Convict Me (Broken Heroes 1)

Take that, Hero!

My little victory joy is short lived when reality comes crashing back down. He locked me in his room. Not only is that betrayal going to haunt me, I am also left with knowing he just left and didn’t tell me why.

What is he hiding from me?

I scrub a hand down my face in frustration. Then I remember the phone call. He said something about a warehouse on twenty-fifth street.

That’s where he must be going, therefore I should go there too, since whatever it is he’s doing is something he doesn’t want to share with me.

A part of me knows I shouldn’t follow him. His warnings about how bad he was didn’t go unnoticed. Still, the part of me that cares and wants to be her own person decides to follow him, see for myself what he’s up to. If there is any chance of me and Hero working out after tonight, I need to know the truth about him—the whole truth.

We can’t build a relationship on lies and mistrust. At least, I can’t.

I pull on my shoes and grab my phone from the kitchen table. Running across campus, I call Tasha on my way to the dorm. She answers, and I yell into the phone, “I need you to take me somewhere! Please, can you meet me at your car? It’s super important.”

I’m astonished when she answers the phone, and even more astonished when she agrees. Then again, Tasha being the drama seeker she is would agree without needing any further explanation. “I’ll be right there.”

By the time I get there, Tasha is already waiting by the car, a pessimistic look on her face. “What’s going on?”

“I-I don’t know.” I don’t want to tell her everything that happened since she already hates him enough as it is, but I also need a ride, and Tasha won’t do shit without a reason. So, I give her the best, most boring version. “Hero is meeting with someone, and I need to know who and why. So, if you can, I need you to take me to twenty-fifth street. If not, I’ll call for an Uber or something.” I shake my head. Had he just told me the damn truth, we wouldn’t be in this situation.

“Okay, I’ll take you. Sounds like some juicy secret ready to be uncovered.” She smirks as she gets in and starts the car.

I hop in a second later, feeling all kinds of anxious.

What could he be hiding? Is he meeting with another woman? My thoughts run rampant, and the entire ride over feels like it takes an eternity.

God, the stop signs must have multiplied overnight, and the traffic lights suddenly stay red for hours instead of minutes. My patience starts to wear thin when we finally get to the warehouse.

My mind has conjured up every possible outcome of how this can and will go—most of which all end badly.

I don’t know what I’m going to find in there, but considering we are at an abandoned warehouse in a rough neighborhood, I doubt I’ll find anything worth finding.

Old warehouses are places where bad things happen, everyone knows that. I mean, no one ever said, ‘hey, remember that fun afternoon tea party we had at the abandoned warehouse last week?’

I wipe my hands down the front of my dress and survey the parking lot. Fifty pounds of lead finds its way into my gut the moment I spot Hero’s car. I didn’t realize it until this very moment, but a part of me kept hoping I wouldn’t find him here.

“You can just drop me off here, Tasha,” I announce, afraid to even speak.

“Drop you off? Here…?” She shakes her head profusely, her eyes bugging out. “No way! I’m not leaving you here.”

“It’s okay. Look, Hero is here. He’ll give me a ride back.”

Tasha glances over at Hero’s car like she just caught a bad smell of something. Him being here doesn’t ease her mind and probably doesn’t make her like him any more than she did before.

“How about a compromise? I’ll go in there on my own, and you’ll wait out here for me just in case I need you.”

Chewing on her lip, she mulls it over. Seconds tick by… “I guess that’ll be all right.”

I sigh a breath of relief. “You’re the best, Tasha.” I give her a quick peck on the cheek and rush from the car.

It’s nearly dark now, and with no street lights, it becomes harder and harder to see. Every step I take leading up to the entrance adds a few pounds to my gut feeling that something bad is going on inside. Fear of the unknown trickles down my spine.

My hands shake as I slide the heavy metal door open. The sound of the wheels grinding makes me hold my breath. When I don’t hear anything, I slip inside and close the door behind me. Cool, musky air greets me, and the dust flying around makes my nose itch.