The Day I Stopped Being His

Chapter 13 - Last Seen

Voices carried all the way into the room where Sierra was slowly starting to sit up.

At first, they were nothing more than muffled sounds drifting through the walls.

Then one voice rose above the others.

Another followed.

The words were impossible to make out, but the urgency behind them wasn't.

Heavy footsteps thundered down the hallway.

A door slammed somewhere in the clubhouse.

Outside, a motorcycle engine roared to life.

Then another.

Sierra exchanged a look with Tessa.

The noise was growing instead of fading.

A familiar voice suddenly cut through the chaos.

Bandit.

Even from a distance, there was no mistaking the authority in his tone as he barked orders at someone.

Several voices answered at once.

A moment later, more engines started outside.

The sound echoed through the compound before gradually moving farther away.

Tessa glanced at the door before looking back at Sierra, biting her lip.

Sierra understood immediately.

Tessa wanted to go see what the commotion was about, but she didn't want to leave her alone.

A smile tugged at Sierra's lips.

"Go see what's going on."

Tessa shook her head.

"I don't want to leave you alone."

Sierra reached over and patted her hand before pointedly looking toward the closed door.

"You know we're both too curious to sit here and wait for Bandit to come back. Go see what's going on."

Tessa hesitated for another second before nodding.

"I'll be right back."

She tucked the blankets more securely around Sierra before heading for the door.

Just as she crossed the threshold, Sierra stopped her.

"Keep the door open."

Tessa grinned over her shoulder.

"Bossy."

Sierra rolled her eyes.

"Nosy."

"Aren't we both."

With a wink, Tessa disappeared into the hallway.

Sierra listened as her footsteps faded.

Outside, another motorcycle left the compound.

Whatever was happening, it was big enough to send members of Shadow Road racing out into the night.

The open door allowed some of the noise from the clubhouse to drift into the room.

Sierra strained to listen as most of the voices blended together.

Too many people were talking at once, and the constant movement outside drowned out most of what was being said. The anticipation was driving her crazy.

She caught pieces here and there.

"...last place he was seen..."

"...checked already..."

"...nothing..."

The fragments only made her curiosity worse.

Sierra was seriously debating whether she should abandon the whole resting-in-bed strategy and see what was going on herself when Tessa appeared in the doorway.

The moment Sierra saw her expression, she knew this wasn't some petty argument between club members.

"What happened?"

Tessa walked back inside and dropped into the chair beside the bed.

"The club's looking for someone."

Sierra frowned.

"Who?"

"A prospect named Garth."

"What happened?"

Tessa rubbed a hand across her face.

"Shadow Road hit a drug dealer's club a few days ago. Everyone came back except him."

Sierra blinked.

"It's been days since he disappeared?"

Tessa nodded.

"At first they thought he'd taken off somewhere. Apparently, he had a habit of disappearing every now and then. Now nobody has seen or heard from him in days."

The words hung between them.

Outside, another motorcycle roared through the compound before fading into the distance.

Sierra glanced toward the open door.

"Bandit's organizing search teams?"

"Yeah."

Sierra leaned back against her pillows.

That explained the tension running through the clubhouse.

This wasn't just normal club business.

One of their own was missing.

Sierra stared at Tessa before she blurted out,

"So, where do we start looking?"

Tessa lifted one eyebrow at her.

"Nope, there is no we here."

She waved her hand between them.

Tessa shook her head.

"You need to stay in bed."

She scooted closer to her.

"So that you can get better," Tessa whispered.

"I need to start moving, Tess. I will go crazy staying in bed the whole day."

She bit her lip and stared at Tessa.

"I don't want to stay here locked within my own thoughts. I need something to do."

Tessa pursed her lips.

"Okay, but strictly paperwork and research for you."

Sierra nodded.

"No getting out of bed, though. You stay here and I will follow the breadcrumbs."

"Okay, Gretel," Sierra agreed.

Tessa looked offended.

"I always thought I was more of a Hansel."

Sierra couldn't help but laugh.

Tessa could always bounce back with an instant comment. It made for some interesting banter.

Eventually, the clubhouse grew quieter as more members left to search for Garth.

"You know, he may not even be missing," Tessa said after a while.

"Doesn't matter. We can always make sure," Sierra replied.

"You always had a hard time staying out of things."

Tessa shook her head at her.

At that exact moment, they were both interrupted.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I've made enough bad assumptions in my life to know I most certainly disagree with whatever the two of you just decided."

Ardon stood in the doorway with his arms crossed as he scrutinized them.

"Figured you needed some help with Garth," Tessa said without missing a beat.

Ardon stared at her before turning his attention to Sierra.

"Tessa, yes. You, no."

He walked closer to the bed.

"You need rest. Rest means sleep, so get to it."

He narrowed his eyes at Sierra.

It took all of three seconds before both women started laughing.

Eventually, Tessa managed to speak.

"You always try that tone." She tried to imitate him and actually nailed it.

She dissolved into laughter again, setting of Sierra right after her.

Sierra pointed at Ardon.

"And he always looks constipated when he tries to be firm."

Using air quotes around the word firm, she laughed even harder.

That set Tessa off again.

Ardon made a frustrated sound.

"You two never change."

The door slammed shut behind him.

Their laughter followed him all the way down to his office.

Sierra felt some light enter her heart, Tessa and Ardon always made life seem easier, this, home is exactly what she needed to not think about Jax and her loss, when the laughter had died down and she wiped tears from her eyes she glanced at Tessa who was still giggling softly, trying to shake the image from her mind.