come to try and talk her out of it.

  “Sit down, both of you,” he said in a low voice, moving inside and lowering himself to the chair. “Quickly now.”

  Adele responded by sitting on the sofa, but Jocelyn moved to the lower bunk and sat there instead, not even taking the time to remove her coat.

  “This situation is bad,” he told them solemnly, “much worse than many of the other passengers realize.”

  Jocelyn swallowed hard. What was he talking about?

  “Listen to me very carefully,” he said, looking from one to the other. “This ship is sinking, and it’s sinking fast. It’ll be under the waves in less than two hours. We must get the two of you to a lifeboat. The crew has already started uncovering them and readying them for launch.”

  A lifeboat? Sinking?

  Jocelyn’s heart began pounding furiously in her chest. How stupid could she have been, how blinded by love that she hadn’t grasped the seriousness of the situation? The amount of people surging up on deck after the impact had seemed odd, especially as most of them had been wearing life vests, but she’d merely attributed all of that to curiosity and not any real danger.

  Swallowing hard, she realized she had to get back to Tad as quickly as possible, to warn him and make sure he got into a lifeboat as well.

  “Before we go, I need to give you the bonds to hold onto, Adele.” Rowan pulled an envelope from his inside jacket pocket and handed it over to her. “Is there somewhere safe you can hide them on your person?”

  “I can keep them in my bag,” she replied, suddenly looking as frightened as Jocelyn felt.

  “We need to do better than that. These are bearer bonds, which means that anyone who gets hold of them can cash them in.”

  “Oh!” She clutched the bonds tightly in her hand.

  As she tried to think of a safe place to hide them, Rowan grabbed the cabin’s other life vest, told Jocelyn to stand, and helped her put it on over her coat. He placed the belt around her and pulled it tight, and suddenly she felt like a small child again, being dressed and cared for by her loving father.

  “There is something else I need to tell you both,” he said, his eyes growing watery. “The purser shared this with me, and it is a serious problem.”

  Jocelyn had rarely seen her father cry. With her heart feeling as though it would break, she reached out and placed a comforting hand on his arm.

  “There aren’t nearly enough lifeboats necessary to save everyone on board,” he continued. “Not all of us will make it off the ship. Right now, they are calling for women and children only to board the lifeboats.”

  Jocelyn gasped. “What about you, Da?”

  “I will do my best,” he replied, but before she could protest he continued. “You must understand that we don’t have much time and have to think clearly. It’s pandemonium up there, and I’m sure it’s grown worse while we have been down here. We may get separated. If that happens, promise me you’ll continue on toward the boat deck and get yourselves on a lifeboat. Promise me.”

  “We promise,” they said in unison.

  “Stay together, and no matter what happens, get on a lifeboat.”

  Adele nodded. “But what about you, Uncle Rowan?”

  “I will do everything within my power to get off this ship alive. But whether I manage to do that or not, I need to know the two of you are safe. Do you understand?”

  Both girls threw themselves in his arms, crying as well.

  “No matter what, always remember that I love you,” he said, hugging them in return and giving them each a kiss. “Now grab your coats, hats, hand muffs, and whatever else you have to keep you warm up there. We have to go now.”

  They did as he said and were still wiping away their tears as the three of them moved into the hall. As they quickly walked toward the stairwell, Jocelyn was shocked by how much emptier their deck was now than it had been before. Were they already too late?

  As her father had said, the higher they went on the ship, the greater the pandemonium they encountered. The upper corridors were full of people pushing and shoving, all trying to get to the same place, the deck where the lifeboats awaited.

  Jocelyn could hardly breathe from the crush of the people. It felt like an eternity to her, climbing the steps, trying to hold tightly to Adele’s hand, trying not to get knocked down and trampled by the crowd. The process was made harder by the listing of the ship. Halfway there, she realized that they were no longer upright but tilted somehow.

  Titanic really was sinking.

