A Lady Never Tells

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Lillian was waiting in her parlor that night while she was waiting for William to arrive. Luckily, she wasn’t showing too much, so she could still wear her flapper dress. Lillian moved a piece of her hair behind her ear when she heard someone knock on the door.

The maid walked inside the parlor with William in tow. “Mr. Bates is here Mistress.”

“Thank you. Mr. Bates and I will be out this evening. You may retire home, if you wish,” Lillian said automatically. When the maid left, Lillian started walking towards the door with William following. The two then made their way to the speakeasy.

Just as Charlie Martino advised, the couple got into the Cheeky Monkey without issue. Once inside, William went to the bartender and asked for Jonathan Lexly. The bartender pointed to a man sitting in a corner booth drinking a whiskey. William motioned for Lillian to walk with him to the booth.

When the two got to the booth, Jonathon looked up. He seemed to be surprised that two people were interrupting his drinking time.

“May I help you,” Mr. Lexly asked, though not politely.

“Are you Jonathon Lexly,” William asked.

“Yes, and who are you?”

“My name is William Bates and this is Lillian Jones,” William replied, purposely using Lillian’s maiden name.

Jonathon’s eyebrows rose when he heard Lillian’s name. “Jones, you say? I knew a few Jones’ a few years back. Perhaps you are related to them Miss.” He then motioned the couple to sit. “Now what can I do you for?”

Lillian spoke this time. “Actually, I may be related to some of those Jones’. Perhaps you know Marie and John Jones? They were my parents and they passed away many years ago.”

“Hmm, they may sound familiar. Mr. Bates, would you please leave us and get me another whiskey? I would like to speak with Miss Lillian alone for a few minutes.”

“Sure,” William said before getting up from the booth.

When William was out of earshot, Jonathon leaned forward onto the table. “What is it you want with me Miss Jones?”

“I want to know how you knew my mother. I want to know if you had any idea on how she died.”

“Very well, come with me.” Jonathon then stood up and grabbed Lillian’s wrist.

He led Lillian out of the speakeasy and out to a back alley. Making sure that they were alone, Jonathon pushed Lillian against the brick wall that belonged to the furniture store which contained the speakeasy.

“Listen to me, and listen very closely Lillian Jones. I loved your mother very much, and she loved me. We were planning on getting married. We wanted to raise a family.”

“Then what was the problem?”

Jonathon laughed even though there wasn’t any humor in her question. “The problem was that your mother, Marie, had a husband and a five year old child. I asked Marie several times to end her marriage with John Jones, but she never would. She told me that it wasn’t a woman’s place to ask for a divorce.

“One night, your mother and I made love and she became pregnant with my child. I was beyond happy! The woman that I loved was going to have my child. Surely, this was going to make her end her marriage with John! But no, your mother continued her marriage with her husband.”

“Of course she would. My mother and father loved each other very much. They would never hurt the other.”

Jonathon laughed moronically again. “Ahh, to be ignorant of reality. Of course you would say this! You were only six when your parents died in that fire!”

Lillian peered at Jonathon. “How do you know that I was six when they died?”

Jonathon’s face went pale. “Y-you told me that you were.”

“No I didn’t.”

Lillian watched as Jonathon’s pale face turned into anger. He reached out and shook Lillian against the brick wall behind her. “I couldn’t stand to see my child be raised by someone else. I was either going to raise my baby, or no one was. I was going to have Marie as my wife or no one was.

“I told her this, or course, but she refused. She told me that she had her daughter to consider. She told me that her daughter, Lily, needed her more than I did.”

“So you killed her? You killed her because she chose her child over you!”

Jonathon glared at Lillian. “Yes, I set the fire that burned your childhood home down. I set the fire that killed John and Marie Jones and their unborn child with them.”

Before Lillian even knew what was happening, she slapped the murderer. “You monster! You killed my family! You’re the reason why I became an orphan!” She tried shoving his hands off of her shoulders, but his grip hardened. “Let me go!”

“I can’t do that, my dear. You see, you’re the reason why I couldn’t have my happy ending. Plus, I told you my secret, and I can’t have you going to the nice police with this information.” Jonathon pulled out a small gun, stepped back, and aimed it at Lillian’s head.

“No! Please don’t do this! I won’t tell the police anything! I will walk away and you will never hear from me again, I promise!”

“I completely trust you on this because, well, you can’t say anything when you’re dead. Goodbye Miss Jones.”

Lillian heard the bullet in the gun click into place. She quickly prayed to her god that he would protect her and her baby. Jonathon was about to pull the trigger when the back door burst open.

“Get away from her Lexly!”

It was William!

William pounced on Jonathon and tried to move his arm so that it wasn’t aimed at Lillian’s head. The next thing Lillian knew was there was a bang from the gun and complete darkness…