The Bachelor's Bride

Chapter 14- Jack

I groaned and rolled out of bed the next morning, remembering the events of last night. I don't know what had compelled me to kiss Etta. But it was stupid of me. I didn't want to make love to her out of purely a spur of the moment decision. I wanted her to be sure it was what she wanted without being blinded by lust and passion. And I wanted us to both be sure that we truly love each other in every single way.

But I could tell I had still hurt her. I wouldn't be kissing her anymore from now on.

I got up and quickly dressed and washed my face. I tried to keep quiet as I crept around our little apartment, knowing Etta wasn't awake yet. Annie wouldn't stop Elliot off until nine, a couple of hours after I had gone.

After fixing up a quick egg and some toast, I hurried off to work. I was doing a little digging around about the factory fire, and things seemed a little fishy with that Mr. Jeffers fellow. It was difficult to get the police or any of the detectives to budge on details. So I decided to confront the witnesses and suspects alone.

After stopping at the office to let Mr. Larson know I was going out again, I grabbed my notepad and took off. I wanted to speak with some of the girls Etta had worked with. I had gotten ahold of some of their names from other workers in the factory.

Beth Stone was the first witness on my list. She had snatched a job up at a local restaurant called O'Maley's. When I found the place, I wasn't surprised in the slightest. It was a run down looking place with drunk workers hanging around and poor single mothers sipping coffee as their children ran around the tiny place. I went up to the counter waving over the older woman running the front.

She smiled tiredly, "Can I get you somethin' to drink?"

"No, thank you." I said, pulling out my notepad. "Could I please speak to Beth Stone?"

The older woman narrowed her sharp black orb like eyes at me but she beckoned me with a bony finger, "Follow me."

I trailed after her and I stepped into the kitchen, heat blasting me full in the face. The old woman swatted at the chef, "Where did that stupid gal go?"

"Lettin' out the trash." He grumbled, scrambling the dirty mixture of eggs as grease.

"Wait here." The old woman snapped at me, marching out the back door.

She came back in, dragging a young girl by the arm.

"Ouch! You're pinching my arm! Let go you old bat!" The girl protested. I realized she couldn't have been more than sixteen or seventeen.

That was such a young age for a girl to begin working instead of starting a family.

The old woman wacked her upside the head, "Mind your manners girly! This man is here to talk to you."

She marched away, leaving them to talk. Beth tried to act composed, "Would you like to have a seat?"

There wasn't any place to sit other than the ground, so I declined, "No, thank you, this will only take a minute."

"Alright. What do you need to speak with me about?" Beth crossed her arms protectively. She probably thought he was a policeman coming in for an interrogation.

"I'm working with the newspaper and I'm trying to uncover the story about what really happened in the factory fire." I explained, poising my pencil ready to write down any important facts she might have to offer. "So what do you know about the factory fire at South 21 street?"

Beth shrugged, "There was a fire, right towards the end of our shifts. And we all tried to escape, but the doors were locked."

I wrote that down. Etta had mentioned that as well. It seemed suspicious to me that the doors were locked and I believed it was an important clue that this was deliberate. I nodded, "Go on."

She took a deep breath, clearly despising have to remember this as Etta had, "Well, my co-worker Etta Muller had found a roof access and we used that to escape instead to jumping from the windows..."

She trailed off, and we both knew she was thinking of what the alternate ending could have been for her and the other girls and women.

I cleared my throat awkwardly, "Did you see any suspicious activity? Anything that led you to believe that someone had started that fire?"

Beth sighed and shook her head, "I wish I had. But that's really all I know."

I sighed inwardly but I have the girl a warm smile, "Well thank you for your time. If you have any more information to give me," I paused to write down my address to my home and newspaper office P.O box. "You can write me at these addresses."

Beth pocketed the paper, "I will."

I said my goodbyes and left. Beth had only managed to tell me what I already knew. All of the doors were locked, preventing escape and the girls in Etta's room and made it out through a fire escape.

I was back at square one.

A/N
This is an unusually short chapter for me, and I would have typically kept writing a bit more for Jack but I've been extremely busy lately and finding time to write is a struggle!

But I really want to thank all of you for always voting and commenting and being supportive! It really does mean the world to me, and I can't ever thank you enough!

I just want to give a shout out to @robonxt , Hannahdoom , @tomboylatte , and AVForrest . I really do pay attention to those who are always commenting and voting on my stories and they deserve a shout out from me and a big THANK YOU. If you would like a shout out, just Tap that little Star in the corner of our screen to vote and leave me a little comment! You could be featured in my next chapter!

I hope you all have an amazing week and for all of my American readers out there the 4th is coming up so I'm gonna wish you an early Happy Fourth of July! I'm going to watch fireworks with my family tomorrow and you should all get out and do the same! It really is a fun time😊
-Love Y'all
Rosanna💙🦄

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