  When they finally reached the open air of the boat deck, it was hard to know what to do. Her father moved them into what seemed to be a queue of women and children moving toward the boats. He told them to stay there and get into the first boat they could reach.

  “I’m going to look further ahead and see if I can get some more information,” he said. “I’ll be back.”

  Once he had given them each another hug and disappeared into the crowd, Jocelyn felt a greater panic begin to overwhelm her. Turning to Adele, she grabbed her hands tightly and spoke.

  “I know I promised Father I’d get on a lifeboat,” she said, “and I will. But I have to go get Tad first. He’s waiting for me on the promenade deck, but he needs to be up here, where there’s still a chance of rescue.”

  She moved out of line, but Adele tightened the grip of her hands and held her firm.

  “No! Jocelyn, I won’t let you risk your life for his!”

  She tried to pull free but Adele was stronger—and even more intense. Eyes blazing, Adele suddenly began to make all sorts of absurd claims against Tad. He was a liar. He was only using her to advance himself in her father’s company. He made lewd suggestions. He pressed his body to hers and touched and kissed her against her objections.

  It was insane. Absurd.

  “Stop!” Jocelyn shouted. “You’re lying. Tad already told me what happened last night.”

  “He did?”

  “Yes. You professed your love to him and he spurned it.”

  “I what?”

  “I’m sorry, cousin. I know you want him for yourself, but he loves me. And I love him.”

  Adele began to shake her head furiously from side to side. “No, Jocelyn, that wasn’t it at all. Listen to me. You can’t trust him. He doesn’t care about you. That’s not what happened—”

  “Don’t do this,” Jocelyn pleaded, her eyes filling with tears as she looked at the grip Adele had on her hands. “Please let me go.”

  “I can’t. I won’t.”

  Pulling back, Jocelyn looked into her cousin’s face, knowing she had to do something extreme. “Don’t you understand?” she whispered. “If I have to choose between him and you, I choose him.”

  Chaos reigned on every side, but in that moment there was only the two of them. Cousins, raised as
sisters, the best of friends. Jocelyn could clearly see in Adele’s beautiful blue eyes the hurt her words had caused. She felt bad about that, but surely someday her cousin would understand and forgive her. Jocelyn had dreamed of a husband and children of her own her whole life. Now that the chance was within her grasp, she refused to leave it behind.

  As expected, Adele released her grip, dropping her arms to her sides. “You fool,” she said, her voice quivering. “I hope you do find Tad. The two of you deserve each other.”

  Her heart heavy, her mind swirling with guilt and regret and fear, Jocelyn slowly stepped away. Then, picking up speed, she headed for the stairwell, desperate to find the man she loved before it was too late.

  CHAPTER

  FORTY-EIGHT

  I know the bonds used to be kept in a safe.” Lou gestured toward the far wall in Walter’s office.

  Kelsey turned to look, surprised to see a safe there, albeit one that looked far newer and more modern than Adele’s. Mounted in the wall at shoulder height, it was hanging open, the picture frame that had apparently kept it hidden lying broken on the floor underneath.

  “The bonds may have been in there before,” Lou continued, “but they are not there now. I think Gloria took them out on Monday night and hid them somewhere else in the building so I wouldn’t be able to find them.”

  Kelsey swallowed hard, her brain still trying to grasp the situation she found herself in.

  “Where are they?” Lou persisted, glaring at her. “Where are the bonds? Where did she put them?”

  Kelsey shook her head from side to side. “I promise you, Lou, I don’t know. I really don’t.”

  “Okay, we can start there, no harm done yet.” He moved a step closer, still slapping the tire iron rhythmically against his palm. Behind her, Walter began rocking fiercely in his chair, trying to get loose, but it was no use. He was taped up tight with no hope of escape.

  “Look, that’s why I came here today,” Kelsey said, taking a step backward, “to search for the bonds myself. I was hoping they might be hidden somewhere in Gloria’s office. While you and Walter were in here having your meeting, I was going to go in there and root around till I found them.”