Chapter 9 - Old Ground
1185 Words
The phone rang again, cutting through the office without warning.
Tessa looked at it for a moment before answering. Her focus shifted immediately, posture straightening as she stepped away from the desk and toward the window.
“Yeah.”
A pause came through the line. She listened without interruption.
“I said I’d be there in an hour,” she replied.
Another pause followed.
“I know. I know.”
Her hand rested lightly against the desk as she listened, eyes fixed outward.
“Ten minutes,” she said. “That’s all I can give you.”
The response on the other end wasn’t audible, but it kept her attention. Her tone shifted slightly after a moment, becoming more structured.
“Alright,” she said. “I’m listening.”
Sierra watched her carefully. Tessa wasn’t reacting emotionally. She was responding like someone used to stepping back into a system that never fully disappeared.
The conversation continued in short exchanges Sierra couldn’t hear clearly.
“Understood.”
A pause followed.
“Grayshollow is quiet at the moment.”
She listened again, then spoke once more.
“I’ll be there shortly.”
The call ended.
Silence returned, but it carried a different weight.
Tessa set the phone down and stayed still for a moment, thinking through what came next.
Sierra broke the quiet first.
“What was that?”
Tessa didn’t answer immediately. She reached for her jacket and slipped it on.
“Change of plans,” she said.
Sierra frowned.
“Plans?”
Tessa nodded toward the door.
“Shadow Road.”
Sierra paused.
“The MC?”
“Yeah.”
Tessa picked up her keys.
“Ardon called.”
Sierra stopped.
“Ardon?”
Tessa glanced at her.
“Yeah.”
Ardon "Bandit" Vale.
Sierra stared at her for a moment.
“Bandit?”
Tessa rolled her eyes.
“Don’t start.”
“I haven’t heard that name in years.”
A memory surfaced before Sierra could stop it.
A younger version of herself stood in the middle of a warehouse, camera hanging from her neck while Ardon leaned against a stolen motorcycle looking entirely too pleased with himself.
He’d refused to answer a single question.
She’d threatened to publish every photograph she’d taken of him.
He’d laughed.
She’d hated him for at least three weeks.
Tessa snorted.
“You’re smiling.”
Sierra immediately looked away.
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“I was remembering how annoying he was.”
“Still is.”
Despite herself, Sierra laughed quietly.
The sound surprised her.
It had been a while since laughter came without effort.
“I didn’t think he was still around,” she admitted.
“He never left Grayshollow,” Tessa said as she headed for the door.
Sierra followed her outside.
It felt strange hearing names from a life she had stepped away from.
Ardon.
Grayshollow.
Shadow Road.
Once, those names had been part of her everyday life.
Then Dead Mile happened.
One month became six.
Six months became a year.
Before she realized it, two years had passed.
Somewhere along the way she stopped noticing how much of herself she had left behind.
Not just people.
Pieces of herself.
“Why is he calling you now?” she asked.
Tessa didn’t slow her pace.
“Something inside his territory needs attention. He wants it handled quietly.”
Sierra studied her.
“That sounds like more than routine.”
“It is.”
Outside, Grayshollow carried on around them.
Tessa locked the office door.
Sierra walked beside her toward the car.
“He knows I’m here, doesn’t he?”
“He already does.”
“Because of Dead Mile?”
Tessa nodded.
“And because nothing in Grayshollow stays hidden for long.”
They reached the car.
Sierra hesitated before getting in.
Tessa noticed but didn’t comment.
“You and Ardon... you still on and off, or did that finally die down?”
Tessa started the engine before answering.
“Depends what you call on and off.”
That was enough of an answer.
The car pulled away from the curb.
Buildings gradually gave way to open stretches of land.
“He sounded serious?”
Tessa kept her eyes on the road.
“He doesn’t call unless something’s already moving.”
“And that involves me how?”
“It doesn’t. Not directly.”
The road hummed beneath the tires.
“If he already knows I’m here... what does he think I’m doing back here?”
“He’s probably trying to figure that out himself.”
Sierra gave a humorless smile.
“That feels uncomfortable.”
“Get used to it.”
Several minutes passed.
“You didn’t answer my question properly.”
“Which one?”
“You and Ardon.”
Tessa let out a short breath.
“We never really fit into ‘on’ or ‘off’. It’s more like timing that never lines up properly.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It is.”
Silence settled comfortably between them.
Sierra watched the landscape pass by.
“I missed this.”
Tessa glanced over.
“Being trapped in a car with me?”
A laugh escaped Sierra.
“No.”
“Rude.”
“Maybe a little.”
Tessa shook her head dramatically.
“I offer emotional support and this is the thanks I get.”
The smile lingered on Sierra’s face.
Not because of Tessa.
Because she couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed without forcing it.
“Does he still look at you like he knows exactly what you’re thinking?”
Something flickered across Tessa’s face.
“Always did.”
“And you let him?”
“With Ardon, you don’t really get a choice in what he notices.”
Sierra looked out the window.
“What does he want from you?”
Tessa was quiet for a moment.
“Honestly?”
Sierra nodded.
“I think he’s worried.”
“About what?”
“You.”
Sierra blinked.
“Why?”
Tessa gave her a look.
“Because you disappeared from everyone's lives for two years.”
“I wasn't that bad.”
Tessa laughed.
“You missed my birthday twice.”
Sierra winced.
“Okay. Fair.”
Tessa's smile softened.
“Ardon noticed.”
Sierra looked at her.
“He never stopped asking how you were doing.”
Something tightened in Sierra’s chest.
She looked away before Tessa could see it.
“He did?”
“Every few months.”
“Usually he'd pretend he was asking because he wanted to know if you finally figured out how to mind your own business.”
A small laugh escaped Sierra.
“That sounds like him.”
“Yeah.”
Silence returned.
Then Tessa spoke quietly.
“You mattered before him, you know.”
Sierra looked out the window.
The words stayed with her.
Neither of them spoke again for several minutes.
The road stretched ahead, carrying them toward old memories, old connections, and a version of herself she wasn’t sure still existed.
For the first time since leaving, she wondered if maybe it did.
- Writer
