The Last Time I Cried Your Name novel Chapter 39

Petty could tell exactly what Jared was worried about.

She hadn’t fully recovered from the injuries she got during that attack a while back. Her wounds still ached sometimes, and her eardrum hadn’t healed, either.

But honestly, none of that really mattered to her.

Physical pain was easy enough to deal with. What hurt more was the kind of pain Franco had left on her heart, the kind no medicine could ever fix.

She needed to keep busy. Anything to keep her mind from drifting to places it shouldn’t go.

When she stepped out of the elevator, Petty climbed into the news van and headed out to the chemical plant on the edge of town.

It was late in the day, just as rush hour hit. Cars clogged the streets, and the van crawled through light after light before finally making it onto the road that led to the suburbs.

Even from far away, the sirens wailed through the air. Flames shot up, painting half the sky red in the fading daylight.

Petty’s brows knit together.

There were a few chemical plants out here. Sure, the waste was supposed to be handled by the book, but some materials they used could turn toxic if they got too hot.

If any of those chemicals reacted during an explosion, the fallout would hit the people living nearby and the firefighters risking their lives tonight.

She just hoped things could be brought under control soon.

The news van stopped at a safe spot.

Petty clipped on her press pass and jogged over to the police tape outside the factory.

As soon as she got close, waves of heat rolled over her, the air shimmering like a mirage.

She flashed her credentials at a firefighter and went straight for the factory manager to get the latest update.

Once she had the basics, she pulled on her black mask, grabbed her mic, and faced the camera. “All workers in the area where the explosion happened have been evacuated. Right now, we don’t know if anyone’s hurt… Firefighters are doing everything they can to control the blaze…”

Suddenly, a massive explosion shook the ground, almost like an earthquake.

It was him.

Memories from years ago rushed back.

The year she’d first come to live with the White family, she’d been so careful, so quiet, always watching her step.

At her fancy school, everyone knew her parents were gone. She was just the poor orphan taken in out of pity.

Some kids bullied her in secret. Others didn’t bother to hide it. She got beaten up more often than she cared to remember, her skin marked with bruises she covered up. She learned early to keep her pain to herself, never making trouble for the White family.

But her silence only made things worse.

They once locked her in a bathroom, holding the door shut so she couldn’t get out. She screamed herself hoarse, but no one came.

That afternoon, the school caught fire. The flames spread to the bathrooms, trapping her right in the corner where the smoke was thickest.

As she collapsed to the floor, she thought she saw her parents reaching out through the haze, softly calling her name.